Skookum Jim wrote on Tue, 02 January 2024 10:33

Well that was an early exit.. I blame Hockey Canada.. so many players to choose from and they always find a way to pick some guys that are weak links.. Dumais "2nd most points in the CHL" was an absolute ghost in the tourney.. dragged down Celebrini's line.. TC couldn't generate goals.. Savoie .. Minten.. Poitras .. Cowan.. Wood (good shot.. too slow).. were ineffective forwards.. Dumais is an example how HC gets tunnel vision on players.. the guy has a lot of points in the Q, but is 5'-9", not fast, and could barely compete at this level. Coach should have stacked 3 lines to generate some goals.. blame him for not adjusting.. stubbornly stuck to his 4 line combo's.. Canada's best forward for speed, skill, shot, smarts was a 17 year old.. I don't know the entire CHL roster.. but there had to be some better 19 year old forwards out there.. Hockey Canada seems to get tunnel vision sometimes on the guys that come up through the younger Team Canada teams like the U-17's, U-18's.. and can't adjust their focus if the players slow down in developing as they get older.. and get passed by others that never make it on to the the Hockey Canada talent radar.. Maybe they should get back to having a TC training camp and make some cuts based on some relative competition instead of just naming a team ?? Defense was decent.. Goalie chose the quarter final to have his worst game.. two weak goals early killed their chances in a tight game.. Bright side I get at least 3+ hours of spare time back in my life this week 👍🏻 Next year...

Every so often, we have a year that's a little weaker. This is one of those. Lots of 18 year olds, one underage, and only a single player who was on the team the year prior. That experience can matter sometimes. Next year's team is likely to have more returnees and a better shot at it.

I don't think size was the difference maker. Certainly, on the larger European rinks, bringing a bunch of board-rattlers isn't going to turn the tables for you. I did think that the Canadian team looked sloppy and uncertain even in the early wins against Finland and to an extent even Latvia.

Single game elimination and beaten by a late goal...well, that can happen to anyone, just ask the Swedes of the 2002 Olympics. Hopefully the goalie doesn't take that one too hard. Heaven knows that Canada needs to develop more high end goalie prospects. I've often wondered why so many picked for Team Canada never go anywhere...

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
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