The Cobra
01-04-2011, 02:47 PM
As per TSN-----Bob McKenzie
It was really a special night for Canada at the World Junior Championship on Monday.
I was in Salt Lake City and there were a lot of Canadians there, but it wasn't the same as this semifinal in Buffalo. I was in North Dakota and there were a lot of Canadians there, but it wasn't the same either.
This may have been one of the most perfect games ever played by a Canadian team at the World Junior Championships; the execution, the decision making, striking that balance between discipline and emotion.
I think head coach Dave Cameron was able to get all four lines on his hockey team playing the game the way that they wanted to play it, aggressively taking away the time, space and strength of the American team, which is speed.
If you give the Americans open ice, you will be in trouble. On Monday night, every time a white sweater grabbed the puck, there was a red sweater on him. Sometimes it was physical, sometimes it wasn't, but they didn't have open ice, especially in the first period when the tone for this game was set.
Canada played virtually perfect in terms of taking away the time and space, being physical, getting stick on stick and doing a really good job of not allowing a very speedy and skilled American team to get going.
The Americans wanted a track meet, Canada wanted to put the game on the wall. The game was played on the wall and Canada got the victory.
Net Gains
In net for the Canadians, Mark Visentin was terrific. This was a goaltender that because he gave up a couple of weak goals when the tournament started, people started to wonder if this was the best Canada has to offer.
Mark Visentin is arguably the very best goaltender in the OHL. He has far better numbers than American netminder Jack Campbell, who plays for the Windsor Spitfires.
Visentin had the questions coming in because of the shakiness, but right from the start Visentin had no sense of nerves what so ever. He squared up to the shooter, and wasn't overplaying the puck.
Campbell is the guy who has won a World Junior Championship in the past. Campbell is the guy who has won back-to-back gold medals at the Under-18's. Visentin has never performed at this level, on this stage.
However, Visentin didn't fall off a turnip truck coming down the QEW on the way to Buffalo. He was drafted in the first round by the Phoenix Coyotes.
The other part of Visentin game that was magnificent was his puck-handling. He really alleviated a lot of the pressure that Canada faced from the Americans. When they got the puck in the zone, Visentin was terrific, getting that puck around and setting the Canadians on their way for offence.
Visentin set up a goal in the game and was nothing but cool, calm, and composed, not only making saves but getting the puck up to his defencemen and forwards to take away any forecheck pressure from the United States.
Coming Up Short
There are a number of factors why Team USA isn't playing the gold medal game this year.
Certainly you give Canada credit because they took the game away from them, but there were other factors at work here too, like psyche.
You always wonder how a team is going to react when they are the number one team. It was fair to list them as the number one team, not prohibitive favourites, especially with eight returning players and Jack Campbell in net playing on what was supposed to be home ice.
The other factor is the division that they played in. They didn't get very many tough games. Yes, they were pushed by Team Finland, but that wasn't life and death situation. Yes, they got pushed by Switzerland, but that wasn't life or death either.
They weren't as pressure treated as Canada was and you could see when the rubber hit the road, in an elimination game, when the fans were going crazy and Canada came with its A-Game, the Americans didn't have a response and they simply weren't up to the challenge.
It was really a special night for Canada at the World Junior Championship on Monday.
I was in Salt Lake City and there were a lot of Canadians there, but it wasn't the same as this semifinal in Buffalo. I was in North Dakota and there were a lot of Canadians there, but it wasn't the same either.
This may have been one of the most perfect games ever played by a Canadian team at the World Junior Championships; the execution, the decision making, striking that balance between discipline and emotion.
I think head coach Dave Cameron was able to get all four lines on his hockey team playing the game the way that they wanted to play it, aggressively taking away the time, space and strength of the American team, which is speed.
If you give the Americans open ice, you will be in trouble. On Monday night, every time a white sweater grabbed the puck, there was a red sweater on him. Sometimes it was physical, sometimes it wasn't, but they didn't have open ice, especially in the first period when the tone for this game was set.
Canada played virtually perfect in terms of taking away the time and space, being physical, getting stick on stick and doing a really good job of not allowing a very speedy and skilled American team to get going.
The Americans wanted a track meet, Canada wanted to put the game on the wall. The game was played on the wall and Canada got the victory.
Net Gains
In net for the Canadians, Mark Visentin was terrific. This was a goaltender that because he gave up a couple of weak goals when the tournament started, people started to wonder if this was the best Canada has to offer.
Mark Visentin is arguably the very best goaltender in the OHL. He has far better numbers than American netminder Jack Campbell, who plays for the Windsor Spitfires.
Visentin had the questions coming in because of the shakiness, but right from the start Visentin had no sense of nerves what so ever. He squared up to the shooter, and wasn't overplaying the puck.
Campbell is the guy who has won a World Junior Championship in the past. Campbell is the guy who has won back-to-back gold medals at the Under-18's. Visentin has never performed at this level, on this stage.
However, Visentin didn't fall off a turnip truck coming down the QEW on the way to Buffalo. He was drafted in the first round by the Phoenix Coyotes.
The other part of Visentin game that was magnificent was his puck-handling. He really alleviated a lot of the pressure that Canada faced from the Americans. When they got the puck in the zone, Visentin was terrific, getting that puck around and setting the Canadians on their way for offence.
Visentin set up a goal in the game and was nothing but cool, calm, and composed, not only making saves but getting the puck up to his defencemen and forwards to take away any forecheck pressure from the United States.
Coming Up Short
There are a number of factors why Team USA isn't playing the gold medal game this year.
Certainly you give Canada credit because they took the game away from them, but there were other factors at work here too, like psyche.
You always wonder how a team is going to react when they are the number one team. It was fair to list them as the number one team, not prohibitive favourites, especially with eight returning players and Jack Campbell in net playing on what was supposed to be home ice.
The other factor is the division that they played in. They didn't get very many tough games. Yes, they were pushed by Team Finland, but that wasn't life and death situation. Yes, they got pushed by Switzerland, but that wasn't life or death either.
They weren't as pressure treated as Canada was and you could see when the rubber hit the road, in an elimination game, when the fans were going crazy and Canada came with its A-Game, the Americans didn't have a response and they simply weren't up to the challenge.