Projected Team Canada Olympic Roster

On Tuesday, Steve Yzerman is set to announce the roster for Team Canada at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Hopefully there will be no blow back like USA Hockey had after the ESPN article by Scott Burnside, when comments made by Brian Burke about U SA forward Bobby Ryan were made public. I'm sure that the executives from Hockey Canada will be a lot more respectful of the players that were not selected, at least to the public . USA hockey and Team Canada both had very difficult decisions to make in regards to their final roster.  No matter what, good players will be left off.  In fact great players could be left off. The fact of the matter is Canada could probably field at least two full rosters capable of winning a gold medal.  The depth in Canada cannot be matched by any other country in the world. This makes it very difficult to limit the Olympic team roster and a mere 25 players.  Just by the numbers alone, great players are going to be left off.

One important factor is to remember that this is not a list of the top 25 players in Canada.  This has to be our roster made up of players who can come together in a short term setting and put their egos aside and do what's best for the team.  Not all hockey players are able to do that and it is the special ones that are at the elite level.  Another factor is you need a variety of role players.  It is very improbable that you're going to be able to use a top six forward as your fourth line winger.  That's what makes the debate for the roster so varied from person to person.  Depending on each individual's criteria the roster can take on the variety of looks.  Sure there are some locks of the team but there are just as many other players who would be good selections that may not get the chance.

On February 7th 2013 I made a post with V1 of my pre-Olympic team. Looking back I am a little surprised at how little has changed between then and now but there have been a few additions and a few subtractions.

Here's the roster that not only what I like to see but believe has a pretty good chance of being close to what we see unveiled on Tuesday morning at the Hockey Canada press conference.

Forwards (14)

Steven Stamkos: Provided that he is able to come back from his broken leg in timin time he is a lock on the top line.

Sydney Crosby: Also a lock and will likely be the captain for Team Canada.

Patrick Sharp: He has had a great season, skates well it can finish with the best of them.

Ryan Getzlaf: Probably the most dominant center playing in the league today

Corey Perry: I am not a big Perry fan but you can't overlook the number city puts up and the chemistry he has with Getzlaf.

John Tavares: He is one of the bright young stars in the NHL a natural goal scorer and should be able to make the transition to play the wing.

Jonathan Towes: A two time Stanley Cup winner, captain of the Blackhawks and a guy who just knows how to win.

Eric Staal: The ability to move to the wing and be productive and has proven in various international competitions that he is more than capable of accepting any role given to him by the coach.

Joe Thornton: What was said about Staal also applies to Joe.  He is a tremendous play-maker with the ability of playing whatever role is required of him.

Patrice Bergeron: Could be the X-factor to this entire team.  A lot of people will overlook him because of his numbers (which are not that bad offensively) but there is no one on the team you would want more to take a critical face-off or kill a penalty then him.

Jamie Benn: Has had a good season and so far, can be both the play-maker or a scorer and is a decent skater capable of playing on the big international Ice.

Mike Richards: What was said about Bergeron and Towes applies to Richards's as well.  He is not a sniper but is a good two way player, a leader, can kill a penalty, will play any role.  He just  wins.

Healthy Scratches:

Claude Giroux: Started off the season slow recovering from an off-season injury but has heated up of late and has the ability to play a variety of roles.

Matt Duchane: has great offensive upside, is a good skater, and could be a good special teams asset.

Brent Seabrook: Played it well in Vancouver and seems to work well with Keith in Chicago.  A solid defenseman who can play both the physical game and also as an offensive upside.

Defense: (8)

Duncan Keith: Leads the NHL and points for defenseman, can quarterback the first power play unit.

Drew Doughty: Proved his worth four years ago in Vancouver as a youngster.  So all defensemen top to bottom  

Alex Pietrangelo: Smooth skating, has a big shot, solid defensively and has good hockey sense.

Jay Bowmeester: Plays with Pietrangelo in St. Louis, an exceptional skater and is an efficient puck moving defenseman

P.K. Subban: Defending Norris Trophy winner as top NHL defensemen.  He may not be the most defensively responsible player but in a short tournament where goals could be at a premium having someone with his skating ability and creativity may outweigh any defense of liabilities.  Even if he is only a power play specialist.

Shea Weber: A solid all around defenseman.  He has a booming shot, is a physical player, and also strong skater.

Marc -Edward Vlasic: I've not seen him play hardly at all this year and to be honest the only reason I have him on this list is because he appears on just about everybody else's projection list.  I know that he is a good player that did not realize that he should be considered good enough for team Canada.

Goal: (3)

Roberto Luongo: Will likely going into the Olympics as the number one goalie.  It is very possible that he will not and the Olympics in that role.

