Sunday, January 06, 2008
Canada Takes WJC Gold ... Again!
Given how many people play hockey in Canada, this country should dominate the world scene, especially at the junior levels.
For that reason, the World Junior Championships (U-20) is seemingly used as the ultimate measuring stick of Canadian hockey. Despite the fact that *anything* can happen in a short tournament, anything less than a Silver medal sends the press into a frenzy about how Canadian hockey isn't good enough, how we don't develop skill, etc ... No pressure, kiddos.
Well, a win over the evil Swedes sealed a fourth straight GOLD for Canada. It was nice since Sweden beat Canada earlier in the tournament, and because they are evil.
Final Rankings:
1 CAN
2 SWE
3 RUS
4 USA
5 CZE
6 FIN
7 SVK
8 KAZ
9 SUI
10 DEN
Media All-Stars
Position # Name Team
Goalkeeper 30 MASON Steve CAN
Defenseman 6 HEDMAN Victor SWE
Defenseman 8 DOUGHTY Drew CAN
Forward 15 BERGLUND Patrik SWE
Forward 11 TIKHONOV Viktor RUS
Forward 12 van RIEMSDYK James USA
Now, the DRIVE FOR FIVE begins :)
Labels: John Tavares, Jonathan Bernier, Team Canada, Team Sweden, WJC
Monday, December 03, 2007
Michal Repik Gets Rocked
by Jes
I've heard about all sorts of new injuries thanks to my many years following hockey. ACL tears, MCL tears, ruptured spleens, third grade concussions, etc...
A broken eardrum, however, is not one you'd ever expect to see in the game of hockey.
Unfortunately for Giants fans, Michal Repik appears to have suffered a broken eardrum (ouch!) thanks to a hit by the Everett Silvertips' Dane Crowley.
Now, I haven't seen a replay of the hit, so I can't comment on whether the hit was dirty or not.
It's just too bad that the Giants, and the Czech Republic, will be without the services of this fine winger. With the World Junior Championships in Czechia this year, you can be sure that Repik was fired up to lead the Czechs in that tourney.
I also wonder if this injury will have long-term repercussions on Repik's game. He's been a man on a mission since the beginning of last year's postseason. Already, Repik has 39 points in 30 games this season, and has been utilizing his speed on a nightly basis. Unlike past seasons, Repik seems to want to take charge and play hard just about every single night. It's not a stretch to compare him to the likes of Milan Hejduk or Marek Svatos.
I've heard about all sorts of new injuries thanks to my many years following hockey. ACL tears, MCL tears, ruptured spleens, third grade concussions, etc...
A broken eardrum, however, is not one you'd ever expect to see in the game of hockey.
Unfortunately for Giants fans, Michal Repik appears to have suffered a broken eardrum (ouch!) thanks to a hit by the Everett Silvertips' Dane Crowley.
Repik was on the receiving end of a dangerous hit late in the Vancouver Giants 7-0 whitewashing of the Everett Silvertips on Saturday. The Giants winger and leading scorer was circling behind the Silvertips net and had just dished off a backhand pass when Crowley caught Repik admiring his nifty setup. Repik's helmet went flying and the back of his head hit and the Czech import remained motionless on the ice for a short while before being carried off the ice on a stretcher. He was taken directly to hospital, where he remained until today.
Now, I haven't seen a replay of the hit, so I can't comment on whether the hit was dirty or not.
It's just too bad that the Giants, and the Czech Republic, will be without the services of this fine winger. With the World Junior Championships in Czechia this year, you can be sure that Repik was fired up to lead the Czechs in that tourney.
I also wonder if this injury will have long-term repercussions on Repik's game. He's been a man on a mission since the beginning of last year's postseason. Already, Repik has 39 points in 30 games this season, and has been utilizing his speed on a nightly basis. Unlike past seasons, Repik seems to want to take charge and play hard just about every single night. It's not a stretch to compare him to the likes of Milan Hejduk or Marek Svatos.
Labels: Everett Silvertips, Michal Repik, Team Czech, Vancouver Giants, WJC
Friday, January 05, 2007
WJC: Slovaks Safe...for now...
Canada/Russia in the finals again?
Been there, done that, and have the media guide.
Like most Canadians, I haven’t been able to get much into the tournament, and can't watch the final game because it's on when we're AT WORK. Good job, IIHF, schedule the final game for when your prime TV audience is at work and can't watch the games. Even the NHL wouldn't be that stupid.
People have asked me to comment on the Slovaks' performance at this tournament, since every other blogger (except Greg) hates or doesn't give a rat's ass about Slovaks.
