Asunto: US National Team

It's times like these that I wish we could use image macros on this board.

The US team had a great game today, beating the UK 6-0. Unfortunately there was no way of knowing the UK manager wasn't going to change tactics from their last game or we could have saved some very valuable energy. At any rate, the win puts us squarely at the top of our group by goal differential, and that's a great way to start.

Tomorrow we play Brazil. Although they show to be a stronger team than us on paper it's still very possible for us to pull out a win here.

I would like to say congrats to the USA team on a great victory in the game vs UK.

When I was planning out the game I did not expect the UK to play on such a low level of intensity. However The win was very important for us. The second line was amazing today and provided 4 of the 6 goals in the game. Clint Connelly, Wayne Little, and Rodger Baker the third, second, and first stars respectively all had great games and could be the key providing a triple threat attack. The best part of the game is the USA isn't even at full strength. Ben Bovier who is not yet at full health is projected to be ready once the group stage ends has the skill level to be the on the second line as a left winger. Of course now I may have to reconsider this and shift him down to the third line as I don't want to break up the great second line just yet.

Our next game is vs Brazil. They won their opening round game with a 4-0 shutout vs Belgium. They are a tough squad and this game could decide who will win the group(even through it is early). The lineup for the most part will remain the same except for a change in the fourth line as I would like to see more from them. With a slight change in lines and tactics I am hoping for another win.

The boys won a hard-fought game today against a stronger Brazil team, coming out on top 4-3. This puts us in sole possession of first place in the entire tournament, being the only team with 2 regulation wins. Yet again, the line that has Little, Baker, and Connelly proved to be our best offensive line, netting 3 of the team's 4 goals. Team captain Jackson Morrell was the only player not on that line to score. He landed an important one too, tying the game at 3 goals each. Baker netted the game winner.

Tomorrow we play Bulgaria. This is an interesting matchup as the US isn't used to being the (marginally) better team on paper in PPM. They have stronger goaltending and defense, though the goaltending may be due to Clinton only playing 2 periods as Gaudreau had to relieve him after an abysmal second period. We actually outshine them on offense and shooting by a large margin. This should be an interesting matchup, but hopefully our offense will be able to shine here. A third win tomorrow could ALMOST guarantee us a tournament spot.

Congratulations on clinching the playoffs!

Since Belgium plays Bulgaria and the United Kingdom plays Italy, the United States should be guaranteed to make the playoffs.

Thanks. It has been a great three games in world championships so far and hopefully from here on out we can rest some of our best players and get ready for playoffs. Also great that the U 18 team is doing very well too.

Thank you! My goal has been to clinch a playoff spot in the first 3 games every season since I started with the national team. This is the first season we were actually able to accomplish that (most likely anyway; not a big numbers guy but it seems nearly impossible to miss out). It's nice to win the first 3 games.

Today's win against Bulgaria was very important as it may have clinched a playoff spot for us with 2 qualifying games left to play. We were hoping to be able to conserve some energy by getting off to an early lead, but coming back from a 0-1 deficit to win in regulation is just as good.

Tomorrow we face Belgium. They are currently ranked outside of qualifying for the tournament and need this win to stand a chance of making the cut. We are the stronger team in the matchup in almost every category(a phrase I'm still not used to uttering given the team's recent history). This is shaping up to be an interesting season for the senior team.

Oh no! Belgium won and ruined our undefeated streak! Fire the manager! Off with his head!

As Capsaicin mentioned, we were nearly a lock to make the playoffs after yesterday's win, so Captain97G and I opted to conserve energy in this game for the real tournament. Belgium got 3 much-needed points in the standings as a result. After all the games played out today, we are now a 100% lock to make the tournament. In case any Italian managers are reading this, that doesn't mean we're conserving energy tomorrow. Maybe we want to keep the top spot in our group? You don't know us!

The USA suffered a 7-1 lost to Italy today.

