WJC thoughts, second period

Sure enough, Taylor Hall has left the game. Also, the intermissions seem to be a little shorter than I'm used to and I missed the first four minutes of the second period, including the goal. So with Hall out, I expected to see more Luke Adam, but instead was treated to all kinds of the Bourque-Kadri-Kozun line. There's a lot of speed on that line and these guys seem to have some pretty strong chemistry already. They look poised to give the opposition fits for the next two weeks. I think Bourque is going to be Pierre McGuire's pet for the tournament, and that's just fine with me. He's wearing number seven, which Angelo Esposito wore in last year's tournament when he revitalized his career. They're totally different styles (Bourque is more of a grinder), but much like you always knew when Espo was on the ice last year, I think we'll always know when Bourque is on the ice this year. Great stuff. Saw Greg Nemisz for the first time during the late scrum that led to Ryan Ellis' penalty. It's early, I know. But he's being counted on to be a big part of this team and he'll need to step it up very soon. Marco Scandella seemed to want to get me familiarized with him during that second period. He was all over the place. He's very physical, so he'll have to find a way to make that work with the international rules, but he could be a lot of fun to watch. As noted, Colten Teubert is a warrior and blocked two shots during Sweden's first PP. Great stuff from him. Like I say, if he stays within himself, he's going to be fine. He only gets into trouble when he's trying to do too much. The TSN guys noted that 12 different players have points on Canada's four goals, and drew comparisons to the 2006 team in Vancouver that won with deep defense, scoring by committee from all four lines, and a herculean effort from Justin Pogge. That's a pretty fair comparison, though I think this team has more high-end skill than that team did.