The Hockey PDOcast - Takeaways From the Canada vs. Sweden Opener

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by John Matisz to talk through their main observations from the Canada vs. Sweden Four Nations opener, the stuff we learned, and potential adjustments for both teams as the tournament progresses. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

since 2015. It's the Hockey PDOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey-PedioCast. My name's Dmitra Filippovich. And joining me is my good buddy, John Mattis. John, what's going on? Not a whole lot, although a lot is actually going on in Montreal for the four nations. And we're coming off a really memorable first game. Like, I know expectations were high because there hadn't been international hockey in forever, but I think it's safe to say that the opener between Canada and Sweden blew it out of the water. It really did. It was an incredibly fun game and today we are going to do a deep dive of our impressions, our takeaways, everything we saw, what we thought mattered, all that fun stuff from that

opener between Canada and Sweden on Wednesday night. You were fortunate enough to be there. You're a very old Boots on the ground reporter for the PDO cast for this tournament. You're doing this show live from a hotel room there in La Belle Provence. And so I want to get into it. I mean, it certainly seemed like, you know, I was sitting at home watching from the comfort of my couch, but you could just see that the electricity in the building and the big game feel of the event to kick off this tournament clearly resonated to everyone even through the screen for those that weren't there. But I imagine that the vibe at the rink itself and just being there was next level. It was unbelievable.

Like from start to finish, the Canadians are really good at. this is going to sound weird, but like I pregame pageantry, that kind of stuff. Like I know people roll their eyes sometimes when they do it, you know, the torch passing and whatnot to start the season. But I think it's like it's pretty sharp. It's pretty well planned, pretty well produced. And to have Mario Lemieux to come out and the roar for him was like unbelievable. I got goosebumps. And from then on it was it was it was really good. And even the players like them mentioning that the during warm up it was full like that's rare. You don't see at an HL game something as simple as that and obviously they had these these special

lights that people in the stands were wearing that made it uh I guess more visually appealing and you know there were Canada chance there were hilariously some some Crosby chance um it was almost like you know sections of of the arena were cheering exclusively for Crosby which is kind of funny but he's the whole you know he's he's he's beloved there but no it was it was incredible and it's it's such a cathedral being at the bell center it's it's so embedded in the culture hockey in in quebec and specifically montreal and it's the biggest building in the league and the seats are like a little more on an incline kind of like what we have at the delta center for utah not quite to that degree but

compared to other rinks it's on a bit of an incline and it it just creates a bit of a different atmosphere where the the players uh or i should say the fans are more on top of the players than than elsewhere and it's overall though like just from start to finish just like an electric atmosphere i think electric is a really good word to use yeah and i mean it's yeah you're right it's montreal so of course the uh the pregame would be a spectacle full of pomp and circumstance the pop when mario lemieux came out as well was was amazing and then the game starting off well like let's just jump right into it because i've got so many notes here that i want to get through just from one game but it felt like it was that important and meaningful.

Obviously, the story, I think, was Cindy Crosby, right? He was deserving of the player of the game honors that he got. He had the three primary assists in 17 minutes or so of action. He also did it in such a vintage fashion, right? Like sets a tone, just six seconds in with the backhand wizardry where he spins around, threads the needle through Matthias Eckholm's legs to set Nathan McKinnon up. It gives us the dream score line of a goal scored by Nathan McKinnon from Sydney

Crosby and Connor McDavid, which is surreal to see his second helper. He gets cut off by force laying yet manages to like get low, protect the puck by time for Mark Stone to get open in the slot and sets him up. Then he had the near goal, I believe in the second period as well, right? He's coming around the goal and he just sort of chips at the puck and it gets past Philip Gustafin and then Rosam Stahlian kind of cleared it from the goal line. But that would have been an incredibly on brand goal for Sidney Crosby as well. And he sets up the overtime winner buying time for Mitch Martin in the neutral zone.

He was on top of it all game. And it was quite a performance especially because I feel like heading into the game, there was some speculation. I'm not sure from your conversations there being at the building talking to people. If it was the same vibe of watching the Canadian broadcasts, especially, they were talking a lot about the fact that not only did he miss the last two Penguins games before the break, but there was this camera shot in the locker room pregame where Nathan McKinnon's helping fix his jersey and they were like, oh, like he kind of looks a little awkward, like

you can't do it himself. And I think the reality was that they're just such incredibly good buddies that it was a very cute heartfelt moment between the two. I don't think there was that much to read into it. But certainly, I think put to bed any questions that we may have had hitting into the tournament about his health and availability and how affected he be. I saw a clip of the golden goal last night, like after Crosby had this incredible game at 37 and it's like you watch the golden goal and it's like that same guy like he looks the exact same 15 years later a bit more facial air obviously yeah a little more facial air you know some salt and pepper on the on the beard and whatnot but like the type of player he is hasn't changed and i understand like he's maybe like lost half a step

whatever you want to call it but it's incredible how he has this way about him where he's got this sort of mix of power and grace right like that's always been his thing where he's got that strong lower body but you know his skill level is off the charts is his hockey IQ is is you know savant like and then he's just so clutch i mean i think you know a listener will correct me if if i'm wrong with this but i'm pretty sure Canada's never lost when crosbie's been in the lineup uh at a at a best he's one 26 in a row he's one he's 26 and oh in his last 26 yeah and the goal differential's like plus 85 or something in that's bad and obviously obviously it's not like one player you know in hockey decides the outcome of the game.

