Happy New Year!
Team USA kicked off 2013 with a team picture as they prepare to face Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. The game will air live on NHL Network, TSN and NHL.com at 4am ET with replays scheduled for later in the evening. Russia and Switzerland will play in the other quarterfinal at 8am ET.
I caught up with Team USA today as they took their official team picture (see photos below - also posted on twitter so be sure to
follow me there) and they are relaxed yet focused for tomorrow's game.
I spoke with defenseman Connor Murphy and they know that really talented USA teams have been eliminated from the tournament in this round which is why they're making sure to stay in the moment and not get ahead of themselves. They've spent the past two weeks focusing on the teams within their own group, so they spent a good chunk of today preparing specifically for the Czechs. Along with that they bring the confidence of knowing that they are fully capable of winning this tournament as long as they get shots to the net and win the battles in the dirty areas - a big focus of their meetings today.
Team USA will be without the services of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere as he serves a one game suspension for his "slash" of Slovakia's Matus Matis. In a moment of self-proclaimed stupidity, Gostisbehere retaliated to an uncalled (unseen by the officials) slewfoot by forcefully driving his stick between Matis' legs and hitting him in a sensitive area.
The scouting report on the Czechs is that they struggle to score - just 12 goals in four games, even on the power play, they average a goal every six attempts - and don't defend well on the penalty kill as teams have routinely taken advantage of them - five of their ten goals allowed have been on the PP - but 5-on-5 is a strong suit for them and their goaltender, Patrik Bartosak, has allowed just under two goals a game.
Comparatively, Team USA is tops in penalty killing having only allowed two power play goals - outstanding considering they are the most penalized team thus far in the tournament - and convert on the power play nearly once every three attempts with a 1.93 GAA for goaltender, John Gibson.
The bottom line is that Team USA has much more talented skaters than Czech Republic, but at this stage in the tournament it's all about the goalies and Gibson is going to have to continue his impressive play and come up big for the Americans if they want to advance to the semis and earn the right to play for a medal.
Don't forget to set your alarms! Puck drops at 4am ET!
Julie
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