Anybody else following this tournament? I love this time of year.
Canada got off to a bit of a slow start today against the Germans, but their supreme offensive firepower made it a non-issue. Budding CHL superstar scorer Anthony Mantha recorded a hat trick to help lead Canada to a 7-2 victory.
The Americans controlled the game from the start against the Czechs in a convincing 5-1 victory. Five different players got on the score sheet for the defending gold medal winners. Providence College's Jon Gillies (South Portland, ME native), who backed up Gibson in net last year, will likely have to be superb for USA to make another run at gold. He's big and talented and could be just the man for the job. Other returnees include this year's captain Riley Barber (Miami) and Ryan Hartman (Plymouth).
I didn't see the other two games, but Russia downed Norway 11-0. Eight different Russians scored and it was 10-0 after just two periods. Amazingly, only one Russian player had even three points. Sweden won 5-3 over Switzerland, to cap a predictable opening day.
Among the highest interest will be watching a couple of 2015-eligible skaters play in the form of Canada's wunderkind Connor McDavid and USA's Jack Eichel. Both looked solid in their debuts. And that ignores Canada's superstar 2014-eliglble players who could go 1-2 in the draft -- Sam Reinhart and Aaron Ekblad.
Players like Stefan Matteau, Matt Dumba, Scott Laughton, Mikhail Grigorenko, Filip Forsberg, Elias Lindholm, and Connor Carrick have all played in the NHL already. And then there's big time prospects who have already been drafted but who have yet to make the NHL. Among the numerous qualifies players are Jonathan Drouin, Griffin Reinhart, Alexander Wennberg, Bo Horvat, Derrick Pouliot, Teuvo Teravinen, Josh Morrissey, et al.... It should be a fun tournament. Per usual, Canada are the favorites, but a lot can happen in a short tournament with kids.
TSN Links:
Overall Schedule/Results
USA Roster
Canada Roster
Canada got off to a bit of a slow start today against the Germans, but their supreme offensive firepower made it a non-issue. Budding CHL superstar scorer Anthony Mantha recorded a hat trick to help lead Canada to a 7-2 victory.
The Americans controlled the game from the start against the Czechs in a convincing 5-1 victory. Five different players got on the score sheet for the defending gold medal winners. Providence College's Jon Gillies (South Portland, ME native), who backed up Gibson in net last year, will likely have to be superb for USA to make another run at gold. He's big and talented and could be just the man for the job. Other returnees include this year's captain Riley Barber (Miami) and Ryan Hartman (Plymouth).
I didn't see the other two games, but Russia downed Norway 11-0. Eight different Russians scored and it was 10-0 after just two periods. Amazingly, only one Russian player had even three points. Sweden won 5-3 over Switzerland, to cap a predictable opening day.
Among the highest interest will be watching a couple of 2015-eligible skaters play in the form of Canada's wunderkind Connor McDavid and USA's Jack Eichel. Both looked solid in their debuts. And that ignores Canada's superstar 2014-eliglble players who could go 1-2 in the draft -- Sam Reinhart and Aaron Ekblad.
Players like Stefan Matteau, Matt Dumba, Scott Laughton, Mikhail Grigorenko, Filip Forsberg, Elias Lindholm, and Connor Carrick have all played in the NHL already. And then there's big time prospects who have already been drafted but who have yet to make the NHL. Among the numerous qualifies players are Jonathan Drouin, Griffin Reinhart, Alexander Wennberg, Bo Horvat, Derrick Pouliot, Teuvo Teravinen, Josh Morrissey, et al.... It should be a fun tournament. Per usual, Canada are the favorites, but a lot can happen in a short tournament with kids.
TSN Links:
Overall Schedule/Results
USA Roster
Canada Roster