It was fun to watch Tyler play last week and I think if US had 4 more Tylers and a few years with Johan, we could actually win.
As always these are my opinions.
1. Tyler has better fundamentals than anyone on the team. He reminds me of the european robots that keep beating us. US players tend to be more run-and-gun, which is fun to watch but can't consistently beat the robots.
2. He realizes he has a lot to learn from Johan. I imagine if Johan told him to practice some trivial safety 100 times, he would without questions. I feel some of the veteran US players would think it was silly and shrug it off. You could see his game improve in the few months he has been under Johan. Just from the Russian event to this warmup.
3. I think he is capable of better shot selection than a lot of US players. We see our US players shoot shots that can get them in trouble, which happens. We will shoot some unnecessary spin position shot, or take less than desirable paths, or safety risks. Maybe risk and reward is a good way to summarize this. Its exciting to watch a spin bank draw, 3 rail position shot, but it carries more risk than we can expose and beat the robots. I think Tyler can continue to learn shot selection like we see the Euros take.
In summary, I am excited for the MC this week and probably most excited to see Tyler play. Don't get me wrong, the MC stage will likely make him play a few notches below where he did in the warmup, but I think US is on the right track. I think the US is great at creating mid-tier pros on pure talent and experience, but most of our guys don't have the desire to put that last 10% of effort on the boring, tedious training that turns them into robots that are needed to compete on the world stage. Landon and Tyler are a couple that come to mind as willing to add that other 10% of work.
Go USA.
Ian
As always these are my opinions.
1. Tyler has better fundamentals than anyone on the team. He reminds me of the european robots that keep beating us. US players tend to be more run-and-gun, which is fun to watch but can't consistently beat the robots.
2. He realizes he has a lot to learn from Johan. I imagine if Johan told him to practice some trivial safety 100 times, he would without questions. I feel some of the veteran US players would think it was silly and shrug it off. You could see his game improve in the few months he has been under Johan. Just from the Russian event to this warmup.
3. I think he is capable of better shot selection than a lot of US players. We see our US players shoot shots that can get them in trouble, which happens. We will shoot some unnecessary spin position shot, or take less than desirable paths, or safety risks. Maybe risk and reward is a good way to summarize this. Its exciting to watch a spin bank draw, 3 rail position shot, but it carries more risk than we can expose and beat the robots. I think Tyler can continue to learn shot selection like we see the Euros take.
In summary, I am excited for the MC this week and probably most excited to see Tyler play. Don't get me wrong, the MC stage will likely make him play a few notches below where he did in the warmup, but I think US is on the right track. I think the US is great at creating mid-tier pros on pure talent and experience, but most of our guys don't have the desire to put that last 10% of effort on the boring, tedious training that turns them into robots that are needed to compete on the world stage. Landon and Tyler are a couple that come to mind as willing to add that other 10% of work.
Go USA.
Ian
