Team Canada Sochi has been declared ... Wow some Suprises

[Ironhead]

Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Patrick Sharp, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews

My top three lines.(If Stamkos cannot go)
1) Crosby, Kuntz, Sharp ... NHL points; Crosby is 1st, Kuntz is 5th, Sharp is 7th. ... Goals scored; Sharp is 2nd, Crosby is 3rd, Kuntz 7th.
2) Getzlaf, Perry, Carter ... NHL points; Getzlaf is 4th, Perry 8th ... Goals scored; Perry 3rdT, Getzlaf 9thT. ... Carter goes with them on my team because I think they will work very well together. Carter also, if I remeber correctly, scores big goals, comes through when needed.
3) Toews, Tavares(moves to wing), Nash ... NHL points; Tavares 2ndT, Toews 11th, ... Goals scored; Tavares 9th, Toews 30th.



If Stamkos is ready he goes with Crosby and Kuntz.
Sharp goes to the third line to replace Nash.

Bergeron takes as many faceoffs as possible in last 10 minutes, especially when Canada has a slim lead(1 or 2 goals).

 

[Ironhead]

There are 12 teams(three divisions) in the 2014 Olympic Tournament
All 12 make the playoff(qualification) round with the top four getting a bye into the quarters.


Group A
Russia
Slovakia
United States
Slovenia


Group B
Finland
Canada
Norway
Austria


Group C
Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Latvia



Do not want to overlook the Finns, but it looks like Canada will have an easy road, as will the Swedes.
Russia and the US are in a group together which means that the loser of the head to head will likely be in tough to get a top four spot.



Looking at Canada's schedule.
vs Norway, Feb 13 a Thursday
vs Austria, Feb 14
vs Finland, Feb 16

I assume they will be a top four. Goal differential could determine one through three(maybe even thru four).

See entire schedule here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_2014_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_tournament

 

[Insidious Von]

Hockey is doing itself a disservice by staying with the Winter Olympics. To grow the game globally it needs it's own showcase, a World Cup of Hockey would fit that bill. Hold it in February and schedule it the year after the Winter Olympics and you'd have a fine show. It's about time, look what having a WC has done for rugby.

Let the juniors play in the Olympics.

 

[Bargnani_]

What time would a gold meld game be?

 

[Prof. Plum]

Sun Feb 23 @ 7:00 am est

http://www.iihf.com/competition/olympics-2014-men/schedule.html

 

[K Douglas]

Hockey is doing itself a disservice by staying with the Winter Olympics. To grow the game globally it needs it's own showcase, a World Cup of Hockey would fit that bill. Hold it in February and schedule it the year after the Winter Olympics and you'd have a fine show. It's about time, look what having a WC has done for rugby.

Let the juniors play in the Olympics.

I disagree. Both the Salt Lake and Vancouver olympic games displayed wonderfully exciting hockey.

 

[lovelatinas]

Hockey is already a global game. It's just that other countries with very warm climates and Asia are not as good as North America and Europe.

http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf.html

 

[K Douglas]

Hockey Canada has announced its 25-player men's roster for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The complete Canadian roster is as follows:

Goaltenders: Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defence: Jay Bouwmeester, Drew Doughty, Dan Hamhuis, Duncan Keith, Alex Pietrangelo, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber

Forwards: Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Patrick Sharp, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews

Dan Hamhuis? Marc Edouard Vlasic? Sure these guys are solid NHL'ers but I'd much prefer Seabrook and Phaneuf. Seabrook and Keith play together and are as solid as defence tandem as any pair in the NHL.
Jeff Carter? Patrick Sharp? Rich Nash? Chris Kunitz? OK Sharp is having a great season and is a sniper so I can see that. Kunitz is a beneficiary of playing with Crosby, his teammate Neal is more talented and deserving in my opinion. How many guys can score over 40 goals in an 82 game schedule - he's done or on pace for the past 3 seasons. Biggest snub in my opinion. Nash and Carter don't deserve to be on this squad they are on their based on past performance. I'd prefer St Louis and Giroux. Eric Staal isn't a snub in my opinion, we are so deep at centre he just doesn't cut it.

I'd really love to be able to send a B team just to see how well they would do.

G - Fleury, Bernier, Harding
D - Seabrook, Phaneuf, Boyle, Bieksa, Letang, Beauchemin, Giordano
FW - St. Louis, Neal, Couture, Eberle, Seguin, Giroux, Thornton, Hall, M Richards, Spezza, Lucic, Skinner

 

[ICEman72]

I'd love to see Harding there. He's having another solid year but I think the MS scares people off from him. I still can't figure out why they left Seabrook off. If you can have the tandem...take it. Unless him and Keith shoot the same way because the brass really wanted to have an equal number of Left and Right D Men.

 

[dirkd101]

Well, what more can you say.

They hit their regional mandates, as set out by Hockey Canada. No political complaints wanted here.

In passed up on one of the best defenseman around in Seabrook. i guess they had too many guys from western Canada.

Nash???? I know Rick has and is still a good player. But going back to after his trade to the Rangers, he hasn't been the same player.