But when you're the best player on most of those teams, there's probably a trend there. There is. You know, it's interesting in you mentioning kind of how he's aged and the type of player he still is. My one sort of pushback to that would be that, and part of this might just be the circumstance he's in

with the quality of the roster of the Penguins have had the past couple years. But despite the way he's kind of been talked about on broadcast is still being this unbelievable two-way player. Like his defensive side of game has clearly slipped over the past couple seasons. Part of it might just be because he has to exert so much energy offensively because if he's not creating the Penguins won't score very much. And so he's probably just putting in more there. And if it was a more balanced roster,

maybe we'd see him being able to manage his minutes a bit more evenly. But in this game, they put him on the wing, right? playing with Nathan McKinnon as the traditional center. And that clearly served him very well as well. Like I feel like at this point of his career, taking away a few of those responsibilities. Now it's interesting, like he only took the four draws.

I wonder if that's a sign that he might not be 100% because he's clearly a far superior face off taker. The Nathan McKinnon has historically has been once again this season. McKinnon took 14. How much of that was just, them kind of playing their positions they've been assigned, how much of it is health and how much of it was sort of a choice specifically to, I guess, maybe defer a little bit by design because I was watching this interview that they'd recorded previously that they ran in the pregame with McKinnon and

Crosby sitting together with Elliott Friedman talking about a variety of things. And it was a really fun watch. I'd recommend anyone goes back and checks it out. It was actually a rare, insightful player interview. It was fun kind of watching the dynamic between the two and the relationship they clearly have, but Friedman asked this question about, you know, whether McKinnon would have to change his game to accommodate playing with Crosby, whether he'd be less puck dominant or whatever. And Nathan McKinnon just flat out says, like, I don't think it would be good for anyone. If I change the way I play, and Crosby, just sitting there, like, acknowledging it. Friedman asked them, who's going to play center on the line, and Crosby's quick to be like,

it's going to be Nathan McKinnon. And McKinn's obviously as humble about it as you'd expect. But it was kind of fascinating seeing the dynamic between those two and then obviously seeing it on the ice as part of that interview. Friedman asks Crosby for his favorite McKinnon story. And Crosby's like, oh, like one that I can say on air while he's here with me. And then he tells this story about the first time they met and they were training together. And he's describing like what a workout freak McKinnon was even at a very young age. And Nate's just sitting there. And at the end, he says, I'm glad you noticed. I was trying to impress you the entire time. And it was like, it was a

really fine watch. So I'd recommend it. But it was cool, obviously, seeing sort of the dream, realize that those two guys actually playing on the ice together in a very meaningful game like this. Yeah, and to touch on the dynamic between the two, John Cooper was saying the other day that observing those two together, they've been basically inseparable when they've been in Montreal in terms of all ice activities and whatnot, and that there's a real little brother, big brother dynamic, which you're hinting at there where it's like, there's a lot of respect there, going both ways. And, you know, when you take a step back as a media member or fan,

it's just, it kind of blows your mind that they both came from the same hometown. McKinnon started, like you said, working out with them, skating with them at a young age. Like, just because McKinnon was billed as a, you know, the next big thing, didn't mean it was going to work out. But here we are all these years later, Crosby's 37 and McKinnon's, whatever he is, 28. And they're playing a top line role for Canada.

And I don't know. It was just, it was something else to watch, um, them out there together. And then also in overtime, we got McDavid, McKinnon and McCar.

Like that's, yeah, if you're, you know, setting up a video game where you get to pick any players in the entire NHL, you're probably picking those three guys for OT. That's just,

it's wild that they were available to John Cooper. Oh, I've got plenty more notes on that overtime. Let's save it though. Let's work through this. chronologically, so we don't miss anything important. So we start off with that early power play goal. You have this shift where McDavid is just flying around like a maniac and it feels like a highlight real goal's inevitable. He had Victor Headman in the torture chamber, just fell short off a couple

of those opportunities. Sweden didn't get their first shot on goal, I believe, until like 14 plus minutes into the game and didn't really get a single good look until well into the second period. And it was just such like a hell of a haymaker The Canada threw at them right out of the gate, I guess. It's a testament to Sweden and sort of their roster composition and like the veteran group they have and the types of players they have and their own quality that they were able to hang around long enough to actually kind of find their footing a little bit

and then obviously make a really competitive game a bit and force it into overtime eventually. But I feel like that starred in particular the first, what, 10 to 12 minutes? It feel like Canada just threw it. essentially everything possible at them. And if anything, like the fact that they only created those two goals was a bit of a miracle for Sweden. It felt like it was headed towards an 8-1 final or something like that because I was keeping an eye on Sweden's big guys, you know, the Brodine, headman pairing, how would they fare against the big guns for Canada? And

headman in particular, I don't know if it was like, because it was a long pregame ceremony or if he was nervous, although I doubt it given what he's accomplished in his career and how much of a professional he is. But he seemed really rusty and missing targets on passes, like a good handful within the first 10 minutes. It seemed like he couldn't keep up with the pace as far as the forechecking on him, the swarming players on him, and going back the other way. Obviously, that reverse, like, Hedman ended up having a pretty good game by the end of it, but that was one thing that really jumped off the page for me immediately was how Sweden just seemed overwhelmed. They seemed like they were just completely overmatched by a Canadian team that was just every