Carey Price: Will see action at some point and could very well end up being the goaltender of record at the end of the tournament.

Mike Smith: It is unlikely as the third goalie that he will see any time on the ice barring an injury.  He seems like the type of player who can handle this will roll.  Smith also has the ability to be a great puck handler and can act as and other defensemen to start offensive rushes.

Like I said before can it could easily field two teams and good players will be left off such as a case for my list.  The guys I have on the bubble include.  Martin St. Louis, Chris Kunitz (only because everybody else has him on their list), Logan Couture, and Jeff Carter and Kris Letang.

One name that keeps coming up on a variety of people's lists is Rick Nash.  I am not a Nash fan and never have been.  He seems to be a decent player that I've never trusted him and do not understand why he gets the height that he does from so many people in the hockey world.  I did not think he was that great in Columbus, nor has he proved much in New York since being traded.  I certainly do not believe he is getting anything close to warrant a spot on Team Canada and was never on my radar.  With that said he probably will make the team when did is announced on Tuesday and being one that I will debate against.

All in all it is fun to speculate who will don the Maple Leaf on their chest at the Olympics and represent our country.  Where can doubt will finish is anyone's guess. The Americans will have a strong team, the it hometown Russians will have a lot of pressure to win a gold medal in front of their home crowd.  Sweden always seems to get overlooked but may possess one of the most dangerous rosters top to bottom and has to be considered a gold medal favorite.  There will be a lot of land mines along the way for every team.  There will be no clear path in gold this year.

As a side note, the team that gets named likely will not be the team you see as there are a lot of games between now and then and the way players are falling due to injuries...expect at least a few tweaks.

Let The Debate Begin!

2014 Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Roster - V1

The National Hockey League in the National Hockey League Players Association are going to be talking to the International Olympic Committee in regards to their participation in the upcoming Olympics.  Right now they're looking to get a better deal from the IOC. They're looking for them better access to the players and the rights to display images from the games.  In essence they're looking to get the same access as if they were one of the official sponsors.  If the NHL and the NHLPA decide to go it will be a commitment for only the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.  Because of the time difference it will be like a test drive to see if it will work and then decide later about the logistics for the games in South Korea.  If the NHL does go over to Russia it will likely shut the league down for at least two weeks and most likely up to 18 days.

Now the news only a year away the two major networks are going to be giving their preliminary rosters and lease for the Canadian team. TSN posted thier list last night from Ray Ferraro and Sportsnet's Mark Spector has his . As it is undecided how many players they plan on taking or have available to be named on the team right now I am including an extra " taxi squad" of players to take a long because of the extensive travel andhide different.  The NHL is looking to have rosters expand 25 cent depending on the final decision will dictate how many extra forwards and defencemen they take with them.

I'm going to presume the team Canada will opt to go with a much younger roster of them they have in the past.  So with that in mind here is my first draft of their roster and pulls a line combinations for the

Canadian National Team

Forwards:

LW-Steven Stamkos         C- Sidney Crosby          RW-Jeff Skinner

LW-Eric Staal                     C- Jonathan Toews        RW-Rick Nash

LW-Jamie Benn                 C- Claude Giroux           RW-Jordan Eberle 

LW-Patrice Bergeron        C- John Tavares             RW- Mike Richards

Defence:
Shea Weber        Alex Pietrangelo
Drew Doughty      Kris Letang
Marc Staal           Duncan Keith

Goalie:
Carey Price
Roberto Luongo
Marc-Andre Fleury

Taxi Squad:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Jason Spezza
Jordan Staal
Taylor Hall
Brent Seabrook
Tyler Seguin
Justin Schultz

It could be Crosby-Staal's and Nash again. There is a chance all 3 Staal's could make the team.

Because they will be playing on leave or dry surface they will be needed team moves fast and mobile.  If this were being played in North America on NHL size rinks there would likely be more "grit" in the player selected.  The Olympic team can not necessarily be an All-Star team and must also have a role players. Players that are willing to buy into a specific system or player ruled that they're not accustomed to is key to success.  Players like Mike Richards and Jordan Staal may not be your prototypical scorers but could provide a defensive conscience that is needed on a third or fourth line.  That is why is so difficult to come up with the team that has such high and talent available to them.  Excellent players will be left off, sometimes is just a numbers game.  As far as the goalies are concerned it will probably depend on who is playing the best during the first part of next season to determining who will be the starter and who'll be backups.  There are probably five goalies from Canada that are worthy of one of the three available spots their play of the beginning of the season may be the determining factor of who makes the team.

