let alone the series. | Forum
Mitglied corse178
Nov 28 '17
PITTSBURGH -- Matt Murray spent the end of his rookie season helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup. Joe Williams Jersey .The goaltender is ready for an entirely different challenge for Team North America during the World Cup of Hockey. Murray stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced in a 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic on Wednesday in the final exhibition for both teams before the tournament starts in Toronto next week.While North America coach Todd McLellan has yet to officially name who will start in next when his team faces Finland on Sunday, it appears to be a mere formality.Im not prepared to anoint him yet ... but I think you had very good eyes, you saw him play extremely well, McLellan said. Thats the same thing we saw. Odds are hes our guy but we have to respect the process.The group of players 23-and-under will head into the event after losing for the first time in three exhibitions after Tomas Plekanec banked a backhander off Connor Hellebuycks pads with just over 8 minutes remaining. Murray was long gone by then in the same building where hell report for work in October as Pittsburgh looks to defend the Cup it won after streaking through the postseason and beating San Jose in six games in the final.Heady territory for the 22-year-old Murray, who believes his run last spring will only help as the team of upstarts face a massive test against the worlds best players.Thats probably the highest pressure you can have in hockey, Murray said. Going through that at a young age is only going to help me feel more comfortable.North America overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it midway through the third period on goals by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews against Petr Mrazek.North America captain Connor McDavid was held without a point for the third straight game and took a big hit from Czech defenseman Roman Polak at the end of the second period. McDavid said he didnt believe the hit was dirty and allowed his scoreless streak is the result of passing up too many opportunities to shoot the puck.Its something Ive got to figure out and keep working on, he said.Plekanec answered 53 seconds after Matthews goal by taking a feed from Ales Hemsky from behind the net and knocking it off Hellebuycks leg and over the goal line for his third goal in as many exhibition games.Ondrej Palat and Radek Faska also scored for the Czech Republic. Mrazek stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced after coming in for Michal Neuvirth at the games midway point. Aaron Burbridge Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Ahkello Witherspoon Jersey .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. http://www.49ersfootballpro.com/49ers-Bradley-Pinion-Jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. TORONTO -- The last team standing in the way of juggernaut Canada winning the World Cup of Hockey was a figment of the NHLs imagination.Oh, but theyre for real, all right.Team Europe shockingly faces Canada in the best-of-three final after upsetting Sweden in the semifinals.Flash back to Sept. 11, when after four periods of pretournament play, Europe was down 9-1 to the North American kids. Can you possibly imagine the reaction of the European players in that very moment had you told them theyd be in the World Cup finals two weeks later?It was a turning point for our group, star defenseman Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators said after Europes dramatic, 3-2 OT win over Sweden. [W]e just told ourselves, we either try to come together and play as a group or pack it in now. We showed a lot of character. I think we played really good the rest of the pretournament period and we carried that into the tournament.Canada beat Europe 4-1 in round-robin play, so it has an idea about the new outfit.You put all those countries together, theres lots of good players there, Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock said immediately after Sundays 3-2 overtime win by Europe over Sweden in the second semifinal. I like their back end, I like the goaltending, I think theyve done a real good job through the middle of the rink with their team. Theyve got a good-looking team. Thats why you play these games. All the experts can predict what they want, but you got to play the games and decide.Made up of veteran players from eight countries, Europe plays a very patient game and limits its mistakes. The team is no pushover.They are a great story, said Canada GM Doug Armstrong, Shame on us if we dont take them seriously for what theyve done to this point.Lets not kid ourselves here, Europe will still be massive underdogs in the World Cup finals. Since Sweden won Olympic gold at Torino in 2006, Team Canada has gone into cruise control, winning gold at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 while carrying a 14-game win streak in best-on-best hockey heading into the best-of-three, World Cup of Hockey championship finals.Game 1 goes Tuesday night here at Air Canada Centre (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).This is a powerhouse Canadian side that has outscored the opposition 19-6 in four tournament games and trailed for only 2:41 in total. But Europe has nothing to lose, right?Best playersEurope: Europes solid blue-line play leads to the crux of the narrative for this final as Canadas four-line forward attack has left the opposition in shambles with its forecheck and puck pressure. If Europes veteran blue-line corps led by Josi and Zdena Chara can swiftly navigate out of their zone without coughing up the puck constantlly like Russia and Team USA did against Canada, then thats a major plus toward Europe trying to produce the upset. Arik Armstead Jersey. Up front, Anze Kopitar must take on either Sidney Crosby or Jonathan Toews and play the hockey of his life. Kopitar has been one of the top-five centers in the world while winning two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings, but this is a monumental challenge for him.Canada: Crosby is playing at a whole other level from the rest of the tournament, the front-runner for tournament MVP honors. Just like his most recent playoffs when he led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup, Crosbys impact has been felt as much on the defensive side of the puck as his obvious offensive talents. His line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron has been out of this world from the get-go.Ryan Getzlaf and John Tavares have been a pairing up front since Day 1 of camp and their chemistry has grown impressively; on a line with Steve Stamkos, they were awfully impressive in the semifinal win over Russia. And, as always, whenever Canada seems to get into a bit of a lull, Toews does the heavy lifting. His engine never stops.Matchup to watchRalph Krueger versus Mike Babcock. For my money, these are the best two coaches in the tournament. No surprise there with Babcock, the NHLs highest-paid coach while leading the Toronto Maple Leafs and Canada to back-to-back Olympic gold medals. Once again, hes sold a very specific game plan to his star-studded squad and gotten a complete buy-in from every single player. Thats not easy. Krueger, a longtime former Swiss national team head coach, has a brilliant hockey mind. He was part of Babcocks staff in Sochi, helping Canada adjust to the bigger ice, so there are no secrets between them.Ive known Ralph since 04 world championships, Babcock said. Ralph and I are good friends. We talk a lot. Hes a very, very intelligent person. He was a good head coach in the National Hockey League. Hes been around a long time, a good coach in Europe. ... He has these guys believing and prepared and in the finals. From where they were at one point when they got lit up a couple of times early to now where they are, hes done a heck of a job.PredictionHaving been with Team Canada since camp opened Sept. 5, and watching this team bring its total game to a whole other level, even from the team that went a perfect 6-0-0 in Sochi, I just cant see how Canada will lose a period, let alone the series. Canada is absolutely humming on all levels.Team Canada will win each game by at least two goals and sweep the series 2-0. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
