The United States of Hockey

It was almost total domination for the United States today in its quarterfinal match-up with the Czech Republic. Team USA collected a 7-0 victory to earn a shot at Canada in the semifinals. The win guarantees the U.S. will play for a medal of some kind, it will decide which color against its North American rival Thursday at 4 a.m. ET.

From the drop of the puck, the U.S. controlled the pace of the game and despite early penalty troubles, made the most of their opportunities. Team USA scored a goal in the first period before exploding for five in the second and added one more in the third to dispatch the Czechs.

The U.S. was able to effectively use its speed in transition and were able to establish a good net-front presence. More than anything, the U.S. was simply dominant on the power play, registering five goals with the man advantage.

Team USA took care of business and now look to Thursday with Canada awaiting. I’ll have a full preview of that game later today.

For now, after the jump, a look at Team USA’s stats from the game, some general thoughts and player notes.

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Phil Housley only made a few minor changes to Team USA’s lineup from the Slovakia game  for today’s quarterfinal match-up with the Czech Republic. The U.S. will meet the Czechs at 4 a.m. ET with the game airing live on NHL Network and live streaming on NHL.com in the United States.

The biggest change was elevating Rocco Grimaldi from the 13th forward spot in which he didn’t play a single shift against Slovakia. He will join the Vince Trocheck and Tyler Biggs line as a left wing, but keep an eye on what happens with his ice time. Mario Lucia gets bumped down to the 13th forward and should slot in with that group on occasion.

Patrick Sieloff will also receive a more regular shift, paired up with Jacob Trouba. He’ll be getting more ice with Shayne Gostisbehere serving a one-game suspension.

Coming up after the jump, a quick look at the USA lines and D pairings.

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The IIHF has suspended U.S. National Junior Team defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for one game for an infraction committed in the first period against Slovakia. As a result, Gostisbehere will miss Team USA’s quartefinal match-up against the Czech Republic, leaving the U.S. with six defensemen.

From the IIHF:

Upon review of the situation, the IIHF Disciplinary Panel determined that the U.S. defenceman skated up behind Slovakia’s Matus Matis and forcefully drove his stick between Matis’s legs, striking him in the groin area. Matis fell to the ice, injured on the play, but he did return.

Gostisbehere was assessed a major penalty plus game misconduct under rule 537b. The Disciplinary Panel deemed the action to be reckless. For this the player has to be held accountable.

Based on the received verbal Referee Supervisor report, the written Referees’ report, the video material, and the abovementioned facts and after consultation amongst the Disciplinary Panel, it came to the conclusion that the action was not only dangerous to the safety of the opposing player but also unnecessary and avoidable.

Coming up after the jump, video of the infraction, thoughts on the IIHF decision and where this leaves Team USA.

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The U.S. National Junior Team now knows who it will face in the quarterfinals at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship after taking care of Slovakia earlier today. Team USA will take on the Czech Republic Wednesday at 4 a.m. ET. The game will be carried live on NHL Network and stream live on NHL.com in the United States.

The winner of Wednesday’s game will meet Canada, which dispatched Russia later Monday to earn the bye to the semifinals. The U.S. team simply cannot look past the Czechs with Canada waiting in the wings.

If you’ll recall, it was the Czechs that eliminated the U.S. from medal contention in 2012 with a stunning 5-2 victory in the preliminary-round. That loss assured Team USA’s spot in the relegation round and made a New Year’s Even battle with Canada irrelevant. Jacob Trouba, J.T. Miller and John Gibson likely haven’t forgotten, but this is hardly a rematch.

In the single-game elimination portion of the tournament, the slate gets wiped clean for the U.S., which finished preliminary play 2-0-0-2. Anything can happen from here on out.

The U.S. will have its hands full with the Czech team, which have about as much skill as they’ve had in this tournament in some time. The U.S. will have to find a way to carry over its success from the Slovakia rout to the quarterfinal against a much deeper team.

Expect a detailed preview of the quarterfinal match-up between Team USA and the Czech Republic on United States of Hockey Tuesday.

After the jump, a quick preliminary-round recap and a look at the other quarterfinal match-up.

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For the second straight game, the U.S. came up just a bit short, this time falling to Canada 2-1 in its third preliminary round game at the World Junior Championship. A bad first period, late penalties and Malcolm Subban’s play in goal for Canada ultimately sunk Team USA. With the loss, the U.S. fell to 1-0-0-2 in group play and are in a must-win situation against Slovakia Monday to get to the medal round.

The U.S., in an eerily similarity to 2012, has really struggled to score goals. The squad is getting very little from its top six right now, and much less at 5-on-5, and that’s a huge problem heading into a must-win game.

What makes that more frustrating for Team USA is that it is in every game it plays to the very end. The few mistakes and inability to execute against the likes of Russia and Canada typically would prove more costly. If you would have told me the U.S. would hold both of those teams to two goals each before the games, I would have had a hard time believing you.

The fact is, the U.S. is very good, but two mistakes early in the first period was all it took for the U.S. to lose Sunday’s game. That goes back to the small margin for error teams have in the World Juniors. The team’s that manage that margin are the ones that have success. The U.S. isn’t able to manage that well enough right now.

Coming up after the jump, a look at the stats, general notes and a look at which Team USA players stood out in both good and bad ways. Continue reading →

The U.S. National Junior Team will have a familiar look to it against Canada, as head coach Phil Housley has made no few alterations to its lineup ahead of the big match-up with rival Canada. Playing in the third game together, the U.S. will have to hope for a little more chemistry among its forward lines and see if translates to success in this important preliminary-round game.

This is not a must-win game for the U.S., but it’s fairly close. A win of any kind puts the U.S. in good position for a spot in the medal round, while a loss turns Monday’s game against Slovakia into a legitimate must-win. You can read the full USA-Canada preview here.

The big thing to keep an eye on is how Team USA uses its depth at forward today. Canada is playing short two forwards with Boone Jenner and J.C. Lipon suspended for the game. The U.S. needs to be able to keep its bench long at least to start, so all four lines will need to contribute to keep getting that ice time.Team USA is likely to utilize its “Grind Line” against Canada’s big units, trying to disrupt their play.

Coming up after the jump, Team USA’s official lineup for its big game against Canada with notes on each group.

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After a hard-fought, but disappointing loss to Russia, the U.S. National Junior Team has to turn the page in a hurry as rival Canada awaits Sunday. The U.S. will meet its North American rival at 4:30 a.m. ET in the third preliminary-round game of the 2013 World Junior Championship. NHL Network will air live, while NHL.com will live stream the game in the United States. TSN has the broadcast in Canada. No matter how much you value you your sleep, this is one worth waking/staying up for.

It’s nice for this game to matter this year. When the U.S. met Canada in 2012, it was inconsequential. Team USA was already en route to the relegation round, while Canada was just killing time before the semis. There wasn’t much to watch last year, though the U.S. played hard. This year, the game almost couldn’t be more important for either team.

Canada is second in Group B after Russia claimed its second regulation win and third overall against Germany Saturday. A regulation win puts Canada past Russia heading into their head-to-head match-up on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, the U.S. is looking to gain some ground after losing to the tournament hosts Friday. A win of any kind against Canada all but assures Team USA’s spot in the medal round with Slovakia left to play (still not an easy game there). So there’s motivation on both sides.

Coming up after the jump, an in-depth look at the latest on Team USA coming into the game, some notes on Canada, keys to the game and links.  Continue reading →