from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
The Americans, meanwhile, are 0-2 and out – the memories of their 1996 victory in this tournament growing ever faint.
It was considered something of a coup when ESPN, the U.S. cable and satellite giant, secured the rights to the World Cup, outbidding NBC, the NHL’s American national television partner. ESPN isn’t just the worldwide leader in sports; it is also the worldwide leader in promoting its own television product – and up until this point, it had shown little interest in hockey since losing the NHL contract.
This event was considered a significant opportunity – for the network and for the league – to showcase the changes and improvements in the NHL product, since ESPN last broadcast hockey.
Instead, you can comfortably predict how the American pratfall will diminish ratings for an event that still has up to 12 days to run.
from Kevin Allen of USA TODAY,
Lombardi will accept some of the blame because he understands this is a results-oriented business. It's fair to question whether Tortorella was the right coach because he couldn't seem to pull the highest performance level out of this team. The Americans can play better than they showed against Team Europe and Canada.
After everyone sorts through whether it was the management's, coaches' or players' fault, there will be changes moving forward because a group of young, skilled players, led by Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel, will dramatically change the look of this team at the next Olympics or World Cup.
But in the rush to blame someone for the team’s failure, what might be overlooked is that this generation of American players might not have been dominant enough to win a major tournament. Compare the best players from every country, and see where the USA falls.
from Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star,
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