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John Tortorella

Snapshots: USA-Canada, Abdelkader

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John Tortorella has found himself and his team in a challenging situation following their 3-0 loss to Team Europe on Saturday. Though critiqued by many for their roster selection, few expected a shutout loss to Team Europe. But that’s exactly what happened, putting the Americans in an absolute must win against arch-rival Canada. Stephen Whyno writes that while the game has to result in an American victory for any sort of hope, it’s just another game for the Canadians. Tortorella called the Tuesday’s contest its “championship game,” and had this to say regarding the potential elimination game:

“Playing there, against them, everybody wants us knocked out,” Tortorella said Monday. “I can’t wait and I think our players can’t wait for this game to start. It’s going to be a blast.”

Team Canada bench boss Mike Babcock on the other hand, takes the approach that every important game in the tournament is the next one, and while Canada fended off the Czech Republic with ease, they certainly won’t be overlooking a desperate American squad. Whyno reports that Canada isn’t concerned with eliminating the US for extra motivation. Instead, it’s a business as usual approach for the team that has been dubbed by many as having few to little weaknesses.

In other hockey news:

  • Justin Abdelkader will be placed on a line with Patrick Kane in the tilt against Canada writes Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski and it could be another in a line of head scratching Tortorella moves. Tortorella claims that anyone questioning his “thinking” is simply reporters “overthinking” it. Further, he writes that Abdelkader, based on his play, has earned more ice time. Wyshynski argues that Abdelkader is generally considered to be a third or fourth line player, but Abdelkader makes this point:

“I’ve played with some good players in Detroit and it’s similar to him. You want the puck on his stick. But you can’t just think you’re going to throw pucks all the time at him. It’s the right opportunities. I think we’re a better team when Patrick Kane has the puck on his stick, that’s for sure.”

Abdelkader also points out that he’ll play “wherever” Tortorella puts him. Wyshynski also points out that this is an old hat strategy by Torts: those who play hard will play more and those who don’t will sit. While that strategy seems subjective, and many would argue that it is, if it works, then Tortorella looks like a genius. If not, then it’ll add to the litany of missteps Team USA has made through the World Cup experience.

Snapshots: Russell, Sproul, Fleischmann, Team USA

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TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie appeared on TSN 1260 on Monday morning, and commented on Kris Russell as an option for Edmonton’s “hole on defense”. On the weekend, TSN 1260 host Dustin Nielson tweeted that the Oilers had reached out to Russell and that he expected the two sides to exchange numbers sometime this week.

McKenzie believes Russell would “probably” be a “decent fit” for the Oilers, especially if it’s on a short-term contract. He brought up the abundance of “third-pairing guys” the Oilers have, and wondered who would play with Andrej Sekera on the second pair.

McKenzie also suggested he could see why Russell would have interest in a short-term contract with Edmonton, with an opportunity to possibly play some top-four minutes before becoming a free agent next summer after team’s lose defensemen to Las Vegas in the expansion draft.

However, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal opined that he doesn’t see Russell as being better than any of the Oilers current top four of Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Sekera, or Brandon Davidson. While McKenzie labelled the latter as a “third-pairing” defender, Davidson did impress last season, working his way into the Oilers’ top four. Staples said he’s “not sure of Russell, but I’m sure those four can all play the game.”

McKenzie said Russell is still talking with as many as eight teams, including the Oilers’ provincial rivals the Calgary Flames. Russell spent three seasons in Calgary before being traded at last year’s trade deadline. McKenzie expects Russell to sign a one-year contract in the neighborhood of $4-5MM.

  • Meanwhile, Ansar Khan tweeted a photo of Red Wings RFA defenseman Ryan Sproul skating with teammates at Joe Louis Arena. Khan noted that he expects Sproul to sign a one-year deal this week. Sproul is coming off his entry-level contract, where he went pointless in one NHL game and put up 93 points in 213 AHL games.
  • Michael Russo, of the Minnesota Star Tribune, confirmed Elliotte Friedman’s speculation regarding UFA Tomas Fleischmann with Wild GM Chuck Fletcher. Fleischmann will be attending camp in Minnesota on a PTO. He has previously played for Wild coach Bruce Boudreau when the pair were in Washington.
  • TSN’s Frank Seravalli was among those questioning Team USA’s new lines, asking if coach John Tortorella was “trolling the media” with the line of Justin Abdelkader, Derek Stepan, and Patrick Kane. The States face a must-win game versus northern rivals Canada tomorrow night.

