Tomorrow morning is the big announcement for Hockey Canada .
Every four years hockey fans in Canada
argue for months about who should and shouldn't be on the team. This guy is too
old, too slow, not a big game player, etc. etc. are thrown around. I have
decided to pick MY Team Canada as opposed to predicting what I think will
happen. (For that you can look at the Dreger roster, it will probably be close)
Canada made
several mistakes in 2006, choosing a roster that was older, slower, and safer.
It will be interesting to see if they learn from those mistakes. I'm going to
vote "no" to that one and assume they will make several "safe"
picks and leave too much offence at home.
I will start with goal because I believe that to be the
easiest position to sort out:
Carey Price - starter Roberto Luongo - backup Corey Crawford
- popcorn
Even before the recent Luongo injury, Price was my starter.
If Luongo can't go, it would affect my Crawford pick because you need someone
safer. In that case I would go with Mike Smith or even Cam Ward. Assuming
health though I like Crawford for the "development" position. All the
kid does is win. Also, I believe Price will push for the tournament MVP and
restore Canada 's
position of having elite level goaltending.
The Defence has a couple of battles that seem to be based
around PK Subban. He is easily in my top 6:
Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Shea Weber,
Alex Pietrangelo, P.K. Subban, Jay Bouwmeester,
Brent Seabrook, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
I'm leaving out Dan Boyle who I can see making it. Not sure
the 8th player will play anyway but if he's named I wouldn't shake my head. I
think Marc Staal had an inside track but injuries are going to rob him of an
elite level career. I'm not interested in Dan Hamhuis for an tournament in Europe .
Canada 's top 3
could win the tournament for them and will play the lions share of minutes.
The forwards are where all the fights are going to be
created. It is not a cliché to suggest Canada
could name two teams. They have at least 18-20 elite level forwards:
Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf,
Corey Perry, Patrick Sharp, John Tavares, Patrice Bergeron,
Claude Giroux, Jamie Benn, Logan Couture, Matt Duchene,
Eric Staal, Taylor Hall, Steven Stamkos (if healthy) Martin St Louis
(if he's not)
Taylor Hall will not be named to this team because of his
two way game. It will be a decision that Hockey Canada will regret on Olympic
sized ice. Insulate him with a Jonathan Toews and he would look great. Even if
he is the 14th forward and doesn't play, the experience would be great for him.
Guaranteed he would be in the top 14 four years from now. I'm leaving our Rick
Nash because he has slowed considerably and has been injured. Patrick Marleau
was a tough deletion for me and I have no love for Chris Kunitz. Jeff Carter
and Mike Richards are still elite level talent, but I would exclude them from this tourney.
So, what say you? Who is on your team? In case you have been
under a rock, the announcement tomorrow is at 10.00
am EST on all TSN platforms.
The western conference just dominates the D.
ReplyDeleteWestern Media bias! LOL
ReplyDeleteYou know what, I didn't even notice that. I think that may have a lot to do with why the Western Conference dominates over the east in general. Pitt and Boston excluded of course