by mikey287 on Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:27 pm
I kind of thought Subban might struggle a tiny bit in this tournament because of how raw he is...major upside, but so many holes in his game that the elite players are more apt to find that in a closed coursed like this. You can scout every game basically, get a read on him and make him dance. He looked a bit shaky early on, picked it up a bit and then had a let down here against the Americans. His fault or not, it was a shaky tournament for him. Jordan Binnington is the smoother goalie and probably would have fared a couple goals better, in my opinion.
Gibson has been by far the best goalie of the tournament and I'm not sure how close it really is. Such a far cry from how this goalie looked against the Finns in 2012 tournament. A 4-1 loss, IIRC, but it was sloppier than that. I had serious reservations about him after the tournament, but his play this year in the Ontario League and this performance here - win or lose against the Swedes - has earned him the Tournament All-Star Team, in my opinion. He's been just lights out.
Gaudreau is actually from down my way when I used to live in South Jersey. His dad owns the rink I believe that I've played at a bit (Hollydell) and he's just winning where ever he goes. He's a kid that has too much compete level not to succeed at the next level, the only thing that'll hold him back is that he belongs to a sinking ship of a team that doesn't figure to do anything remotely competent in the next 5 years at least...they'll probably trade him for a 3rd and call it a win...
The Swedes are missing some parts, especially on the blueline. That makes them a little vulnerable to the Americans forecheck I think...their goaltending has been fine, but not outstanding. I'm assuming that Lundstrom gets the nod, he's got the big equipment, chest protector to the ears type of kid and he's just a blocker...the scouting report seems to be either getting moving or just go five hole before his pads take the area away...I can't imagine they'd go with a subpar goaltender like Lassinatti in such a big spot, I think he's quite dreadful actually...
Finally some of the depth players that I've enjoyed watching toil away on Sweden's lower lines are getting a chance to show their stuff a little higher in the lineup. They might catch lightning in a bottle, but the USA's goaltending should provide enough of a cushion to give them the Gold, but you never know what can happen in these short order tournaments...