World Cup Notes: Matthews, Team USA, Canada B

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Team North America hits the ice for the first time in Toronto today, as they prepare for their opening match against Finland. While many eyes are drawn to Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid or the reunion of Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon – the two starred together for the Halifax Mooseheads before being drafted – it was Auston Matthews that got much of the attention at this morning’s presser.

Matthews will be skating on the top line alongside McDavid and Mark Scheifele, despite never having played a professional game on North American soil. He’ll be in front of his new team’s fans, trying to make an impression on Leaf Nation before the season even begins. According to Craig Custance of ESPN, Head coach Todd McLellan spoke highly of Matthews when asked, saying he is hockey’s version of a 5-tool player (a term in baseball that means a player who can do everything well), and saying “he’s got better every day.”

As we wrote yesterday, Matthews is a big part of the Maple Leafs rebuild, and he’s showing why he was the first overall pick and most talked about prospect during the season. If he can keep up with the best in the world, at just 19 years old, he’ll be well positioned to have a long and successful career in the NHL.

  • Team USA head coach John Tortorella is still taking a lot of heat today over his decision to bench Kyle Palmieri and Dustin Byfuglien prior to last night’s loss to Team Europe, and as the team hit the ice for practice the lines had already been mixed up. According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Palmieri was back among the first 12 forwards, skating with Max Pacioretty and Brandon Dubinsky on the fourth line. Stephen Whyno adds that Byfuglien – widely expected to be a big part of the top pairing – is back skating with the powerplay unit (though the second group).
  • James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail revealed an interesting couple of tidbits that had been just rumored so far regarding the structure of the World Cup. First, he reported that an original idea for the tournament was to have two Canadian teams, because of the strong depth the country has; he goes on to list P.K. Subban, Kris Letang, Mark Giordano, Taylor Hall and many others as examples of the talent “Canada B” would have. Second, he says that it’s widely believed that the tournament will return to an eight-country format in 2020, meaning that teams like Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany will all have chances. He doesn’t, however, mention if Team Europe or North America will return, though with good showings from both thus far, it would be surprising to see them removed.

Snapshots: Team USA Reaction, Prospect Tournaments, Rantanen

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It was paramount for the United States to put themselves in a good position heading into its tilt with Team Canada on Tuesday. Instead, they made things even tougher on themselves. Lauding a gritty style that would intimidate opponents, the US looked anything but intimidating in a 3-0 loss to Team Europe. Until the third period, the US seemed to lack any sense of urgency.

USA Today’s Kevin Allen writes that while the US can still hypothetically advance, it would take a number of scenarios for that to happen. Further, Allen reports that giving up three goals in just shots never allowed the US to get control of the game. Puck Daddy’s Jen Neale writes more about how even before the game, Team USA was making odd decisions.

Head coach John Tortorella had defenseman Dustin Byfuglien as a healthy scratch, a befuddling move that had every analyst wondering what was going on. Neale goes on to write that the US team looked “listless” and then more telling, that after scoring its first goal, Team Europe sat back to allow the US to “implode on themselves.”

Frank Seravalli was even more blunt:

Just about everything Team USA had been billed as before the tournament started did not show up on Saturday for the first game of the tournament. They weren’t rugged or tough to play against. In fact, they played most of the game like the environment inside the arena: quiet and without much intensity.

The US will have to find that intensity quickly or else they will have a short stay in the tournament.

In other hockey news:

  • Gustav Forsling had an impressive showing for the Blackhawks during a 5-0 whitewashing of the Red Wings prospects at the Rookie Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Forsling had three points, with one coming as a goal. Nathan Noel, and Alex DeBrincat each added a goal while Alexandre Fortin scored two. In other action from Traverse City, the Rangers knocked off the Stars 5-4 in overtime. Jimmy Vesey had an assist and a shootout goal in the win.
  • It appears that Mikko Rantanen’s injury is not a serious one. Mike Chambers tweets that the Avs classified it as an ankle sprain and nothing more. It was reported earlier that Rantanen suffered an apparent right leg injury that looked troubling.

 

World Cup Notes: Team USA, Seguin, Olympics

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The World Cup of Hockey starts today in Toronto, and Team USA will take on Team Europe in the first game of the revamped tournament. While the American team has one of the strongest teams in their history, head coach John Tortorella has made some interesting decisions going into the opener.  As Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweets, the infamous head coach has scratched Kyle Palmieri, Dustin Byfuglien and Cory Schneider for the afternoon matchup.

Byfuglien, part of the team’s original 16 named players, was expected to be a big part of the top pairing on this team and a weapon on the powerplay. As Tom Gulitti adds, Tortorella said just this week that he was excited about the Jets’ blueliner’s big shot. Instead, Erik Johnson will suit up as the team’s sixth defenseman.

