2016 World Championships Thread

[dlbalr]

The 2016 World Championships have arrived and will take place from May 6th through the 22nd. Unlike past years when they were in the playoffs, the Habs are well represented here with nine players suiting up for nine different countries. They are:

Sven Andrighetto (Switzerland)
Tim Bozon (France)
Mike Condon (USA)
Lars Eller (Denmark)
Alexei Emelin (Russia)
Brendan Gallagher (Canada)

Magnus Nygren (Sweden) - I read he was cut earlier but he's on the submitted roster...
Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic)
Martin Reway (Slovakia)

TSN, RDS and NBCSN will have the TV coverage.

And, of course, our StatTracker which also has the schedule for each Hab: http://www.habsworld.net/2016/05/2016-world-championships-stattracker/

[DON]

Does Canada play Slovakia, or will they televise any Slovak games? Would be nice to see Reway play a bit.

[Neech]

I'm afraid the Leafs got a good one and Matthews will be the best player in the division. McDavid and Matthews will be the new Crosby Ovechkin, except the Leaf seems smart and coachable. Physically gifted with a brain. He could be the best American player ever when it's all said and done (lol ok). Gaging the hype and scouting, he seems like the type of player who would be expected to bring their team a Cup in their career. He was fourth in scoring in the second best men's league in Europe fer chrissake. I'd put his pre-draft stock at least on par with the MacKinnon year or Taylor-Tyler, and higher than anyone from our tank season or anyone but McDavid since Tavares.

Well, this sucks. The Leafs are good now. If this is all true, then it would be a good decision for Stamkos to head over.

So I expect Matthews to have a pretty good tournament. Ugh

Canada's team is stacked as usual and would be a playoff contender, and is the only country that can say that. USA's been gaining on us the last 5-10 years though.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

It's honestly no different to when they got Sundin in an absolute robbery of the Nordiques. They ended up with a player who went to the hall of fame. Guess what, didn't win them a ring.

[DON]

If Matthews was 2 days older, he would of gone 3rd in last years draft.

Can USA 1-1 so far. Taylor Hall with goal.

(make that 2-1 after lil Gallagher scores and on his birthday.)

[Guest Stogey24]

Let me guess. Gallagher was in front of the net when he scored.

[DON]

Let me guess. Gallagher was in front of the net when he scored

safe assumption, just saw score not watching game and recording it and maybe watch later.

[dlbalr]

Let me guess. Gallagher was in front of the net when he scored.

Not directly in front of the net. It was a really nice wrister that he beat Kinkaid (not Condon - he's the backup today). Gallagher has played most of the game thus far with O'Reilly and Jenner.

[Guest Stogey24]

That's a solid line. Jenner works his ass off too.

[Commandant]

I'm afraid the Leafs got a good one and Matthews will be the best player in the division. McDavid and Matthews will be the new Crosby Ovechkin, except the Leaf seems smart and coachable. Physically gifted with a brain. He could be the best American player ever when it's all said and done (lol ok). Gaging the hype and scouting, he seems like the type of player who would be expected to bring their team a Cup in their career. He was fourth in scoring in the second best men's league in Europe fer chrissake. I'd put his pre-draft stock at least on par with the MacKinnon year or Taylor-Tyler, and higher than anyone from our tank season or anyone but McDavid since Tavares.

Well, this sucks. The Leafs are good now. If this is all true, then it would be a good decision for Stamkos to head over.

So I expect Matthews to have a pretty good tournament. Ugh

Canada's team is stacked as usual and would be a playoff contender, and is the only country that can say that. USA's been gaining on us the last 5-10 years though.

Matthews is good.... but if McDavid is crosby... matthews isn't ovechkin. He's not that close to McDavid in terms of being a generational player.

Matthews is probably more like a Tavares, maybe even a small step under that.

Also this lamenting about the leafs when they have no goalie, and only one good young defenceman is chicken littling things.

Guess what, other teams in our division, other teams in the NHL are going to get good and going to have some good players. If you want to win the cup you'll have to beat some good teams, whether its Toronto in the future, or Tampa/Washington/Pittsburgh in the east right now. You've gotta play some good hockey and beat some good teams.

[Meller93]

That's a solid line. Jenner works his ass off too.

Jenner is the type of player I would LOVE on the Habs. Loved him since the world juniors.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

In terms of the Leafs being a threat to win the Cup in the medium term, look at Washington. They have a true 'generational' player in Ovechkin and a whack of quality talent besides. A decade later, still not even a WHIFF of a Stanley Cup. Even Crosby has only won once - as many times as the superstar-less Boston Bruins over the same span.

A superstar is no guarantee of a championship. Not by a long shot.

[Neech]

If Matthews was 2 days older, he would of gone 3rd in last years draft.

Can USA 1-1 so far. Taylor Hall with goal.

(make that 2-1 after lil Gallagher scores and on his birthday.)

I hear he would have gone above Eichel.