As I am sure many of you guys may have noticed the USA used what could be considered a "5th line" along with the third and fourth lines as well as the backup goalie and very low intensity in order to conserve energy and save our best players energy for the first round of the big and important games. The best part is thanks to Bulgaria's win over Belgium and Untied Kingdom only beating Brazil by one goal the USA was able to save energy and win our group on goal differential. That means in the next round the USA will have a decent matchup vs a weaker foe meaning the USA stands a decent chance of going deep into the World Championships.

However anything can happen so we should keep our focus on. The First and Second lines will be returned to the original spots they were in and the USA will be going full force from here on out.

In a twist of fate the Untied States will be playing Canada in round one of the World Championships. I look forward to the game vs our rivals up North.

Btw this link will be the theme song for the USA team. Should we win gold this will be playing in the arena loud speakers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q...

As Cap said, the US managed to still win the group despite losing the last 2 games and having a negative GD as a result of conserving energy. We'll be facing Canada in a first-round rivalry matchup.

The other two notable story lines were the UK and Brazil. The UK played the first two games on very low importance, making it appear as if they weren't aware the qualifying rounds had started. It appears they were playing opossum and conserving energy. They won the last 3 games after losing the first 2, playing lines that were more rested than their opponents. It was a risky gambit, but it paid off. Surprisingly, the last game they won knocked Brazil out of the tournament, who previously had looked to be one of the strongest teams in our group. The UK could be a dangerous opponent if we end up facing them in the tournament.

I'm standing by my decision not to run for the manager spot on the senior national team in last season's candidacy presentation. Captain97G has been great as an assistant so far and I'll be supporting his bid to take my place. He's relatively new to the game, but I've offered to stay on as assistant if he needs it. He has also leaned on Capsaicin on occasion for advice, as he previously served as his assistant for the U18 team. He's been setting the lines with minimal interference from me, and has assembled our top-scoring second line of Little-Baker-Connelly. I had initially projected Gaudreau as our 3rd string goalie due to chemistry, but Cap took a chance on him and placed him as our 2nd string goalie, and he has performed admirably in relief of Clinton. We've been making tactical decisions together, and he's been very strong in that department. He puts a lot of thought into what he thinks we should do with the team, and with a little more experience is going to be a great manager.

In a heart breaking loss the USA lost to Canada in round one of the World CHampionships. Sadly we could not complete vs the players of Canada. I am disappointed in the team and each line has problems.

The first line did not score enough in order for the USA to have any comfortable leads. The second line is streaky and is hot and cold. When they were hot I felt good about our chances but when they went cold they went cold. The third line got three goals all world championships and the fourth line did not get a single point in any game. This is an issue because depth scoring supports the first and second lines when they cannot score(As our team did) Not to mention the game winning goal of the USA-Canada game was by Canada's fourth line center. Now the Canadian team used a fresh fourth line who had not played a single game and tactics wise I could not match them. Overall the Canadians out planned us and I take full reasonability for that. The next world championships will be about 100 days away and that gives me time to game plan for next World Championships.

In an interesting sidenote no group one teams(Italy, Untied Kingdom, and Bulgaria) besides the Untied States won their games so clearly group 2 was the much tougher group. Still winning a group in the group stage was a huge accomplishment for the US and is the first step towards better finishing spots.

I'll add my recommendation for Captain97G.

Captain97G was an assistant for both the U18 and later the senior national hockey teams last season. Captain97G was very active about trying to learn about the game and strategies for the national team and even made a few useful suggestions. Captain97G was responsible for the suggestion to look into playing exhibitions on higher game importance to increase chemistry gain to an extent that outweighed the minimal additional energy loss (note that the chemistry for the U18 team is largely reset every season).

Cory Martin seems to be prepared to remain as the assistant, and I would plan to make myself available for advice as well as a veteran NT manager.

Yes, I did offer if he feels it would be beneficial. If he decides to go another way or another veteran manager wants to take a stab at it, I wouldn't be hurt in the least. Kejoh has done very well with the U20 team with a rotating stable of assistants, and he was newer to the game when he took over.