Vancouver Canucks WCH Pre-Tournament Review
Sep 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Team Europe goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) makes a save on Team Sweden forward Daniel Sedin (22) in the third period during a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at Verizon Center. Team Europe won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Six Vancouver Canucks competed in World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament action, with varying success. But in the end, they can all be hopeful for success.
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey schedule is completely made up to make as much money as possible. Swedish Vancouver Canucks forwards Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Loui Eriksson, along with goalie Jacob Markstrom, will be in a group with their Finnish rivals. In addition, they played their first two pre-tournament games against Finland. The same goes for Canada and the USA, and Team Europe and Team North America faced off against each other twice in pre-tournament action as well.
That kind of skewed our first impressions of each team.
Team Europe with Canucks forward Jannik Hansen and defenseman Luca Sbisa couldn’t keep up with Team North America in two games. Many fans believed Europe wouldn’t be able to win a single game.
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Meanwhile, Sweden had one overtime loss and an easy 6-3 win against Finland, and looked like legitimate contenders for the world cup trophy. The Sedins and Eriksson are clicking on the power play, the defense might be the best in the tournament, and Henrik Lundqvist is one of the best and most consistent goalies in the NHL. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, in Game 3, Europe beat Sweden 6-2.
Anything is possible.
So, what can we expect from our Vancouver Canucks when the tournament officially kicks off?
Sep 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Team Sweden F Nicklas Backstrom (19) waves to the crowd during player introductions prior to Team Sweden
Team Sweden
Recap
The Swedes needed some time to get going. Team Sweden has one of the strongest and deepest rosters in the tournament. On paper, they are clearly better than a Finnish roster that lacks star power, aside from Florida Panthers young star Aleksander Barkov and goalies Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask. In Game 1, however, Sweden fell 3-2 in overtime. On the bright side, Eriksson scored a goal assisted by Daniel Sedin.
Game 2, this time on home ice, went much more as expected. Sweden outshot their opponents 29-14 and outscored them 6-3. Led by the all-Canucks line that combined for five points, Sweden looked like the serious contender they were expected to be.
In Game 3, all that was gone again, and the serious contender finished its three-game series with a 1-1-1 record. Against a team that is supposedly the worst in the tournament, Sweden couldn’t get their cycle going and they made too many mistakes — some big, some small. Plus, Lundqvist didn’t exactly have the best night of his career.
Strengths
Team Sweden did well on both special teams. Especially the power play with the Sedin twins and Eriksson was great, which is good to see for all Canucks fans. Functioning as the team’s top line on even strength as well, they were probably the best line throughout the three games.
Weaknesses
The second line of Patric Hornqvist, Nicklas Backstrom and Filip Forsberg worked really well, too, but there wasn’t much behind that. Sweden does not have the kind of forward depth Team Canada has, which might make the difference when the two teams meet. The defense is full with talent, but they need to find some better chemistry and find it quickly. Last but not least, Lundqvist’s performance against Europe probably got some Swedish fans scared.
Outlook
An elite top six, an elite group of defensemen and an elite goalie should normally be enough for a team to make it far in this tournament. Sweden isn’t the only team that needs to find chemistry, and even Canada lost one of their pre-tournament games — everything is fine. As long as Lundqvist’s last game was an exception and the team can move past that tough loss, they are still one of the favorites for the title.
Sep 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Team Europe forward Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Team Sweden in the second period during a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Team Europe
Recap
For Team Europe, it was the exact opposite. Game 1 was a tough 4-0 loss against Team North America. The Europeans are by far the oldest team in the tournament, playing against an under-23 team. Especially the defense around Sbisa and Zdeno Chara struggled.
Game 2 was a little different, but ended the same way. After falling behind 5-1, Europe caught up to 5-4, but ended up losing 7-4. Those seven goals against revealed Europe’s glaring defensive weaknesses that we all expected. After two games, North America looked like a fun team to watch while Europe would easily finish the tournament without a single win.
Then came Game 3. While the Swedes will want to forget all about it as quickly as possible, Team Europe will try to build off of it. Sweden outshot Europe 36-24, but Slovakian goalie Jaroslav Halak saved the day. Well, Halak and the six goals, three of which were scored by German center Leon Draisaitl, did it together. If there is one Team Europe player who hated this win, it’s probably Sbisa, who was scratched against Sweden.
Strengths
Draisaitl’s hat trick to finish the tournament shows us one important thing: Team Europe offers players like Draisaitl the perfect stage to prove what they can do internationally. Instead of losing every game (or most games) on terribly weak rosters, players like Draisaitl and Anze Kopitar finally get a chance to win. That should be decent motivation.
Weaknesses
Even after a 6-2 win against Sweden and a hat trick from Draisaitl, Team Europe’s roster looks extremely weak on paper. Especially the defense is rather terrible, as it relies on aging veterans and unsigned free agents. Chara, Christian Ehrhoff and Dennis Seidenberg are all past their prime.
Outlook
From Team Sweden’s perspective, you can say “whatever, it was a pre-tournament game.” From Team Europe’s perspective, you would probably get really excited and say “yeah, that’s right, we can beat anyone!” The truth lies somewhere in between. With great performances from individual players like Draisaitl and Kopitar, as well as stellar goalie performances, this team can win games.
Sep 14, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Team Europe forward Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Team Sweden in the first period during a World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Conclusion
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Unlike the NHL preseason, where teams are at least half made up of prospects and minor leaguers, the World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament games went from zero to 100 in no time. The best of the best played in some extremely intense games, which could well be an accurate representation of what is to come.
However, as said before, the NHL did their best to schedule as many rival games as possible. Sweden-Finland, USA-Canada, Russia-Czech Republic and Europe-North America (not a rivalry but the two gimmick teams). That matters because a) rivalries are always a different story and b) games against a single opponent can hardly predict the outcome of a whole tournament.
That said, we got a solid idea of each team’s makeup.
Team Sweden has enough star power and depth to beat anyone in the tournament, including Team Canada. But, they can also lose to anyone once mistakes start creeping in.
Team Europe, on the other hand, has no depth at all, but enough elite players that can steal games by themselves. That definitely isn’t perfect to go into this tournament, but it’s enough to at least have a chance.
The big, final conclusion: anything can happen.
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