US general manager Dean Lombardi built his World Cup roster with the idea that the Americans needed to play with an edge to be effective. That it happens to be the No. 1 line with Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron will be an eye-opener for some observers.
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After a nasty affair in Game 1 of this back-to-back series against Team USA, Team Canada coach Mike Babcock opted to sit the club’s captain in Saturday night’s rematch in Ottawa. He was fast and elusive.
“He just makes stuff happen”, teammate John Tavares said after a 5-2 victory on Saturday night. With several members of the Pittsburgh Penguins representing their countries (or continents, I suppose), I think it’s worth predicting who I believe will come out on top of this tournament.
“Didn’t feel too good (when he woke up)”, said Giroux, who left the game briefly Friday.
Marchand is a Stanley Cup champion and two-time gold medallist at the world junior championship. There also was a melee in front of Canada’s bench in the first period. No matter what you might think of him, he’s hardly chopped liver.
It worked for one game, but will it work when these games count? To that end, playing in a best-on-best competition like this one offers a pretty unique opportunity.
An exhibition game between the USA and Canada saw some extremely physical play, including the hit below which led to Ryan Kesler being ejected for boarding Shea Weber. (Keeping his captain out of the fray after an emotional, physical battle on Friday provided a nice side benefit to the decision). The power-play units struggled to create the kind of chances and puck movement Canada wants to see, although on Tavares’ second power-play goal, that was the best the unit looked all night. The fact they split them hardly mattered.
While the game meant nothing in the standings, the Americans did show that their ability to play a relentless, physical, attacking style could serve them well when the tournament starts September 17 in Toronto. Kesler received a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct.
“We’ve heard all along about the style that they want to play to try to get us off our game”, Toews said.
COLUMBUS, OHIO Carey Price is back. He also thought he held his own “considering everything that’s going on”.
Canada gained a third power play, only to have it negated when Canadian forward Joe Thornton charged Kesler, driving the infamous hockey pest hard into the boards at the other end of the ice.
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Logan Couture briefly left the game after taking this awkward hit from T.J. Oshie. Oshie in front of the benches, liberally using his stick nearly like someone paddling a canoe, but generally stood out for the more productive contributions he was making. I expect Canada to go undefeated in round robin play, and be the 1 seed. “I’m playing with Sid and Bergy, two great players, I’m not anxious about doing that other stuff”. “I think Weber would have done the same for me”. Eichel is expected to play a key role on the team that features names like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Dylan Larkin, and this summer’s first overall pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews. They also got a little reckless, with a few hits that knocked Canadian players out of the game briefly.
