[GDT] Mens Hockey, Canada vs USA at 10:00 AM Mountain

[Locke]

Aw Yiss! Rocking the jersey at work today. Feels like a Gold Medal game, crazy that its only a semi.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Frick! Wish I didn't have to work during this one.

Still can't believe this isn't the gold medal game haha. It sure feels like it.

[Tinordi]

I'm just hoping for a good exciting game. In the best of one format, there's just too much randomness in the game of hockey to call it one way or the other, and for that matter to get too high or too low depending on the outcome.

The hockey gods will shine on who they shine on today, and for that we should simply hope to watch some damned good hockey.

[EVERLAST]

I still can't believe that Subban is not playing.....
against the Americans we could really use his physicality.I still can't believe that he won the Norris Trophy and doesn't get any respect what so ever. Go Canada Go

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

I still can't believe that Subban is not playing.....
against the Americans we could really use his physicality.I still can't believe that he won the Norris Trophy and doesn't get any respect what so ever. Go Canada Go

I think it's a joke that he's not playing. We could have really used him in the last game IMO.

[Locke]

Especially over Hamhuis.

Anyone else wondering why the exact same Calgary-Flames Jay Bouwmeester is all of a sudden an irreplaceable lock on Team Canada?

[Textcritic]

Canada's record v. USA at the Olympics since NHL participation is 3–1.

[Top Shelf]

Going to be at Shanks north to watch this bad boy, can't wait!

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Locke

Especially over Hamhuis.

Anyone else wondering why the exact same Calgary-Flames Jay Bouwmeester is all of a sudden an irreplaceable lock on Team Canada?

I don't understand it. I never did

[Senator Clay Davis]

For whatever reason this reminds me of Russia-Canada in 2010. An uneasy feeling coming in, a big time rival, a gold medal game like feeling. Hopefully we win 7-3 again.

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Locke

Especially over Hamhuis.

Anyone else wondering why the exact same Calgary-Flames Jay Bouwmeester is all of a sudden an irreplaceable lock on Team Canada?

To play with Pietroangelo.
If he hadn't been traded to St.Louis and meshed so well, there's no way he would be there.
That being said, he has played pretty well, and his mobility is a big asset on the big ice.

I am kind of disappointed that Suban isn't playing. Sure, he takes chances and maybe isn't the top defensive defenceman, but the compete, physicality, and scoring he brings could really help us, especially when you consider where a lot of our offence has come from.

[Machiavelli]

Originally Posted by Locke

Especially over Hamhuis.

Anyone else wondering why the exact same Calgary-Flames Jay Bouwmeester is all of a sudden an irreplaceable lock on Team Canada?

I'm not a fan of Bouw, but I think the familiarity/chemistry with Pietrangelo helps his cause.

[Canada 02]

Bouw has been outstanding in St. Louis. Every bit as good as Pietrangelo. He was the biggest reason the Blues even made the playoffs last year

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by Locke

Especially over Hamhuis.

Hamhuis or Vlasic or Bouwmeester, any of them, Subban is clearly better than them. Especially when one of them (currently Hamhuis) is playing 3-5 minutes a night. Do we really not think that PK can add more in 5 minutes than Hamhuis can? Don't get me wrong I've maintained from the start of the tourney that Hamhuis should be one of the top 3 LD-men because of his outlet passing, but if you sat him for PK it'd be at least preferable.


I posted this in the Latvia thread before the game and it remains correct... statistically, here is the comparison between all 7 Canadian D over the past three years.

Spoiler!

What those say, in order:
Graph 1: Vlasic, Hamhuis and especially Weber get the toughest defensive assignments in terms of where the coach is starting them. Doughty and Keith get the easiest minutes. PK had one year of very easy minutes, and two years of incredibly tough minutes.

Graph 2: The green bar shows how many shot attempts the other team gets against each defenseman compared to when they're not on the ice, so lower is better. The red bar shows how many shots for a defenseman's team gets when he's on the ice compared to when he's off, so higher is better. Blue is the combined differential. PK basically crushes everyone here, while Keith is surprisingly bad compared to his teammates.