Matthews is good.... but if McDavid is crosby... matthews isn't ovechkin. He's not that close to McDavid in terms of being a generational player.

Matthews is probably more like a Tavares, maybe even a small step under that.

Also this lamenting about the leafs when they have no goalie, and only one good young defenceman is chicken littling things.

Guess what, other teams in our division, other teams in the NHL are going to get good and going to have some good players. If you want to win the cup you'll have to beat some good teams, whether its Toronto in the future, or Tampa/Washington/Pittsburgh in the east right now. You've gotta play some good hockey and beat some good teams.

Tavares is a hell of a player. I hope Matthews is worse than him, but he has the tools to be dominant. I'm worried about the Leafs because they now have a huge building block, and their management and coaching seem superior to ours at this juncture. They gave good contracts to Kadri and Reilly and they're doing a good job stockpiling assets.

In terms of the Leafs being a threat to win the Cup in the medium term, look at Washington. They have a true 'generational' player in Ovechkin and a whack of quality talent besides. A decade later, still not even a WHIFF of a Stanley Cup. Even Crosby has only won once - as many times as the superstar-less Boston Bruins over the same span.

A superstar is no guarantee of a championship. Not by a long shot.

Ovechkin doesn't have the brains to carry his team on his back. He's too one-dimensional and doesn't contribute much when he's not sniping goals, which admittedly he's peerless at. I'll take a slightly less skilled player like Tavares who has the heart and mindset over a dumbie like Ovechkin any day.

[DON]

Who told you he is better than Eichel? Could be, only time will tell. Eichel ripped up NCAA, while Matthews did same in USHL, but vs High school kids not university guys.

Babcock has all of 1 playoff series win in last 5 years and seems overrated (great coach with crap roster, will do poorly). He does well when he has several Hall of Fame players on his team, but that aint the leafs and why they finished dead last. Even Scotty Bowman found that out the hard way when he went to Buffalo.

As I have said before; Leafs have barely 1 top 4 d-men, suspect goaltender, zero all-star forwards, rookie NHL president...and they are the Leafs.

Dominate the NHL eh? We shall see and putting cart before horse.

Seems quite lame scouting report on Ovechkin, but you must know him personally to be slandering him like that. And if you think he is dumb because the mastery of his 2nd language isn't great, how is your Russian?

[Commandant]

The Capitals playoff losses have 0 to do with Ovechkin and everything to do with the rest of his team not playing well. He's dominated multiple times in the playoffs (such as 14 points in a 7 game series vs Pitt in 2009, or 10 points in 7 games vs Habs in 2010) and still loses. He was the best player on the ice, by a mile, in game three of the pens/caps series. The caps still lost the game.

No one player can win a cup on their own.

[Neech]

Seems quite lame scouting report on Ovechkin, but you must know him personally to be slandering him like that. And if you think he is dumb because the mastery of his 2nd language isn't great, how is your Russian?

Talking about on the ice.

[Neech]

The Capitals playoff losses have 0 to do with Ovechkin and everything to do with the rest of his team not playing well. He's dominated multiple times in the playoffs (such as 14 points in a 7 game series vs Pitt in 2009, or 10 points in 7 games vs Habs in 2010) and still loses. He was the best player on the ice, by a mile, in game three of the pens/caps series. The caps still lost the game.

No one player can win a cup on their own.

For sure they have something to do with him. He's their team leader. He can dominate at times but Cups are won by intelligent tight-checking teams. Ovechkin doesn't have the complete game of Crosby. If your best player has serious deficits without the puck it'll hurt you in the playoffs. Name me the last team that won whose best player was as one-dimensional as Ovechkin.

[DON]

One dimensional, in a Brett Hull, or Mike Bossy sort of way you mean?

"When you find yourself digging a hole...stop digging." Is what I might suggest.

Ovechkin has the smarts or instincts on the ice that many would kill to have also how many super stars can stand up for themselves in the physical dept and run over almost anyone in front of them (Lindros was kinda the same, but wasn't smart enough to keep his head up and avoid getting smoked by everyone from Stevens to Kasparitis)?

[Link67]

Toronto management superior to ours? How so because the Big Boss Lou who is living off a name he built 15 years ago is at the helm? he is the next version of Sather, take a look at his body of work the last 6 or 7 years in NJ, made some crazy bold moves that were costly, tried to keep pilling up with misfits and has-beens from everywhere else to clump next to his decade worth of gems in Brodeur and Elias, He single handedly wasted the last 5 quality years of Brodeur by putting together a weird mixture of misfits From Sykora to Ryder, tons of 1 year guys that couldn't be kept because of a constant state of cap issues or because they were just done and should not have been brought in.

