Pietrangelo can comfortably handle it,

Pietrangelo can comfortably handle it,

28.11.2019 16:28

Underdogs and Dota 2 fan favorites clashed on Day 2 of The Summit 6. Digital Chaos, who took second place at The International 6, saw David MoonMeander Tan facing his former team OG in the quarterfinals. Evil Geniuses, meanwhile, would face Team Faceless, one of the scariest dark horses in the tournament.Game 1 of DC vs. OG was a long slugfest between two talented squads. Aliwi w33 Omar found four kills in the first five minutes, establishing his mid-lane Ursa as a constant threat. OG extended the match with help from Gustav s4 Magnusson and Anathan ana Pham, who both finished the game with 90 percent kill participation on Dark Seer and Invoker, respectively. OG took Game 1 in just under an hour, and had the momentum headed into Game 2.Digital Chaos draft for Game 2 seemed built to win the late game this time, with captain Rasmus MiSeRy Filipsen turning to a flex Naga Siren, a crucial part of the teams winning TI6 strategy. OG responded with a Morphling for Johan n0tail Sundstein, and combined with Magnussons Clockwork, DC were simply unable to deal with the aggression OG could exert in every lane. OG took the series 2-0, and advanced to the semifinals to await the victor of EG vs. Team Faceless.In the second series of the day, Evil Geniuses asserted dominance in the first match, with Daryl iceiceice Koh Pei Xiang falling several times to EGs safe lane. Artour Arteezy Babaev took the lead and ran with it, holding a 617 gold-per-minute while Sumail Suma1L Hassan found kills and farm around the map on Mirana. Dominik Black Reitmeier worked to find gold and kills on Slark, but two key teamfights went EGs way and snowballed into a 40-minute win for the North American squad.Faceless struck back in Game 2, with Xiang finding momentum in the early game on his offlane Nyx Assassin. Hassans Pugna was impressive, but his blasts and ward were unable to beat back Faceless, who took the victory to even the series. For Game 3, EG opted to use a first-round ban on Nyx Assassin, forcing Xiang to turn to a Faceless Void pick while EG nabbed an Ursa for Babaev. In the one-on-one matchup in the Dire long lane, Babaev found farm and plenty of kills on Xiang. Like a rolling stone, Babaev and Co. took lane after lane, tower after tower, and at 43 minutes secured the series and a spot in the final match of the day.To close out Day 2, the winners of each series faced off: Evil Geniuses against OG. Picking up a Drow and Invoker for hard carries, EG looked ready to push towers and secure an early Game 1 win. Jesse JerAx Vainikka had other plans. On a four-role Pudge for OG, key hooks and rotations secured farm for Phams Alchemist and some extra pull for Magnussons Batrider. In a quick 27 minutes, OG squashed the aggressive Drow composition of EG, and put the North American squad on match point.Evil Geniuses looked poised for a comeback in Game 2, after a series of early kills for Hassan on a mid-lane Tiny and a massive Warlock ultimate earning a triple kill for Ludwig zai W?hlberg. OG kept pace, however, finding gold wherever they could and looking to Phams Dragon Knight and Sundsteins Drow Ranger to secure objective gold. At the 26-minute mark, OG struck out at EG, quickly securing kills on W?hlbergs Warlock and Andreas Cr1t- Nielsens Earth Spirit. One massive teamfight win was all OG needed to close the gap and more, pushing down two barracks and closing out the series 2-0. OG secures a top-3 berth and will meet Virtus.Pro in the upper bracket finals, while Evil Geniuses drops to the lower bracket. OTTAWA -- Is there such a thing as a soft underbelly on the back-to-back defending Olympic champions?You wouldnt think so when on Monday, the first day of World Cup of Hockey training camp for Team Canada, the fourth line had Claude Giroux between Matt Duchene and Joe Thornton.Thats right, fourth line.But Im here to tell you that losing defenseman Duncan Keith (right knee rehab) was a huge blow, no matter how skilled this team is. And not only because his stand-alone talent speaks for itself, but also because his absence puts more pressure on a Canadian left side on defense that isnt as deep as the rest of this otherworldly squad.Pretty nice luxury to lose a player like Keith and be able to replace him with a player with [Jay] Bouwmeesters international experience and ability, a Western Conference coach requesting anonymity said via text message. That said, they may miss Keiths offense; his puck movement from the left side of the ice and his ability to get up ice. I think Canada is going to face some teams who are really going to approach their games with a strong defensive approach and their D will be huge in countering that. Losing him on the power play may also force the coaching staff to be a little more creative, depending on what they were planning with setups and left/right shot combinations.And, frankly, thats putting it mildly. Next to Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Carey Price, Keith was on a list of about four or five players Team Canada would have considered irreplaceable, again in large part because of that left-right concern.Thats no disrespect to Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was outstanding at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and has continued to elevate his game ever since, but the reality is that Jake Muzzin is a