January 4, 2009
What we learned: The 2009 U.S. National Junior Team found its heart. A fifth-place game against a strong Czech team could easily have turned in to salt in the wound of a medal-less finish, but instead proved to be a badge of honor for Team USA.
 From the back out, this was a gritty effort. Goaltender Josh Unice held strong and made several good saves to keep his team in the game. He also had a strong defensive showing in front of him that kept the shot lanes clear for the most part.
“The defense played unbelievable all night,” Unice said. “Even when they had some scoring chances I knew I just had to make the first save and my team would clear it away.”
Captain Jonathon Blum said while the end result didn’t include a medal, he felt it showed some positive aspects of the U.S. roster.
“Guys really beared down today and showed up and played,” Blum said. “It’s just the character of our team.”
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James van Riemsdyk’s reputation as a goal scorer is intact as ever after he scored a brilliant goal to close the game in overtime.
Very few players at van Riemsdyk’s age would have chosen a between-the-legs move with the game on the line, but then again very few players are as skilled as van Riemsdyk.
“There aren’t too many guys who have the confidence to go out there and throw the puck their legs for the shot,” Wilson said.
van Riemsdyk said that was the first time he’s scored a goal that way in a game and he certainly helped close the 2009 tournament on a high note.
Key play: This one is easy as it’s the last play for Team USA in the 2009 tournament and the most important goal of the game.
 Just over two minutes in to overtime, van Riemsdyk collected a pass along the left wing and turned up the boards. The Czech defenseman lost an edge and van Riemsdyk slipped around him, deked like he was going across the slot, then slipped the puck between his legs and shot it upstairs and in.
The goal had the press box buzzing and was a fitting way to end the tournament and van Riemsdyk’s junior hockey career.
Ice chips: You can’t say enough about Unice’s effort in net. He hadn’t played a minute of the tournament prior to the fifth place game and the U.S. is lucky he was staying sharp in practice.
“I’ve been dreaming about this a long time,” he said. “It was good that I’ve played with a lot of those guys on the Under-18 and it’s good that I get to end my junior career with the kids I started it with.”
He made 25 saves in the game.
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He doesn’t show up on the scoresheet tonight, but I thought Tyler Johnson played a great game. The speedy forward was on the puck all night and nearly scored a goal when he had about three smacks at the puck during a scramble.
“I thought I played with my speed today and my line was pretty clicking, we were cycling down low and I had those chances and they probably should have gone in the net,” Johnson said.
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Kevin Shattenkirk, Wilson and van Riemsdyk were named Team USA’s top-3 players of the tournament.
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A giant scrum broke out in the third period that electrified the crowd. It started with a Czech player going after van Riemsdyk and ended with Teddy Ruth jumping to his teammates’ defense.
The resulting fighting ended Ruth’s tournament early, but Rolston said he felt the rough play helped spark his bench. Ruth was sporting a decent shiner after the game but you have to believe his teammates appreciate him stepping up even if the prize at the end of the game was fifth place.
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One trend that continued in the fifth-place game that you never want to see was the puck hitting officials. There have been at least two dozen instances this tournament where I’ve seen an official hit with a puck along the boards.
These aren’t quick slappers that can catch anyone off guard; they are mostly passes up the boards. The Slovakia game saw Ian Cole’s pass up the boards hit an official, cause a turnover and end up in the back of the net.
The officials were in the way for both teams tonight and it interrupts the flow of play. I don’t know if the system needs to change to keep the officials off the boards, but it makes you appreciate it when NHL officials can seamlessly avoid becoming part of the play for the most part.
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 van Riemsdyk finishes second on the all-time U.S. goal scoring list in World Juniors, one goal behind Jeremy Roenick.
“It’s just a huge honor to be mentioned with some of the guys on that list,” van Riemsdyk said.
Up next: 2010 IIHF World Under-20 Championship, Saskatchewan.
END OF GAME ... I'll be back with more later.
2:11 - GOAL: USA 3-CZE 2. Want to know how to end a tournament in style? van Riemsdyk skated around a fallen defender and scored between his legs top shelf.
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3:16 - Still even. good save by Unice.
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5:00 - We're off. 4-on-4 after 5 seconds.
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END OF PERIOD. USA 2-CZE 2.
We're headed to overtime. Sudden death. U.S. has 5 ticks of power play time left.
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1:54 - US gets a power play for the rest of the period.
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4:21 - Mad scramble in front of the Czech net. Johnson had about three whacks at it but couldn't get it in.
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5:11 - Extended power play over.
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6:58 - GOAL: USA 2-CZE 2. The puck went back to the point and Fairchild fired it in for the goal.
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7:18 - Now the U.S. is in it's final moments of the major penalty. Keep in mind if they score the PP remains.
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9:01 - GOAL: USA 1-CZE 2. Unice is beat to the top corner through a partial screen of his own player. It comes as the teams were 4-on-4.
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10:24 - Schroeder gets a penalty for checking from behinid and reduces the power play time. We're 4-on-3 pond hockey now.
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10:36 - So the only extra penalties out of the mess were a 5-minute major to David Stich of Czech for and van Riemsdyk was hit with 2 minutes for roughing. So the result is Ruth's tournament is over and the U.S. has a three-minute power play coming up.
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10:36 - Frustration from the whole tournament is boiling over. The U.S. had a 3-on-1 and went offsides and a Czech player absolutely attacked van Riemsdyk and now Teddy Ruth has a fight with a Czech player and is going off as is his opponent. There will be more penalties I'm sure.
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11:52 - Matt Rust just took a hard hit to the face while trying to get out of the zone on the PK. Wahl is in for high sticking but that hit put the teams at 4-on-4.
