U20-tournament in Grand forks 10-14 Aug 2004

USA (2 teams), Finland and Sweden play a tournament in Grand Forks 10. - 14 August 2004.

Prices and schedules http://dataflix2.surtos.com/scripts/default.asp

Finland's team (http://www.finhockey.fi/maajoukkueet/u20_u19_maajoukkue/kausi_2004-2005/otteluleiri_grand_forks_usa_8-1/)

Lauri Tukonen isn't on the roster :dunno:

Nor is Korpikoski.

But Tuukka Rask is. I'd like to get a look at him.

Nor is Korpikoski.

But Tuukka Rask is. I'd like to get a look at him.

Yeah me too. Teemu Laakso is there too.

When USA Hockey announced the initial US roster back in June, they also announced their intentions to videocast the game live on their website.

Games from the 2004 National Junior Evaluation Camp will be videocast live at the official site for the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship, www.worldjuniors2005.com, and www.usahockey.com.
Link (http://www.usahockey.com/usa_hockey/juniors/main/n236/04natleval_camp_ann//)

Hopefully these plans haven't fallen through. If they're going to do this, they'll probably make further announcements when they put up the rosters for the two US teams.

Along with that thought...here is some good news regarding the games:

World Juniors get help in prime time

REA/USA Hockey tap marketing giant to promote tourney

David Dodds, Herald Staff Writer




It was a question of televising the upcoming 2005 World Junior hockey championships in the United States on local cable access or shooting for something bigger, according to officials with host Ralph Engelstad Arena.


Chris Semrau, arena director of events, said plans had been to show tournament games on Grand Forks cable Channel 23, and possibly statewide on the Fighting Sioux Network at best. But with the recent hiring of a national sports marketing heavyweight, those intentions have fallen to Plan B.


REA management, jointly with USA Hockey, announced Wednesday that they've agreed to terms with Connecticut-based Octagon, one of the world's leading sports and event marketing companies.


The deal opens the possibility of more television exposure for the tournament locally, regionally and nationally. Specific terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.


Octagon routinely works out deals for clients with media giants such as NBC and ESPN and has negotiated naming rights for both the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans stadiums.


The company employs more than 1,500 people in 70 offices worldwide and manages the careers of a number of world-class athletes, such as Anna Kournikova, Mia Hamm, Tom Glavine, John Elway and David Robinson.


Bigger deal


It's the first time any United States-based World Junior host has brought in such high-caliber help to market the tournament. Tournaments held in hockey hotbeds Canada and Europe in past years have tapped marketing agents to help with those events.


Semrau said Octagon, with its experience and contacts, should make the World Juniors a bigger deal in the United States, but it still won't compare to the buzz and exposure it'll get in Canada.


Engelstad Arena currently is hashing out a deal with TSN, commonly called the Canadian ESPN, to televise the tournament. Last year's World Junior tourney was one of the highest rated television events in Canada.


"This will not put us on that level, just because it's not our culture," Semrau said, "but it will get us a bit closer."


Carl Levi, an arena marketing specialist, isn't counting anything out when it comes to the kind of television deal Octagon might secure for the tournament.


"There's all sorts of options," Levi said. "If we get the right person to go along with us, then our possibilities really are endless. (Octagon) brings a lot of firepower and a lot of weight."




Officials impressed


In addition to procuring the TV deal, Octagon also will take care of sponsorship sales for the World Junior tournament, which is set for late December and early January in Grand Forks and Thief River Falls.


Levi said it's also possible that Octagon could bring in some of the athletes and superstars it manages to take part in some of the off-ice tournament events, such as the "Fanfest" slated for the Alerus Center.


At first, Octagon turned down local organizers' requests to get involved in the Grand Forks tournament. But persistence paid off, and finally, Patrick Shannon, an Octagon senior vice president and father of a Boston College hockey player who played on the 2003 Team USA World Junior team, persuaded other company brass to take on the job.


"After watching my son play for the United States in the tournament in Halifax (Nova Scotia) in 2003," Shannon said, "I saw firsthand the impact this event can have on a community that celebrates the game of hockey."


Octagon officials recently paid a visit to the Englestad arenas in Grand Forks and Thief River Falls and were impressed by the combined $116 million facilities.

source (http://ralphsworldjr.com/New2/index.php?page=news_In&dat=jul01)

not a sure thing...but it looks like there's reason to hope....as opposed to the pitifully sad non-existent coverage last year...until AFTER they won the Gold Medal....These guys deserve better. :shakehead

Teemu Laakso is there too.


Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing him play again. I hope he gets some ice time. Might be hard though, since he is 2 years younger than most players there and with that leg injury still not fully healed...

We'll see, I guess.


I already paid for the web casts that they offer... I hope they're any good.

Hopefully these plans haven't fallen through. If they're going to do this, they'll probably make further announcements when they put up the rosters for the two US teams.



Prices and schedules http://dataflix2.surtos.com/scripts/default.asp


This is really nice. Let's hope Sweden wins...

Whoops, I thought that was a link to tickets. I was hoping the webcasts would be free but the price isn't that bad.

I'm interested to see how Tuomas Santavuori does, if anyone can keep their eye out for him.

Miika Lahti is in. :hyper: The offense is shambles though, basically the first and third lines are missing altogether. At least the best 'tenders and blueliners are there, they couldn't make do without them.

Miika Lahti is in. :hyper: The offense is shambles though, basically the first and third lines are missing altogether. At least the best 'tenders and blueliners are there, they couldn't make do without them.

Why is the offence in shambles?

Lauri Korporski sp?? is on the roster.

Why is the offence in shambles?

With the final WJC roster, I'd go with

(Korpikoski) - Nokelainen - (Tukonen)
Nurmi - Piispanen - (Marjamäki)
(Salonen) - (Tenkanen) - (Seitsonen)

for the top three lines. Now the rest of the guys just scramble to fill those six spots, and frankly, I have little faith in them to produce.

I was hoping the webcasts would be free but the price isn't that bad.

Not bad at all. I just ordered it tonight. Hopefully they're decent quality.

Sweden won the first game vs. Team USA blue, 3-0. The first two goals came against Montoya in the first period, who was a bit shakey. Chris Holt came in the 2nd and didn't allow a goal the rest of the way. The last goal was an empty netter.

USA had plenty of chances and plenty of power plays, but just couldn't bury the puck. Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler in particular had a few golden chances each. Heino-Lindberg was pretty good all game long.

End of the 1st of the 2nd game tonight vs. Finland. Finland leads Team USA white 2-0. Schneider in net for the US. Looks to be the weaker of the two US teams so far.

No official rosters for the two USA teams, but from what I could tell:

Blue:
Montoya
Holt
Hagemo
Hunwick
Johnson
Macias
Nickerson
Suter
Zarb
Auffrey
Dowell
Earl
T.Fritsche
Hensick
Kessel
O'Sullivan
Pineault
Stafford
Vigilante
Wheeler

White:
Brown (G)
Schneider
Borer
Brennan
Lashoff
Likens
Lewis
Sharrow
Thelen
Bourque
Brown (F)
Callahan
Davis
Dubinsky
D.Fritsche
Haskins
Hennessy
Lerg
Porter
Schremp

Haven't seen Stastny or Weller yet, so I don't know which teams they're on. Team USA blue was using Nickerson upfront in the first game, so I'd imagine they scratched one of Stastny/Weller for that.

Team USA blue was using Nickerson upfront in the first game, so I'd imagine they scratched one of Stastny/Weller for that.[/QUOTE]


could it be that the stars have a new power forward.

How did Nickerson look, did he play D at all???

thanks for the update

Any info on the pairings and lines? And a report on Zarb would be nice.

To clarify, there was a problem with the webcast so I only got to see parts of the 2nd and 3rd periods of the first game. Second one ended 3-1 for Finland, Fritsche with the only goal for the US. Piispanen, Nokelainen, and Keranen had the goals for Finland, I believe.

How did Nickerson look, did he play D at all???

thanks for the update

I didn't see him on D at all, I think they had him on RW upfront. He looked decent along the boards, but he only had a few shifts that I saw.

Any info on the pairings and lines? And a report on Zarb would be nice.

I didn't get to see enough to get a read on the pairings/lines. Zarb from what I could tell, had a few nice first passes out of the zone, but he wasn't on the ice as much as Suter/Johnson/Hunwick.

I spent much of the game trying to figure out who was who. There were no names on the jerseys and the play-by-play guy really didn't know who was on the ice half the time when he did say a players name (which was rare). Hell, it took me forever to find out who he was talking about when he said Macias' name. He pronounced it "ma-KEE-ass," which is a complete gringoization of the name. I haven't seen enough of all of these players to quickly recognize them simply by their skating style alone.