newcomer to this stage and the respected Bouwmeester has some miles on him. As such, the drop-off from Keith is real. Whereas if Canada had lost Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty or veteran stud Shea Weber on the right side, there would have been replacement options such as P.K. Subban, Kris Letang or Brent Seabrook, such is Canadas ridiculous high-end depth on the right side.Which begs the question some Canadian hockey fans have had in the aftermath of Letang, Seabrook and Subban not making this team: Why does the left-right thing matter so much?Its just a simple thing, began Team Canada coach Mike Babcock on Monday before going on to answer the question in a complicated way.To quickly sum up the Canadian head coachs detailed, Xs-and-Os answer, the left-right balance matters to him greatly in the areas of puck possession and transition.It does make a huge difference, Doughty said Monday, echoing his coach. Most teams in the league will do the lefty-righty combo. Its really important to have.Except Team Canada might not get it completely in this tournament. There was Alex Pietrangelo on Monday, skating on the left side of fellow righty Brent Burns on what appears to be the third pairing.No big deal, insisted Pietrangelo.Its a bit of an adjustment, but when you have the quality of players we have, its not really an issue, shrugged the newly named St. Louis Blues captain. Pietrangelo said he played three or four games last season for the Blues on the left side.It was different, but it worked out, he said. I look at it this way: If I can be versatile and play on both sides, its like a switch-hitter in baseball, right? If you can play both sides, it should just benefit you.Babcock spoke with Pietrangelo a few weeks ago to see if hed be willing to try it. No sweat, said Pietrangelo.What it means is that Canada could open the tournamment with four righties in the top six, which is not ideal.dddddddddddd. But the coaching staff might think thats what makes the most of the talent at hand. Keiths injury has had other repercussions: Vlasic played well with Doughty in Sochi but now finds himself at the start of camp replacing Keith and thus pairing with Weber, while Muzzin logically gets paired with his Kings pal, Doughty.Still, if Keith were here, I believe Muzzin would have been the seventh defenseman. Now hes in a top-four role -- just more domino effect from Keith being out.And while Pietrangelo downplayed his switch to the left side, its clearly a big adjustment for others.For me, if I have to go play on the left side -- not that Im bad at it -- but its definitely not as comfortable, said Doughty. And defensively, its different with your stick positioning on one-on-one, or even just exiting your zone or taking a D-to-D pass; youre looking at your partner rather than up ice right away. So its hard to play on your off side, but once you get used to it, its like anything else; once you keep practicing it and playing it, it gets easier. But if you basically havent played it in years and get thrown on the left side, its going to be a challenge.Added Weber: It seems like a simple thing [switching to the left side], but everythings different. Your body is accustomed to turning predominantly one way for the most part on the one side of the ice. It can be done -- guys are good players and can adjust -- but it does take a little bit of time to get used to it.In fact, Weber played on the left side when Seth Jones entered the league with the Nashville Predators.I would catch myself just drifting over to the right all the time because it was just an automatic, subconscious thing, said Weber. Theres an adjustment, for sure.If Pietrangelo can comfortably handle it, thats going to go a long way toward Team Canada having the kind of top-six blue-line machine that propelled the squad to an unreal defensive performance in Sochi.Still, Keith is a special player, as he showed in winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2015.Hes one of the best, man, Team Canada goaltender Corey Crawford, Keiths Chicago Blackhawks teammate, said Monday. He can make plays all over the ice. He just makes everyone better around him. Obviously, Canada wants a guy like that to be here. But it is what it is.Veteran head coach Ken Hitchcock, missing out on his first best-on-best tournament in a long time -- he was a part of the Canadian staff from 2002 in Salt Lake City through Sochi -- had a first-row seat to observe Keiths impact at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games.Duncan was never afraid of the stage, Hitchcock said this weekend. Bigger the game, better he played; he could play in all situations.Yes, Team Canada was able to overcome the injury loss of Steven Stamkos before the 2014 Olympics and of John Tavares during the tournament. But again, top-shelf forward depth is rarely an issue for Team Canada.Keiths injury could be more impactful.If Canada wins again, it will be a testimony to a great coaching staff and a defense corps that adjusts swimmingly.If the host team loses? Canadian fans will want to know why Subban or Letang wasnt on the team.The great thing about being in Canada, you can second-guess all the players, and theres always someone who got left off, said Babcock. What I find is, if you win, when you win, they dont ask you any questions. If you dont win, they ask lots of questions. ' ' '


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