I have arrived in balmy Edmonton - not really, but there's very little snow on the ground and considering it's December 28th and this is the closest I've ever been to the North Pole, it's pretty balmy - and while the tournament started two days ago, one could make the argument that it really won't start until later today when The Big Four - Russia, Canada, USA and Sweden - take on the the teams on the prowl for an upset - Slovakia, Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland respectively.
The story of the tournament has been injuries and even though we're only two days in, no team has been able to escape them. Of note, Canada lost Devante Smith-Pelly for the duration thanks to a broken bone in his foot after blocking a shot against Finland and USA will be without the services of Connor Brickley for today at the least, possibly longer, after being cut on the back of the leg with a skate blade on Monday. Fortunately for Team USA (and Vermont) no ligaments or tendons were damaged.
As far as coverage goes from here on out, I'll be posting game stories, some of which will include video of post game videos, through the HockeyBuzz Wire and will do a daily - sometimes more - blog with news, notes and video interviews. If you want updates on a more regular basis, I'll be posting on twitter as often as I can. I'll also be posting longer features on various players so if you want to hear from or about someone, let me know.
For now, just some quick thoughts from what I saw on Day 1:
Canada: Obviously Stone and Huberdeau have some awesome chemistry as they combined for five goals and their offense as a whole was rather stellar, but that was never in question. The goaltending on the other hand, has been a big point of concern and Monday's performance didn't do much to quiet the critics.
USA: We knew they were big and would play the body and we knew they had speed, but the concern was if they'd be able to blend it in a way that generated offense. Eleven goals later, I think we have our answer. Question is will they be able to be as effective against tougher opponents....
As always, if you have questions, just ask. I'll do my best to answer them!
Julie
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