A lot can happen within a year and this is just the first draft some time will tell what additions or subtractions will be made that I am interested in seeing how my list will stack up against those of the list put forth by TSN and Sportsnet respectively.

Feel free to include your roster in the comments section to compare to my list and the other lists put out by the networks.

Give the Kid A Break

For the record I am not the worlds biggest Sidney Crosby fan. That being said I am still a fan and the one thing that I can’t stand is that there are a lot of people who seem to unjustly jump on him for everything that he does. It doesn’t matter if it is the right thing, the wrong thing, or even the same thing that 99% of other players do, people (usually the media and hockey followers that think they know more then they do) try to spin everything that is said or done in a negative light. Sure it is easy to take pot shots at him because he is the face of the game (a title he did not run for but was appointed to, just for being good) but sometimes he deserves a break from the criticism. People say he’s a whiner that he complains too much...ok that may be the case but maybe the reason is because as the best he is targeted by the other team and when you constantly have an Iso-cam on you at all times everything is caught. You not think that Jarkko Ruutu or Dan Carcillo or even Jerome Iginla cherp as much as he does?

People will again argue that as a play of his stature he is held in even higher regard and should act accordingly. I agree, but again everyone has a breaking point and for the most part he does fight through an awful lot, and after all he is only 22.

One thing I did hear this morning was an ignorant radio host trying to blame Crosby for not being "Patriotic" enough in declining a spot to play for Canada at the World Hockey Championships. First off, there are many players each year that decline invitations to this tournament who don’t even make the playoffs to single him out after playing in the finals 2 years ago -2 full seasons -a Stanley cup last year and 2 rounds of playoffs this year, oh yeah and mix in the Olympics as well. That is a lot of hockey.

If you watched any of that series he looked like a guy who was either physically and mentally worn down or a guy who was injured. Either way not up to flying to Germany to play in this tournament. The team only has one member of the Olympic team on it and that is Corey Perry so to single out Crosby is just ridiculous. What about Luongo then, should he not be questioned, or every other player on the team??

It is sad when people and the media build someone up so much and then when they get to a point where they are covered so much that they begin to get scrutinized for every little thing it is just a shame. Crosby gets more negative attention because he is the first and last person people see or hear about and that makes him an easy, but undeserving target.

No one was criticizing him in February when he potted the "Golden Goal". How quickly some people forget.

In a related note, it is being reported that he will be moving out from Mario Lemieux’s home. He has apparently bought a home in Pittsburgh near Lemieux house...It looks like hockey’s most famous house guest is moving on up, no word as of yet if it is to the East Side.

IIHF World Junior Tournament - The Tradition Continues

First lets just throw some names out and lay all the cards on the table: John Tavares, Matt Duschane, Evander Kane, Cody Hodgeson, Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Myers Those are the names of some of the players that were elegable for Canada to come back and play for Canada this year...Zach Begosian was basicly the only USA player available to return. Put those guys on the team and it is probably another gold rush for Canada. I am not say’n i’m just say’n. Moving on.

Another World Junior Hockey tournament has come and gone. Much to chagrin of the proud Canadian hockey fans. Granted a loss in overtime to one of our newest building rivals, the USA, is a tough pill to swallow it can only fuel the fire for next years tournament in Buffalo.

Year in and year out this tournament continues to grow... at least in Canada. Maybe not as much to the average fan anywhere else but to Canadians it is must see TV and or event to take in live should the opportunity present itself. The gold medal game was an epic one with an audience to match. Tuesday night’s thrilling IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game made television history for TSN. Some 5.3 million viewers tuned in to see some or all of the game. That is the highest rated event TSN has ever had. Some 1 in 3 Canadians watch some or all. It bettered this years Grey Cup and beat any other World Juniors telecast. I am not sure if that takes into account the live web streaming or not and probably doesn’t reflect the radio broadcast. I would like to know those totals as well. Either way it was huge and well represented.

For those 2 weeks or so between boxing day and the first week of the new year it is the showcase for not only the sport of hockey but a showcase for some of the great young players that people can look forward to seeing in the NHL soon. That is what is fun and educational about it. Now when your team drafts a player there is a good chance that you will know who it is. Not unlike the NCAAs March Madness tournament, people don’t pay much attention to the regular season of either college basketball or CHL hockey but when the respective tournaments are on the spotlight is there to shine on potential breakthrough players and that is fun to see.