single guy over the boards was full throttle and they're built in a way that you're either either every guy is fast or every guy thinks the game at such a high level that he can play fast with fast players, for example, Mark Stone. And it just really got away from Sweden in terms of the sort of getting hemmed in your own zone for multiple line changes. And the goal, obviously, within the first minute, off of a high-sticking penalty that was an accident. That's pretty demoralizing. But full credit for them getting their act together in the intermission. And you touched on it there, but I wonder if it's just a matter of like, and this is very cliche, kind of old school, but like if it's a matter of they're a veteran

group that's been through a lot individually, and they just kind of were able to power through it and leave that first period behind. Yeah, I think it would have been pretty easy in more inferior hands for that game to just, you know, be so one-sided that is going completely off the rails. And obviously it didn't, I think something that did become evident pretty much immediately. And you had the quote on your Twitter feed from Drew Dowdy. after the game talking about the pace of it, but it really felt like immediately from the jump, this game was going to be played at just a super sped-up version of hockey

and every decision with the puck would have to be made quickly under contested conditions. Like you'd have to be able to just make a high skill level play in traffic under duress because whenever you turned around, there'd be a defensive stick there, right? And I think that quickly answered a lot of the questions we had about how competitive these games would be from a, from an effort level, right? Whether it would resemble an all-star-like atmosphere

where guys are kind of coasting and sort of taking very circuitous routes and not necessarily actually playing the type of straight line hockey you typically would in even a regular season game, but especially a playoff one. And that certainly wasn't the case here. And I think that was really satisfying to see

that just the way everything was contested on every inch of the ice, right? Regardless of the zone, regardless of who was on the ice. it felt like there was just so little time and space for people to operate. And in that sense, it did sort of resemble a playoff atmosphere for me. Yeah, that Doughty quote that you mentioned, he said that's probably the fastest hockey I've ever played, to be honest. And I originally put it in the tweet, or I guess it's still up there.

I just added a tweet to clarify. But I put his age in there. I said, you know, Doughty 35 said this. and people thought I was not necessarily dunky on him, but kind of saying, oh, he had a terrible game. He was overwhelmed by how fast it was. But I was kind of trying to just point out that this guy's played 1100 games.

He's won two cups, one two Olympic gold medals, and he's sitting there going, this is the fastest hockey I've ever played. It was a little mind-blowing is the wrong word, but it's like, Doughty shoots from the hip. Like, he's very unfiltered. What you get from him is, you know, at least 99% of the truth. I'm sure he holds some things back.

So it's always good to go with him when you're wondering like, hey, what I saw, is that what it was like at ice level and you'll get an honest answer? So for him to say that was notable, I thought. And he said, this is another quote. He said, not only did you have to move more with your legs, but mentally you had to have your head on a swivel at all times. And he's referencing just when you get to international play, there's no bad players. I mean, you've got the best players from the NHL,

squeezed onto these, in this case, four teams. And the intensity, the skill level, the hockey IQ, all of this is just so ratcheted up that you have no time to think, no space to move. And Kail McCar said he equated it to, you know, playoff type atmosphere, but that the pace was maybe even better than the playoffs. There was a ton of back and forth and just not a lot of time to create plays or make plays. And I think we actually saw that with McCar.

I think he was pretty good, but like he wasn't as, I guess, bending the game to his whims as he usually is, at least to any great degree. But I found that the whole pace thing, like the really high pace, how everyone seemed to be shot out of a cannon. And like I said, the hockey IQ aspect of it, it exposed some guys. And then it really highlighted some guys in terms of who's going to survive in this. format and who's going to be vulnerable. There's people sitting at home being like, I'm only 35. I've got my whole life ahead of me. Then John Mattis is like, there goes Drew Dowdy, 35 years old.

It's a miracle. He's still alive. The reason why, and I'm glad you brought that up, but we were messaging about this in real time where we're watching, I thought the coolest part of all this and the reason why that type of environment is so insightful for us beyond obviously just being really fun to watch, is that it quickly exposes the players who can't hang, and it paints a very clear picture to us as viewers

of who belongs and who doesn't at this level. And there were a few guys, I mean, we can go through both the teams. I thought for Sweden, though, and I'm saying this especially because you and I did a big show once they initially announced the rosters back in December, and when we were talking about Team Sweden, we were referencing how their general, philosophy was an attachment to veterans, right? And sort of like rewarding guys who have been

through the system and who have represented the country and who have this sort of stature. And that's why a guy like Leo Carlson is a healthy scratch for this, even though he did make the team, a guy like, why like William Eklund didn't even make the team and was left home. And I thought that was a mistake at the time. And then watching this play out, it sort of went exactly the way I thought it would and why we brought that up. you watch a guy like, let's go through it individually. I thought Mika Zabinajad was a disaster.

And it's not necessarily a surprise to anyone that's watched Rangers games this year, but especially in this environment, puck's dying on a stick, coasting on the back check on that Markstone goal, like getting beaten down the ice by Mark Stone is a very tough look for all the things. Mark Stone does incredibly well.

