“The NHL and the NHL Players” Association, in a rare example of cooperation, revived the dormant World Cup but altered the format. (And having played for head coach Oleg Znarok at worlds.) Semyon Varlamov and Andrei Vasilevskiy are the other two netminders, with Varlamov expected to take over if Bobrovsky falters. Would there be hitting? But the United States – a scrappy, physical team built in coach John Tortorella’s style – is hoping to atone for its recent worldwide disappointments.
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Players battle hard. The speed and quickness are on point.
Strength: Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens) and Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers) are the most proven forwards and Zbynek Michalek (Arizona Coyotes) is their most proven defenseman. The best-of-three final will be played on September 27, Sept. 29 and, if necessary, October 1. It’s a hockey-only event, which by design is going to give us the best quality player-for-player that any tournament of this kind has ever had. Wednesday night provided a small sample of what is to come.
Like Finland they’re a team worth keeping an eye on, but they will probably lack the know-how to go all the way. Now, granted, it looked positively lethal at times, with Russian Federation just toying with opposing penalty kills. So a lot of younger guys start playing hockey and it’s getting more and more popular, so it’s good. And with the skill they have who knows what could happen.
“I think there’s certainly the ability for that, but in a tournament like this, because it’s so short, you have to be on your game right away”, Kopitar said after his team’s final practice at the Air Canada Centre on Friday before the real action begins on Saturday against Team USA. USA-Finland was tight until the end. They outshot the two teams (playing US twice) by a combined 129-74, including 99-52 at even-strength.
For Canada you know the goal, win the whole thing.
“Whenever you represent your country at a tournament like this it could be the last time”. I also really like the makeup of this squad. When challenged in the pre-tournament exhibitions, the players rose to the occasion. Team North America features Americans and Canadians who are 23 or under as of October 1. The Americans were the silver medalists at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and that tournament was also played on an NHL-sized rink. Mikkel Boedker is on Team Europe and Joonas Donskoi is playing for Finland. On the local side, GTA products Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Tyler Seguin and Alex Pietrangelo will lace up for Canada, while Connor McDavid and Sean Monahan may be of interest for Team North America.
Captain Connor McDavid, taken first overall in the 2015 National Hockey League draft, leads a squad that includes fellow No. 1 picks Auston Matthews (2016), Aaron Ekblad (2014), Nathan MacKinnon (2013) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011).
In Group B, so much of the pre-tournament hype has gone to the young guns of Team North America, while Sweden is actually the betting favourite to finish first in the four-team pool.
Overview: The big question is whether the team chemistry will be strong enough to compete in a tournament where nationalistic pride seems to be a key factor. Don’t be shocked if they pull an upset or 2.
“That was an awesome sight to see these kids in action together”, Krueger said after losing two exhibition games to those kids. The tempo and the way the players play at should only ramp up once it all counts. With questions looming over future NHL player participation in the Olympics, the WCH is aiming to provide hockey fans with an global competition similar to soccer’s World Cup.
World Cup Hockey was awarded to ESPN simply because the league believes it will increase the sports exposure.
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It’s like the All-star weekend game all crumbled into one big most pit event. Teams are divided into groups of four.
