Report Card: RUS 3 @ USA 1
Thursday - September 02, 2004
| 09/02/04 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
 |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Robert
Esche #42, G |
0/0 | B+ | Once again, a great 1st period, holding the US in a
game they don't really deserve to be in. Stoned Kvasha on a
mini-breakaway early in the 2nd. The third goal against was a damn fine
shot, although perhaps the weakest of his five let-ins so far. You've
gotta feel bad for Esche. His first appearance ever for the "big" US
team and seems to be about the only one who gives a damn. |
| Rick DiPietro #29, G |
0/0 |
(DNP) |
|
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Brian Leetch #2, D |
00:00 | D | Twice on the same PP
(early 2nd period) couldn't keep the puck in on the point. Sloppy
behind the back pass to no one in the neutral zone later in the 2nd
leading to a turnover and Russian shot. Got ragdolled in the corner by
Afinogenov when Leetch was trying to pin him. Got stripped by the puck
at his blueline with about 5 minutes left, a breakaway saved only
because Rafalski was smart enough to hang back. Just a terribly lazy
and sloppy game from one of the USA "leaders." |
| Aaron Miller #3, D |
00:00 | C | Took a bad tripping call
early, at a time when Russia had all the momentum. Otherwise at least
wasn't as horrendous as Leetch or Chelios. |
| John-Michael
Liles #26, D |
00:00 | C- | It was Liles that allowed Zubrus to beat him wide and
around the net for the centering pass that deflected off Chelios'
skate. That's about all I noticed of him. |
| Chris Chelios #26, D |
00:00 | D- | Scored a goal for the
Russians by not noticing where the centering pass went and deflecting
it in with his skate. Then it was Chelios who created the good chance
that Russia got goal #2 on when he pinched, couldn't reach the puck and
fell down like he was falling out of his wheelchair, leaving Amonte to
poorly take his place. For someone who's supposed to be the captain of
this team, Chelios has been a pretty damn lousy through the first two.
And where's the trademark Chelios toughness? |
| Brian
Rafalski #28, D |
00:00 | B | Great play to stand up an onrushing Afingogenov in
the 2nd. Actually, the best defenseman on the US team tonight by about,
oh, TWENTY MILES. He was smart, quick, tough - everything leaders like
Chelios and Leetch should've been but weren't. |
| Eric Weinrich #5, D |
00:00 | C | Since I have
nothing in particular to say about Weinrich again, let me comment on
one
of the commercials that ran tonight: If you go to a place called "House
of Beers" that serves "over 170 beers from around the world,"and you
order
a Sam Adams; you, sir or madam, are an idiot. |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Craig
Conroy #33, C |
00:00 | C | Bill Clement in the 3rd period: "Boy, has Conroy been
going tonight." He has? That's the only time I've heard his name all
night!! Beats me. |
| Keith Tkachuk #7, LW |
00:00 | B- | All he had to do was tap
it in. Modano with a gorgeous cross-ice pass that KT deflected in to
tie the game at one. Took a bad penalty late in the 3rd period with the
US trailing 2-1. With the score 3-1 went headhunting, which was
pointless, but whatever. |
| Chris
Drury #37, RW |
00:00 | D | Where the hell has this guy been, too? As one of the
faster members of Team USA, you'd think you'd notice him once in a
while. No such luck. |
| Scott Gomez #19, C |
00:00 | C- | I can't say he did much
of anything tonight. If he did I certainly didn't notice it. |
| Bill
Guerin #13, LW |
00:00 | C+ | A scramble on a 1st period PP left Guerin alone in
front of the net but missed the centering pass for what would've been a
wide open chance. One of the better US forwards, which isn't saying
much. |
| Brian Rolston #12, RW |
00:00 | D | Second game in a row
he's been mostly a no show. What's the deal here? The guy has been
completely and totally invisible for 120 minutes so far. |
| Mike
Modano #9, C |
00:00 | B- | Missed a few shifts with injury problems, then after
coming back one the ice for the first time in a while drew a penalty
then set up Tkachuk for the PP goal with a gorgeous timing pass between
a Russian's legs. |
| Brett Hull #16, LW |
00:00 | F | If he's on this team for
any reason it's for the PP. 1st period on the PP, got a pass while wide
open in the right slot, shot it wide and out of the zone! Super. Just
like the other night, everything Hull did was lazy and error prone.
Just a mess. Deserves to be benched. |
| Steve
Konowalchuk #22, RW |
00:00 | C | Was okay. I don't know. He battled, which is more
than about 85% of this team did tonight. |
| Doug Weight #39, C |
00:00 | D+ |
As
my patience with this team goes southward, so do their grades. Weight
may have not been awful, but he was completely ineffective for the
entire 60 minutes. |
| Jason
Blake #55, LW |
00:00 | C | Hustled, though really didn't create anything
notable. Got into a battle with Kasparaitis late, perhaps
Ranger/Islander bad blood carrying over. |
| Tony Amonte #11, RW |
00:00 | D | Sloppy early, even got
mildly scolded on the bench for it. Then in the 3rd period covered up
for Chelios when he fell down, made a poorly timed stab at Kovalev who
left Amonte spinning like a top. Brutal. |
|
|
|||
| RUSSIA | A- | Really looked impressive. They played tough,
especially their defense who bitch slapped lazy US forwards around the
ice all night. Afinogenov was a one-man show, Kovalchuk certainly stood
out and Bryzla... Bryzal... their goalie looked pretty sharp, too. I
don't even want to talk about Kovalev, the recurring nightmare, who
scored a highlight reel goal for the ages. |
|
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | D- | Nearly a mirror image of the 1st period vs. Canada
the other night. The US wasn't skating, barely hitting and spending
most of their time watching Robert Esche make great saves. I'm not sure
why Wilson completely re-did the lines, although who knows if that
really had anything to do with the sluggish period. About the only
bright spot of the period was a power play about midway through that
didn't produce any shots but did have a few good scoring chances. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | B- | The 1st period may have
been similar to the one against Canada the other night but the 2nd
really wasn't, although the US game did pick up quite a bit. Then
again, it could'nt have gone in any other direction. The US had the
better of play by a bit, but the amount of bad, lazy passes nearly
every member of this team makes boggles the mind. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | F | You'd be hard pressed to tell which team had the lead
for the final 10+ minutes as Russia had far more pressure than the US,
who were kept to the outside almost all night long. Just an awful
effort. |
|
| OVERALL: | D- | Spanked! Their worst period of the six so far may still be the opening one against Canada, but the US team looked far worse overall tonight. They just didn't compete. Didn't hit, didn't skate hard, lost nearly every single board battle, just a pathetic showing for about 55 of the 60 minutes. If they can't beat Slovakia tomorrow night they're probably looking at an elimination game against Canada in Toronto and a disasterous 0-4 exit to the World Cup. Ron Wilson needs to pull out all the stops, and he can start by benching Brett Hull and perhaps Rolston and/or Amonte. | |
| cratches: | Ty Conklin (#30, G) Jeff Halpern (#27, LW) Ken Klee (#20, D) Jamie Langenbrunner (#15, LW) Paul Martin (#10, D) Bryan Smolinski (#21, LW) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha © 2004 | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
eMail this entry!
Comments
Post a comment
|
Recent Articles
|
|
|