The level of play is what you want to see in every hockey game, high skill, high speed and a passion for the game that only youthful exuberance can bring. The genuine love of the game, the thirst to be the best while continuing to get better and playing for the pride of a nation is a refreshing change from the professional sports that we are accustomed to watching. It almost makes it tolerable to earn a silver when you lose in a good hard fought game to a team that was surprisingly humble in victory and what seemed to be genuinely humble in victory (perhaps what you may not expect from a USA Team). Credit to the USA and their hockey program. They beat good teams and showed that speed and skill are hard to contain.

Canada entered the tournament winning 5 straight gold medals. It is not like they were handed any of them they have all been earned. The streak could and maybe even should have been stopped in any of the last 3 tournament but some kind of unbelievable event or puck luck fell in Canada’s favour and they had, until this year managed to claw their way to victory. Matt Halischuk’s OT goal saved Canada once and the new version of "Captain Clutch" Jordan Eberle went above and beyond the last 2 years with unbelievably timely goals and solid all around play to keep the team alive and take a country from devastation to jubilation in a heartbeat.

Eberle may well be a great prospect for the Edmonton Oilers and could go on to become a good NHL player and have a long and successful career in hockey but even if he were to walk away and peak as a teenager he has cemented himself as one of the greatest international performers in Canadian hockey history. Sure that would be tough but he is now in Canadian Hockey History highlight reel forever.

It will be interesting next year with the tournament being held in Buffalo. Canada had a good run with most of the tournament being played in Canada with a Pro-Canada crowd. Now the defending gold medalists USA will be defending on their home soil with hopefully a very focused and bitter team from Canada looking to avenge this years loss. Being in Buffalo will allow a lot of Canadians to take the tour over the boarder to help even out crowd support.

Team Canada Roster Update

We are only 3 months out from the Olympics and closing in on that 20 game evaluation mark in mid November where NHL Teams will begin to evaluate just how good, or bad their teams are. I think I will take the time to update my proposed roster for the Canadian Olympic team. Back on August 28th I submitted a list during the Hockey Canada Evaluation Camp outlining who I though may be early favorites to make the squad. In that time things have changed slightly based on both play at the beginning of the season and some injuries and injury concerns.

Steve Yzerman has come out recently and announced that the team will be unveiled on December 31st, likely during the Word Juniors as part of those festivities. That will either make this list something of a mid season report. I may have 1 more after this before the 31st deadline but this should be a good measuring stick on what direction I think the team is going to look like and be shaped. Just as they did during the 2006 Olympics I will also include a 3 man Taxi Squad or Black Aces as it were. Lets see how much different this team looks before the next revision.

Forwards:
Jarome Iginla - Sidney Crosby- Steve Stamkos
Rick Nash - Ryan Getzlaf - Dany Heatley
Martin St. Louis - Mike Richards - Jonathan Toews
Shane Doan - Brenden Morrow - Corey Perry
Patrick Marleau

Defence:
Scott Niedermayer - Shea Weber
Chris Pronger - Dan Boyle
Jay Bouwmeester - Drew Doughty

Goal:
Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, Marc-André Fleury

Taxi Squad:
Mike Green, Joe Thornton, Jeff Carter

Still on the radar I have James Neal and Dion Phaneuf

For the record the players that have changed/ been dropped from either the team or the Taxi Squad from my early evaluation in August include: Simon Gagné, Eric Staal, Dion Phaneuf, Milan Lucic and Jordan Staal I have taken off the team with Vincent Lecavalier off the taxi squad. In nets, up until this past week I would have had Marc-André Fleury being the starter but have gone back to Brodeur as the # 1. There has been a lot of turnover already in my list. It will be interesting to see what changes I will have next time.

New Team Canada Jerseys

Now that the Canadian Olympic Jersey has been unveiled for the 2010 Hockey Teams I am proud to say that I ALREADY HAVE A TEAM CANADA JERSEY and don’t need to get another one, especially not this one. Needless to say I am not a big fan. With a $135 price tag, I find the design uninspired and not esthetically appealing.

I hope to not step on any toes but I find that the design, especially the leaf is too native. The embossing of the artwork on the new Maple Leaf is filled with images of gold medals won by Canada’s men’s, women’s and sledge hockey teams, a thunderbird, an eagle, First Nations symbols, a fleur-de-lis and other animals and items.

If it is a one off for just these games in Vancouver I guess it can be accepted but it is far from an inspiring design. If the games were in Edmonton would the leaf be embossed with an Oil Rig and a picture of the West Edmonton Mall?? I just hope this is not a keeper going forward. The old jerseys with the Hockey Canada Logo were cool and recognizable and hopefully will continue with all other International events like the World Juniors. Speaking of that the Hockey Canada Logo is still there on the shoulder, I thought that the problem was that they couldn’t use that logo at the Olympics and although not prominent it is still there... Riddle me that Batman.