I picked the Slovaks to finish 7th, and the fact that they were in the relegation round was no surprise. The level of hockey talent has fallen drastically in the country since the fall of communism, and the Slovaks have had major troubles at this tournament in the past few years.
Going into yesterday's action, the Slovaks were in grave danger of being relegated, which is a fate I hadn't expected at all. I felt the Slovaks were a shoo-in to be safely in Pool A, and never thought they'd have to rely on another team to save their asses..
Thanks to a 9-0 beating over the fascist Belarussians, and a Swiss cheese victory over the Sauerkrauts, the Slovaks managed to save their Pool A lives by the slimmest of margins, finishing 8th overall.
*phew*
Now, the decline of Slovak hockey has been fairly steep and I expect the country will struggle in the 2nd tier with the Germans, Swiss, and Belarussians for some time.
Look at the Slovak stars in the league. Most of them are in their prime or over 30. Marian Gaborik is the rare exception of a Slovak star produced after the Velvet Revolution. Demitra, Satan, Bondra, Visnovsky, Hossa, Chara, and Handzus were all products or partial-products of the 'old' system. Sure, there are some talented youngsters like Andrej Meszaros, but certainly nothing like the glory years.
Just to rehash some stuff I've probably already talked about...
After the 'fall', the Slovak government no longer pumped lots of money into the hockey programs and schools (Since most kids played hockey in elementary and high school in their city). The split of Czechoslovakia also left the Czechs with most of the rinks and resources, and left the Slovaks with a very weak economy.
Hockey has become a rich man's game, way more so than in Canada, Sweden, USA, and even Czechia. In relative terms, the average Slovak cannot afford to put their kids into hockey like the average family of most other big hockey countries. Many talented players never get a chance to play hockey, and a lot of the kids who do play hockey happen to be kids or relatives of former and current hockey players.
While the Slovaks will always continue to have a strong hockey culture, the level of talent is not likely to return to the high levels experienced in the 90s and early 00s for a long time. The Slovaks are basically a feeder service for many other European leagues, with the rare exceptional Meszaros type coming out of the woodwork once a year. The Slovaks will likely have major struggles at the senior level (WC, Olympics) when many of the current stars get old and retire.
Sure, Marian Gaborik is building a new rink on Trencin, but this won't help the average kid be able to afford expensive hockey equipment (in relative terms most equipment is priced higher in Europe than North America).
My Slovak friend, Daniel, also offered his take on why the Slovaks did so poorly at this tournament.
1. The development in Slovakia is poor. Plenty of kids leave to play in CHL and Czech leagues. All too often, it's a also case of stupid parents who think their kids are next Hossa, Gaborik or Palffy while they can't even skate.
2. Poor nominations. Richard Lelkes and Marcel Hascak are two regular Extraliga players who weren't nominated and Lukas Bohunicky is a WHLer who should have gone. You probably don't know who they are, but you'll have to trust me on this one.
3. Starting goalie Vladimir Kovac suffered an injury one week before the tournament and Branislav Konrad was forced into action as the #1 goalie.
4. Perhaps the most important reason: Coaching!
In Daniel's words:
This whole WJC was disheartening for Slovak fans, but I feel that many future WJC's will be just the same. As long as the Slovaks keep producing a much lower level of talent than in the past, they'll keep struggling to maintain a Pool A presence in the face of increasing competition from the Germans and Swiss.
---
As for the Czechs... just a few thoughts
1. Goalie Ondrej Pavelec was surprisingly awful. He's a great young talent and I believe he's got a good shot at an NHL future, but a 2-3 record with a 88.97SV% was bad.
2. Secondary Scoring: Where was it? The Czechs got good performances from Michael Frolik, Vladimir Sobotka, and Tomas Svoboda. Michal Repik? He finished with 0 points in 6 games. Other than those 3 forwards and Tomas Kana, the Czechs weren't getting good support.
3. Defence - The Czechs had a group of offensive-minded defensemen and have had trouble producing some good defensive defensemen in some time. There seems to be a lot of moaning that the Czechs Extraliga and Czech hockey in general is not producing enough good solid defensemen.
4. Too many CHLers! I realize that a lot of the talent has gone to the CHL over the past decade, but the Czechs always seem to have this problem of integrating the European and CHL players. The Russians, Swedes, and Finns don't have this problem because so few of their guys play in the CHL. The Slovaks and Czechs need to start taking more Euro-heavy teams.
Been there, done that, and have the media guide.