The only players that really stood out for the U.S. in both games were Johnson and Macias on defense, both had some great rushes and showed smooth skating ability/poise with the puck. Kessel, Fritsche, and Wheeler were the only standouts upfront. All three showed great speed and were in the mix a lot, creating chances. Schremp and Davis also had some decent chances in the 2nd game. Schremp in particular walked in on Rask alone and shot it high.

The webcast trouble should be cleared up for the upcoming four games, so I'll keep a closer eye on Zarb/Nickerson and hopefully be able to give a more indepth report on the teams with line combos and D pairings.

Thanks.

I couldn't get the webcasts to work at all. Anybody know what this means...

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01b0'

File name or class name not found during Automation operation

/common/i_ScriptHeader.asp, line 44

I tried the preview feature before ordering and it worked fine for me so I don't really understand why it's not working.

I couldn't get the webcasts to work at all. Anybody know what this means...

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01b0'

File name or class name not found during Automation operation

/common/i_ScriptHeader.asp, line 44

I tried the preview feature before ordering and it worked fine for me so I don't really understand why it's not working.

I would email them at webcast@theralph.com. I know they had a lot of problems with the webcasts, so they should be able to help.

Question, are you running Windows 95/98/ME? If so, I think you need Windows Management Instrumentation (http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/wmi9x/1.5/W9X/EN-US/wmi9x.exe), which should fix that error.

No, I'm on XP. I sent off an e-mail to the dataflix.com tech support so hopefully they'll get back to me before the games tomorrow.

Since you saw some of the games, were the US teams outplayed or could they just not burry their chances?

No, I'm on XP. I sent off an e-mail to the dataflix.com tech support so hopefully they'll get back to me before the games tomorrow.
I would try webcast@theralph.com, who got back to me fairly quickly. Dataflix never got back to me with my problems.

Since you saw some of the games, were the US teams outplayed or could they just not burry their chances?

I didn't see any of the 1st period of the Sweden game, but the rest of the game, they had lots of power plays and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, but they just couldn't finish their chances. I'd say Wheeler and Kessel had 2 very good scoring chances each, at least. They also had a flurry in the 3rd period which I thought they'd score on, but they missed the net about 5 times from in close in about a span of a minute. Sweden played a very good defensive game overall though, and there were times team USA just couldn't get in the zone.

As for the Finland game, Rask was a big factor. The US had just as many shots (if not more) than Finland, but they just couldn't bury the puck. It was a pretty evenly played game though.

It seems the US teams really settled down once Holt/Brown came in to replace Montoya/Schneider, who were both a little shaky.

thanks

How did Sweden's goalie Heino-Lindberg look?

How was O'Sullivan?

How did Sweden's goalie Heino-Lindberg look?

He stole the show. He didn't get tested up high much, but he moved well post-to-post, was square to the shooter... made some pretty good saves. One with the leg pad against Wheeler, which was the save of the game from what I saw.

How was O'Sullivan?

O'Sullivan didn't look particular sharp. He was slow and sloppy. He looked drunk on the ice, to be honest. At one point it looked like he thought the play was dead, and didn't go after the puck, letting the Swedish defenseman clear it out of the zone.

The US had just as many shots (if not more) than Finland, but they just couldn't bury the puck. It was a pretty evenly played game though.


They had one more shot.



Did you see Laakso out there? Did he play any PP/PK?

Stupid me. I even paid for the webcasts, but it was 4am here, and I have to work today so I couldn't stay up.

He stole the show. He didn't get tested up high much, but he moved well post-to-post, was square to the shooter... made some pretty good saves. One with the leg pad against Wheeler, which was the save of the game from what I saw.



O'Sullivan didn't look particular sharp. He was slow and sloppy. He looked drunk on the ice, to be honest. At one point it looked like he thought the play was dead, and didn't go after the puck, letting the Swedish defenseman clear it out of the zone.


Thanks. And how much does it cost for the webcasts?

Postman,

How about Nicklas Bergfors - the Swede born 1987 and who scored the 3rd goal for Sweden? Thanks

How did Josh Hennessy play?

