Bottom line: this World Cup is going to sting for USA Hockey, and it’s likely to lead to some soul-searching. Ten players registered at least one point on Tuesday. They did manage to score the first goal of game however, when one of their few forays into the offensive zone in the opening minutes found Ryan McDonagh alone with the puck in the slot. The roster composition reflected Tortorella’s type of hockey, with lots of grit and not almost enough skill. What might change after another all-too-familiar early exit from an global tournament?
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But let’s be serious here, the team that has won 12 consecutive games in best-on-best hockey, dating back to the Vancouver 2010 Games, is looking more risky than both versions of the squad that has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals.
The rivalry reached a boiling point at the Vancouver 2010 games, when the US lost to Canada in a sudden-death overtime score by Sidney Crosby, which became known as the “Golden Goal”.
“To come here and flop like we did is extremely disappointing”, defenseman Ryan Suter said. That’s the way we want to carry ourselves.
A second goal arrived through Loui Eriksson as Finland slipped to a second defeat following their 4-1 loss to the combined North American outfit.
An average game from Canada though still easily toppled the United States, a striking show of the team’s incredible pool of talent.
Or maybe the Americans simply don’t have the talent, the depth, the breathtaking speed and skill of the Canadians – a remarkable squad on an global hot streak not seen since the pre-Miracle on Ice Soviets.
In the lead-up to Tuesday night’s Canada-U.S. game, a question was put to American forward T.J. Oshie. Players that liked to engage physically, like Justin Abdelkader, were chosen over skilled goal-scorers like Phil Kessel. The American roster, heavy on size and grit and light on speed and skill, was widely panned when it was announced, and it took more hits as the US flamed out of the World Cup.
Later in the evening Kessel tweeted a passive aggressive message towards Team USA, saying he felt like he should be doing something important outside of sitting around his house with his dog.
Kessel was the Americans’ leading scorer and best player at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but he was left off the initial and then final World Cup rosters.
US coach John Tortorella bemoaned his team’s “self-inflicted wounds” following the defeat. To play on this stage, against the USA, and score a couple of goals felt pretty awesome.
“You look at how deep our team is, it’s more like four first lines”, Duchene said.
“It kills me to take (Dubinsky) out because of how he competes”, Tortorella said Tuesday morning. It’s on my watch. To make them feel responsible if things go wrong. They managed just two goals in two games before being eliminated and none from reigning Hart Trophy victor Patrick Kane.
“Tortorella is just one of the most passionate guys I’ve ever seen about hockey”, Kane said. “He was in my shooting lane, so I aimed to miss the net and it worked”, Vlasic said. He’s just a great coach. We didn’t show up for him. The U.S. scoring depth is maybe being understated at times, but they are nonetheless depending on guys like Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski to do some heavy lifting.
Tortorella said he couldn’t let National Hockey League club loyalties impact his choices. I’m just really frustrated we’re not going to be going on to the next round.
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BASKETBALL: Los Angeles’ Nneka Ogwumike was named Associated Press WNBA Player of the Year. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. He also got a two-minute penalty for rough as a result of a small dust up with Andrei Markov.
