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I meant to do this last night, but I decided that I should live up to my promise on putting together a preview for the World Juniors, which started yesterday. Unfortunately, after I wrote the first two team previews I realized I was spending way too much time on it, and it was late, so sadly I abandoned it. Sorry. Anyone who is watching the tournament and is looking for a few guys to focus on can let me know, and I'll give you some names. But I'm way too geeked for this tournament, so I was getting a little carried away with breaking down each team.
In the meantime, BAM:
The gift that keeps on giving.. nightmares.
This will be a short recap, because I recorded the podcast today for The Obstructed View and discussed a lot of the hot topics, but I figured since I attended the game I'd put up some thoughts here as well.
I'm wondering when Todd Bertuzzi's going to get the credit he deserves. Obviously, no one's saying he's useless anymore, and no one doubts he's not the hottest goal scorer right now. But he's getting a lot of "I hate to say it, but he's playing well." Why? Why do you hate that a Red Wing is playing well? Would you have preferred a third shutout? That's the kind of stuff I don't like reading, because it feeds into my theory (which was denied by everyone) that the people who think he's not playing well are the people that have a personal issue with him. He's finally comfortable in the offensive zone, meaning he's not trying to do too much -- and it's working for him. But plenty more on him coming on the podcast.
The Joe was rocking last night, pretty full house for a game against the almighty Blue Jackets. One thing that deserves mentioning is the Joe did an awful job showing different angles on that disallowed goal. They only showed a side angle, a pretty blurry and zoomed out one at that. Not sure if it was a shadow or what, but I can guarantee you 100% it looked like it was in. I had no idea it hit both posts until I got home and watched highlights. So that could be why everyone was booing so loudly, and not because they're idiots (as I would have probably suggested were I watching that game at home).
I sat in front a row of drunks who were coaching the team from the stands "clear it clear it! pass it around! shoot!" etc. Seriously, this was the conversation on Derek Meech at the beginning of his shift.
Man: Meech -- he's good.
Woman: Yeah, Meech! I like him. He's going to be really good.
Man: Yeah, I like Meech (seriously, these people just repeated themselves all night)
Woman: Yeah... *pause* What number is he?
Man: I don't know, I think that's him, #14.
*30 seconds later, Meech has his moment and Columbus scores*
Me: Meech is great.
They also had a great debate before the game to what the octopus meant. The male said it was because back in the Original Six, they only played eight games in a season. Surprisingly, they got even stupider when they decided it was because the playoffs are a best-of-seven, "and one year, Detroit did it in eight." My brain hurts typing that.
Anywho, more on that game later, and Columbus tomorrow. But for now, I wanted to update on Detroit's three prospects at the WJC:
Tomas Tatar: Didn't hit the scoresheet in a 7-3 loss to the US, but was definitely noticeable. He had a shift where he retained possession of the puck for about 20 seconds, just ragging the puck around the zone. Had probably three good shots. Slovakia definitely isn't as good as last year, so it's all on him to produce offense.
Brian Lashoff: In the WJC, you can dress seven defensemen, and Lashoff looks to be the seventh. He didn't play much, but he should be. The US defense is pretty sketchy, most of them are offensive types, Lashoff is the only one who knows to get the puck out of the zone. He had one of the biggest hits in the game when he rocked a Slovak forward with a high hit that probably should have been called (especially in international hockey) for contact to the head.
Andrej Nestrasil: Very impressed. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it because I couldn't even find the Czech Republic's final roster. But apparently they're pretty bad (10-1 loss to Sweden) and Nestrasil was the only Czech that stood out in a good way. Played point on the powerplay, and really dictated the pace of it. He was clearly the go to guy on the breakout as well, as he was allowed to carry the puck up the ice a lot. Not too many quality chances, but he'll score in this tournament. Looks like a much better skater than he was when I sawh im last season.
In other news...Mattias Ritola was called back up after yesterday's game, and nobody knew why because we thought everyone was healthy. Turns out that, for once, that is the case, as nobody is hurt. Ville Leino is going to sit, hopefully for a long time, and Ritola's going to get a shot to make an impression.
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