  • Tyler Seguin, who injured his foot this week in a pre-tournament match, is not expected to miss any training camp, as Mike Leslie of WFAA in Dallas reports. The hairline fracture that the Stars’ forward suffered is not serious enough to warrant him missing much time, and did not come as a surprise to the Dallas medical staff.  Seguin was replaced by Ryan O’Reilly on Team Canada’s roster.
  • In a new column from Helene Elliott of the LA Times, she examines how any success at the World Cup will give the NHL leverage in any Olympic negotiations down the road. With players and fans getting their international fix from the pre-season tournament, the league is not necessarily obligated to send players to the Winter Games, which usually causes an ugly stoppage mid-season, and prevents the league from hosting their all-star events. With the build up for the tournament being mixed, but overall fairly positive, it seems the league and NHLPA will have a strong bargaining chip to play to try and get a pay structure put in place for any player headed to the Olympics.

World Cup Notes: Team USA Cannot Afford A Letdown

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It’s now or never for Team USA. ESPN’s Scott Burnside writes that Team USA is in an absolute must win today against Team Europe and can’t afford any sort of letdown. While he explains that every team is in the same boat, it’s the construction of the US team that makes a victory today imperative. Pundits and analysts have all sounded off about the hard nosed, tough style the United States wishes to play while wondering if it can stand up against the speedier, skilled teams like Team Canada, Team Sweden, and Team North America. Beating the Czech Republic and Team Europe then, is “imperative” with Canada looming over the Americans. Burnside reports that Team Europe came back strong against Sweden and will hardly be the pushover that many initially thought. Canada, meanwhile, outplayed the United States in both meetings, despite an American victory in the exhibition opener for both squads. Jonathan Quick will start in the net for the US today while forward Justin Abdelkader appears to be the extra forward.

  • The New York Post’s Larry Brooks strikes a similar chord, saying that this may be the USA’s best chance to ease the pressure of the tournament with a win over Team Europe. Otherwise, Brooks writes, they make the contest with Canada a do-or-die affair, something the US can ill afford. Brooks also calls the US team one that is hardly the fastest or most skilled and echoing Burnside, notes that it’s all by design. Forward Max Pacioretty calls his American teammates a “lunch pail” group that will “make life difficult” for other teams. Pacioretty should know well, as Brooks writes that the Canadiens forward irritated coach John Tortorella with an early hesitation to play hard nosed hockey by skating around the perimeter. But changes were made and now Pacioretty is one of many American players altering their game to fit the “blue collar” hockey America was designed to play. Though they have snipers in Patrick Kane and Blake Wheeler, Team USA appears ready to live and die with the blueprint of toughness.

Snapshots: World Cup

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When looking at the rosters for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the United States roster.

Initial lines via USA Hockey (changing each day):

Max Pacioretty – Joe Pavelski – Patrick Kane
Zach Parise – Derek Stepan – Blake Wheeler
Justin Abdelkader – Ryan Kesler – T.J. Oshie
James van Riemsdyk – David Backes – Brandon Dubinsky
Kyle Palmieri

Ryan Suter – Dustin Byfuglien
Ryan McDonagh – John Carlson
Jack Johnson – Matt Niskanen
Erik Johnson

Ben Bishop – Cory Schneider – Jonathan Quick

The goaltending is superb, but USA lost out to Canada 1-0 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics despite a lights out performance by Quick. Other than obvious picks like Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski, there are some surprising choices, like no Phil Kessel and grinders like Justin Abdelkader making the cut.

It’s a different philosophy than the States’ rivals Canada: their bottom six features five number one centers, a very good second line center, and a first line winger. USA GM Dean Lombardi told ESPN’s Craig Custance that “it’s no different than putting together an NHL team … this had to be about team and identity.”

In other World Cup news:

  • USA named their captains Wednesday: as expected, Pavelski will wear the C, with Kane and Ryan Suter wearing As.
  • Russia also named their leadership group: Alex Ovechkin will be captain; Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin will be assistants.
  • Back in the U.S., TSN’s Gary Lawless posited that USA coach John Tortorella is wrong to force his views on his players. Yesterday, Tortorella told ESPN that any player who protested the American anthem like NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick would stay on the bench for the whole game. Lawless argued that while it’s admirable that Tortorella wants to honor his son, an Army Ranger, he shouldn’t be able to arbitrarily block someone from doing their job and publicly shame them for exercising free speech.

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