Brule will RULE this tourney :yo:

I told u all Brule would rule :D

In case anyone wanted the Team Rosters:
Team Blue:
Goal
1 Al Montoya
30 Chris Holt

Defense
9 Nate Hagemo
7 Matt Hunwick
5 Jack Johnson
6 Ray Macias
14 Matt Nickerson
4 Ryan Suter
8 Chris Zarb

Forwards
63 Matt Auffrey
15 Jake Dowll
16 Robbie Earel
45 Tom Fritstche
11 TJ Hensick
12 Phil Kessel
19 Patrick O'Sullivan
18 Adam Pineault
26 Drew Stafford
47 Paul Stastny
28 John Vigilante
25 Blake Wheeler

Team White:
Goal
39 Mike Brown
34 Cory Schneider

Defense
4 Casey Borer
10 Mike Brennan
5 Matt Lashoff
7 Jeff Likens
9 Grant Lewis
8 Jimmy Sharrow
3 AJ Thelen

Forwards
17 Chris Bourque
33 Mike Brown
26 Ryan Callahan
16 Nate Davis
21 Brandon Dubinsky
19 Dan Fristche
27 Tyler Haskins
11 Josh Hennessy
25 Bryan Lerg
37 Kevin Porter
20 Robbie Schremp
15 Shawn Weller

In trying to figure out the problem I've been having, I noticed that there are two seperate websites selling these webcasts.

The one I used... http://dataflix2.surtos.com/Scripts/default.asp and this one... http://theralph.dataflix.com/scripts/default.asp

It seems that one is working while the other is not. Could this first website be a fake one?

It seems that one is working while the other is not. Could this first website be a fake one?

I hope not but this doesn't look professional:

http://www.surtos.com/

EDIT: I managed to buy the webcast from the other link while I failed when trying to pay through the surtos link. Maybe a coincidence.

Fredrik, so you have now bought the game for tonight's Sweden game?

Fredrik, so you have now bought the game for tonight's Sweden game?

There are no games tonight. On Friday and Saturday

ah, they don't broadcast the games played tonight...


Tues., Aug. 10 Sweden 3, USA Blue 0 Grand Forks
Finland 3, USA White 1 Grand Forks

Wed., Aug. 11 USA Blue vs. Finland 5 p.m. Thief River Falls
USA White vs. Sweden 8 p.m. Thief River Falls

Fri., Aug. 13 Sweden vs. Finland 4 p.m. Grand Forks
USA Blue vs. USA White 7 p.m. Grand Forks

Sat., Aug. 14 USA White vs. Sweden 1 p.m. Grand Forks
USA Blue vs. Finland 4 p.m. Grand Fork

btw, it is your turn to do you know what :)

I hope not but this doesn't look professional:

http://www.surtos.com/

EDIT: I managed to buy the webcast from the other link while I failed when trying to pay through the surtos link. Maybe a coincidence.

My card went through at the first website. However, the "watch webcasts" links led me to error messages. The real problem is that I can't tell if this is just the incorrect part of a legitimate website or if it's some kind of scam. I called a few people at both dataflix.com and the Ralph arena and left some messages so hopefully I'll find out soon.

:banghead:

My card went through at the first website. However, the "watch webcasts" links led me to error messages. The real problem is that I can't tell if this is just the incorrect part of a legitimate website or if it's some kind of scam. I called a few people at both dataflix.com and the Ralph arena and left some messages so hopefully I'll find out soon.

:banghead:


I don't know if it helps you but I received an e-mail:

Dear World Junior Evaluation Camp Webcast Subscriber:

For those of you who signed up through USA Hockey's website for the webcast,
must redo their order through www.theralph.com. The link from USA Hockey is the
wrong site and is not linked up to our credit card authorization. This is the
reason some of you ran into the "pending" problem last night. Please let us know
if you experience more than one charge on your credit card statement and we will
correct it.

Did you see Laakso out there? Did he play any PP/PK?

Yeah, I noticed Laakso a few times. I didn't notice if he got any special team minutes, but he played well 5 on 5. He looked a little small, but that wasn't much of a factor against the small US forwards.

Postman,

How about Nicklas Bergfors - the Swede born 1987 and who scored the 3rd goal for Sweden? Thanks

Bergfors (who was smaller than I thought he'd be) really wasn't that noticable other than the goal, which was an empty netter. However, I didn't get to catch the whole US-Sweden game due to the webcast problems, so I don't really know how well he did in the 1st period.

How did Josh Hennessy play?

Hennessy showed speed and grit (which is pretty much what I expected), but he didn't get many good scoring chances. He played RW on the first line with Fritsche, which was the US white team's best line. Fritsche was the most impressive US forward on the white team, by far.

Boo, I ordered it and it's saying I'm putting in the wrong password/email when I know it's right. I sent them an email but nothing back yet.

So there aren't showing any games tonight?

