Teema: Senior Canada National Team

Slovenia....1
Canada......3
Not a bad away win for a bunch of guys who probably won't see much ice time once the real action starts.
Does help our tactics, their chemistry, and keeps our big guns well rested for the serious stuff.

Last three friendlies we were shut out. Not overly impressive until you review the strategy. Two points of focus. First, to save the energy of the tournament players. At this point , ALL have 100% energy left and chemistry over 90%. By the end of round one, team chemistry should be high 90's throughout with energy for all still at 100. Secondly, this strategy has allowed us to "max out" chemistry on our developing players so that some may replace a few of this season's starters next season. We anticipate as many as 11 new additions to the main roster next season as we replace present 0/9 and 1/6 players who we expect will not make the starting team next season or thereafter. Using the same strategy next season, should allow for a smooth transition of players while still maintaining our high standing in the tournament in the coming seasons.

Sadly, after finishing in the medal round for the last two seasons,the Senior Team Canada will likely be eliminated after today's game. There are three scenarios where we could advance....none of them likely. In every instance we MUST win and win big, AND the sum of our goal differential today when added to the goal differential of the team that must lose today is a two digit number. One of these teams must lose big in adddition to our BIG win.

Serbia with a combined differential of 12,
Finland with a combined differential of 14,
OR
Czech Republic with a combined differential of 10.

I thought we had more time. We are very "long in the tooth". While our best players are definitely playing, we are not as strong a team as last season since many of our best players have become 0/6 longevity over the last 1-2 seasons (18 of 28, 16 of the 22 starters). In short, they have not improved. Even though our best are playing, with so many at 0/6, we are not getting stronger, but rather "treading water". The end of this tournament will signal the beginning of the change-over to younger players for next season. Qualifying may be tougher in the next few seasons as we transition to a starting line-up that has fewer 0/6 players. Players will not be quite as good, but will at least be improving. We will still be competitive, and will get another shot at a medal soon.
A strong effort was made this past off-season to making sure younger players got experience and built chemistry. This will continue in the coming off-season. In addition, our monitoring of the FA market over the last two seasons has led to the discovery of several players who can be recruited. As in the other sports, our strongest assets are the managers who continue to train wisely and continue to improve the arenas and staff who provide players for the national teams. Thank you.

I'm sorry, even if my team lost tonight's match that would have no influence on your advancement in the tournament. The same goes for Serbia. Your only chance is to win big time and hope that Serbia will beat the sh*it out of the Czechs.

You've had some very bad luck in the last two seasons' bronze games, and I sincerely hope you will be rewarded for your effort some time in the future. Keep up the good work!

Greetings and best of luck from Team Finland,

mtvester

My apologies.
'tis me who should be sorry! After all, I am the Canadian!
You are absolutely correct.
Somehow through all the tears of disappointment, I was looking at the wins column instead of the points column.
Thank you for your correction, kind words, and encouragement for the future.
Good luck to you as well.

Bobby Jay

Keep up the good work. The performances you have managed to obtain from our national team seem disproportionate to the small ammount of managers in Canada. Our NT is in good hands.

Thank you. We spend a good deal of time researching to try and send the optimal team each season without sacrificing the future.

You will notice some personnel changes in our national senior team, as eleven 0/6 players were dropped from the 50 man roster and 10 new players, with longer longevity, replaced them. This should keep our team from becoming stagnant, and still leaves 2 spots open for new discoveries and adjustments. We will replace more 0/6 players next season if they can no longer make an adequate contribution. Generally speaking, this means that they no longer have the talent to make the top two starting lines because they are losing OR. Once again, our focus in the friendlies will be on improving the team chemistry of the new additions and players from last season whose chemistry is presently below 90. Our first game is this Saturday against Russia.

Amazingly, we only dropped two spots in the world standings from 4th to 6th. We finished 10th this year behind Poland who edged out us out in the semi-finals last year 3-2 in the shootout. They also dropped in the standings this year to 5th.

A 9-2 win over Poland today just shows that they were not using their starters. We weren't either, as once again we are trying to build chemistry on our newbies.

National team player, Brant Terry on the market. Team folded

Second stringers looking pretty good against everyone elses seconds/thirds.

Well, it's time once again.
Games start Saturday.Juggling rosters and lineups to try and give us a better result leave us in a pretty solid position. Most players are at 100% energy with their team chemistry at or above 95%. Now if someone who might be in the area could just secretly bury a looney at centre ice......

I carry two with me at all times.

Get one of the guys to go tape one up under the goalie's water bottle. Those netminders are usually the thorn in our side, so if we can jinx 'em...