jk

I'm proud of the US effort in this game. Even when the Parise group won the gold, Canada pretty well carried the play in that game. I thought this was the best I have seen the US play against Canada in the WJC. I can't cheer against Toews in a shootout, but I was hoping the US would win with a different Canadian faltering. Toews definitely burned himself into Canada's collective memory with that performance. Very happy for Toews, but I see no point in bashing his draft-mates, one of whom is one of his best friends.

JT is super-smooth.

Not good for Carman. Selfish to take an elbowing penalty late with a 1-goal lead. They survived that one but not the next.

Toews saw who was on him and thought, I can beat this guy. Nice job by Lee.

Nice first period for the U.S. The early PP was excellent, but it looks like Canada's PK started to find their legs later in the period. I thought the US carried the play in that period, but they may regret not scoring when they had the edge.

Anyone know what happened to two events that usually take place around this time? - the U-17 Challenge that has four Canadian teams (Pacific, West, etc.) and others, including a US team. - the Viking Cup, that included a USHL team. Thanks.

No offense, but it's tough for me to agree when they're tied 1-1 with Germany in the third.

Heard Chorney a lot. Lee not so much. Also, Chorney has played on the first PP unit (I think), but the second has been staffed with 4 forwards and 1 defenseman. Lee has had PK time though.

I tried watching on tsn and they said I appear to be trying to watch from outside of Canada. Listening to this game is like listening to the Sioux. I have an idea: score a f'in goal.

I should have qualified it to say that "generally" they focus on the NHL perspective. You're right that they did talk about BC's smurfs, which is a theme for them. I also expect Trupp to have more of an impact than Malone next year.

Trupp doesn't mean anything to RedLine. They are an NHL draft ranking service, so they really only make note of players who look to have NHL futures.

No, I think people would like to see a goalie who led his team to the USHL title and was named the USHL's top goalie. Oh wait, that was Lamoureux. He had as good a junior hockey resume as you could ask for, and he still may be a good college goalie. That said, it's nice to see a promising goalie lined up for the future.

I'm pretty sure all the current problems stem from Hakstol's facial expression behind the bench. I wish people would quit making other excuses. What he needs is a snarl, or a scowl. Snarl or scowl, either one would work. Maybe he could jump up on the dasher and hop around while snarling, or scowling.

The rink ads are for businesses in Windham, Maine and Portland, Maine. For whatever that's worth.

I'll be astounded if either gets drafted. But I think they're both fine players.

I hate it when the board turns into calling out players and coaches for not trying and not caring and all that stuff, because I think they do care, but for whatever reason it's just not working right now. I just want to know, is this rock bottom?

Boy the Sioux sure are intense in the last two minutes of these home losses.

I'm going to leave to put some kids to bed; maybe something good will happen. Right now the Sioux are just not as good as MTU. Lammy has kept it close.

It sounds like the guys are playing hard and reasonably well, but I miss the days when they occasionally scored a goal.

I saw the Blais interview and I have to say that it was heartwarming to see him. I don't know him or anything, but it was just very reassuring to see him there. He seemed well, and relaxed, and it did seem that he missed being behind the bench and actually coaching. They just talked briefly about this year's Sioux team, and he commended Hak and noted how difficult it is to play defense in the league as an underclassman. Don't blame me for the youth excuse, I'm just reporting (actually loosely paraphrasing, in a sudo sudo-reporting way) what he said. (And I did know him once, when he was my ninth-grade PE teacher at Minot High.)

I know people think INCH stinks, but they do talk to people.

Here are excerpts from the Edmonton game thread on HF: What a way to score your first NHL goal!!! ---------------- MATT GREENE!!! Huge Goal. YEAH BABIES!!!!! ------------------------ Screw Fernandez, I want Greene's urine sample. That was hilarious. --------------------------- Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeneee!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------- Nice Goal By Greene! Holy Crap I Just About Spilled Water Everywhere! ----------------------------- ahhaaha MATT GREENE = BOBBY ORR!!!! i'm laughing so hard right now.. i love this kid ------------------------------ Matt Greene, the mean Greene sniper!!! ------------------------------ Alright Matt Orr, time for another goal. ===================== And a few comments from Greene: "It's good to finally get it over with and to have that done," said Greene, who was glad the game ended in regulation. "I think I'm number 20 on the shootout list. I don't even get to play in overtime let alone a shootout." Matt Greene on his goal - "I blacked out for 5 seconds."

If we're talking about this weekend, then Kozek's the man because he loves scoring against Michigan Tech. Career against MTU: 5-0-5 in 4 games. Career against everyone else: 5-9-14 in 58 games.

I believe that was about the time that signs were falling from the arena scoreboard. "And a sign fell from the sky, and smote the Seawolf."

OK now this just drives me crazy. Watkins is getting outproduced by Miller, and that's somehow a problem because Miller didn't play much last year. Miller didn't play much because he was coming off shoulder surgery and wasn't able to work out sufficiently in the summer preceding his freshman year. Now we're starting to see what he's capable of. Strength is still an issue for him, as he gets bounced along the boards quite a bit, but it is a real treat watching him carry the puck up the ice with a little room and create. How Miller rounding into form is somehow an indictment of Watkins escapes me. Watkins' production has increased nicely this year, and, no, the bar for Watkins wasn't set low last year. Those were decent numbers for a true freshman who is not in the all-universe category like a few others have been. As for how they compare to the BCHL, his BCHL numbers were solid, but were not spectacular by any means (they were about half of what Travis Zajac put up). One would not typically expect a player with Watkins' BCHL resume to come in and be an offensive star. Here's the kicker though. Anyone watching the games can see how good a player Watkins is, even when he's not on the scoreboard. I love what Miller is doing offensively, but there are a ton of other hockey things that Watkins does better - he wins races, he wins battles. In two years, when Toews and Oshie are rightfully being lauded in the former players thread, and when Duncan and Miller may be leading the team in scoring, Watkins will be the heart and soul of the team.