The Canadians juniors suffered a crushing defeat at the
hands of the Russians in the 2012 WJHC but got sweet revenge this time around,
this time defeating the former Soviet Union in their native land. Malcolm
Subban once again narrated brilliance out on the ice, while outdueling surprise
starter in my mind, that being Andrey Makarov.
This game wasn’t one that would appeal to fans who prefer
higher scoring affairs, but it was a tight checking, at times stale battle that
some would argue fits right into Canada’s strategical philosophy. This morning’s
tilt may be a prudent wake-up call to Oiler first overall pick Nail Yakupov as
he certainly wouldn’t have seen anything close to Canada’s calibre of defence
in the KHL, which has the reputation of being on par with pond hockey. I sense
we will see a Canada-Russia 2 in the final, so as long as the Canadians don’t
let this victory get to their head we should be in for absolute classic next
weekend.
So upfront, the Canadians as a whole couldn’t muster much
offence, but luckily not much was needed due to a stellar collective
performance from the defence. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was an absolute beast out on
the ice, by far turning in his best performance. Some might say because he
compiled five points versus the Germans, that was his best effort to date, but
thus we remember we are talking about the lowly Germans. He looked as if he had
oodles of more energy tonight and for the first time in a while he was
dictating the pace of play. It was a pleasure to watch him play this morning as
he tore apart an at times rumbustious Russian defence. A line switch promoting
Jonathan Drouin to the top unit sure made an obvious for the draft eligible
Moosehead, but I hope to the general viewing audience it was obvious that he
was the benefactor to playing alongside a player that when this tournament is
all said and done, may be considered one of the all time World Junior Hockey
Championship greats, that being RNH. Mark Schiefele’s defensive zone mistake
led to the Russian goal, but overall he gets a B- grade in my books. The new
second line(well I guess all lines were new due to the reinstation of Boone
Jenner) of Ryan Strome, Jonathan Huberdeau and Ty Rattie was good, but could be
better. Ryan Strome’s penchant for taking petty, undisciplined penalties is
reportedly becoming a concern for coach Steve Spott, and if this continues he
could see his minutes being reduced. Ty Rattie was physically outmatched at
times by a towering Russian blue line, but on a couple of occasions used his blazing
speed to his advantage and broke out to some odd man rushes. Huberdeau will be
in the National Hockey League shortly, there’s no doubt, but as the tournament
has progressed his play has declined. In the first game, I felt he was the one
who carried Nugent-Hopkins to his five point night, but I’m seeing a lack of
emotion right now. Does he have a hunch that there is an imminent end to the
lockout? Is he physically not 100%? The answer may be never be known, but his
added offence would be much appreciated. Boone Jenner returned and it took him
all of a period to get his legs under him, afterwards he was dynamite. His
penalty killing prowess in the third period was remniscient to what Casey
Cizikas did in the third period against the Swedes in the 2011 tournament
opener. Nothing was going to knock him off the puck, he was a possessed man
late in that game. Brett Ritchie could’ve of taken his demotion to the third
line poorly, but he bought in to the team first concept and embraced the
grinding role to a T. He and Jenner brought an interesting dynamic because they
were matched up with a player in Yakupov and they met the challenge in spades.
If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought Nail was a late round draft pick. Philip
Danault did enough but I wasn’t completely satisfied. On a couple of PK points
in the game, he was getting easily beat through the neutral zone and seeing
things like that makes me question whether he is the right fit on the penalty
kill. Anthony Camara and Mark McNeill
were awesome out there(and McNeill’s rank will prove this). Arguably, along
with Nathan MacKinnon this was Canada’s most electric and consistent line throughout the entire
game. These are three big boys who use
their size as well, but don’t let their level of skill go over your head.
McNeill could’ve easily netted two goals and spent the majority of the game in
Russia’s end. To finish out the forwards, when given the ice time J.C Lipon
shockingly stayed out of the box and successfully killed off a few penalties.
Griffin Reinhart continues to improve. The older brother of
stud Kootenay Ice Sam Reinhart, started slow(both figuratively and literally),
but has improved remarkably through the round robin. The coaching staff had no
problem throwing him on the ice when Yakupov and Grigorenko jumped over the
boards and that added personal confidence should continue to grow for him. Is
it humanly possible for Ryan Murphy to start a rush and not lose the puck near
the opposing blue line. He needs to slow down his thought process and if he can
do this, he has the natural skill level that COULD make him Canada’s best
defenceman going forward. I’ve been tough on Xavier Ouellet in the last couple
of entries, but there was a marginal difference with him this morning. Spott
has continued to allow him substantial Power Play time, and for the first time
he was actually properly quarterbacking the second unit, finding the open guy
without firing everything on net. Moose Jaw Warrior Morgan Rielly had about as
much success this morning as his Warrior’s did on Saturday night. None. He was
getting pushed around and beat in the corners from the likes of Grigorenko,
something that has scared NHL scouts even prior to his NHL draft. I guess that
all that truly matters is the viewpoint that the Leaf general manager has, being
Brian Burke. From all reports, he is smitten with the way Morgan plays the
game. Dougie Hamilton had a bounce back game and he was Canada’s best all
around defenceman. I may have made a similar comparison, but that shot today
was not Al MacInnis-esque, even better yet it was Al Lafratre-esque. Hamilton’s
partner Scott Harrington didn’t have his best effort today. Harrington coughed
up the puck a couple of times in his zone and was thankfully bailed out by
Malcolm Subban. What I saw was a player who was trying to be too cutie petutie
with the puck and is best served to get back to the basics. The Basics are why
the Pittsburgh Penguins made the selection on the London Knight captain. Tyler
Wotherspoon was shaken up after a
vicious hit in the first period, and although he came back he wasn’t the same
player. I highly question if he was 100% afterwards and I wouldn’t be surprised
if a future report came out ruling him
out for the pending semi-final against either U.S.A or the Czech Republic.
Thank-you for checking in and have a happy new year!
Now for the infamous rankings…….
1.Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2.Mark McNeill
3.Dougie Hamilton
4.Ryan Strome
5.Griffin Reinhart
6.Boone Jenner
7.Brett Ritchie
8.Xavier Ouellet
9.Scott Harrington
10.Jonathan Drouin
11.Anthony Camara
12.Ty Rattie
13.Mark Scheifele
14.Jonathan Huberdeau
15.Ryan Murphy
16.Nathan MacKinnon
17.Tyler Wotherspoon
18.J.C Lipon
19.Philip Danault
20.Morgan Rielly
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