Graph 3: Simply, the number of shot attempts on average surrendered by a d-man's team while he's on the ice. PK's about on par with Doughty, Vlasic, Hamhuis.

Graph 4: The number of shots the opposing team generates while each D-man is on the ice on the penalty kill, compared to the NHL average and the team's average. The only guy better than Subban here is Pietrangelo. Keith is surprisingly awful on the penalty kill, which makes it even more baffling as to why Babcock has him on the FIRST UNIT when they're shorthanded.

There is zero evidence to suggest that PK Subban is "riskier" than his teammates. In fact he's less risky than most of them despite playing on a pretty mediocre Habs team and not getting cushy minutes the way Doughty and Keith do.

[cDnStealth]

Bouw has done fine this tournament. But keeping Suban out in favor of Hamhuis is a mistake. If you're going to have a 7th D-man, I'd rather he be a game breaker. You can throw Suban out on a PP or when you really need a goal and like Doughty he can take the game over completely on his own. What exactly has Hamhuis done? Vlasic has looked good out there and I liked his physicality last game.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

What exactly has Hamhuis done? Vlasic has looked good out there and I liked his physicality last game.

Everyone has looked good out there; they've given up 3 goals against in the tourney. Vlasic's entire game has been "hold blue line. When receiving puck, immediately pass to Doughty". Which is fine.

Let's be fair, what do you WANT Hamhuis to do when he plays 3 minutes against Finland and 5 minutes against Latvia? The point isn't that Hamhuis has been bad, it's that if you're giving a guy almost no minutes, you want him to be able to have an immediate impact, which Subban can.

And honestly Bouwmeester has had a few missed assignments, has flubbed two scoring chances I can think of off the top of my head. For me, he certainly doesn't deserve his spot any more than Vlasic or Hamhuis do with his play. But he has it sewn up because of who his D partner is.

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

Everyone has looked good out there; they've given up 3 goals against in the tourney. Let's be fair, what do you WANT Hamhuis to do when he plays 3 minutes against Finland and 5 minutes against Latvia? The point isn't that Hamhuis has been bad, it's that if you're giving a guy almost no minutes, you want him to be able to have an immediate impact, which Subban can.

And honestly Bouwmeester has had a few missed assignments, has flubbed two scoring chances I can think of off the top of my head. For me, he certainly doesn't deserve his spot any more than Vlasic or Hamhuis do with his play. But he has it sewn up because of who his D partner is.

Sorry, this was the point I was trying to make.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Bouw has done fine this tournament. But keeping Suban out in favor of Hamhuis is a mistake. If you're going to have a 7th D-man, I'd rather he be a game breaker. You can throw Suban out on a PP or when you really need a goal and like Doughty he can take the game over completely on his own. What exactly has Hamhuis done? Vlasic has looked good out there and I liked his physicality last game.

Hamhuis is terrible, I never understood why he was even named to this team. I would rather have a RH defenseman play the off-side than take hamhock

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Sorry, this was the point I was trying to make.

Fair. I guess what I'm getting at is, if we're criticizing the coaching staff for player selection, there's no point in assuming that everything BESIDES Subban is a given.

I'd still be sitting Vlasic, because while he's not going to score you a goal, Hamhuis has more or less all of Vlasic's virtues with the notable bonus that one of his greatest strengths is the breakout. It's not always going to be a predictable deferral to the RD, the way it is with Vlasic. Speed in transition through the neutral zone is a big plus on this ice, if you can get that outlet off quickly (or better yet, a stretch pass) chances off the rush abound. This is a skill that Canada has at its disposal that hasn't been well utilized; most of the guys who are good at it (Doughty, Keith, to a lesser extent Bo) have seemed more inclined to hold onto the puck and skate it for a bit before they make a play.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Locke

Anyone else wondering why the exact same Calgary-Flames Jay Bouwmeester is all of a sudden an irreplaceable lock on Team Canada?

might have something to do with his above average skating abilities, or the fact he makes solid passes out of his own zone........