Report Card: RUS 3 @ USA 5
Tuesday - September 07, 2004
| 09/07/04 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
 |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Robert
Esche #42, G |
0/0 | B | I've had so much to write about the skaters tonight
that here I am 10 minutes after game time with nothing in Esche's
column. It's games like these I wish I could farm out certain sections
of the card to sub-contractors. Esche was good, of course, very good
sometimes. I wouldn't call any of the three goals "weak", either. Three
goals against or not, he did what he had to. |
| Rick DiPietro #29, G |
0/0 |
(DNP) |
|
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Brian Leetch #2, D |
00:00 | D- | Wasn't playing a bad
game for a period and a half. Then the first time he tries to make
something happen all tournament, Brian goes to the front of the net and
for some reason stays there even though the PP ended 20 seconds ago and
commits a cross checking penalty. Early 3rd period was wandering in no
man's land before the puck was safe, well out of position, a turnover
at center ice and it's a 2-on-1 goal for Russia, that goal coming from
the man Leetch should've had. AND THEN with 10 minutes left and the US
looking to cruise to a win, Leetch looks to reach for a stick, misses
and takes a CRUCIAL double minor for high sticking. Yow. Just awful. It's very strange to see. Leetch always had a few issues with his game even at the peak of his career, but the way his overall game has fallen in the year 2004 is almost jaw dropping. No offensive jump anymore, playmaking has been mediocre at BEST and overall he's just been either average or worse, almost never good. And I'm talking about 2004 with the Rangers, Toronto and Team USA. If I can take a guess, I think those recurring ankle injuries in 2003 really did him in, although that doesn't explain the numerous brain farts in this game. |
| Aaron Miller #3, D |
00:00 | B | Played a strong game, I
thought. As I said in a previous card you'd be hard pressed to find a
player less flashy, but he seemed to be working hard, especially behind
the net. |
| Ken
Klee #20, D |
00:00 | C- | Blew it on the Russian's first goal. 3-on-2 into the
zone, Klee hangs way too closely over to the center Russian instead of
maintaining his lane, and a slick pass around Klee to the open man for a mini-breakaway goal. |
| Chris Chelios #26, D |
00:00 | B | Hooking call late, an
obvious waterski that Chelios complained vehemently about. Otherwise
looked fine, nothing bad, nothing great. Which is fine for Chelios'
role, just play a solid, quiet game. Nice play late to block a shot in
his chest and poke away the rebound just before it found a Russian's
stick. |
| Brian
Rafalski #28, D |
00:00 | B | I've got nothing on Refalski. Took a penalty in the
2nd. 2 assists, but both were secondary and one was on the empty
netter. I dunno. Pretty good, I guess. |
| Paul Martin #10, D |
00:00 | B | A double-edged sword
here. He seems like a very solid defenseman, probably no all-star but a
very reliable #3 or 4 type, and he played well tonight. So why the
double-edged sword? He's 23-years old and a NJ Devil. That damn team
pulls about 2-3 new players like this out of their ass every season, it
seems. |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Mike
Modano #9, C |
00:00 | A- | Actually, I think Mike has been having a pretty good
tournament all along. Deceptively good. He doesn't seem to have the
speed or the open ice flash anymore, but the subtle passes he's been
making in this tournament have been remarkable. Very Lemieux-like, as
if he's one step ahead of everyone else. 4 assists! |
| Keith Tkachuk #7, LW |
00:00 | A+ | Continues to be the best
US player by a mile. He's just been having a monster tournament and
what a game tonight! Planting himself in the slot and daring people to
move him. His first goal was a 4-foot drop of a deflection from the
slot, very nice. Second goal he was more the recipient of Guerin's
great pass, but credit KT for standing in front of the net so Guerin
had something to pass to at all. USA third goal, KT drives to the net
one on one with a great effot, takes a backhander that Gomez slaps in
on the rebound. Fourth US goal Keith was the recipient of another great
Guerin pass, but again, HE'S AT THE NET. Not past the net, not up at
the circles, HE'S AT THE NET. Finally capped off his game for the ages
with an empty netter, of course. 4 goals, 1 assist. How's this for hyperbole? Out of all my years of watching hockey, this was one of the five best "big game" performances I've ever seen. I'd give him an A+++ if it didn't seem childish. |
| Bill
Guerin #13, RW |
00:00 | A | Hard work behind the net and a great backhanded pass
out to Tkachuk for US goal #2. Then on US goal #4, a 3-on-2 with KT and
Modano, took the pass from Mike, waited for KT to get in the open spot
and about 5 feet from the goal line hit him with the laser pass for
Keith's hat trick. "Only" two assists, but believe me, Guerin was one
of the main gears in the machine tonight. Awesome game. |
| Scott Gomez #19, C |
00:00 | B | Was really having a
quiet game until out of nowhere found Tkachuk's rebound on a rush and
put it home. Hey, what the hell, a quiet game with one goal is better
than a quiet one without. |
| Jason
Blake #55, LW |
00:00 | B | Played a very good game, he may have blew the penalty
shot (and the puck hopped on him at the end) but it was a great effort
to draw the penalty shot in the first place by splitting two Russian
defensemen with his speed from the blueline in. Skated hard and took
his lumps, a valuable role for the team. |
| Chris Drury #37, RW |
00:00 | C | Well... better. I guess.
