Jeremy Laura: Red Wings at WJC - US wings gold, Finland wins Silver, ASP is top Dman

I watched most of the Sweden and US games and I watched Kiiskinen play several times (end of year unused sick time is awesome). I'm such a hockey addict that I watched the gold last night instead of the Lions.

The announcers couldn't get enough of ASP and Augustine. They were absolutely two of the main stars of the tournament. Kiiskinen finished tied for second in goals, ASP was tied for second in points. While Trey won the gold, in several games, the US didn't play a lot of D, especially against Germany. They hung him out to dry in their first game against Finland, who grossly outhustled the US in the first game.

Overall, it was a great tournament. Some leaders in Hockey Canada need to get fired. To leave Misa and Parekh was a travesty. If there's one player I hope is available this year in the draft when the Wings pick, it's Eklund. I doubt if he'll be there when the Wings pick, but that kid is the type of player every team needs in the playoffs.

I watched most of the Sweden and US games and I watched Kiiskinen play several times (end of year unused sick time is awesome). I'm such a hockey addict that I watched the gold last night instead of the Lions.

The announcers couldn't get enough of ASP and Augustine. They were absolutely two of the main stars of the tournament. Kiiskinen finished tied for second in goals, ASP was tied for second in points. While Trey won the gold, in several games, the US didn't play a lot of D, especially against Germany. They hung him out to dry in their first game against Finland, who grossly outhustled the US in the first game.

Overall, it was a great tournament. Some leaders in Hockey Canada need to get fired. To leave Misa and Parekh was a travesty. If there's one player I hope is available this year in the draft when the Wings pick, it's Eklund. I doubt if he'll be there when the Wings pick, but that kid is the type of player every team needs in the playoffs.
- bluelineenforcer

Agree on team Canada making mistakes on their roster. Misa and Parekh would have been great additions along with Mews. There were so many bad selection right from the get go.

Canada left these Jr stars off their team:

Michael Misa LW Saginaw Spirit (defending Memorial Cup winners) 30g 29a 59 pts in 33gp

Zayne Parekh RD Saginaw 12g 29a 41 pts 31gp

Carter Yakemchuk RD Calgary Hitmen 13g 20a 33 pts 29gp

Beckett Sennecke RW Oshawa Generals 24g 28a 52pts 31gp

Michael Hage C – U. of Michigan 10g 8a 18 pts 15gp

LW Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockers – 24g 33a 57pts in 26gp!!

Canada only scored 13 goals in the entire tourney! These 6 are offensive stars that have beaten most of their selections in scoring!

Can't wait to see these Jr. Wings prospects come and play in GR in the AHL. Got some very good talent in the pipeline. Jesse Kiiskinen may be the silver lining in that disaster of a trade Yzerman made with Walman. It defied all common sense and logic. Worst trade he's probably made in his entire GM career. This team would be better if Walman were still on it.

Can't wait to see these Jr. Wings prospects come and play in GR in the AHL. Got some very good talent in the pipeline. Jesse Kiiskinen may be the silver lining in that disaster of a trade Yzerman made with Walman. It defied all common sense and logic. Worst trade he's probably made in his entire GM career. This team would be better if Walman were still on it.
- Vladdie_Kon1

I'm going to wait until we see what the future considerations are. I have a hard time believing Yzerman gave Walman and a valuable 2nd for nothing in return. Yes, they needed to clear cap space, but there would have been a ton of suitors for Walman. There are a ton of potential considerations that could have been agreed to.

He may have given SJS the season to pick between a few different players they would have to send to the Wings. The Wings may have been offered the choice of a player or draft pick and the Wings may have decided to wait to see where SJS lands in the draft. There are so many possibilities, and we simply won't know until it happens.

I'm going to wait until we see what the future considerations are. I have a hard time believing Yzerman gave Walman and a valuable 2nd for nothing in return. Yes, they needed to clear cap space, but there would have been a ton of suitors for Walman. There are a ton of potential considerations that could have been agreed to.

He may have given SJS the season to pick between a few different players they would have to send to the Wings. The Wings may have been offered the choice of a player or draft pick and the Wings may have decided to wait to see where SJS lands in the draft. There are so many possibilities, and we simply won't know until it happens.
- bluelineenforcer

No clue on futures, we’ve seen that play out in some weird ways ($1 for Kris Draper back in the 90s) but the Finnish kid they got from Nashville looks to have a really good snap shot/wrister. These kids get a lot of flex out of those twigs. Unreal

I'm going to wait until we see what the future considerations are. I have a hard time believing Yzerman gave Walman and a valuable 2nd for nothing in return. Yes, they needed to clear cap space, but there would have been a ton of suitors for Walman. There are a ton of potential considerations that could have been agreed to.

He may have given SJS the season to pick between a few different players they would have to send to the Wings. The Wings may have been offered the choice of a player or draft pick and the Wings may have decided to wait to see where SJS lands in the draft. There are so many possibilities, and we simply won't know until it happens.
- bluelineenforcer

I have yet to see "future considerations" result in much of a return since being a Wings fans since 1987. BUT... I hope you're right. Right now it still looks like a terrible deal unless Kiiskinen turns into really good NHL player. Time will tell.