WJC 2014 - Team Canada

I believe it was Ray Ferraro who made the comment, but the best description of the World Juniors play that has ever been said, was... 

"You never see the same play twice... the coaches haven't had the time to coach the creativity out of the players yet." 

That's exactly what Team Canada has shown so far, whether it has been effective or not varies by player. 

So, let's talk about three things that they need to fix and then some discussion about each player, shall we?

Three Things that Canada Needs To Address If They Want to Medal 

• Penalties
  This is the team's biggest struggle right now, Canada needs to stay out of the box if they want to win any games. Let's face it, their Penalty Kill is just not strong enough to be taking any needless penalties. Canada needs to play much more disciplined and needs to stop putting themselves in situations where a penalty is the only way out. Granted, some of the penalties haven't been the best calls, but you have to deal with it.
  Along with that, there are some players - mainly Drouin, but I'm not pointing fingers at anyone - who need to not whine to the officials when any call is made. Particularly in the game against Slovakia, when Canada was just getting slaughtered with penalties, there was a lot of chirping going on from Drouin, who had also received a handful of warnings from officials. Really, it's amazing that he didn't get tossed, or a penalty at the very least. That needs to change. Drouin is not the only one who is whining too much,  but he's the easiest example to use because it is very obvious. The whining about calls needs to stop before the officials stop taking them seriously or they start getting more calls against them. It needs to end. 
• Physicality
  With the exception of the game against the USA, Canada had not been playing their game with any sort of physical presence. In the first three games, Canada looked like they were just getting pushed around, and that is not how it should be. Then all the sudden when Canada is up against a roster that has lots of big guys, Canada starts hitting. It didn't make sense, but it was a good change. It helped their game tremendously and that is why they need to keep that up for the quarter finals and on. With the physicality though, they also need to be cautious thanks to all the whining that they have done and Drouin's head check in the Slovakia game. I really hope to see a lot more hitting in Canada's play on Thursday. 
• Shots
  There are some things that Canada has started doing that just make me cringe. My idea of how a team should attack the offensive zone is to just throw pucks to the net all the time and eventually something will go in if you use enough physical force. That is not the approach Canada is taking at all, in fact it's not even remotely close. The numbers from the first period of the USA game proved it. So what is Canada doing then? Well, I like to think of it as a case of the Hemskys. But I won't call it that because Hemsky fans gets a little sensitive when someone criticizes him. Canada spends just a second or two too long with the puck until they lose their lane, by taking that time to make the play fancy or just chilling there with the puck or just plain selfishness on that shot. Granted, there are times when you want a bit of a screen, but if you have the puck and have a reasonably open lane, shoot it, don't wait until an opposing player lays down in front of you to close the lane. That almost never works. SO STOP IT. SHOOT THE DAMN PUCK.
  This is a bad habit that about half the Oilers have picked up on, and that is not a comparison that any Canadian fan wants to hear. It would go something like this:
               "Team Canada is making plays that are very similar to the way the Oilers                           would do it!"
               "NO SHUT UP. NO!"
  And of course, I say this with the utmost love for about 90% of the Oilers organization.
  Anyways, back to my original point, it would be beneficial to Canada if they could just get pucks on net. After the first period of the game against the Americans, Canada had less than 10 shots, while the Americans were just shy of 20. That cannot happen again. 

Here's Your 2014 Team Canada Players
Now that round-robin is over, we all have a decent idea of what each player is like. So here's my thoughts on them.

• Jake Paterson
  Paterson may have only played in half the round-robin games, but he was less than impressive. Granted, it's not all on him, he needs the team in front of him to do well, but still, he wasn't looking as sturdy as he could have. He wasn't terrible, but he certainly wasn't amazing. 
• Zach Fucale
  Opposite of Paterson, Fucale has been AMAZING in the two games he played in. In the USA game, even though Canada was playing what is possibly their best game of the tournament, Fucale absolutely stole the game. If it wasn't for Fucale being a brick wall, it may not have ended the way it did. Everything that I have read and heard about Fucale has been exactly what you need in a goalie.... chatty, condfident, full of swagger - but none of that in a bad way, from what I've heard. That's great. If Fucale looks like this at 18, I can't wait to see him in about 7 years.
                                      
