World Championships update « LA Kings Insider

World Championships update

Posted by Rich Hammond on 12 May 2010, 2:15 pm

The United States lost 3-2 to Finland today in the IIHF World Championships and finished 0-3 in round-robin play. Team captain Jack Johnson had one assist for the Americans, who will now go to the relegation round. Canada, without injured captain Ryan Smyth, lost 4-1 to Switzerland. Russia, with Alexander Frolov, is 2-0 so far in the tournament and faces Belarus tomorrow in its final round-robin game.

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39 Comments

BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy says:

May 12, 2010 at 2:17 pm

This result, plus the Canada loss to Switzerland, simply proves how far the world has come when it comes to hockey.

This is good for hockey, no doubt about it!

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variable Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
@BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy,

absolutely…spot-on…!

just like in the nba, as the game grows, so does opportunities for all – fans and participants…

there’s plenty of room on the bandwagon…:)

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Sebastian says:

May 12, 2010 at 2:22 pm

Wow, team USA sucks! I dont really agree with the structure of the tournament. should me more like the world cup, where you actually have to win a game or two to go through to the next round.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
@Sebastian,

going on to the relegation round isn’t a good thing. They have to be one of the top 2 teams here or else be demoted out of the top division.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
@Sebastian,

going on the relegation round isn’t a good thing- They now face demotion out of the top division.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
@-J,

Ah, so now my first post shows up.

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wavesinair Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
@-J, yeah, major bugs still. there’s often a long delay before a comment shows up. amazing how complicated they make a simple blog.

Quisp Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
@-J,

I was just reading somewhere about how if they lose out in the relegation round they will end up having to play teams like Great Britain and Japan in a couple of years. That’s crazy.
LBlocal says:

May 12, 2010 at 2:33 pm

NHL Power Play just reported that Brandon Kozun is injured and may not play in this weekends’ CHL tourney. Would be a huge loss for the Hitmen. Any info??

GO KINGS! GO MONARCHS! GO PROSPECTS!

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wavesinair Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
@LBlocal, here’s a quote directly from the horses mouth…

“I’ll be ready,” vowed the five-foot-nine, 164-pounder, who was wearing a walking cast on one foot and a sandal on the other as he went through another rush of media interviews. “I’ll probably skate Thursday. Nothing’s wrong, I’ll be OK.”

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VanKingsFan Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
@wavesinair, Can anyone say Theo Fleury??? The Calgary reference drives the point home even further …

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LBlocal Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
@wavesinair, Good info, thanks! “Nothing’s wrong” says the walking cast.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
@wavesinair,

when does walking cast = nothing wrong? When you’re playing playoff hockey. BK has his head in the right place.

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variable Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
@wavesinair,

sounds like a true hockey player…

i honestly expect most of our players to have the following reaction when they are injured…:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4

anything else would be uncivilized…:)

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wavesinair Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@variable, “Just a flesh wound.” Classic.

LBlocal Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@variable, Excellent choice of media, and relevant.

“We’ll call it, a draw”

wavesinair Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
@LBlocal, Here’s the link to the full article…

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Hitmen+Kozun+expects+play+Memorial/3014868/story.html

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LBlocal Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@wavesinair, Thank you kind sir. Would like to see Brandon, Brayden and Martin absolutely tear it up this weekend.

On the same NHL PP show, it was commented that Jones was a “world class goalie.” A lofty statement. Time will tell.

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Mark says:

May 12, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Speaking of kozun
How heavy do you think he will be next season?
I’m guessing 173~

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Kevin Y says:

May 12, 2010 at 3:06 pm

This means one of a few things

1) US doesn’t care about this tournament
2) They aren’t fielding as good a team as they can (because of Kane, Kesler, and others still playing in the playoffs)
3) Denmark has REALLY come a long way.

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VanKingsFan Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
@Kevin Y,

1) Than why are they playing? They should be embarrassed as should you if they truly don’t care.And I say good riddance if they get relegated

2) Nobody is of the top 7 or 8 teams

3) Yes Denmark has, so has Switzerland, Norway, Germany, etc.

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RLane420 Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
@VanKingsFan, Your right. What he should have said is its a conspiracy against American hockey. International hockey has it out for us. It was the oficiating BLAH BLAH BLAH. LOL.
I highly doubt they didnt care, so there really wasnt any reason to respond to the comment. It spoke for itself.

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Kevin Y Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
@VanKingsFan,

I don’t mean that the US doesn’t care about hockey or the “spirit of the game”, but I mean that they won silver in the Olympics, so they don’t need to prove anything to the world.

And also, when David Ross and TJ Oshie are your goal scorers, what does that say about the overall skill of the players in the tournament? Nothing against the players who are playing, but the tournament doesn’t seem to have a lot of meaning.

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Paul From Oxnard Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
@Kevin Y,

As an American I hate to admit it, but your “US doesn’t care about this tournament” statement is yet another example of “arrogant Americans”. As Van said, if the US doesn’t care, why are they playing? I bet you’d say they cared if they won the thing.