That's probably something that shouldn't be happening to you. Zero pop or dynamism to his game at all, even the one-timer in overtime in real-time watching it. Ricard Raquel makes this nifty play, and we'll talk more about his game, to set up a great look at an overtime winner for Zabinajad. And I thought in real time, I was like, well, great save by Jordan Bennington. He got across laterally. He stopped a really dangerous look, and then you watched the replay,

and the puck, like, wasn't lifted at all. It was just along the ice, and Bennington certainly got across to make that save. But it probably wasn't as dangerous as it really should have been. and I think a prime me because of Benad probably hammers that top corner instead, and instead it's a pretty doable save for Bennington. And there's no reason why he should have been getting number one center usage. Him and William Yelander were the only guys for Sweden amongst forwards to play over 20 minutes. They gave them, Sam Hallam, gave them all the offensive zone starts in terms of the draws

whenever they were in that end of the ice. And that was a big time missed opportunity in my opinion. I think it's, I don't know if they're going to be. rectify it as this tournament goes along. They seem pretty hell-bent on using them that way. I just feel like it's a mistake, though, and you can see it in this game that I feel like they just left opportunities on the table and kind of let it get away from them. Yeah, and we've got a decent sample size right now on Mika Zabenejad and his decline, right?

It's not like, oh, the last two weeks, he's looked a little rough out there or, you know, all that Sweden game was his worst game of the season. It's like, no, this is kind of who he is now. he's kind of a power play merchant, for lack of a better way to put it. And the skating is an issue. I don't know if it's effort level. I don't like really throwing that around when these guys put so much work and effort into their careers. But yeah, that back check on Mark Stone wasn't ideal.

To circle back on Doughty, I mean, I felt like he was chasing the play at times on Wednesday. He had a horrible gap on Sweden's second goal. He basically was begging, you know, his longtime. teammate Adrian Kempay to skate into the slot and just snipe on Binnington, which is what Kempai did. So he's another guy and that I think, I think, I think, I think Doughty can hang with this pace. I just think that he's going up against guys that have played like 40 games this season. He's on game seven. I think there's a bit of that going on because I think he got better as the game progressed. But in terms of the two guys on this on, you know,

one guy on each side that I felt it was obvious that the pace was affecting them. So Benajai comes to mine and then Doughty for Canada. Well, that's going to place a larger emphasis as this tournament goes along because we saw Shait Theodore get injured and he got pretty much immediately ruled out of the tournament with that wrist injury after taking an awkward hit near the boards from Kempay. And now with him out, with Patrangelo obviously withdrawing before the tournament,

you're going to get Sandheim into the lineup. as far as I know, they're not allowed to bring anyone else over unless they get below those six available defensemen. That's going to mean more Dowdy, more Pareko as well. And he made some nice defensive plays in his game, but he also saw the limitations to his game on the third goal for Sweden, where in his own zone, he has plenty of time and space to do something with the puck, and instead he just rims it off the boards and ices it. And then Sweden scores off the ensuing offensive zone. don't draw. And so all of a sudden now you have just far less puck moving ability on this team in Canada blue line. They'll be able to work around it because the forwards, especially if you've

got McDavid coming over the boards and then McKinnon immediately after, you've got guys who can support down low, right, and can do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of the breakout. So maybe the defensemen don't need to do as much with the puck, but still against, you could see it as this game progressed once Sweden found their footing and was able to actually forecheck a little bit and get the puck deep and play their game, Team USA is certainly going to do that, especially with much more speed and forechecking ability of their own up front. And so that's going to be tested quite a bit in this tournament. So there's certainly some, like, you're right, I thought Kilmacar defensively had a couple exquisite plays. Like he had a few on a rush, really kneelander where he'd

like get his stick down just in time and sort of neutralize a potential dangerous opportunity. a couple times in this game, but offensively, he didn't play with the same level of flair that I think we've become accustomed to. So maybe him just doing that more will help alleviate a lot of that. And it's clear, John Cooper's going to ride him and Devonte's as much as he can. So that's a nice sort of luxury to have in your back pocket. But yeah, I think that's going to be tested for Canada as his tournament progresses. Yeah, I thought Taves was Canada's best blue liner. He seemed just really sharp, really engaged, got a bunch of shots on goal. Some of them right into the chest of Gustafin, but nevertheless.

I thought, yeah, MacArthur was solid. Morrissey was solid. And then if you get to Pareco, you mentioned that icing. And the unfortunate thing with the icing that turned into a goal is that Anthony Sorrelli's line was on the ice. And so, you know, immediately anyone who's watching goes, oh, that fourth line is killing Canada. They just allowed a goal here right off the face off.

But I thought that the Sorrelli line was like quietly, really it might be a little hot, a little a little extreme, a little bold to say, but I think they were quietly effective and showed some real signs of being an X factor for Canada. Like Sorelli, I looked at his numbers this morning and they weren't anything special. I mean, he was on the ice for two goals against.

The shot attempts were just 10 to 9 for Canada. High danger attempts, one, one. Like, nothing really that interesting there. You know, he won only three of eight face offs. But then when you get into sort of the eye test, I felt like he was super effective in that 4C role. The puck always seemed to be heading north when he was on the ice. And he blocked this Victor Headman slap shot late in the third period

when the game was tied. That was, you know, really just a, it could have been a turning point. And I know that obviously John Cooper is Sorrelli's full-time coach. He trusts him. So I would keep an eye on Sorrelli's usage and deployment moving forward. and I thought Hagel was, you know, was a standout player for Canada in terms of his puck pursuit. You know, Travis Kineckney was hitting anything that moved. So that fourth line, like I'm not getting, probably getting a lot of publicity today.

