Olympic Team analysis and some suggestions.

[Cranky]

It promises to be one of the most exciting game of all time. All the ingredients are there  for this “classic”.

Americas players and audience fervor is sky high, particularly playing for gold on American soil. The US has it’s best player. Period. There is no one left outside their team that can improve them. This is US best team of any and all time.

Canadiens put together their very best and other then Thornton and Roy, I honestly can not think of any other player that  should be there. Is this the best team that Canada has every put together? Well, no. But it is way up there. No excuses.

Goaltenders are....

One of the more interesting matchup in this game. Richter is smaller and quick and seems to have the “Hasek” philosophy. Scrambling around like a fish, but, like Hasek, he is effective. Richter has much to prove, he was considered washed up a year ago and now, he is the “New York all American Boy”.

Brodeur, well, he gets no respect. Everybody considers his success to warrant an asterisk. Yes, the Canadien masses say, he is a great goalie, but, he is playing for New Jersey and their defensive style. Well, the truth is that his positioning is exceptional, his reflex are really terrific and he is the best puck handling defenseman these eyes have seen in forty years. He is very cool under pressure.

Advantage? Brodeur. But, in a one game showdown, it is not as great as a series.

The Canadien defense....

is defensivly better and stronger then the US defense. We have more size and strength but they have a more “offensively” potent blue line. Chelios, Leetch  and Housley are some of the best however, they are getting on in years and they are playing their 7th game in 11 days. They do not have any dominant size advantage and this is their weakness.

Canada, with Brewer, Jovo, Pronger, Foote and Blake, we have the size to stop their forwards, however, this guys are not elite skaters or as offensively aware as Leetch and Chelios. Niedermayer is the only elite skating offensive weapon that we have. Actually, I think he is the best all around defenseman on either team.

Advantage? Canada, only because they will probably play a very aggressive game and the Canadiens have the bigger and younger defensive squad.

The Americans offensive weapons.........

Are numerous and damn good. With Modano, Amonte and Leclair leading their forwards, they have some pretty large and fast skating power forward. Guerin and Weight are the other two that worry me. In my opinion, the rest of their forward line would not make the Canadiens team, however that should not be taken as cast-offs from the Jamaican bobsled team.

For the Canadien team, we have the offensive weapons, but the biggest forwards that can crush their defenseman, has yet to find his level. Yes, I am talking about Eric. He has to step up and put everything on the line tomorrow. And yes, I believe he will. Our other big forwards in Nolan and Shanahan, well, they do not skate well enough and have the skill level of Modano, Amonte and Leclair. We do have a deeper forward roster and that should balance the forwards.

Advantage? A paper thin advantage to USA.

Overall, Canada  has a slightly better team on ice, but we are talking about a 9.5 versus 10.

What we have to do is,

Try to use our forwards to absolutely hammer their defenseman to submission. This is the time when even players like Kariya and Sakic have to come in like missiles on their defense. Chelios is almost forty and is their mainstay back there. He needs to be punished to render him ineffective. Same thing for Leetch. If we do not do this and just try a "soft" grind game, or merelly toss the puck into their zone, they will gain possesion, carry it out and we WILL LOSE.

Canada must not make the mistake of entering a shoot out with USA. They can score a ton of goals with their forwards. We need to slow it down and let our defense neutralize their main 3 big weapons. USA has not faced a team with big, bruising defenseman. Now they will, so their down low cycling will be hampered. That is were Leclair and Amonte make their living.

Our forwards have very good speed and adequate size to cycle deep in the USA zone. That is were we should take residence and make their forwards come back. Hit and force their defense and their defenseman’s skating advantage is negated. Their forwards will then be forced to come back and this will take pressure off our slower defenseman.

WE must NOT start to get into foot races with Modano, Amonte and Leclair. Send the puck into their zone and tie them up. Smash into anything that their hockey career description starts with a “D”.

Well Hab’s fan’s, we may not have any Hab's players on the Olympic roster, but, I can forgive them if they win GOLD.

Get ready for something special.

[Cranky]

One thing more to add.

Herb Brooks would not make the statement he did about our "dumping" the puck into their zones unless he wanted to make Canada think twice about doing it. The reality is that he understands the USA Achelles heel in their fragile defense. He saw what we saw, and that was that when the Russians decided to wake up, their defense collapsed on them trying to hold back the tide. Chelios and Leetch looked absolutely beaten by the end of the third period.

From what I saw. If the Russians played a full sixty minutes,
today we would be talking about them "commies".

One more thing, Eric will play at a different level, something about the words "E Tan, E Epitas".  