Boo, I ordered it and it's saying I'm putting in the wrong password/email when I know it's right. I sent them an email but nothing back yet.

So there aren't showing any games tonight?

That happened to me too. Try logging in at: http://theralph.dataflix.com/scripts/default.asp .

I would email them at webcast@theralph.com, which is the only place I've managed to get a response.

No games tonight. They'll be showing the next games Friday and Saturday.

I spoke on the phone with a guy from the Ralph arena and he said that the surtos.com site is actually their test site that was acidentally provided by USA Hockey and some other sites. The link that Postman provided above is the actual link.

Team Blue smokes Finland 9-3, with Kessel getting 2 goals.

http://www.usahockey.com/usa_hockey/international/main/home/04eval_day2_whte_fin//


Don't know what happen in the late game yet.

How did Schremp look?

Sweden undefeated so far.

Sweden - USA white 4-3.

King Calle Söderberg continues to impress!

Wow... 9-2?

They must really be testing different kinds of line-ups.



And Postman, we're still hoping that he grows and inch or two... I never grew an inch after I turned 15, though, so it might not happen...

Glad to hear he played well, though... I didn't know what to expect really with the injury and all (like the fact that he's 16 and some of the guys there are 19)...

I don't even want to know how he did in this game...

It looks like the two US teams have had their rosters altered for the blue/white game. This is what I've noticed...

Chris Holt- was 30 on the blue team, now 39 on the white team

Robbie Earl- was 16 on blue team, now 37 on white team

T.J. Hensick- was 11 on the blue team, now 25 on white team

Phil Kessel- was 12 on blue team, now 26 on white team

Ryan Callahan- was 26 on the white team, now 63 on the blue team

Josh Hennesy- was 11 on the white team, now 25 on the blue team

Bryan Lerg- was 25 on white team, now 11 on the blue team

Kevin Porter- was 37 on the white team, now 12 on blue team

Jack Johnson- was 5 on the blue team, now 8 on white team

Matt Auffrey- was 63 on the blue team, now 15 on white team

Blake Wheeler- was 25 on the blue team, now 11 on the white team

Shawn Weller- was 15 on the white team, now 16 on the blue team

I'm pretty sure that's it for the changes.

sorry, can't help you with the roster thinger since I can't get my miserable wretched flippin' computer to view the game :mad: :banghead: .....but any chance you could fill us in on the score and details....like uhh.....who scored & the assist...errrr....uhhh.....and anything else you wanna add?

After two periods it's USA Blue 6, USA White 2.

IMO O'Sullivan has been the best player on the ice. He's got two nice goals (one short handed) and he's just controlling the entire game when he's on the ice. He and Drew Stafford have been a good tandem.

Kessel blew me away a few times. He had one amazingly fluid rush into the zone that caught everyone flat-footed and ended up with a shot on goal. He also came very close to undressing Ryan Suter one-on-one on another play and Suter had to take a penalty to stop him from getting a shot.

Montoya was a little rough at first but he made some nice saves which really showed his athleticism.

Dan Fritsche has made some nice plays including a great pass that ended up with a goal.

I'll post more later if I get the chance.

Thanks cagney....appreciate it. What's the word on Schrempie? Is he even playing? Haven't heard anything about him for any of the games played so far....

Anyway, thanks for the help.

This is the first time I've ever seen Schremp and with all the hype he's gotten I'd have to say that I expected more. He made one very nice pass which Robbie Earl put in for a goal but other than that I'd say he's been very quiet.

USA Blue 7 - USA White 5

Top scorers for tournament Nokkelainen, Soderberg, Vedllin, O'Sullivan. Not much from Schremp, Korpikoski, Stafford on the scoreboard.

yeah....Schremp's performance was uhmm.....troublesome.

Final stats & standings (http://www.usahockey.com/usa_hockey/international/main/home/04eval_stats_final//)

Any comments from those that saw Nokelainen play. By the looks of it he was Finland's best player. Did Milbury draft another quality player who looks like a lock for the NHL? The sad thing about that is he'll most likely be traded.

uhmm...yeah.....they were calling him "scary Petteri"......the kid's got hands like velvet...

Any comments from those that saw Nokelainen play. By the looks of it he was Finland's best player. Did Milbury draft another quality player who looks like a lock for the NHL? The sad thing about that is he'll most likely be traded.

Like the above poster said, he has some pretty soft hands. I was surprised with his offensive ability, as I expected him to mostly be a defensive player.