And like I said, like if you just look at strictly the highlights, the goals for and against, especially that goal after the Pareko icing, doesn't look great for the fourth line. But, you know, for people listening who are maybe looking for, just a line to sort of keep an eye on and monitor that that might pop up in the next game or two. I think it's Sorrelli's. Yeah, you mentioned John Cooper and obviously his ongoing relationship with those guys. We even saw little Sorrelli Hagel and point playing together, and it felt like as the game was getting to crunch time there near the end of regulation,

when it was tied, and then into overtime, he was leaning on those guys that he's familiar and comfortable with quite a bit. John, let's take our break here. And then we come back. We'll jump right back in a way. We got a bunch more to get through from this Four Nations opener. You're listening to the Hockey P.D.O.cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. All right. We're back here on the Hockeyockeedocast, joined by John Mattis.

We are talking about our takeaways and observations from the Four Nations opener between Canada and Sweden. We're talking through some of the individual performances and stuff we saw. You were mentioning Hedman in par one. I thought it got better. Certainly as the game went along. I think his issues, we're talking with the pace of this game and just the foot speed, whatever anyone's on the ice and how unique it is compared to what you're going to see over the course of a regular NHL game and his issues keeping up with foot speed,

much like pretty much every Tampa Bay defenseman and part of the reasons why I'm concerned about them into the postseason was pretty apparent, I thought, especially early on, right? Like there are a couple times where guys were just blowing by them on the second goal. he kind of got caught in space there and got taken advantage of. It became pretty clear that Gus Forsling was going to need to play a very outsized role. And I think the Swedish coaching staff quickly came to that realization because it felt like they were just sending him out there pretty much every other shift, regardless of who his partner was going to be. And he's one of the few guys that can actually keep up in this type of environment, right? Like his recoverability is so incredible.

The amount of range he covers with his stick. And regardless of where he is, he can at least. make it a bit more difficult for you or getting the way. And we certainly saw that here. I thought that Rosamist Dahlia was terrific, both defensively and with the puck. He was making stuff happen. I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity for them talking about kind of how they defer to veterans. It felt like he wasn't really on the ice for overtime very much at all, right?

Because of the way this tournament's being tracked, they don't have the time on ice numbers as readily available in terms of OT usage. So I don't have the numbers specifically in front of me, but it just felt like from watching it, he wasn't on as much as I probably would have liked based on how well he was playing and the extra open ice that's available when you're playing three on three. So I would have liked to see him a bit more. But I really thought that Dahlene, especially him and Foresling, really stood out to me when watching this game. Yeah, I mean, if you think of defensemen that would thrive in this type of up-tempo, high-paced environment, I mean, Gus Foresling is one of the first people that come to Monument.

in terms of how long he is, you know, that skating ability and just how he's able to close off guys. And there was one sequence where a Canadian player, and I'm drawn a blank on who it was, but had a partial breakaway. I think it was Taves, actually. Yeah, it was early on, yeah. And was in this sort of one-on-one, you know, partial breakaway with Foresling. And it was just, it was no big deal to Forsling. Like, kind of been there, done that from the playoff run.

that he just had with the Panthers and how dominant he can be as a defender. That stood out. And, you know, just this loss in general for Sweden, Eric Carlson called it a little bit of a nut kicker. And I thought that was like a really succinct way to put it. Because they, I don't know if people listening fully realized, but the standings format is three points for a regulation. win two points for an OT win, one point for an OT loss. So obviously one point is better than

getting zero for Sweden, but it puts you behind the eight ball a little bit there. And speaking of Carlson, I thought that he was pretty good. I wouldn't say exceptional or anything, but he was really skating out there joining the rush. Like, if you compare him to Crosby, and like this isn't the greatest comparison, but like if we're talking about vintage performances, there were at least flashes of Prime Eric Carlson. We saw a lot of Prime Sidney Crosby last night, but there was

the odd shift where I'm going, it looks like Eric Carlson of old. Eric Carlson rocks, man. I would go even further than you there. I thought he was awesome. In the offensive zone, even when they weren't really managing much early on, it felt like the rare times they were, especially in that

second period, it was him sort of opening lane. in the offensive zone. And, you know, he had that one play where he kind of like shoots for Raquel's stick. And it's a very dangerous redirect that Bennington saved. He had a few others through traffic that look pretty innocuous, but I think are quite threatening. The effort that he displayed on the Kempai goal to make a 3-2 was out of this world, right?

Like, he's getting chased down in a one-on-one puck battle with Brennan Hagel. And how many times have we seen Hegel make, regardless of which defenseman he's going up against, looks silly on that, just outworking them. He's able to go back and get that puck and then still has enough left in the tank to rush up the ice, dangles Sorelli, throws it into space for Kempe,

and then Kempe is able to do what Adrian Kempe does best. And seeing him in this type of environment with this much skill is such a great reminder of what an awesome player he is and how much he still has left and makes you a little sad. We're going to talk about, like, it's interesting how many penguins here are on the forefront, front considering the state of that team because you talk about Crosby. I'm just talking about all this with Carlson.

We'll talk quickly here about Raquel in a second, but it felt like those were three of the most noticeable players on the ice. And of course, they're all Pittsburgh Penguins. But yeah, let's get, let's get Eric Carlson in a competitive environment on an awesome team. Right. I wonder also for this tournament, we've seen this happen in the NBA a lot with Olympics, right?