Like most Canadians, I haven’t been able to get much into the tournament, and can't watch the final game because it's on when we're AT WORK. Good job, IIHF, schedule the final game for when your prime TV audience is at work and can't watch the games. Even the NHL wouldn't be that stupid.
People have asked me to comment on the Slovaks' performance at this tournament, since every other blogger (except Greg) hates or doesn't give a rat's ass about Slovaks.
I picked the Slovaks to finish 7th, and the fact that they were in the relegation round was no surprise. The level of hockey talent has fallen drastically in the country since the fall of communism, and the Slovaks have had major troubles at this tournament in the past few years.
Going into yesterday's action, the Slovaks were in grave danger of being relegated, which is a fate I hadn't expected at all. I felt the Slovaks were a shoo-in to be safely in Pool A, and never thought they'd have to rely on another team to save their asses..
Thanks to a 9-0 beating over the fascist Belarussians, and a Swiss cheese victory over the Sauerkrauts, the Slovaks managed to save their Pool A lives by the slimmest of margins, finishing 8th overall.
*phew*
Now, the decline of Slovak hockey has been fairly steep and I expect the country will struggle in the 2nd tier with the Germans, Swiss, and Belarussians for some time.
Look at the Slovak stars in the league. Most of them are in their prime or over 30. Marian Gaborik is the rare exception of a Slovak star produced after the Velvet Revolution. Demitra, Satan, Bondra, Visnovsky, Hossa, Chara, and Handzus were all products or partial-products of the 'old' system. Sure, there are some talented youngsters like Andrej Meszaros, but certainly nothing like the glory years.
Just to rehash some stuff I've probably already talked about...
After the 'fall', the Slovak government no longer pumped lots of money into the hockey programs and schools (Since most kids played hockey in elementary and high school in their city). The split of Czechoslovakia also left the Czechs with most of the rinks and resources, and left the Slovaks with a very weak economy.
Hockey has become a rich man's game, way more so than in Canada, Sweden, USA, and even Czechia. In relative terms, the average Slovak cannot afford to put their kids into hockey like the average family of most other big hockey countries. Many talented players never get a chance to play hockey, and a lot of the kids who do play hockey happen to be kids or relatives of former and current hockey players.
While the Slovaks will always continue to have a strong hockey culture, the level of talent is not likely to return to the high levels experienced in the 90s and early 00s for a long time. The Slovaks are basically a feeder service for many other European leagues, with the rare exceptional Meszaros type coming out of the woodwork once a year. The Slovaks will likely have major struggles at the senior level (WC, Olympics) when many of the current stars get old and retire.
Sure, Marian Gaborik is building a new rink on Trencin, but this won't help the average kid be able to afford expensive hockey equipment (in relative terms most equipment is priced higher in Europe than North America).
My Slovak friend, Daniel, also offered his take on why the Slovaks did so poorly at this tournament.
1. The development in Slovakia is poor. Plenty of kids leave to play in CHL and Czech leagues. All too often, it's a also case of stupid parents who think their kids are next Hossa, Gaborik or Palffy while they can't even skate.
2. Poor nominations. Richard Lelkes and Marcel Hascak are two regular Extraliga players who weren't nominated and Lukas Bohunicky is a WHLer who should have gone. You probably don't know who they are, but you'll have to trust me on this one.
3. Starting goalie Vladimir Kovac suffered an injury one week before the tournament and Branislav Konrad was forced into action as the #1 goalie.
4. Perhaps the most important reason: Coaching!
In Daniel's words:
Jan Jasko should get to the Guinness book of records as the worst coach in history. Count with me what he recorded during last 365 days:
He coached Zvolen but was fired during regular season 2005-06.
Several weeks later was signed to coach Slovan but after eliminated in quarter-final was fired again.
Just couple days later Nitra's GM fell in love with Jasko and fired Stavjana, during semi-series, to sign Jasko. Of course Nitra was eliminated soon and Jasko was fired again. Meanwhile he worked as assistant coach of Frantisek Hossa on the national team.
Of course this "amazing" duo recorded the worst result of national team in last 6 years on WC (Slovakia was 8th). And his last success was this WJC. If you want to relegate Canada from pool A in next season please sign Jasko ;-)
This whole WJC was disheartening for Slovak fans, but I feel that many future WJC's will be just the same. As long as the Slovaks keep producing a much lower level of talent than in the past, they'll keep struggling to maintain a Pool A presence in the face of increasing competition from the Germans and Swiss.
---
As for the Czechs... just a few thoughts
Labels: IIHF, junior hockey, Slovak hockey, WJC