Lou is the type of old - school GM who is done Thriving in this league because things run much more differently than they did back in his hay day. for one, most successful front offices these days run as a committee, a team of managers with specific roles that cast a large web on the daily management of a team. Lou likes the lone wolf and eye of Mordor approach, the league also works under a salary cap now for the last decade, and that directly coincides with his less fruitful years as a manager.

is Lou a good manager? sure, he will likely make them a playoff team soon, might even make them a team able to go through a couple rounds, Do I think he can build a winner at this stage of his career, in this era of NHL management? No, not at all. because for every Kadri and Rielly signing, there is likely to be your Kovalchuk decisions, as well as the decisions that lead to you being unable to retain Niedermayer, and Rafalski coming from this very same man. he has also questionably fired coaches rather quickly who have since moved on to great coaching stints elsewhere.

I wouldn't worry too much about Lou taking them to the promise land it has Burke written all over it, its those next generation type of GMs like Bowman, Yzerman, and yes even our very own Bergevin who are the GMs to watch for because they run their operation very similar to eachother. Surrounded by capable guys, diversifying tasks to specific people, Bergevin has certainly proven to be gun shy at this point, but he also doesn't cripple the team to the point of losing core players because of risky or very bold decisions either. He has the hockey I.Q to get better at going for something aggressively and not always watching the train roll by because the risk was not minimal, none of us were great at our jobs in the first few years, but those with the potential to be always end up being, its just a matter of time.

[Commandant]

For sure they have something to do with him. He's their team leader. He can dominate at times but Cups are won by intelligent tight-checking teams. Ovechkin doesn't have the complete game of Crosby. If your best player has serious deficits without the puck it'll hurt you in the playoffs. Name me the last team that won whose best player was as one-dimensional as Ovechkin.

Patrick Kane is pretty shitty defensively.

Guess what, the rest of the Hawks make up for it.

They win AS A TEAM.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Name me the last team that won whose best player was as one-dimensional as Ovechkin.

[Commandant]

Quit stealing my answer.

[DON]

A Finn teenager had 3pt game today, not bad start to championship eh.

[DON]

Reway plays at 5 a.m. est vs Hungary, I assume Hungary is quite weak, so he should hit the scoresheet.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Toronto management superior to ours? How so because the Big Boss Lou who is living off a name he built 15 years ago is at the helm? he is the next version of Sather, take a look at his body of work the last 6 or 7 years in NJ, made some crazy bold moves that were costly, tried to keep pilling up with misfits and has-beens from everywhere else to clump next to his decade worth of gems in Brodeur and Elias, He single handedly wasted the last 5 quality years of Brodeur by putting together a weird mixture of misfits From Sykora to Ryder, tons of 1 year guys that couldn't be kept because of a constant state of cap issues or because they were just done and should not have been brought in.

Lou is the type of old - school GM who is done Thriving in this league because things run much more differently than they did back in his hay day. for one, most successful front offices these days run as a committee, a team of managers with specific roles that cast a large web on the daily management of a team. Lou likes the lone wolf and eye of Mordor approach, the league also works under a salary cap now for the last decade, and that directly coincides with his less fruitful years as a manager.

is Lou a good manager? sure, he will likely make them a playoff team soon, might even make them a team able to go through a couple rounds, Do I think he can build a winner at this stage of his career, in this era of NHL management? No, not at all. because for every Kadri and Rielly signing, there is likely to be your Kovalchuk decisions, as well as the decisions that lead to you being unable to retain Niedermayer, and Rafalski coming from this very same man. he has also questionably fired coaches rather quickly who have since moved on to great coaching stints elsewhere.

I wouldn't worry too much about Lou taking them to the promise land it has Burke written all over it, its those next generation type of GMs like Bowman, Yzerman, and yes even our very own Bergevin who are the GMs to watch for because they run their operation very similar to eachother. Surrounded by capable guys, diversifying tasks to specific people, Bergevin has certainly proven to be gun shy at this point, but he also doesn't cripple the team to the point of losing core players because of risky or very bold decisions either. He has the hockey I.Q to get better at going for something aggressively and not always watching the train roll by because the risk was not minimal, none of us were great at our jobs in the first few years, but those with the potential to be always end up being, its just a matter of time.

Babcock and Shanahan profit heavily from the 'Detroit' connection. But Detroit itself is massively overrated as an organization; as I've droned on about in other threads, they basically parleyed two incredible lucky draft picks (Datsyuk and Zetterberg) into a legend of the Wings as the NHL gold standard. I have no doubt Babcock is a very solid coach, but his halo - as Don points out - is oversized relative the reality, which is a coach who basically gets the results that the talent on his team would lead you to expect. Shanahan, meanwhile, is a hotshot who has not been around long enough to make mistakes and is therefore hailed as some elite hockey mind.

Big Lou, on the other hand, has a genuine track record of elite achievement as a GM. But it's true that in the cap era he tended to struggle.

So I don't tremble in fear at the thought of TO's management group and I agree that it's far from proven that they're better than ours.

The one thing you CAN say is that they definitely have the right idea, finally: a genuine, bona-fide rebuild of the kind that Toronto has avoided for ages. This will pay off with a good team. But it's a long, long way from there to a Cup. If it weren't, Bob Gainey would have raised Lord Stanley's Mug in the Bell Centre as GM.