Canada vs USA ... we can finally exhale
For me, the Four Nations Cup was just about the inevitable game FINAL between the two hockey powers, Canada and the USA.
Would any fans show up if the FINAL had been Sweden vs Finland? Incidentally, 45% of today's NHL is made up of Canadians and 24% are US citizens.
The following is just my opinion/thoughts regarding the tournament. If you'd like to offer yours, please do so at the end of this note.
*Initially, I didn't want to watch because I just thought it was another take on an All-Star game ... no intensity ... no passion ... no body contact. I was very, very wrong.
*I watched the games on US television with Mark Messier and PK Subban as pre and post-period commentators. Messier was OK. Subban is a clothes horse and featured a different spectacular outfit with each appearance. He also chose to attach a "Poppy", yes, in February, a poppy, to his ensemble as some sort of tribute to Don Cherry.
I'm not poppy-wise but I think that displaying a poppy at an inappropriate time or place is frowned on and may be an insult to veterans.
*Do you know who the GM of Team Canada was?
Was it Stevie Y or some other Canadian hockey giant?
No,
It was Don Sweeney.
Who?
Yes, Canada chose the former Bruins player and now GM of the Bruins. I became a Don Sweeney fan on Thursday night.
*Jon Cooper.
I'm a Leaf (it started 73 years ago) but my second team is the Tampa Lightning because I'm lucky enough to spend the winters in St. Pete. My "second" team has given me lots to cheer for by earning two Cups. Coach, Jon Cooper is special ... he's always in control ... you can see it in his body language ... he commands respect and his resume says he's earned it. Win or lose the FINAL ... I thought Coop was the proper choice to lead Canada.
My thoughts on the USA players:
Where was Kyle Connor? He's a handful when he plays for the Jets but I didn't see him in this tournament, Jack Eichel is a force. He may be the Vegas connector back to another Cup win this year. Guentzel is slippery - he reminds me of Bossy. Jack Hughes (who went to high school in Mississauga with my grandson) owned the ice in the first CAN/US game and should have been the game's MVP ... the puck followed him in that game. Mathews runs the Leafs ... Leaf Nation thinks he has saint potential - an excellent player but don't expect him to put a team on his back and overpower an opponent, Chris Kreider is a beast when he plays for NYRangers but the coach chose not to put him on the ice. Larkin was Larkin as expected. McAvoy is a horse and delivered a Bob Baun bodycheck to McDavid after the Canuck had beat him on a break to the net. When it was discovered he couldn't play in the final due to injury, he was asked to present the team's starting lineup in the dressing room before the game ... when he finished his very emotional announcement, he cried like a baby and was thanked and hugged by both Tkachuk brothers (it's a hockey thing) ... what a way to send the boys out of the room and on the ice. Fox was supposed to be a US stalwart D-guy ... I didn't see him. Slavin, who I've never heard of, may have been the best D-guy on the ice for both teams. And the brothers ... enough said about them ... the two players you hate to play against but would love to have on your team.
Hellebuyck was outstanding ... maybe the best athlete on the ice.
For Canada:
First and foremost ... don't you hope Sid can play forever?
I'd never heard of Sam Bennett until he took rookie Maple Leaf, Matt Knives in last year's playoffs and turned him upside down in his first playoff game - I love Bennett. Everybody who doesn't live in Boston hates Brad Marchand. I say ... give me three Marchands and three Galagers and two Caulfields from Montreal and I'll win the Cup every year! Marchand played nice/nice and was ineffective -- even with the Boston crowd ... where I thought he'd fly. Point/Hagel/Cirelli were my Lightning connection and I thought they'd overperform because of Cooper. They seemed ordinary. Ditto Reinhart and Koneckny. Nobody in the NHL smiles like Stone after he scores. Wish I'd seen it more. I don't see Cale Makar play that often because he's in Colorado. My USA commentators couldn't stop talking about how wonderful he is as a player. When I hear DEFENCENMAN/Wonderful player, I think ORR - Coffee - Robinson - Potvin, Lidstrom, Bourque (even though Bourque is questionable because he had a parade for himself in Boston after winning The Cup as a Colorado Rockie) and, of course, the fabulous Doug Harvey. Makar, in my opinion, is not in their company. I love/love/love Drew Doughty -- he never looks at the puck when he's rushing it, but he should never have played even one game on behalf of Canada. He looked like he was one step behind everyone and often out of position. Shea Theodore is a good player -- he wouldn't have been invited to play if he wasn't. In my opinion, he was "boarded" and the player who did that should have been suspended for twenty games ... Theodore may not play again this season. I don't want to say this too loud because it's getting close to the NHL playoffs ... but Marner looks like he's finding a way to be the big-game impact player that Leaf Nation has been hoping for. No need for extra mentions for McDavid ... he delivered as expected, an NHL superstar.
In The New Millennium, it appears that if you want your kid to earn a living playing hockey, you may want to dub him "Connor" ... the NHL is filling up with them; McDavid, Kyle, Hellebuyck and, hey, whatever happened to Bedard?
And finally. Nathan Mckinnon.
You have to love this guy.
He may skate faster with the puck than Connor McDavid.
He's a rock (and has lunch every day in the offseason at my daughter's super protein/gluten-free restaurant SIMPLE KITCHEN -- Crosby and Tavares are also customers ... please excuse the gratuitous plug.
Nathan was the Series MVP but he didn't deserve it.
