animal74 1,611 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) After Team Canada failed to defend their World Cup gold, losing to Team USA 4-3 in the semi-final game and instead settling for bronze with a gutsy 4-2 win against Team Nordic, the various media outlets, YouTubers, podcasts and pundits started whispers about a potential goalie controversy that may have cost Canada a chance for three-peat gold medal. After starting the first four games of the World Cup round robin, last tournament's gold medal game starter, Joel Castle had been looking on from the bench. Despite sparkling numbers (1.97 GAA, 0.939 SV%, 1 shutout), Team Canada only scored five goals in those four games to start the tournament with a less than inspiring 1-2-1 record. Merome Dilson started the remaining six games and won all six as Canada finally found their scoring touch, lighting the lamp 22 times for 3.56 goals/game compared to 1.25 in Castle's games. Dilson was still great (2.26 GAA, 0.925 SV%, 1 shutout) but he didn’t need to be quite as stingy as the players in front of him scored almost triple the rate they scored with Castle in net. Joel Castle backstopping Team Canada Obviously looking at win record and not stats, Canada chose to start Dilson in the semi-final which ended up backfiring on the Red and White. Canada lost 4-3 to USA – who Castle had shutout in his final appearance. Now, the loss was definitely not Dilson’s fault. After Canada took a 1-0 lead into the second period, USA scored on three of four power play opportunities in the middle frame to take a 3-1 lead that Canada never recovered from. Dilson’s effort was valiant stopping 42 of 45 shots, but as the critics wondered after, would the knowledge that they hadn’t beaten Castle perhaps played a critical mental game with the American players as they had scored five times on Dilson in their meeting, a 6-5 shootout loss to Canada. Either way, having already beaten the USA twice in the round robin, losing to them in the medal round was especially bitter for the defending champions. When asked about the decision on a podcast days after the World Cup had ended, Joel Castle gave his typical professional answer. “As a competitor, you always want to play, but to be fair to Dilsy, he had a better season than I did leading up to the World Cup and he played fantastic in the round robin. I feel the team as a whole kind of played a little too loose in that second period against the States and we got into penalty trouble and they capitalized. It could have been way more out of reach but Dilsy played out of his mind really. We got outshot 26-10 in the second and 36-16 over the last two periods. You don’t win many games when you get outshot like that. And we made a push but in the end, it wasn’t enough and we had to play for bronze.” Asked if he thinks he’ll be able to play in the S94 World Cup, he just shrugged and said, “Hopefully, I’m still playing a level that allows me to play for Canada one more time. Dilson will probably be the starter again but I’d love another chance to get another gold medal. Time will tell. I have to stay in shape until then.” Castle’s record in two World Cups for Canada, including medal games, is 9-3-2 with a 1.72 GAA, 0.945 SV% and 2 shutouts for one gold and one bronze. Edited March 18 by animal74 Moon, Baby Boomer, Misty and 2 others 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon 550 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 @MexicanCow123u suck... taking castles spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstevensonjr 258 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 #TeamCastle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animal74 1,611 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 7 hours ago, Moon said: @MexicanCow123u suck... taking castles spot But it was @Baby Boomer who put him in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Boomer 567 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 57 minutes ago, animal74 said: But it was @Baby Boomer who put him in... I am sorry, I had two really good goalies, but only one could be in the net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSpyro 760 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 At least you keep getting picked to be on the team @animal74 and have been stellar every single time! This was Ash Sparks’ last chance to play for his country or in this tournament at all, and he didn’t get selected by anyone (and he was certainly 1 of the top goalies this season ) so be grateful cuz it could have been a lot worse lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animal74 1,611 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 47 minutes ago, Baby Boomer said: I am sorry, I had two really good goalies, but only one could be in the net Get a super large jersey and put us both in at the same time! No one would notice a four-legged goalie! Baby Boomer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animal74 1,611 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 39 minutes ago, DarkSpyro said: At least you keep getting picked to be on the team @animal74 and have been stellar every single time! This was Ash Sparks’ last chance to play for his country or in this tournament at all, and he didn’t get selected by anyone (and he was certainly 1 of the top goalies this season ) so be grateful cuz it could have been a lot worse lol Could make S94 perhaps?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSpyro 760 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 5 hours ago, animal74 said: Could make S94 perhaps?? I doubt it but it’s all good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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