Photo Courtesy: Miami University Athletics
NOTE: Blue Jackets TV analyst Bill Davidge is one of the most plugged-in sources for information on college hockey, and he breaks down the action from Ohio's CCHA teams in this blog.
Miami Trips Up Buckeyes AGAIN
Freshman goaltender Jay Williams stopped all 29 shots he faced and the No. 5 Miami hockey team scored a third-period goal to overcome a slow start as the RedHawks topped Ohio State, 1-0, Friday night at CONSOL Energy Arena in the inaugural Three Rivers Classic. With the win Miami improved to 2-0-1 this year against the Buckeyes facing OSU for the third straight time.
“This is nothing new to us. We see Jay, and I'll throw Ryan McKay in as well. We see these two guys go at each other every day in practice. This is nothing surprising to us," Miami head coach Enrico Blasi said.
"Now you still have to play the games. Jay's done an unbelievable job. Ryan got hurt earlier in the season; Jay had to carry the mail. He's the reason why we're at where we're at now. He continues to work hard."
"I thought Ohio State played great. I thought the first 40 minutes they were the better team in fact. If it wasn't for Jay, they might have been up one or two and maybe we were out of the game," Blasi said. "We seemed to find our legs in the third period. McKenzie scored the big goal right off the bat. I think that gave us a lot of energy and then we started to play our game, which was nice to see."
Miami also moved on to Saturday night's championship game of the Three Rivers Classic against host Robert Morris.
Boone Jenner was chomping at the bit to get back on the ice for Team Canada, and fittingly, he did so in a game that was right up his alley.
With a first place in the group and a quarterfinal bye on the line against the Russians, Canada needed a different (and much better) performance than it put forth against Slovakia earlier in the week. They skated two forwards down in that game due to suspensions being served by Jenner and teammate JC Lipon, and adding the fresh legs back in the lineup proved to be valuable.
Canada started fast, scoring two goals in a span of 1:54 late in the opening period that really got Russia back on its heels.
Dougie Hamilton and Mark Scheifele's tallies took advantage of a major penalty assessed to Russia's Valeri Nichushkin for checking from behind, something head coach Steve Spott knew his team would have to do if the opponent got reckless.
Jenner fit seamlessly into Canada's attack, which was built on backing up the Russian defensemen and outworking them below the icing line. Spott lined him up with Brett Ritchie and Philip Danault, and the trio formed a strong line that really set the physical tone for the hockey game.
Offense had been hard to come by for Team USA and the grip on their sticks had grown tight, but they let loose against Slovakia in a must-win game.
With their medal round hopes on the line, the Americans came out firing and put the Slovaks in a 5-2 hole before the first period was over. They chased Adam Nagy from the Slovakia net with three goals in the opening 11 minutes and kept the pedal down to ensure they would move on to the quarterfinal with a 9-3 victory.
And though the U.S. can breathe a bit easier knowing it avoided relegation and now has a chance to compete for a medal, there's little time to sit back and enjoy this one. The final seeding in Group A won't be determined until Sweden and Finland face off later today, and if Finland wins in regulation, the three-way tiebreak (including the Czech Republic) will get complicated.
But what it all means for Phil Housley's team is the gold medal dream is still alive, and their next challenge comes in the Wednesday "cross over" against the second-place finisher from the other group.
How did the Americans get it done today? Put simply: a hot start, a hotter power play, and timely saves from their MVP -- goaltender John Gibson, who helped kick things off for Team USA.
One thing that was hard to ignore during Canada's win over Team USA on Sunday was its relentless depth at forward.
They don't have just one scoring line or a group of five or six players that Steve Spott can call on when they need a goal; it's a well-structured team that has offensive firepower up and down the lineup. Spott rolls four lines and likes to get them all involved, and in scoring 15 goals in their first two games of this World Junior, it was an open invitation.
But even with three solid wins in the bag and a bird's-eye view of the medal round, the Canadians know they'll need to be better -- and they are getting a major piece of their team back for tomorrow's game against Russia.
Boone Jenner was suspended for a pre-tournament hit on Swedish defenseman Jesper Pettersson that resulted in a dislocated shoulder and broken wrist. Pettersson was ruled out for the entire tournament and it only added to a pile of significant injuries for the Swedes, who were outraged at what they deemed a dangerous hit by Jenner.
Team USA and Canada locked horns in yet another terrific hockey game earlier today in Ufa, Russia, with the Canadians holding on for a 2-1 win that punches their ticket to the medal round.
