North America beats Sweden in World Cup of Hockey

Canada coach Mike Babcock called it “a great way to showcase the NHL” of the future. Gaudreau recovered the puck with two Swedes on him and made a nifty forward pass to MacKinnon who deked Lundqvist out of his goalie gear on a filthy deke and backhander.

“It’s unbelievable they did that. I don’t know who they are but they’ll be good too”. It’s good for the National Hockey League.

Who would have thought that a made-up team created to even out the groups and manufacture intrigue in the World Cup of Hockey would capture everyone’s hearts the way that it has?

“They’ll get a pat on the back from the whole hockey world for the effort they brought and what they brought to that tournament”. The North American team, they go out there and they play. “It’s been fantastic, absolutely fantastic”. The Canucks are the only team in the tournament yet to lose a game, finishing the pool stage with a ideal three-and-oh record.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the top pick in 2011, also had three points in three games for North America.

North America got off to an incredibly quick start, as Auston Matthews scored just thirty seconds into the game.

“It was just cool watching them all together watching the game and playing Ping-Pong and just hanging out”, Chiarelli said in a phone interview.

Take Sweden, the reigning Olympic silver medalist, the squad with the deepest and most talented blue-line corps in the tournament. “Once we figured it out, there was excitement”. “There’s way more heat on you when you represent your country”. “They’re playing loose and they’re not anxious about a thing”. “It’s going to be a good blend of the veterans to the younger guys”. McDavid of Newmarket wants to play for Canada.

Gaudreau switched up his breakaway approach to restore the two-goal lead for North America. “That’s what makes sort of the unscripted nature of what we do so much fun”.

The kids became everybody’s favourite team to watch. Their last loss in best-on-best play came against the U.S.in the preliminary round of the Olympics in Vancouver. A win by Russian Federation would advance them to the semi-finals where they would play Canada.

– Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 22, 2016Amazing how a Canada vs. Russian Federation matchup is being viewed as a letdown to so many. That was the rivalry.

“It’s been sensational. It’s exactly what we expected”, Bettman said. The person that won was hockey itself. “Obviously, it’s nice to be a part of it – two teams with a great history”. Me and “A-Matts” were talking, maybe we shouldnt have “celly’d” that hard.

The Team North American players are the only ones doing what they do – and that’s unlikely to change. North America dominated play in the second, controlling shots and possession.

“It’s highly entertaining”, he said. Especially if you’re not involved in the game.

It was the kind of run-and-gun hockey that nearly offends Babcock as a coach of conservatism. Although the North Americans have stolen the hearts of the Canadian and American nations with their speed and impressive young talent, the team could easily be eliminated from the tournament tonight.

“I had my chance and time (with the Hawks) but I have to look at myself”. It was like discovering something new for the very first time. “It gave us a kind of a slap in the face”.

That’s what watching this team was like. After scoring two goals and four points in three games for Team North America, giving him a tie for the scoring lead in the round robin, Gaudreau further strengthened his case for a big payday. “It might be our last one”. Neither qualified for the playoff round. A lot of action for a Swedish team who likes to play very structured and does not give up a lot of chances and goals. “We did nearly everything we could do”. If you survey 99 out of 100 fans, they’d say, ‘Put them in again.’ Those are all real positives.