A Total Butt Kicking

Boy you think we would have seen this one coming but right off the bat; we was flat out wrong and Dave Cameron made us eat every single word. What is more frustrating in watching the total and complete butt kicking that Canada laid on Team USA tonight is anyone who has watched the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors this season would have known this game was over the moment Cameron showed up at the HBSC arena.

We broke our own rule as we preached that offense wins games but it is defense that wins you championships. If John Tortorella's system is known as "Safe is Death" then Dave Cameron's system should be known as "The Chokeout" cause it chokes the life out of you into submission or unconsciousness.

Team USA you got "Choked Out" by the game plan devised, practiced and implemented by Dave Cameron. Cameron and Team Canada did not pick the most talented team possible; heck he cut several future NHL stars like Ryan Howse and Joey Hishon.

What Cameron kept was the players he felt was the most coachable, the ones he felt would have the most chemistry for the system he wanted to use. The more we look at this the more we realize how wrong we were about Team Canada.

There is a reason why the Majors are the best team in the OHL, heck the best team in all of the Canadian juniors and it is Dave Cameron. Before this season people were talking about how Dave Cameron could improve his stock as a future NHL coach.

Memo to Charles Wang owner of the Islanders, you want to fix your franchise? Then here is your fixer and if you do not grab him at the first opportunity then you will not get him.

Canada by all rights should have little trouble defeating Russia in the gold medal game PROVIDED they bring the same level of intensity and effort that they brought against Team USA. Heaven help Team Canada if the Russians beat them on Wednesday after the whipping Canada gave Team USA.

Forget trying to figure out what went wrong with Team USA as it is not that the team did not show up but rather the surgical precision of a game plan that Dave Cameron and his coaching staff came up with. Give the credit to how Cameron can get a bunch of players to buy into his system of play.

If you are Team USA, you were George Custer and his army at Little Big Horn as you never saw this coming. Be glad that Jack Campbell stood on his head as this outcome should have been much worse than the 4-1 score showed.

Yes there will be a lot of finger pointing and blame suggested by those who support Team USA but honestly does not matter. Dave Cameron out coached, out motivated and out everything Keith Allain but it is not Allain's fault.

He got "The Chokeout"

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If one is going to point fingers then we have to point ours at USA Hockey as they need to take a long hard look at why Buffalo quite honestly was a "ghost town". The empty seats and the fact that it was very clear that Canadian fans greatly outnumbered US fans on our own soil in the biggest of games is something that demands a long hard look.

We know that hockey in the USA has fan support, we have seen sold out arenas in the US WHL arenas, we have seen it at the NCAA levels and heck 113,000 plus at an outdoor game says if you make it interesting people will come. 

They say that 2018 is the next time the USA gets to host the World Under-20 Championships. May we suggest a place like the Seattle Metro Area (Seattle, Everett, Kent) as a possible host. 

You do not have to have 20,000 seat arenas to make it work but you have to have places where fan support will be there; that it is fun and offer much more to do during the time this tournament is held. Hold the preliminary round games in Kent and Everett then take the medal round to Seattle. 

It remains close to the Canadian border so the Canadian fans will still come but it will also draw on US junior/college hockey fans from the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Oregon and yes even California. No offense Buffalo but at you need to hold this event at places where people would want to travel to around Christmas/New Years.

USA Hockey; you have done a great job in developing the players for the support now you need to develop the fan support. Winning yes is one way but hosting a good party is a great way. 

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As for the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects, Calvin De Haan (NYI 2009 1st) had the only point of the prospects. Casey Cizikas (NYI 2009 4th) was solid defensively. Ryan Bourque (NYR 2009 3rd) did not play badly as he made some solid plays during a Canadian 5 on 3 but what a bad way to spend your birthday.

Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) has had a quiet tournament to go along with his quiet season but against Canada, they never gave him any room to breathe or skate so he was rendered invisible. Sorry fans but using Michael Del Zotto as an example it would be much better to let him develop slowly than rush him to the NHL so when Kreider is dominating this level then sign him.

In our eyes the stocks of Cizikas and Bourque rose as both showed they can play at both ends of the ice.

In Sweden's game against Russia, Jesper Fasth (NYR 2010 6th) had 1 assist and made some strong plays on offense. His defense needs some work but the Rangers can let him stay in Sweden while he grows as a player and person. He will one day be a Ranger IF he continues his developmental curve.

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Thanks to all of you who sent links of Dylan McIlrath's fight on Sunday, we got so busy between watching the semi-finals and (if you are a Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber) interviewing one Dylan McIlrath that we just did not have the time. 

But can someone please tell us how people are getting our Yahoo email address as it is not checked often and we would like to use one that gets a faster response to YOU.

(Cameron courtesy of Mississauga St. Michaels)