OT: IIHF World Junior Semis
USA vs. Canada tonight at 7:30 in the semis in Buffalo (Sweden/Russia at 3:30). Two Wolverines, Brown and Merrill, are representing Team USA.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=548196
Let's Go USA, and Go Blue
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:15 PM ^
mongering in your post.
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<br>/s
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
Posts not about coaching changes!!!
There are sports other than football??????
No mention of the name Jim or Harbaugh or any other derivative thereof?!?!?!
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^
thank you NHL Network for televising it. It is always nice to find things that are great to watch and read about that have nothing to do with CC
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
I heard that if USA wins tonight, Brown, Merrill, and the entire senior class are all going pro immediately and Red is retiring.
/s
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
...but I think the US beats us for the second year in a row. Too much returning talent, offensive skill and goaltending for us to handle. Campbell's been great in goal and Merrill's been solid on the d line.
Signed,
Canadian who will be genuinely surprised if the U.S. does not beat us.
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^
What the hell are you talking about?
If it happens, congratulate them after the game.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:01 PM ^
I blame this on the meteoric rise in popularity of curling in your country after the last Olympics. The best athletes aren't playing hockey any more.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
The first nation of hockey AND the first nation of curling...let me know about your dominance when you win five in a row.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
What can I say, I'm a realist.
Campbell's a great goalie and our defence/goaltending has struggled this tournament.
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
For you local guys, watch out for Wings prospects Calle Jarnkrok from Sweden, and fellow American Mitch Callahan. Both have played solid so far (Mitch is not a scorer, but rather a grinder).
As another side note, one of the top players thus far has been Teemu Pulkkinen from the recently eliminated Finland. Another wings prospect.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
Jarnkrok just scored to tie the game for Sweden.
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:48 PM ^
Both Merrill and Brown have been playing great at the WJC. Brown has been playing kind of "meh" this year, so I hope he comes back all fired up and kicked some butt.
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
Damn, I forgot all about hockey amid the angst elsewhere.... Thanks for the reminder.
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
I went out this afternoon and all I heard on the sports radio was NFL coaching speculation which, naturally, caused for me to worry pointlessly about the Michigan situation.
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:01 PM ^
jeeze....Canada's forechecking is way too strong.
2-0 Canada....halfway in the first
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:39 PM ^
3 - 0 part way into the second...
15 first rounders on that Canadian team...imagine if we had the other 7 currently in the NHL?
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:27 PM ^
I withdraw my earlier skepticism. It's been all Canada this game. If not for Campbell, the score would be even worse than 4-0.
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
Yeah, no doubt. People will invariably say that the U.S. didn't show up, or something like that, but this game went down like this solely because of how well Canada played. Just dominating, plain and simple.
January 3rd, 2011 at 11:09 PM ^
The Canadian forecheck and size was pretty much the key factor that I suspected it would be prior to the tournament. The US team speed/skill was clearly over rated by most pundits. The US defense, across the board, looked uncomfortable and rushed the whole game and only stellar netminding kept that game from being very ugly.
Clearly, this seems like the style Canada is implementing within the national programs as we saw very talented but smaller players left off the team. Interestingly, this was the same approach taken but the women's team and men's team at the Olympics last year with size plus forecheck.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
That was one of the most well played hockey games I've ever seen. Canada just dominated the most (I guess second most) talented team in the tournament for 60 minutes.
January 4th, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^
Canada just came out hard from the start !
Impressive win by Canada
Sweden got screwed today by the refs, not like that has ever happened to Michigan in Hockey ( see regional final 2010 vs Miami of Ohio).
Just gotta deal with with
Canada will handle Russia
USA and Sweden will be a very competitve matchup i think