Chicago Blackhawks' Early World Cup Experiences Mixed
Sep 9, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Team USA forward Patrick Kane (88) against Team Canada during a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at Nationwide Arena. Team USA won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The first weekend of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey is in the books, and things have already gotten interesting
Of the eight teams competing for the World Cup, each played in one game on either Saturday or Sunday this past weekend. The tournament is officially underway, and while some teams have performed as expected, other teams have proven to be a bit of a surprise.
The fun part about this is that almost every team (the exception being Team North America) has at least one Chicago Blackhawk competing for their country. Below are some observations from each game, as well as how the Blackhawk players are faring.
Team USA vs. Team Europe
From an American standpoint, there couldn’t be a more appropriate way the kick off the tournament. Let’s watch the bruising American team kick the collective butt of those old and washed up Europeans. After all, Team Europe is the oldest team in the tournament.
But with age comes experience, and Team Europe played a smarter and more disciplined game. They were patient, they controlled the pace and they capitalized on the mistakes of the United States.
In the meantime, Team USA seemed jittery and undisciplined. Its players kept turning over the puck, and this led to numerous odd man rushes for Team Europe.
The Chicago Blackhawks’ very own Patrick Kane is arguably the biggest star on the team, and with this comes some pressure. Well, in this game he didn’t handle the pressure too well. Early in the second period, Kane was trying to do too much, and he lost the puck. This led to a 2-on-0 breakaway, and Team Europe toyed with goalie Jonathan Quick as they scored to make it 2-0 Europe.
U.S. coach John Tortorella tried to give Kaner a chance to redeem himself; he ended up leading all forwards with 18:48 minutes of ice time.
But this backfired. I kept seeing Kane being forced to defend instead of having time with the puck in his own zone.
Now, this appeared to be a combination of a few things. It involved a poor performance by the actual defense, smart play by Team Europe and not the best matchup decisions by Torts.
Regardless, having your best offensive player defending is not an optimal situation for Team USA. Needless to say, the Americans were swept by Team Europe by a final score of 3-0.
Moving on to the Europeans, I already mentioned that they are the oldest team in the tournament. Along with seven other European nationalities, there are six Slovaks on the team. One of them is Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks.
It’s sad that Slovakia wasn’t able to put together its own team. In an article by Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus, Hossa discusses how his country is having a hard time producing young hockey talent like it used to.
In this World Cup, Hossa, Anze Kopitar and Tomas Tatar comprise a strong second line for Team Europe. Hossa and Tatar are from Slovakia, and Kopitar hails from the neighbor country of Slovenia. Although this line didn’t generate any points Saturday, it was a threat on the ice and was responsible defensively. Kopitar was named the third star of the game.
Sep 14, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Team Russia goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save against Team Canada center Jonathan Toews (16) during the first period in a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Team Canada vs. Team Czech Republic
While the first game was a bit of an upset, the second game went pretty much as expected. Canada dominated, winning by a score of 6-0.
Six different players lit the lamp, with the fifth goal coming from Jonathan Toews. Oh, and guess who got the primary assist? Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks! Um, aren’t we supposed to hate him?! Yet our ’Hawks’ captain was sharing a hug with him. Oh well, at least it wasn’t Corey Perry.
The long and the short of it is that this team is stacked. So stacked that Blackhawk netminder Corey Crawford was the backup to Carey Price. After this game, Canada is definitely the favorite to win this tournament.
The Czech Republic never really stood a chance. Poor Michal Neuvirth made 44 saves on 50 shots. Usually when you make 44 saves, that’s a good thing.
Future Chicago Blackhawk Michal Kempny suited up for the Czech Republic. As a matter of fact, he had 19:25 minutes of ice time, which was second on the team for defensemen (including 4:42 on the powerplay). The Czechs certainly are relying on him, although I’m not sure how much this means on a “not-so-good team.” Hopefully it bodes well for the ’Hawks.
Sep 18, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team Sweden Defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson (4) battles with Team Russia Left winger Ivan Telegin (77) during the first period in the preliminary round play in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Team Sweden won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Team Sweden vs. Team Russia
Moving on to Sunday’s games, the matinee featured the Swedes and the Russians. Now, I ask you, who doesn’t like the Swedes?! They are a team that is known for its great defense; defensemen were involved in both scores in a 2-1 victory.
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Representing Team Sweden were the Chicago Blackhawks’ Niklas Hjalmarsson and Marcus Kruger. These are two gentlemen who always play their hearts out; yet they seem to fly under the radar no matter who they play for.
Hjalmarsson got lost in the defensive shuffle to Erik Karlsson (1 assist) and Victor Hedman (1 goal). Kruger had 0 points, but he put up a respectable 56 percent faceoff success rate.
On the Russian side of things, Blackhawk Artemi Panarin also generated 0 points, although I would expect that to change as the tournament goes along. Artem Anisimov, on the other hand, had a pretty horrific game. His performance is best summed up by a tweet from The Athletic’s Scott Powers.
Rough game for Artem Anisimov. He’s a minus-13 Corsi (1 CF, 14 CA). Played just one shift in the final seven minutes of the second period.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) September 18, 2016
I think Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach Joel Quenneville would be smart to consider putting Kruger in for faceoffs on the second line instead of Anisimov whenever possible once the NHL regular season gets started.
Sep 14, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Team North America forward Johnny Gaudreau (13) and forward Auston Matthews (34) celebrate a goal by Matthews against the Team Czech Republic during the third period in a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at CONSOL Energy Center. Team Czech Republic won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Team North America vs. Team Finland
Now I’m guessing most of you chose to watch the Green Bay Packers play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football instead of this game (not a bad call). If you did go that route, you missed quite the showing by Team North America.
Its players pummeled Team Finland 4-1 (the final score is a bit misleading). This upstart group is quickly becoming a squad to be reckoned with.
It is the youngest team in the tournament (no player is older than 23 years of age). But the players make up for their inexperience with speed and skill. It is a fun team to watch, and it will be interesting to see how far it can go.
Poor Team Finland. And poor Ville Pokka. He was the final Chicago Blackhawks player to represent his country this weekend. He finished the night with an unimpressive 0 points, and 13:22 minutes of ice time. I only mention him out of obligation in this post, as nobody really cares.
Later today and Tuesday, all eight teams will have different opponents as the tournament carries on. If you can only choose one, the matchup to watch will be Team Canada against Team USA on Tuesday night (7 p.m. Central time on ESPN).
Canada is the team to beat, and the United States will be looking for revenge after their shutout loss to Team Europe. And it will be interesting to see how Kane bounces back.
Never a dull moment, my friends! Who needs football anyway?!
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