The 2011 World Junior Hockey Thread (Dec. 26 - Jan. 5)

[topherpaquette]

Well, its just about that time of year! I have to admit that it is one of highlights of my holidays at Christmas time. Is anyone headed over to Buffalo to check it out?

Being from Windsor, I thought I would get this thread started with a feature seen on TSN about teammates who play on the same Junior team, but go to war with their respective countries...

http://watch.tsn.ca/international-ho...137#clip387137

GO CANADA GO!!!

[topherpaquette]

Final Roster has been released....

Goal: Olivier Roy and Mark Visentin

Defence: Returnees Jared Cowen, Calvin de Haan and Ryan Ellis along with Dylan Olsen, Simon Despres, Tyson Barrie and Erik Gudbranson

Forward: Returnee Brayden Schenn leads along with Carter Ashton, Casey Cizikas, Brett Connolly, Cody Eakin, Marcus Foligno, Curtis Hamilton, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen, Zack Kassian, Louis Leblanc, Jaden Schwartz and 18-year-old Sean Couturier.

Source: TSN

[hugh]

I look forward to the Juniors as well. Best hockey to watch all year long.

[dm_4u]

I concur...this WJC tourney and the Little League World Series are my two favorite TV events every year...in non olympic years that is

[99gecko]

Same here. Part of the beauty of the event is that it is all over and done with in less than two weeks. The NHL playoffs for comparison, last almost three months!

[bongoxx]

I love watching the World Juniors and I'm planning on going to a few of the games. Bought 2 tickets for each game of the tournament, but will likely only make a few of them.

[topherpaquette]

Well....

We got out first look at Canada last night in a pre-tournment game vs the Swiss. 8-0 final for the boys wearing the Leaf. Overall not a bad game, but noticed that coach Cameron had to work hard to keep the boys focused and motivated in the last 20 minutes.

For those wondering where goals were going to come from on this team there were 8 different goal scorers for Team Canada.

[topherpaquette]

So far... it has been an interesting tourney... Canada has come out flat footed both games thus far but once they get it going, Canada is firing on all cylinders...

I will be at the Canada - Norway game tomorrow so I will report back about what its like on the inside.

[waterug]

Two or three times in tonight's game (Canada vs Czech Republic), Pierre McGuire mentioned that the first Czech goal was the result of a "failure to communciate" (reminded me of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) between two Canadian players, plus other occasions. What I'd like to know is how can you "communicate" when:
(a) you're wearing a mouthguard?
(b) the crowd noise is very loud?
Any coaches out there?

[Jaymeister]

I think you're actually referring to Cool Hand Luke.

Anyhow, as usual I yawn over this tournament. Yes, it's entertaining hockey, but I can't get excited over a tournament that only one participating country cares about. Everywhere else it gets the same amount of attention as a U20 world championship in any other sport, but Canadians raise the importance of it to just under an Olympic Games. Therefore, we SHOULD win this thing every year - given all the other teams' apathy, there's no excuse for us not to win it.

[hugh]

Watched about half of the first two games. Once again, pretty entertaining hockey. The biggest downside for me is McGuire.

[rocket9]

The media in the USA doesn't care about this tourney but the brain trust, organizers and players sure do. The USA is producing talent on par with Canada on a yearly basis now. And they are favourites this year. The Czechs have fallen way off since their glory years of 2000. The Russians seem to field very talented teams but they lack top flight coaching (an area where we dominate completely, BTW) and don't seem to make the adjustments needed as the games roll along. The Swedes are often very good squads but lack the physical dimension that is essential to beat North American teams. Finland just doesn't produce enough top flight talent but they do seem to have 2 or 3 really good players.

Overall, its hasn't developed into the super compettitive tournament I thought it would be by now. But then again, noone puts more energy into developing hockey talent (players, coaches and administrators) as Canada.

[topherpaquette]

Well,

just checked into our hotel in Buffalo and it is 80% Canadien at our place easily. The Molson tent is just down the street and headed that way now. I would have to say though... in person it is far from a yawn. Very energetic to say the least...

(This is part of an email sent from Mr. topher to Mrs. topher that he asked me to post)

[NB Josh]

I enjoy the hockey, but it is a bit overrated. The talent gap between Canada, US, Finland, Sweden, Russia and everyone else is huge. That makes half of the round robin games boring. Even at the Olympics countries like Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland are competitive against the top teams. Both Canada-Russia and Finland-USA on Sunday were great. I'm looking forward to the Canada-Sweden game on Friday too. Otherwise, there should be one good quarter final and then the semis and the final are usually very entertaining hockey.

I actually like Pierre. If anything Gord Miller is the biggest downside for me. I hope that eventually TSN gets Chris Cuthbert to take his place. Cuthbert has shown that he is very good at calling big international tournaments when he has worked the Olympics for CBC and CTV.

[bongoxx]

Originally Posted by hugh

The biggest downside for me is McGuire.

Have to agree with you there, he is one of the most annoying commentators out there.

"He's a MONSTER"