WJC Update: USA vs Canada

What a game that was. I hope Blues fans got a chance to see this, because it was a vastly more entertaining game than the game we were treated to last night.

Here is a pretty good recap from TSN.

Here is a quote that I think summed the game up the best.

“Maybe people will say we didn’t play well, but we did, it’s just that the U.S. played unreal,” Canadian coach Willie Desjardins told the Canadian Press. “We were lucky tonight.”

Team USA did play an outstanding game. Both teams dominated the flow of play several times in the game. It was up and down, fast and furious. You could see that both teams wanted the game. I will leave the game recap stuff to TSN and alike. Here is what I saw impacting the Blues.

Phil McRae
Played his second best game to date. He was aggressive and pressing and opened the scoring in the first period. Banging in a goal point blank to give the US a 1-0 lead. He didn’t see tons of ice-time, but he played well in the time he had. Nothing earth shattering for Blues fans other than he didn’t look out of place. As Red Wings GM Ken Holland said during the game (paraphrasing), that if you can compete at this level in the WJC you can be pretty close to NHL ready. McRae can certainly make it and make an impact. He worked well within the flow of the game.

Image via blues.nhl.com

David Warsofsky
I think he looks good. He still is prone to a few mental mistakes, but he can usually make up for them on a later play. He is quick with the puck and still showing good poise at the offensive blue line. Hall of Famer Ray Bourque had nothing but good things to say about David during a period break. Again, he understands the game and is mentally capable of playing the game. Its just fine tuning he needs. That comes with age and experience. Even at 5’9 he was holding his own against stronger talent players like Taylor Hall.

Jake Allen
Beat 5-Hole twice but held his own under sustained pressure by Team USA. He made the save Campbell couldn’t in the shootout.

Image via blues.nhl.com

Alex Pietrangelo
Failed his first real test of the tournament. He was burned for three goals and only accounted for one. Grant it, his one goal was a good read shorthanded that was the game tying goal, but his play was just not that good. HE didn’t see much even strength ice time and when he did it wasn’t that impactful. Not any rushes, pinches, lugs. A few good passes, but nothing major.

This many not be popular with many Blues fans, but unless he really turns it on in the medal round, he should go back to juniors. Putting up 8 points in three games against weak teams doesn’t mean much when you cannot pu tup a solid game against an equal opponent.

Non Blues Players
I was impressed by Cam Fowler, his game is heads above everyone except Carlson on the blue line. Ryan Ellis is good on the power play for Canada. He is going to be just a pain in the butt next to Shea Weber for the four other Central Division teams. Jason Zucker had a solid game, similar to McRae. The Original 6 line of D’Amigo-Stepan-Kristo was put back together and did ok. Stepan is going to be a real good player for the Rangers. John Ramage was ok, more of the same. Which is a good thing considering the level of competition was raised exponentially. Donovan was ok, but not as good as against the weaker teams. Carlson really seems to tailor his game well depending on the opponent. He will be a great compliment to Mike Green in the near future for the Caps. Despite Campbell’s inability to stop an attempt in the shootout, he had a solid game for Team USA. Hopefully he (as well as Zucker and Ramage) is on the Blues radar come draft day.
*The Medal Round begins Saturday. Team USA takes on Finland and Canada has the day off. David Rundblad will not be in action Saturday as Sweden has the day off as well.