Where it's like Team USA, all these guys get together. It's a bit of a recruitment opportunity as well. if I'm Victor Headman or if I'm Gus Foresling right now I'm every single day being in the year of Eric Carlson being like all right let's get you to the state of Florida here I think we could do some pretty special stuff

especially like you watch this game and what he played like 17 or 18 minutes or so so he's not necessarily having to do it in this high volume 25 minute type of output at this stage of his career goes into one of those spots gets to play low 20s and just cook offensively

I feel like that could be pretty special Yeah, I want to circle back on that play with Hagel that led to that Kempego Because when I was watching, I'm like, oh, look at like Carlson's obviously the faster skater here, but look at Hagel kind of keeping keeping up with him, you know, he's maybe a step behind, but he's right there. Oh, they go into the end boards. There's a bit of a mix up. Oh, it looks like Hagel's going to get the puck here.

Wow, this is a plus play for Hagel. And I still think, you know, he did what he could do there. If you're John Cooper, you're going, okay, you know, he did what he could do. But at the end of the day, Eric Carlson just outskilled him for a better way to put it. And he just has that special ability to turn nothing into something really quickly. And yeah, I just love that moment where it's like two guys chasing a puck.

They both get there roughly around the same time. You think, okay, the forward is doing a really good job here. He's putting on the pressure. Classic Brandon Hagel. And then, you know,

he gets kind of humbled by a guy. who's been in the league for whatever 15 years who most people think of as a player who's overpaid now who isn't doing a ton for how much he's paid and put him in this national team environment and the sparks start flying and and

you know even just you know I think something that we've been like kind of circling around with this conversation too is like for a lot of players if you play with other good players like your game's going to pop like it sounds really simple and like dumb to but there's a lot of players in the NHL that are on bad teams

or teams that are sort of just like bad structure or just kind of head in the wrong direction. And it's so hard as a star player to excel in that environment. And so you put them with someone who's or linemates or just a full team that has its act together that can raise them and sort of cover up their mistakes. And next thing you know, they look phenomenal. Especially the case for the fencedman, right?

where you're so, such a victim of your situation in terms of like needing to have guys around you that can support your skill set, but also make the most of the stuff you create. And so having this sequence where Carlson is engaging in a 50-50 puck behind his net

and then turns it into a high-danger opportunity for his team within seconds is something that very few people on this earth can do. And he's certainly one of them. I thought Lucas Raymond was awesome. You got to see that patent. I was talking about this. and I did a Tuesday preview show of this tournament with Steve Peters.

And I was talking about how he's had this play countless times this year, where it's becoming a hallmark staple of his game, where he freezes the defense and then kind of like fakes a shot and then bumps a pass diagonally to stretch the defense and create an opportunity. And he did exactly that on the third goal, getting it to Brad, and then Brat goes cross-ice to Joel Ericksonek. I thought Ricard Raquel was phenomenal as well. well, so nifty with the puck off of entries, kind of dangling around and creating space and

opportunities, setting guys up, taking the puck to the net. In the first period, he completely knocked Pareko off his skates with a really strong check. There was a goal that McDavid probably could have scored in the first period to really blow this game open. And at the last second, Raquel kind of knocked him off the puck and prevented him from even getting a look on in tight against Philip Gustafson. So I thought Raquel was awesome. And this is such a, talking about guys who are playing on bad teams, this is such an incredible showcase opportunity for a guy like Raquel, right? Because if you're another team watching this, he's got five million left on his contract for the next three years after this one. He's on a 37 goal pace this year. You don't really know what to make of it because he's playing on this penguin's team. It's not really going anywhere. But man, seeing him in this type of environment and the way he's playing and building off the season he's had, I feel like would be incredibly encouraging. And if

another team that's in desperate need of like a top six creator or a guy who could really push you over the finish line, I'd be really like, I'd be sitting at the edge of my seat kind of perked up watching this and be like, hmm, let's do a little more digging here and see if we can add this guy to our team because I thought Raquel was phenomenal here. Yeah, wasn't it last year that he like really struggled to score goals? Like it was like embarrassingly dire for him. I feel like that sort of, you know, recalibrated his. standing in the league as far as, you know,

people who aren't watching every Penguins game, and he kind of got forgotten about. And then this year he's, he's done exceptionally well for the Penguins, all things considered. And, you know, Sweden left him off the original roster. And then he comes in as an injury replacement. Obviously, you know,

it's nice to see a right, a wrong being righted in that sense. And then for Raquel to come out in the first game and be so strong on the forecheck. Yeah, that's screen on Sweden's first goal. Like he's, I don't know, he's, he's one of those players that I feel like his ceiling, like his A game is like, is quite high. I just, I don't know how often I see it. And, you know, pixies in the Discord can maybe correct me or something, but, and I don't watch enough Penguins games, at least watch them closely, you know, from, from a sort of player to player perspective.

But to me, it seems like, I don't know if he's inconsistent, but he's not a guy who's throwing out his A game every single. time he's out on the ice for the penguins. He's been really good this year. I think the drop-off for Crosby in particular when he's playing with him versus other guys is quite noticeable. And he's got, it was interesting. I believe it was the first game Crosby missed before this break that I mentioned where they used Raquel at Center. He played Center previously in Anaheim.

He's got some of those habits. He's a right shot. You look at his contract as well. And he's got the $5 million AV. But the salary is actually declining from 4.8 to 3.6. 3.6 into three years that he's still owed. And so he's actually turned himself into a pretty incredible asset, I think. And it'll be interesting to see if the penguins are able to kind of leverage that come either

this trade deadline or this offseason. I imagine a lot of teams would be very interested. You want to talk a bit of the overtime now? We saw Marner win it with a really beautiful shot where he comes down with space down the middle of the ice. He uses the defender to screen the goalie a little bit beats Gustafson cleanly block her side. It was a nice cap to a really. really fun overtime, one that we saw take advantage of the extra time afforded to them, right?