• Adam Pelech
  Pelech has not been an in your face kind of player so far, but he has been very impressive. He's been great with getting plays started. He's been reasonably physical too, which is more than anyone can say for a lot of this team. Really, he's just been good overall, and he hasn't been a liability for Canada, but he has been quietly doing well. 
• Chris Bigras
  Bigras has also been a very quiet presence on the ice. He's been good, not overly impressive, but certainly not horrible either. 
• Aaron Ekblad
  Ekblad is tied for my favorite player of the World Juniors this year. He has been absolutely outstanding in all aspects of the game. It also helps that he's one of the biggest guys on the team, size does matter when it comes to defensemen, typically, and at 6'4'', he's no small guy. Ekblad is draft eligible this year as he is only 17 currently, and is apparently projected in the top five. With the way Edmonton is crapping the bed lately, they should be drafting high, and a player like Ekblad might just be what they need. Big fan of Ekblad. He's been very impressive.
                                           
• Josh Morrissey
  Morrissey hasn't been totally invisible in this tournament, but he hasn't been a huge dominating force. That being said, he has been impressive with what he has done. 
• Griffin Reinhart
  Reinhart has only played in one game this tournament but he played exceptional. He is a big presence on the blue line, and just a solid force all around in the game. Being that he's an Oil King currently, living in Edmonton, I have heard plenty about him and saw him play a few times a few years ago. He's good, there's no denying that. Canada was wise to bring him along despite the suspension, because he's back for the games that really matter.
                                           
• Derrick Pouliot
  Pouliot is a player that I had not heard a whole lot about prior to the tournament. He has been wicked awesome, much like Ekblad. He has been a big force out there, and has been solid defensively. Pouliot has been very impressive, and has logged a whole lot of ice time. 
• Matt Dumba
  Dumba has not been himself this tournament. He had the flu early on, and it's still showing in his game. He's not moving like usual, he's not a force out there that the other team is scared of, he's just there. And because just being a body on the ice is what he's doing, he has become a liability for the Canadians at times.
  This is very unlike Dumba though, from what we have seen, it's apparent that his game is like this due to being sick, and that's all. 
• Charles Hudon
  Hudon has had a great tournament, much better than he was doing last year. As one of the last players picked for the roster, he has shown that he certainly earned that spot. Hudon's determined attitude became very apparent when he was injured and came back after missing only a couple shifts - I still am nearly positive that he dislocated his shoulder, but that hasn't been confirmed or anything. 
• Bo Horvat
  Horvat has had a very nice run in this tournament so far. He has done nothing but show that he deserves that spot as much as anyone. He's been good.
  Semi-side note on him - Prior to the USA game, TSN ran a story about Horvat's friend who had died and how he could have been playing on Team USA. It was extremely touching and made me appreciate Horvat a whole lot more. 
• Taylor Leier
  Leier has been quite impressive so far. There's really not anything bad to say about him. Leier was a player that I certainly had not heard a whole lot about prior to the World Juniors, and he has proven to me that that was crazy. He's been very impressive, in a not overly dominant way. 
• Kerby Rychel
  Rychel has been playing on the fourth line for most of the tournament so in turn he hasn't seen a whole whack of ice time. The time he has been out there, he has been good. He hasn't been overly amazing, but he certainly hasn't been a hinderance. 
• Connor McDavid
  I still am confused as to why McDavid actually made this team. Was it to appease the public? Was it to get him ready to carry the team next year? Was it to show off his strengths? With any of those, they sacrificed a valuable roster spot that could have gone to someone else. So far the only thing that I've seen it do is show the parts of his game that are just not there.
  McDavid has not been all that impressive. Sure, he's had a couple burst of good, but doesn't everyone? There have been countless incidents over the course of the tournament that have been illustrative of how inexperienced he still is. You can tell that he's 16. That's not the kind of player that you want to see out there. McDavid also has been trying to do too much by himself. Then there was the benching incident. McDavid had been doing nothing useful all game, took two unnecessary penalties and got benched for the entire third period. That's exactly what he deserved, but that didn't stop people from bitching about it. He needed to sit out for a bit. He needed to get his composure back. He needed the reality check that he's not a God like everyone is treating him like. He's 16 and you can see it in his game.
  I hope, for his sake and the Team's sake, that McDavid gets readjusted in time, and starts playing well for the end of the tournament. If he doesn't, I'm very disappointed that Canada sacrificed a roster spot for his half-assed play. 
• Nic Petan
  Petan, Petan, Petan. Nic Petan has been wicked awesome this tournament. Petan has been able to contribute offensively when it mattered most. He had three back to back goals, granted over two games, but each of the three was tremendously important to Canada. He has been great. Petan is a little guy at 5'9'', but he's a giant force on the ice. I hope to see him keeping it up for the rest of the tournament.
                                          