Oh, and with all due respect to Denmark, they haven’t come THAT far. They still trail even Norway in their own region as far as “hockey powerhouse nations” go.

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fuzzerson says:

May 12, 2010 at 3:52 pm

I blame the Team USA captain.

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Kris Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
@fuzzerson, No, I still blame that Haywood guy! What a jinx! And to put him with John Ahlers? The U.S.A. is not the SUX! Hate having to listen to Ducks announcers to cheer for USA! So far I only saw Jim Fox do the Russia game a few days ago. Put him back on and USA may have a shot at qualifying for next year! (What do we have to lose)

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Kris says:

May 12, 2010 at 4:04 pm

Well, now we play to qualify for next year (first game is May 15.)

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Matt George says:

May 12, 2010 at 4:24 pm

RELEGATION

Ouch.

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luc20rules says:

May 12, 2010 at 5:11 pm

Someone asked about the Kings Prospect Jordan Nolan he spent 2009-10 season with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL Juniors. He played well with almost a assist per game and almost a goal every other game for 1.42 pts per game over 59 games. He will likely get a chance at Manchester-AHL or Ontario-ECHL, but it depends on how many prospects get traded or promoted to the Kings.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
@luc20rules,
I think you got your assists and points mixed up http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?id=4221 Still, a nice improvement. I’d say he starts in Ont. Manch is too deep.

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luc20rules Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
@-J, Your right my bad. I was going off memory and just couldn’t find the guys post.
Jordan Nolan – Soo Greyhounds OHL 2009-10 Season
49 GP, 23 G, 25 A, 48 PTS, -5(+/-), 88 PM
so it was almost a point per game. What might get him the promotion is the fact that he is also an enforcer.

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goldielocks says:

May 12, 2010 at 5:11 pm

Wow. It is true that this is not the best team US can offer but still … most of players are NHLers and they can’t win against significantly fewer NHLer team? That’s kinda embarrassing.

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-J Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
@goldielocks,

Not to make excuses, but keep in mind that this is on the larger “Olympic” ice surface, which European leagues use regularly. NHLers are not necessarily better on the larger ice than a European pro player that trains and plays on that size rink all the time.

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BluLiner says:

May 12, 2010 at 5:27 pm

JMFJ just got cheaper.

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Paul From Oxnard says:

May 12, 2010 at 5:45 pm

BTW, am I the only one who can’t stand watching the World Championships games this year because for some silly reason the Universal Sports network decided to let the Quacks broadcasting crew call the games? I’d rather have a 2 year old shriek in my ears for 3 hours.

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Sydor25 says:

May 12, 2010 at 6:08 pm

So Rich, when are you going to talk to Dean?

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Steve McQueen says:

May 12, 2010 at 6:34 pm

One one player from the Olympic team is on the USA roster

F
Kane
Kessler
Pavelski

D
Brooks Orpik

These are the only 4 guys who’s teams made it to the second round.

Burkes got to be disappointed by the guys who didn’t show up.

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Tired Of It says:

May 12, 2010 at 9:14 pm

If the US fields a team for this event then they should try and win it. “The US doesn’t care about this tournament” is no excuse for not performing. This is an embarrassment after getting the silver.

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Tigern says:

May 13, 2010 at 1:39 am

Burke is not the only WC GM to be dissapointed. This is the swedish “no thanks” list.
1. Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa’
2. Nicklas Bäckström, Washington’
3. Johan Davidsson, HV 71
4. Alexander Edler, Vancouver
5. Tobias Enström, Atlanta’
6. Loui Eriksson, Dallas’
7. Peter Forsberg, Modo’
8. Johan Franzén, Detroit’
9. Niklas Grossman, Dallas
10. Tomas Holmström, Detroit
11. Kristian Huselius, Columbus
12. Patric Hörnqvist, Nashville’
13. Niklas Kronwall, Detroit’
14. Nicklas Lidström, Detroit’
15. Andreas Lilja, Detroit
16. Stefan Liv, HV 71′
17. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangners’
18. Fredrik Modin, Los Angeles’
20. Johnny Oduya, Atlanta’
21. David Petrasek, HV 71
22. Samuel Påhlsson, Columbus’
23. Marcus Ragnarsson, Djurgården
24. Mikael Samuelsson, Vancouver
25. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver’
26. Henrik Sedin, Vancouver’
27. Fredrik Sjöström, Toronto
28. Anton Strålman, Columbus
29. Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo’
30. Martin Thörnberg, HV 71
31. Mattias Timander, Modo
32. Dick Tärnström, AIK
33. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit’
34. Mattias Öhlund, Tampa’
35. Jimmie Ölvestad, Djurgården

It seems like the russians are the exception with Ovie Kovi Datsyuk and Frolov on the team

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