We're getting 10-minute overtimes in this tournament. And so he took advantage of that in the second half of it. You mentioned the point structure in this tournament as well, the 3-2-1, depending on when you wind up winning it. I think all of that stuff is awesome. I'd like to see the NHL incorporate both of those. We'll see in the future if that is the case. But it was also interesting post-game hearing both sides of it, right?

Because McDavid noted that he loved it because this game, no one wanted to see it end in a shootout. And I think that speaks to anyone watching at home. And then you heard the other side of him, McKinnon being like, 10 minutes is too much. I was way too tired by the end of it. Now, I think that's partly his fault because his approach this over time was every time I'm out there, I'm going to try to win it myself. It's like looking McDavid off on two-on-ones.

you're just trying to get everything to the net to try to finish it himself. And so I think that's partly his own doing in terms of why he's tired and his approach to going 100 miles an hour every single stride he takes. But I think speaking for everyone, the 10 minutes is almost a no-brainer because not only would result in more finishes before shootouts, but we also get to be treated to stuff like this where it feels like a much more satisfying conclusion to an awesome game. Yeah, McKinnon's comments after the game were pretty funny where he basically laid out how he was pretty nervous for this game.

Like he, you know, it was kind of draining mentally, emotionally, and he was running on adrenaline a lot. And then by the time he got to the overtime, he was just on fumes. But I mean, what are you going to do? You're going to keep powering through. And like you said, he looks off McDavid on a two-on-one. He even mentioned that in the press conference,

It's kind of like, what was I thinking of all guys to look off? And I don't know. When I was watching the overtime, I was just like blown away by Philip Gustafson. And the fact that I don't know, I'd have to go back and watch it, but it felt like McKinnon had four grade A chances off the rush, like just point blank, unbelievable opportunities. And Gustafson turned them all away. And then, yeah, the thing with Marner scoring is that I felt like,

at certain parts in the overtime he was like overhandling the puck like kind of trying to be a little too cute mind you he wasn't throwing the puck away he was just kind of holding onto it and looking for that perfect moment and then he pulls the trigger finally and it works out so I guess he looks smart for

the way that he operated in the overtime but I also love that Crosby just like does this you know one of those drop passes that everyone saw coming but at the same time not every every player in the league is going to try that at that moment

you know what halfway through six minutes into overtime and it's not like there were no players around him but he drops the puck back goes to the bench and then you know when he starts to sit down marner's taking a just an absolute gorgeous snapshot

and beating gust of sin it was a it was a like that was almost like a I don't know prototypical overtime, like exactly what you would want from this type of setup. And they didn't get to the shootout. Like there was still whatever was three minutes and 54 seconds left. But it felt like it was like a 20 minute overtime given how many chances there were.

Yeah, I'd be very interested to see what kind of adjustments, John Cooper and the Canadian and co-engineing staff experiments with heading into the game on Saturday against USA. And just in general, as this tournament progresses, right? because in a situation like this where it's such a short runway, both within the games, but also in terms of the number of games you're actually playing, it's more difficult, I think, to know when to give stuff time to iron out chemistry-wise

and when you need to pull the plug on stuff early and go to something else. When you're winning, as they were early on here, it's easy to just kind of stick with what got you there. But then they started to throw some different looks, I guess, once the game started to get closed and especially tied. laid on, but I feel like I'd like to see him switch things up in terms of the way they're using the top three lines in particular. Like they're certainly not going to mess with McKinnon, Crosby, and in Stone because of how productive they were in this game.

I feel like I'd like to see him maybe split up McDavid and Marner because for Marner to be at his most effective and best, I want him to be the primary puck carrier. And that's going to be impossible to do when you're sharing the ice with Connor McDavid because he's the best pot carrier we've ever seen in the sport. And so I feel like him in point would make a lot of sense because point has the speed to keep up, but often gives that duty to Kuturov to begin with anyways on his own team. And so he's good at using his street line speed to get the spots and then obviously convert from the slot. And I feel like that would make a lot of sense with Marner, whereas maybe you give someone like Seth Jarvis who was very active in this game and has a particular set of skills that I think would work well with a guy like McDavid in terms of obviously not being the biggest

net front guy, but just being so competitive and always being around the puck and around the action that I feel like maybe he would make sense there. So I'd like to see Cooper experiment with that a little bit. I'm not sure how willing they're going to be willing to do so in this type of a situation. But those feel like natural kind of adjustments that they could tinker with, especially ahead of a very big game on Saturday. Yeah, even though that point line scored a five-on-five goal, there was that nice play by Perrako to get it up to Jarvis. and then he bumped yeah marshan's hand and he and he pulls the trigger like that was a really just you know textbook kind of play other than that though they felt a little hidden a little like they didn't really impress they didn't really disappoint either so i that was that's the one line

where i go is there some tinkering to be done there i don't know if if the u.s.a factor of it all where you have the two kuchuk brothers and you know j t miller and just some, I guess, feisty or forwards, do you throw Sam Bennett in there? I just, I don't know who you take out, but it seems like the opponent that you would put Bennett in for or maybe you wait till Finland, because I assume that all these scratches are, are going to get at least one game. And it's not like Bennett doesn't deserve to be, to be in the lineup. So what do you think about Bennett, at least like the conversation of Bennett entering the lineup against the U.S.? Yeah, that's fine. I mean, I'm with you that.