 

[drewstar]

As a rabid sports fan, 24 of the 25 choices were the right choice imo. Here's why and these are the projected lines:

Kunitz - Crosby - Stamkos
Duchene - Tavares - Carter
Marleau - Getzlaf - Perry
Sharp - Toews - Nash
13th forward: Bergeron (mostly PK)
Booth: Benn

Keith - Weber
Bouwmeester - Pietrangelo
Vlasic - Doughty
7th dman: Subban (mostly PP)
Booth: Hamhius

Price
Luongo
Booth: Smith

-TC (Team Canada) chose playmakers at center and primarily natural wingers who can score, skate, and be defensively responsible.
-Giroux and St. Louis are great players and pound-for-pound probably better players than say Nash/Carter, but both Giroux and St. Louis are more playmakers (as in assists men) than natural 40 goal scoring threats as an example. That's why neither of them made the team, and they aren't better playmakers than the 4 centers we'll primarily be playing through which are Crosby, Tavares, Getzlaf, and Toews.
-Marleau was a key cog to complement the slowest line we have in Getzlaf/Perry, and Marleau is the prototypical LW we want (good goal scorer, skater, defense), and ditto for Carter at RW. Did I mention both these guys can also play center?
-Some other key omissions were due to a numbers game where TC chose to go with guys who fit a role best (Nash played well on a line w/ Mike Richards and Toews in 2010).
-In the event of injury, James Neal from TSN projections will get the nod to replace Stamkos' if he can't go as he'll fill in the 'sniper' role on Crosby's RW.
-If any of the other forwards get injured, Giroux will likely get the call.
-On defense, Babcock wanted 4 LHD and 4 RHD; Seabrook is not perceived as strong enough a skater to unseat Subban as the 4th RHD (simply put, you dont leave the best offensive defenseman in the game at home).
-Phaneuf is too much of a risk taker for TC's liking, and I agree.

My only replacement if it was up to me would be to take off Rick Nash and replace him with James Neal, but otherwise GO CANADA GO.

 

[drewstar]

I realize they put a lot of stock in skating, but on such a skilled team there should still be room for players whose intensity is tough to match. Carter is a good player but can blow hot and cold; Nash really seems to have made it on past international reputation as he is having a decidedly ordinary season thus far. And Marleau, well for years he has been a core player on a team that until recently was notorious for underachieving in the playoffs. In other words, he has a track record of disappearing when the games count.

I'll take Couture, St Louis and Lucic with their intensity and compete over those guys any day.

The WJHC drove home the point that speed and skating are at a premium on the big ice, hence why someone like Joe Thornton was left off.

I was surprised Giroux and MSL didnt make it but I understand their reasons, and imo after seeing the failures in 1998 and 2006 (taking too many grinders to the big ice, picking players off past reputation) they got it right for the most part IMO.

-Couture is basically a less talented version of Marleau but a better all around player (though Marleau is no slouch himself, hence why Marleau made the team and rightfully so).
-MSL didnt make it because he's more of a playmaker than natural scorer if we're being picky and believe me with TC, we should be picky.
-Lucic's game is made for the North American rinks as he's not the strongest skater and on the big ice skating is at a premium.

Upon further reflection, I would've chosen 23 of the 25 guys selected:
-Replace Rick Nash with James Neal (natural goal scorer on the RW with one of the best releases in the game)
-Replace Jamie Benn with Taylor Hall (I know Hall is perceived as incapable of consistent defense, and being puck dominant thus not meshing as a top 6 forward) as I think Hall is the other fastest skater not named Duchene which would be an extra asset to have.

 

[ultistar]

Gotta agree with Don Cherry: the omission of Seabrook may come back to haunt TC. I think Canada's goalies are average compared to some other teams and we will need a shutdown defence pair like Seabrook and Keith against the other teams' top line or to protect a 1 goal lead late in the game.

 

[Ironhead]

As of this minute Price is my number one, Smith and Luongo will play it out for the number two.

I also have a bit of trouble with Seabrook not on the D instead of Vlasic.
I can also see what they are thinking, give a guy a shot who is not likely to bomb and he gets experience with a lot of vets to cover him just in case.

I can see Morgan Rielly on the 2018 team if there is one.

 

[Ironhead]

Now I am starting to look forward to the games.
The Olympics start Feb 6(opening ceremonies on the 7th).
Hockey, that is really what we are waiting for, starts Feb 8(women) and the men Feb 12(Canada on the 13th).

Price and whoever is number two should split the first two then, in my opinion, go with Price unless he falters.
My go to forwards are Crosby/Kuntz, Getzlaf/Perry and Carter.

 

[bullitt]

let claude lerioux take stamkos spot.

 

[K Douglas]

I'd really like to see MSL, it would be his last shot and doubt Steve could say no twice. But in the event they pick Giroux, he would be a great replacement too.

You have to go with St Louis, the guy is a veteran and he can skate like the wind.

 

[blackrock13]

Proof there is a God, glad to see St Loius get invited to join the team. He has scored more points in the NHL than anyone since the last Olympics

 

[lovelatinas]

I would have taken Tyler Bozak.

 

[blackrock13]

I would have taken Tyler Bozak.

As good as TB is, he's no St Louis.