Certainly not better by much, but at least I hard his name a few times. |
| Doug
Weight #39, C |
00:00 | C+ | Probably his best game of the tournament, which isn't
saying much since the first three were crap, but Doug worked hard and
went to the net for most of the night. A few good chances, maybe one
will go in someday. |
| Bryan Smolinski #21, LW |
00:00 | C- | Smolinski was the best
forward on the ice Friday, tonight he was one of the least noticable.
Odd. |
| Tony
Amonte #22, RW |
00:00 | C- | Still very little out of Tony. And man, has he ever
slowed down. He almost looks like John MacLean they way he's chugging
and churning up ice out there. Practically got checked into the 5th row
late in the 3rd. And I was hoping the Rangers would sign him two
off-seasons ago. Phew. |
| Steve Konowalchuk #39, C |
00:00 | C |
A
good game up until a bad mistake early in the 3rd, lost the puck on his
side of center ice and with Leetch wandering to who knows where, Russia
comes in with a 2-on-1 . |
| Jeff
Halpern #27, LW |
00:00 | B | Very important play early, a Russian defenseman
pinched from the point but Halpern picked him up and stayed with him,
denying the centering pass that would've found him wide open were it
not for Halpern. Later 3rd, score 4-3, freakin' Kovalev was looking to
be a hero again and Halpern stuck to him like glue. Great game for a
role player. |
| Jamie Langenbrunner #15, RW |
00:00 | C+ | A real tough SOB for
someone who isn't all that big. Almost every shift is a guaranteed hit.
Works as hard as anyone. |
|
|
|||
| RUSSIA | B- | Sloppy, far more disorganized than they were last
week against the US. Certainly not a bad game, though, even with giving
up four goals, but their defensive lapses cost 'em almost every time.
Standouts were Kasparaitis, who was a wrecking ball (and also a penalty
liability), Kovalchuk and Zubrus. Oven-chicken (Ovechkin, of course)
looks like a future superstar, easy. A strong, tough guy with the moves
of a waterbug. Thankfully, Kovalev was pretty quiet. |
|
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | A- | Great period, all 18 of them on the same page. Dump
the puck in, skate hard, go to the net, backcheck and whaddya know?
Must be a winning formula, because it looked like day and night
compared to the 1st period against Russia last week. Well, until late
when Russia settled things down, but still, if the US keeps this up
it's their game to lose. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | B+ | A great period of
hockey. Both teams brought it tonight. The US gets an early goal,
Russia gets one back later but the US didn't let that throw 'em off and
controlled the majority of the period thereafter. One minus for the US,
they had three PP's and a penalty shot in the period and have nothing
to show for them. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | B+ | A period of ups and downs and a lot of emotion. US
gives up a goal early and it's a tie game, then they storm to a 2 goal
lead with tallys 22 seconds apart. 4-2. Leetch takes a double minor,
4-3 and another 2min. PK to go. Held 'em off. Many very close chances
by Russia. Held 'em off again. Empty netter, many smiles. Wow. |
|
| OVERALL: | B+ | Damn, that was fun. The
1st period was actually kind of sedate but the next two were wild.
There were heroes, goats and hats littering the ice. Lots of tension
late. Plenty of hard hits, great goals and even a penalty shot. And I
didn't tape it! Idiot!! This would definitely be a game I'd go back to
during the dark winter lockout months. They've been beat to hell in the media since the rosters were announced, really, but let's give Team USA some credit tonight. They worked for 60 minutes and played smart North American hockey. Very few slackers among the 19. And now, what was looking like a disaster is a guaranteed top-4 finish for the US, with their semi-final game against Finland on Friday night. Should be a great one. |
|
| cratches: | Ty Conklin (#30, G) Craig Conroy (#33, C) Brett Hull (#16, RW) John-Michael Liles (#26, D) Brian Rolston (#12, C) Eric Weinrich (#5, D) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha © 2004 | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
eMail this entry!
Comments
I've tivo'd it. If I ever figure out how to transfer to my VCR, I'll let you know.
Posted by: Alex on September 7, 2004 10:50 PMi tivo'd it and i know how to use my vcr. send me a PM with your address, rocha, and i'll mail you a copy.
Posted by: heather on September 8, 2004 07:07 PMNice job, Pete. A good read.
Posted by: Gabe on September 9, 2004 06:52 AMPost a comment
|
Recent Articles
|
|
|