I think they're going to want to get everyone involved that's made the trip and it has been part of the team. You're probably going to do so during these round robin games. I didn't really see anyone. You know, you talked earlier on about the four or five and how they were on the ice for two goals against, but I thought they were pretty noticeable and did exactly what you'd expect from them and want them to do. And so I didn't really see anyone in this lineup where I'd be like, all right, this guy's struggle didn't really belong up front. And so you're going to take them out to accommodate that. if anything, I think I'd be curious to see whether if whether Jarvis or even a guy like Kinnikny

bumped up to a more skilled line just to see whether they can do some of that off buck stuff with their skating and and battle level and all that to supplement a guy like McDavid. So yeah, we'll see. I think the other logical sort of adjustment or question is what they're going to do in net, right? Because I imagine they're not going to want to use the same goalie for all the games. Um, you know, Bennington, a couple of the goals he should have had, certainly it is as you talk to Kevin Woodley or any other goalie experts. It's a tough situation where you don't see the puck at all for like 15 minutes. And then all of a sudden you have to make some saves.

He made some particularly tricky stops as the game progressed and especially, uh, you know, in the third and then in overtime to actually keep them in it. Yet I don't think his play was so good where it's like, all right, it's a no brainer. this is going to be the goalie, the rest of the way as well. So I imagine we will see Aiden Hill at some point soon, if not in the next game. But obviously, that's going to be one to watch. It's kind of an unenviable spot, right? Because you have this expectation of winning and the skater group is so good that if you do wind up just doing your job, no one's going to care because everyone's going to be talking about the game Crosby had and all the other star players.

But if you lose, it'll probably be your fault. And everyone's just waiting for the opportunity to jump at that. So it's a pretty tricky spot. I think it's certainly one that any goalie in it playing at this level would relish to get to represent your country and be the guy tasked with winning this tournament. Yet at the same time, it's one kind of fraught with potential pitfalls and danger. One thing I was thinking about is if this is in fact what like the default pace will be for the whole tournament and it's obviously impossible to know that until we see at least one other game. But I feel like Bennington's better suited for a chaotic environment versus Aden, Hill being kind of a blocking goalie that can be exposed a little bit by lateral passing and sort of like

dangles and sort of just the pace picking up. But I'm not, I'm not Kevin Woodley. Like, I don't know if that even makes sense, but it like in terms of just, you know, Bennington being a little more athletic and being a little more, I guess, a creature of chaos. It seems like he, he would thrive in that environment. I thought he played well enough against Sweden. Like, the best way to put it is kind of like, he led in a softier too, but then also made some saves that he, you know, that were extremely difficult. And it's hard. I mean, like, I saw some tweets. Like when, when the game was 10 minutes in and there isn't a shot on goal for Sweden, I mean, people were joking like you could have an empty net. Like, the Canadian skaters are that good. Who cares? Who cares about Logan Thompson,

right? In that whole debate. But obviously, that changed once the second period got going. But it's not the easiest role in the tournament being Canada's goalie. All I got to say is I can't imagine how much of a cold-hearted grin you'd have to be not to love this, right? That's what I was thinking watching this because it was understanding

as far as I'm heading in in terms of what it would look like and how much it would matter and how much people would care and then you watch this and it was just the most fun hockey game we've seen so far this season and just got me so excited thinking about the playoffs again and how soon they are around the corner and so hopefully

if this is a sign of things to come, just sign me up for as much of it as we can get, not only seeing the level of talent on the ice, but I think as we've talked about here, more importantly for me, just seeing how those top players interact and kind of how this hierarchy gets established and how it all sort of naturally figures itself out, I guess. It's really cool to watch. And for any hockey nerd, and that certainly everyone listening to this right now qualifies for that. It's a really fun experience.

John, we're going to get out of here. I'll let you plug some stuff because obviously you're live and on site and you're covering this tournament. You're going to be writing a lot about it and doing all that. So let the listeners know where they can check you out and kind of what they can expect from you, I guess, moving forward as this tournament progresses. Yeah, I guess just download the score app if you don't already have it

and follow me on Twitter. It's at M-A-T-I-Z-J-O-H-N, my last name, first name, no underscore or space or anything there. And yeah, I'll be pumping out content for the entire tournament. And I guess I could direct you to a feature I just did on the U.S. team, specifically, Austin Matthews, his birth year being at the U.S. national team development program. There's five guys from that birth year on this team, which is kind of wild. And then there's two other guys that were in the same building, different birth year,

but the program is a two-year apprenticeship. So seven out of 23 guys were under one roof at one point when they're 16. 17 years old. So I went into into that that year in Detroit, the Detroit area back in what, 2013, 14. And kind of deep dive that. So yeah,

that's on my Twitter. So check it out and thanks as always for having me on Demetri. This was fun. Anytime, man. You're our four nations correspondent here officially. If you're like me and you're watching these games at home and you're somehow not in the PEOCast Discord at this point

hanging out with everyone, I'm comfortable saying that you're just doing it wrong. Yeah, it was absolutely buzzing throughout this game and match the energy and the occasion. And I believe that's going to continue as this tournament progresses. And obviously as we get ahead to the postseason, it's going to be the place to be. So jump in there, join the 1,200 plus sickos that are chatting as this game's going on. It really supplements the viewing experience. So get in there and join us. And that's all for today. We've got one more show here to close of the week. We'll have our pal, Ryan Lannner. on to break down Team USA versus Finland as they open their tournament and a whole lot more.

Thank you for listening to the HockeyPedio cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.