• Scott Laughton
  Oh Captain, my Captain.
  Captain of Team Canada, Scott Laughton has been wonderful this tournament. I have been tremendously impressed by him, even though he hasn't been a huge offensive force that would impress most people. The thing about his game that makes him a great contributor to this team is that you can see how much it means to him. He gets mad when they aren't playing as well as they should be, and it shows - he checks the opposition and he fights to get the plays going. He wears his heart on his sleeve in this game. Philadelphia has a great prospect in Laughton. 
• Frederik Gauthier
  Gautier has been impressive in the faceoff dot for Canada. Prior to the game against the Americans I wouldn't have had a whole lot to say about him, but then there was one notable shift that bothered me. Towards the end of the game, Canada was on a powerplay and Gauthier got sent out to take the draw and was supposed to promptly get his butt to the bench to allow the next player out - my memory is failing me here, but I think it was Lazar. Gauthier took the draw, won the draw, had plenty of time to skate over to the bench, and didn't. If you ask me, that's either inexperience in reading a situation or just plain selfishness. Either way, that's not the way to be a part of Team Canada. 
• Sam Reinhart
  Reinhart has been awesome. Reinhart is 18 and draft eligible this year, and he is proving to whoever it drafting first, exactly why they should pick him. He has been a tremendous offensive force and it has paid off. Sam has been great. If he is able to continue on playing that way, it will certainly pay off for him and the team. 
• Josh Anderson
  Anderson is another guy who has been on the fourth line and not seeing a whole ton of ice time. He has been good enough when he's been out there. You can definitely see the potential in Anderson's game though, and that is certainly promising. 
• Curtis Lazar
  Lazar has been AMAZING. One of the best players on this team, for sure. The whole tournament, Lazar has clearly had the determination and the fire under his ass to just give it his all. Luckily, Lazar has the skills to make that determination pay off, and it finally did against the States when he scored. But even when he wasn't the one who was getting the puck to the net, he was the guy that was setting up the plays for everyone else. Lazar has been absolutely amazing. Ottawa is very lucky to have drafted this Oil King, he will develop into something phenomenal.
                                       
• Jonathan Drouin
  Dirty Drouin Dangles. Remember that from last year? I do. Drouin absolutely lit things up last year. He was amazing. This year? Eh. Drouin has been good, don't take that wrong. He hasn't been outstanding though. The biggest downside to his game this year is his whining to the refs. That is going to be Drouin's downfall this year. Other than that, his play has been decent. He has the potential to have been great in this tournament, but he's been trying to do too much on his own and it's starting to show in terms of how effective he is. 
• Anthony Mantha
  Anthony Mantha. My other favorite from this tournament. Mantha has been amazing. He started off the round-robin with a bang with a hat-trick against the Germans. Now that is how you get seen - regardless of the fact that he's the tallest guy on the team at 6'5'' and therefore impossible to not see. Mantha has been great. He has been a strong offensive presence getting the pucks to the net and getting them in the net. But more importantly than that, Mantha has been setting up plays and starting off the plays like his life depended on it. He's been amazing. I look forward to seeing how he performs in the upcoming games.