Canadian Olympic orientation camp roster announced

[CarltonTheBear]

Kunitz must be kicking himself right now though. He signed a 3-year extension with the Penguins in June that kicks in next season for just $3.85mil a season. If he decided to wait he could have made a killing with 'Olympian' on his resume.

Really though, even if he's not an Olympian that's a heck of a contract.

 

[Kin]

Kunitz must be kicking himself right now though. He signed a 3-year extension with the Penguins in June that kicks in next season for just $3.85mil a season. If he decided to wait he could have made a killing with 'Olympian' on his resume.

Really though, even if he's not an Olympian that's a heck of a contract.

That assumes he'd want to pull a Nathan Horton and go off and get paid 6 million a year by the Islanders over being Sid Crosby's caddy though.

 

[Jalili]

I like the forward lines listed above, except I think Getzlaf/Perry will be paired with Marleau or Duchene. They're gonna want someone with wheels to compensate for those 2 not being the most agile skaters.

Marleau - Getzlaf - Perry was actually a line we saw a couple times in 2010, and they looked really good.

But I'll admit that Benn is the player I know the least about on the team, so for all I know he's a lot more swift of foot than I thought.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

But if you're going to value chemistry so highly - why isn't St. Louis/Stamkos going?

Personally I wouldn't have taken Kunitz at all, but my guess is that it's because Crosby is the team's #1 center and as Nik said, he's not a guy who seems to develop chemistry well with just anyone. His only 3 assists in 2010 came in one game against Norway. So they gave him the guy he works really well with.

Whereas with Stamkos, I guess you could throw him pretty much anywhere in the lineup.

It's arguable whether or not he had chemistry in the Olympics, but at what other time in Crosby's career, with all the wingers he has played with and the big points/assists totals he has put up, has he struggled to find chemistry with a winger?

There could be a whole lot of reasons why Crosby didn't put up more points in 2010, but it was 7 games, it could be as simple as an unlucky tournament or just an off stretch for him.

 

[Jalili]

But if you're going to value chemistry so highly - why isn't St. Louis/Stamkos going?

Personally I wouldn't have taken Kunitz at all, but my guess is that it's because Crosby is the team's #1 center and as Nik said, he's not a guy who seems to develop chemistry well with just anyone. His only 3 assists in 2010 came in one game against Norway. So they gave him the guy he works really well with.

Whereas with Stamkos, I guess you could throw him pretty much anywhere in the lineup.

It's arguable whether or not he had chemistry in the Olympics, but at what other time in Crosby's career, with all the wingers he has played with and the big points/assists totals he has put up, has he struggled to find chemistry with a winger?

There could be a whole lot of reasons why Crosby didn't put up more points in 2010, but it was 7 games, it could be as simple as an unlucky tournament or just an off stretch for him.

The 2010 tournament would be the main one. I can't really think of other examples of when he's played with wingers almost as good as himself. (Hossa maybe?)

But I do think the last Olympics made a big impact on their decision to take the safe bet and give him Kunitz.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

But if you're going to value chemistry so highly - why isn't St. Louis/Stamkos going?

Personally I wouldn't have taken Kunitz at all, but my guess is that it's because Crosby is the team's #1 center and as Nik said, he's not a guy who seems to develop chemistry well with just anyone. His only 3 assists in 2010 came in one game against Norway. So they gave him the guy he works really well with.

Whereas with Stamkos, I guess you could throw him pretty much anywhere in the lineup.

It's arguable whether or not he had chemistry in the Olympics, but at what other time in Crosby's career, with all the wingers he has played with and the big points/assists totals he has put up, has he struggled to find chemistry with a winger?

There could be a whole lot of reasons why Crosby didn't put up more points in 2010, but it was 7 games, it could be as simple as an unlucky tournament or just an off stretch for him.

The 2010 tournament would be the main one. I can't really think of other examples of when he's played with wingers almost as good as himself. (Hossa maybe?)

But I do think the last Olympics made a big impact on their decision to take the safe bet and give him Kunitz.

I'm not saying I don't get why they took Kunitz either, but that it seems rash to determine after a 7 game sample that you need to go with a safe bet.  How's Kunitz going to fare playing against consistently top opposition talent instead of the inconsistency that NHL opposition can offer game to game (I know he'd face the tough comps with Pitt, but not necessarily Olympic-calibre comp)?  I'd personally rather win or lose with the most skilled guys, think it leaves less room for second-guessing and that, by and large, the elite players can adjust to their circumstances better.