John Gibson was excellent in net for the United States, as was Malcolm Subban for Canada. Both players were honored as the players of the game and Subban did his best work in the third period, as the Americans pushed for the tying goal.
Steve Mears and EJ Hradek called the game on the NHL Network and offered up their thoughts post-game.
It was a bad movie that the United States didn't want to see twice in three days.
After playing a relatively sound game against Russia and struggling to find the back of the net, a similar storyline unfolded in a pivotal preliminary game today with Canada. Team USA got the fast start it needed and generated offensive chances, but was stymied by Malcom Subban who was terrific in net for the Canadians.
Canada picked up a 2-1 win in Ufa that guarantees a spot in the medal round, while the U.S. finds itself in a "do or die" scenario tomorrow against Slovakia. A win over the Slovaks sends Team USA to the medal round and avoiding the relegation bracket, which would be devastating after putting three strong games together (to this point).
Jacob Trouba scored the lone goal for Team USA on the power play in the third period, a goal that cut Canada's lead to one and energized the American bench. The U.S. had to kill of a full two-minute 5-on-3 in the closing five minutes, but got a power play of its own with 1:36 left, the goaltender pulled, and a prime chance to tie the game.
Subban was excellent as Team USA put on its best push. Seth Jones, Trouba and Alex Galchenyuk were firing pucks toward the net but couldn't get one across the goal line.
Phil Housley has been very consistent in keeping his lineup unchanged since the start of the tournament, and it appears that trend will continue.
Team USA released its lines for today's game against Canada a short while ago and there are no changes from games with Germany and Russia earlier in the week. Since adding Pat Sieloff to the roster and sending Matt Grzelcyk back to the U.S. as the last cut, the team has skated in the same lines and pairs throughout.
The results have been there, despite falling 2-1 to the Russians on Friday. Eight different players scored goals for Team USA against Germany and the team put 42 shots and several quality chances on net against Russia, but Andrei Makarov was sensational between the pipes.
One thing that needs to get going is the U.S. power play, which failed to capitalize on numerous careless penalties by Russia. A big key for the man advantage unit is to get pucks to the net and let the big-bodied forwards do their job in the shooting lanes; we saw a lot of JT Miller and Sean Kuraly around the cage and I suspect the same today against Canada.
With Malcolm Subban struggling at times in the Canadian net, making life miserable for him is going to be a focal point for the Americans. Click the "full story" button below for the full Team USA lineup vs. Canada.
We're less than eight hours away from rekindling one of the greatest rivalries in international hockey: the United States versus Canada.
I remember years ago when this matchup was one (as an American) you would look at with fear and just hope that it was over quickly. But with a USA Hockey resurgence and new waves of star players being developed in the U.S., there's a brand new attitude to it.
The next chapter gets under way at 4:30 a.m. ET and will air live on the NHL Network, and there's a lot at stake. Team USA needs a win to feel better about itself heading into the medal round, and Canada is battling it out with Russia to win the group.
Some of the best U.S. vs. Canada games in recent memory took place in the calendar year 2010, beginning with John Carlson's overtime, gold medal winner at the World Junior in Saskatoon. In this post, we'll take you through two of the more memorable World Junior matchups between these border rivals -- both from the same tournament.
In a tournament-opening 8-0 win over the Germans on Thursday, we saw Team USA's speed and transition game overwhelm an undermanned team.
The next day against Russia, we saw them meet their match.
U.S. head coach Phil Housley liked a lot of what he saw in the Germany game but he also knew his team would need to find another gear for its second game. The Russians didn't come out with the quick right hook many thought they would, but once the game got settled, they were locked in an enthralling hockey chess match with the Americans.
Did Team USA play well enough to win the game? Those arguments are always hard to settle, simply because they lost the game. But there were enough indications in a hard-fought 2-1 loss to Russia that proved the Americans have what it takes to make it out of their group and into the medal round -- provided they continue to play their style.
And that style has been a quick transition, north-to-south brand of hockey seemingly tailor-made for a talented group of defensemen and 13 fleet-footed forwards that love to play off the rush.
Looking ahead to tomorrow morning's game against Canada (4:30 a.m. ET, live on NHL Network), combating skill and speed with skill and speed is probably the best course of action for the U.S. side. Housley isn't going to alter his approach for one preliminary round game -- regardless of its significance -- and quite frankly, the Americans have a team that's deep enough to fight fire with fire against Canada.