[MPLABBE]

We need to mash that defence early on.Only Chelios and Miller can be considered 'physical',the other guys are all softies who will excell if we don't hit them.Hit them,mash them,do it cleanely though.Lindros,Nolan,Smyth,Iggy,Shanahan go out there and mash these d-men.

[The New Guy]

In reality, I think the guys should keep this thing simple tomorrow afternoon.  It was trying to play in (Pat Quinn's) morbidly confining system of play that got them into trouble out of the blocks - it was only whe nthey loosened up and started to play that they actually looked like gold medal contenders.

Think about it.  Who on the American defence can contain Karyia if he makes a break for the net?  Chelios might if he gets lucky, but that's if he's lucky.  Who can contain the slick stickhandling of Yzerman or Lemieux?  That's a stretch even for Chelios.  Who can move an Owen Nolan or an Eric Lindros (seems to me he woke up in the third period against the Belorussians - a good sign) if their standing in front of the net?  Watching Eric is comical at times.  Player A lines up Lindros, player A bounces of Lindros unless player A is a guy like Hatcher or Stevens who knows how to hit - but guess who the Yankees left home?

In our own end it's the same issue.  Can Mondano outplay Blake?  Is Foote going to let Leclair camp out on Marty's door step?  Is Prongs going to let Amonte step into the slot?  A resounding no.  

Once the puck is in the American zone they're going to have to start praying to God because it's going to be real hard for them to get us out when we start cycling it.  Keep it simple.  Get it in low, move it to the point, let them take a shot, rebound shot or a short pass in front and the Americans will be too busy wishing they had brought a real d-man instead of Phil Housely (who - don't get me wrong, is bloody well brilliant with the puck).  Grind hard in the corners and make them wary of going in after it.  

I think I saw it best summed up on another board.  Brooks built his team to play the run and gun game with the European teams.  Wayne built his team to play good Canadian hockey.  And despite the rumours to the contrary - we're still the best at it.

American Threat Assesment:

Richter:  Canada Cup.  That's all I need to say.  We need to get to Mike early.  High stickside is his weak spot, and having Eric, Owen and Smyth crash won't hurt.

Modano: Can be lethal.  Moves with a deceptive swiftness and is great with the puck.  He's an American Joe Sakic - lethal from anywhere.  Needs to be kept outside as much as possible an cut off from his team mates

Leclair: Master of the garbage goal.  Can stand in front of the net until the cows go home without breaking a sweat, and has a killer shot to boot.  Needs to be made to pay if he goes anywhere near Marty (assignment goes to Brewer if he's playing).  Draw blood if possible.

Amonte: Swift and possesing a hard shot, he works best in front, but from further out than John L.  Is sneaky and can get around the defence if they're not active.  Needs to be isolated in the corners and be introduced to backchecking.

Chelios: The only defenceman worthy of note for his defensive abilties.  Needs to be introduced to forechecking (Eric L if he's up to it)

Poti/Housely/Leetch: Like it or not, the US produce some of the best puck moving defencemen.  All three of these guys are potent passers, and need to be watched.  Leetch and Poti also pinch in from time to time.  Need to be scared into hanging back with some nice turnover conversions and some Paul Karyia skating.  Absolutely MUST be kept on the blueline.

We can win a shootout HA.  We just need to be taking all the shots.  The best way to win, however, will be, as you said, to make them pay.  If they want to gain the zone than we should force them to dump it in or take a hit.  If they want to beat us out in a foot race when we dump it in then we should hit them.  If they want to cross the red line, then we should hit them.  They're a bunch of big guys, and so far they've used their size to their advantage.  However, that advantage dies when you line them up with the Canadian team, and ours kicks in.  We're big AND we're not centred around puck moving.  

Assignments:
Modano - Blake-> You match the best with the best.  Blakie may be a half a step slower than Modano, but you can bet that Rob knows a few tricks to use on Mike.

Leclair - Brewer-> Teach Leclair that camping in front of the Canandian goalie is not the same as camping in front of the Finnish goalie.

Amonte - Jovocop/Karyia -> Amonte tries to speed in and pick up a centering pass.  Jovo steps in says "Thanks for coming" and laughs as Karyia makes that pinching defence pay for their transgressions.

I think we can win this tomorrow.  You said the US has it's best players - and you're right.  It does.  However, some of our best are yet to strike.  Eric L. may still come around, and Smyth and Owen always look dangerous.  

Score tomorrow-> 4-2 Canada.  Goals by Leclair, Roenick, Yzerman, Lindros X 2 and Marty B with the empty netter (-:

Later

[MPLABBE]

I seriously doubt Brewer will be asked to match up against anyone.I think he will barely play.Don't be surprised if we go with only 4 d-man with a lead late.