I would not mind Kunitz and Crosby ripping up the tournament one bit though.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

For some more fun on Crosby's impact, his linemates scoring with and without him: http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2014/1/7/5284426/sidney-crosby-stats-chris-kunitz-penguins-winter-olympics

 

[Kin]

Excellent article. The point being made is that the way Crosby plays can be hard to get used to in a short tournament with little in the way of prep time so let's compare him to players he practices with throughout the season, whose chemistry with him can be evaluated by his coaches during those practices and how they then produced in games.

 

[Jalili]

I'm not saying I don't get why they took Kunitz either, but that it seems rash to determine after a 7 game sample that you need to go with a safe bet.  How's Kunitz going to fare playing against consistently top opposition talent instead of the inconsistency that NHL opposition can offer game to game (I know he'd face the tough comps with Pitt, but not necessarily Olympic-calibre comp)?  I'd personally rather win or lose with the most skilled guys, think it leaves less room for second-guessing and that, by and large, the elite players can adjust to their circumstances better.

I would not mind Kunitz and Crosby ripping up the tournament one bit though.

Fair enough. From what I've seen of Kunitz he's very much a meat and potatoes type of player and I'm not even sure if that type of player will be successful in this sort of tournament.

What I'm really interested to see is who replaces Stamkos on the roster if he's not ready to go. Off the top of my head Giroux, St. Louis, Neal were probably the last right wingers to get cut.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Tough decision-making...

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/campbell-yzerman-showed-courage-in-olympic-selections/

 

[Crucialness Key]

I dunno, when I hear people say "but Kunitz is only good when he plays with Crosby" I can't help but think "HEY GUESS WHAT HE WILL BE PLAYING WITH CROSBY"

 

[AvroArrow]

I dunno, when I hear people say "but Kunitz is only good when he plays with Crosby" I can't help but think "HEY GUESS WHAT HE WILL BE PLAYING WITH CROSBY"

The obvious rebuttal here is, what if Crosby gets injured?

 

[Crucialness Key]

I dunno, when I hear people say "but Kunitz is only good when he plays with Crosby" I can't help but think "HEY GUESS WHAT HE WILL BE PLAYING WITH CROSBY"

The obvious rebuttal here is, what if Crosby gets injured?

That's when you inject Kunitz with a fast-acting flu virus.

 

[hockeyfan1]

I dunno, when I hear people say "but Kunitz is only good when he plays with Crosby" I can't help but think "HEY GUESS WHAT HE WILL BE PLAYING WITH CROSBY"

The obvious rebuttal here is, what if Crosby gets injured?

That's when you inject Kunitz with a fast-acting flu virus.

...and transform him into "bat boy"...now that will scare everyone!  ;D

 

[AvroArrow]

I dunno, when I hear people say "but Kunitz is only good when he plays with Crosby" I can't help but think "HEY GUESS WHAT HE WILL BE PLAYING WITH CROSBY"

The obvious rebuttal here is, what if Crosby gets injured?

That's when you inject Kunitz with a fast-acting flu virus.

XD

 

[hockeyfan1]

Nice cake...

steven stamkos  @RealStamkos91
Found this in my room last night. Classy move by the Fairmont Winnipeg. How did it taste @Bugsy12Malone??


Source:  Yahoo! Sports

 

[dappleganger]

Thank god St. Louis isn't on team Canada.

(4 goals last night  : )

 

[Deebo]

Crosby is captain, Toews and Weber are alternates.

No surprises there.

 

[Kin]

Crosby is captain, Toews and Weber are alternates.

No surprises there.

In a way I wish they'd have gone with Toews as I think Crosby's remarkable ability to draw unreasonable and unwarranted criticism will result him taking far too much of the heat if Canada has a disappointing result. That said, you can't really argue with it from any practical standpoint.

 

[hockeyfan1]

The choices as captain & alternates are fine.

Fully expected Crosby to have been chosen as Captain.

Plenty of pressure on him already, with or without him being named captain.  Crosby being Crosby, all eyes are naturally focusing on him more so than perhaps the rest of the team.

GO CANADA GO!!