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13:03 - Penalty killed. Very aggressive PK really kept the puck away from the middle of the ice.
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15:14 - Hayes goes to the box for high sticking. Huge PK.
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17:37 - GOAL: USA 1-CZE 1. Unice makes the initial save, then the puck pops up in the air and goes off his blocker and in.
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17:59 - Palushaj and Rust each get floored by big hits.
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20:00 - Back to game action. Schroeder, Wilson and van Riemsdyk will look to get something going.
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END OF PERIOD - USA 1-CZE 0
There was a bit of a scrap after the horn sounded but it doesn't look like any penalties resulted. The U.S. played well but just didn't score. The Americans are doing an excellent job in front of Unice, who is making good saves when he has to.
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1:56 - Wilson is as snake bitten as a guy could be in this tournament. He had another goalie make a highlight reel save on him. This time I think it was a paddle save.
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5:36 - Schroeder is back out with the top power play line. I'm thinking Rolston was switching things up as Schroeder hasn't had a strong game thus far, letting a couple pucks by him out of the zone that he should have kept in. Don't count him out though from bouncing back.
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6:54 - Fairchild is crunched near the blue line and gingerly skates off on his own power.
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7:25 - U.S. going on the PP. Wilson's speed was too much to catch up to.
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7:43 - Game is getting kind of physical now with some big hits on both sides. I think something might be going on with Schroeder as the top line has been without him for a few shifts. Kristo is in his place.
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9:47 - Teams trade a couple crushing hits.
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14:01 - Unice with a couple more nice saves. D is doing a good job of letting him see the shots.
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18:11 - advantage ends. no shots on goal.
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20:00 - Back to the action. U.S. has a power play going.
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END OF PERIOD - USA 1-CZE 0 - U.S. had a strong period and Unice has been solid when he's been tested. The power play will have one second of 5-on-3 then another 1:37 of 5-on-4 to try to extend this lead.
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00:29 - van Riemsdyk got a good rush around the defense from the blue line and was hauled down. U.S. on a two-man advantage.
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1:47 - U.S. back on the power play.
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3:05 - Unice just saved Ian Cole. Cole tried a fancy cross-ice pass in the Czech zone that was broken up and turned into a 2-on-1.
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4:45 - We're 4-on-4. The U.S. is outshooting Czech 18-5 ... we've seen this before though.
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4:56 - No goal. A wild battle in front of the net ended with U.S. players celebrating an apparent goal by Tangradi and also a roughing call each for Tangradi and a Czech player. Good first part of the PP for the U.S. top line. Couple good chances.
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7:03 - U.S. just put two pucks through the crease. Unice with a good leg save on theh other end. Power play coming for Team USA.
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11:24 - GOAL USA 1-CZECH 0 - Eric Tangradi pokes home a rebound that Mitch Wahl's shot left sitting on the post. Easy tap in just as the PP expired.
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13:36 - U.S. on the power play.
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13:57 - Jimmy Hayes gets robbed right in front of the net. His shot made it through the Czech goalie, but stopped its slow trickle shy of the goal line.
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16:12 - Unice passes his first test of the game and tournament.
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18:25 - U.S. has its first shot on goal. No real pace to the game yet. Most of it is along the boards.
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20:00 - We're under way. Let's see if Team USA has some fire.
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Pregame: Josh Unice gets his first start and playing time of the tournament in net tonight. He's been on the bench throughout and Rolston is giving him the reigns tonight and a shot to close the tournament with a win.
Unice said he's ready for the pressure.
"I've been in a lot of big time pressure games," he said. "If I get the call I'll just go in and play."
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We're less than 2 hours away from the start of the fifth place game between Team USA and Czech Republic. The interest in this game figures to be small locally and I know the U.S. players are a lot looser about this game than previous contests.
However, I wanted to point out a couple things that give this game importance despite what most would label a meaningless game.
Team goals:
1. If the U.S. can beat Czech Republic, they will clinch fifth place and give the country a full decade of top-5 finishes. Is this a huge step for the program? No. But it is a small step. The longest previous stretch of top-5 finishes for Team USA in this tournament was three years (1995-98) and that was a second and three 5ths.
I don't want people to think I'm labeling this a huge step at all, but it is important that the U.S. has advanced to a point where 5th place is a setback. The next small step toward success is to put together a long streak of playing for a medal. Prior to this tournament, the U.S. had played for a medal six straight years.
2. Win the closing game of the tournament. Tonight will be the last time these players and coaches will form a lineup. Head coach Ron Rolston stressed that to his players and said personal pride should push the players to put a winning finish on an otherwise disappointing placing.
Individual goals:
James van Riemsdyk has 21 career points entering tonight's game, good for second on the all-time U.S. scoring list in this tournament. He said today he is honored to be mentioned in the same breath as the all-time top scorer Jeremy Roenick (25 points).
van Riemsdyk is tied with Brian Gionta with 11 career goals so one would give him second place alone and two would tie him with Roenick for first place.
Jordan Schroeder is also chasing some records. He's tied for 4th in points and is already the all-time career assist leader for Team USA in this event.
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A sign of Team USA's relaxed attitude is the trio of Tyler Johnson, Mitch Wahl and Drayson Bowman playing keep away the length of the ice. A player is on each red line and one player is in the neutral zone trying to swat the puck out of the air as the other two flip the puck over them.
What I'm impressed with is the way hockey players at this level can basically do whatever they want with the puck. Flipping it nearly the entire length of the ice with no effort and landing it on their teammates tape every time.
Comments? Questions? Send them to camerone@usahockey.org |