McDavid didn't deserve the MVP for the final either.
During the NHL/USA coverage, the announcers couldn't help themselves when describing the playing history of Stanley Cup award-winning (St. Louis) goalie, Bennington ... according to them, his NHL performance/record was nowhere near that of his goalie opponent, Hellebuyck. They questioned why he was Canada's choice when there were two other goalies in the wings.
For me, Binnington should have received the MVP game award for being the best player on the ice when it mattered the most and stopping Auston Mathews three times in the last 5 minutes of the final.
He should have received the MVP series award because without him there would have been no McDavid from Marner goal in overtime.
If there's an honourable mention or someone I missed, please include his name and your thoughts in the "Comments" section below.
And. lastly ... Wayne Douglas Gretzky has never looked out-of-place on the ice in his life ... except that night. He will have to pay for his poor display of loyalty towards the Canadian side.
I was hoping for and expecting to see the 1972 Canada/Russia Summit Series hero, Paul Henderson, do the honours for Canada at this event. If he'd appeared on your TV screen wearing the jersey he'd worn during that series, would that have got you out of your Lazy Boy chair to cheer?
Wayne here..Good article as usual Mike. I think Marner deserved some consideration as MVP as well. He scored the overtime winner in Game 1. He also set up the tieing goal and the winning goal in the final game. I didn’t like the 3 fights in 9 seconds to start the tournament. I believe it was instigated by players of the U.S. team. In my eyes, not a good look. Not the right impression to make on kids watching the game. The passion argument doesn’t fly. There’s other ways to display passion.
ReplyDeleteI think it's "baby steps" for Marner. I'm a big fan of his -- if he'd played with Gretzky, Gretzky might still be playing. I didn't want to hex the guy after a great tournament by highlighting his superior contribution. Baby steps! Just get us to the playoffs.
DeleteGreat read! A few comments…It’s hard not to give McDavid first star, but without Bennington there was no opportunity to score the OT winner. He was the difference. In other games, Bennington was good, and exceeded expectations…. many analysts had to eat crow. For me, the most complete players from beginning to end were McKinnon and Marner. I agree, Doughty was a surprise pick, but perhaps his leadership by example (he took a few punishing hits but kept on going) was an asset. While I loved that we won, it would have been devastating if we had lost. Now back to the regular grind.
ReplyDeleteGood read Miichael.
ReplyDeleteMy thought prior it might be a "bubble wrap" series, boy was I wrong. Great hockey.
After Canada scored the overtime winner, did you notice how fast the USA television network departed to " join our regular programming in progress"?
3 CAN 2 U S eh! eh! eh! eh!
Cheers Doug Philpott
I didn't need the post game hoopla. But, I was very happy to see Captain Sid hand the trophy over to Marchand before anyone else.
DeleteFour nations tournament was spectacular. They all came to play; and play hard they did. Final game didn't have the fireworks of the round robin game but was terrific to watch. That game could have gone either way. Difference was USA's star couldn't score whereas Canada's (super) star did. Austin Mathews will have nightmares for the rest of his life over what could have been.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.. Matthews may take the tournament loss as a leaning experience. He may not want to have that bad feeling of loss again. Hope that's the case and he turns into the take-no-prisoners attitude that's meeded to go deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs 2025.
ReplyDeleteI thought Larkin should have got more ice time. Like Henderson in the "Summit Series" he started out as a 4th line guy, then played his way into more ice time by the finals.
DeleteI also thought Biddington won the final game with fantastic play in the OT. He saved the day when Canada needed it , they were getting out played and he made a couple unbelievable saves!
Brilliant analysis, MT, as usual.
ReplyDeleteCouple points; “Oh Canada!!”
Not the Stanley Cup or the Olympics . Made for tv by the NHL. Countless references to “the best players in the world,” failed to recognize the glaring fact that there were NO Russian players.
Turned out to be fun hockey to watch - and beat the heck out of past All-Star games but…
Solid comments on team rosters with photos, etc. (Slippery Guentzel/ The Boss - right on).
C’mon Leafs! Take the Cup!
And if not them, any Canadian team - about time.
Good read Micheal. It was awesome hockey. Much better than watching an NHL game and watching the stupid all-star game the NHL puts on. I didn’t think Canada had the goaltending to take us to the championship. Boy was I wrong. Bennington was spectacular that final game and the reason Canada was in a position in OT to win. I agree he should have been player of the game and first star. For the MVP of the tournament I had no problem with McKinnon being selected, however, Bennington would have been a great choice also. Matthews is a great player, but hasn’t learned how to use his body like the Canadian boys. Really wasn’t that noticeable throughout the tournament. Marner is so creative and played his best game of the tournament when it mattered most. It will be very interesting to see who will represent Canada at the Olympics. Bennington should be the #1 goalie.
ReplyDeleteFrank Morgan
An excellent synopsis Michael. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteGood read as always Mike. You covered all the participants who made significant contributions very well and I totally agree almost all of your comments.
ReplyDeleteThe only minor exception is my personal opinion of the talent of Cale Makar. In the 50 years since the prime of Bobby Orr, the evolution of the speed, size and equipment in the NHL has increased so much, that the domination on the ice by Makar is very reminiscent of Orr as it extends to the modern game. Unfortunately he does seem a little injury prone but nowhere near extent of Orr and his wonky knees. Always enjoy your writings and hearing from you.
Cheers, BK