My hope is that any of the other apparel for the Vancouver Olympics that HBC will have will be better then the Hockey Jerseys are.

Team Canada Olympic Camps

Draft Day is over. The Free Agency Frenzy is over and it is now down to the mid-tier players and outside of some restricted free agents that have offer sheets tendered and arbitration hearings there will probably be a bit of a lull over the next little bit as far as the NHL is concerned. Probably the only time of the year where hockey doesn't lead off the sportscasts of every show on Sportsnet and TSN. Guess that it will be about time to jump over the NHL and look to some other hockey, this one with a little international flavour. The World Juniors are ready to hold thier annual invitee camp to see what type of players they may have an eye on and check on some of the returning players and help decide who they may want in the more condensed selection camp in December.

Then there is the big boys, the Men’s Olympic Team. The list has been made public of the invitees to the summer camp by Steve Yzerman. Weather or not all these players are there due to the recent news that they will need more insurance or if they get hurt at a camp that they could be suspended without pay when they report to training camps later this year. Also, as far as we know Dany Heatley is planning on attending so yeah, that could be interesting, no conflift there with members or friends of Hockey Canada.

Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-André Fleury, Steve Mason, Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes).
Defence: Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf, Marc Staal, Shea Weber, François Beauchemin, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Stéphane Robidas, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook.
Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Shane Doan, Simon Gagné, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla Rick Nash, Joe Sakic, Martin St-Louis, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Smyth, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Milan Lucic, Patrick Marleau, Andy McDonald, Brenden Morrow, Corey Perry, Michael Richards, Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews, Dan Cleary.

Now this is just a list for the summer, that is not to say that due to injury or if someone come out of the gate in the fall like gang busters then they will not get a look. This is just a preliminary list. That being said there were a few interesting omissions including Chris Osgoode who was mentioned during the playoffs that he would be a good 3rd goaltender who would know his role... then he lost 1 game and all of a sudden he is undeserving?? Also there were 2 very glaring omissions up front in the way of Jason Spezza and Stephen Stamkos. Both these guys played for Canada this year at the World’s and both played well. Stamkos was an offensive dynamo and Spezza played defence for the first time since Minor-Midget. Sure there is always someone who ss going to be left off any list but these were surprising. All 3 NHL Staals' were selected to attend.. begs the question if their mom makes them take little brother Jared along (like having to take your kid brother to the park with you to play).

2009 World Juniors Wrap

It has been almost a week since the World Juniors have ended in Ottawa and I think that it is time to reflect on just what a great 2 week tournament not only this was but what a great tournament this is. Ottawa seemed to do a great job from top to bottom hosting the event. I heard nothing but good things, no horror stories no glaring problems or logistical difficulties. To manage to pull off a tournament of this magnitude and to shatter the attendance records (granted the event is rarely held in the same city and allowed for more of a cross section of available games and locations) was no small feat, from the execs to the volunteers to the great people handing out mini Febreeze’s...grabbed me a few bottles of those for myself. Eugene Melnyk was the face of this bid and did a great job. With that said, a huge hand goes to 67’s owner Jeff Hunt who had made many attempts in the past to year in and year out bid to get this tournament held in Ottawa. He knew what the tournament meant not only to Ottawa but to Canada.

The Canadian team’s “ Drive For Five” was an added storyline that just added to the excitement, not that as Canadians we needed any more reason to watch. TSN had the highest ratings ever on the network for the Gold medal game topping at 4.7 million viewers at its peak. Scotiabank Place was sold out Canada’s games and topped over 20,000 in a few games. Not bad for a city that is supposed to not be a “sports town”.

The one major downside and this will continue to be difficult to overcome in the near future is that after watching the tournament and going through the ups and downs, the roller coaster of emotions that the games put us through, we have been spoiled. The New Years Eve Classic that was dubbed as one of the best hockey games ever played, the 5.4 last seconds goal from John Tavares to Zach Boychuk and then to the gold medal game between Canada and Sweden. I watched 2 Sens games since the end of the tourney and compared to what i saw the 2 weeks prior the 2 NHL games could hardly be called hockey. No excitement no urgency and the game seemed to be slow and un-passionate. Hopefully that will change and the games will pick up but as for the Juniors they put on a great show and for those of us in Ottawa who were lucky enough to take in the tourney, we were treated to a great show and a great product.
Now it is time to attempt to collect some autographs from some of these young Canadian Hero’s.I have already gotten to meet 7 of them and get a mini Team Canada jersey signed when they did a signing at the SportCheck in Kanata right after the team was selected and on their way to Petawawa.

In closing, thanks boys you did the country proud and GO CANADA!