• For users coming over from tmlfans.ca your username will remain the same but you will need to use the password reset feature (check your spam folder) on the login page in order to set your password. If you encounter issues, email Rick couchmanrick@gmail.com

Canadian Olympic orientation camp roster announced

Bullfrog said:
Ah, I actually didn't realize that. I thought it was an "Olympic" Jersey. If anything, it might form an association with a time period. I guess there's value in that. I don't really know.

True. And my pov here, it has to be said, is largely informed by my thinking that the uniforms they came up with for Vancouver were about as good as Canada's ever had.
 
Lost in some of our discussion regarding Hockey Canada's jerseys is that there are going to be some pretty cool ones at the Olympics. The Czechs will be wearing their flags:

BV_RXO1CAAEKnJU.jpg_large.jpg


The Slovaks have striped jerseys where the stripes are actually the lyrics to their national anthem in small print:

slovenske_narodni_dresy_2014_20.jpg


And, in what I might think may be the sharpest ones yet, the Fins are, again, just wearing the Flag:

1763911-max994x592.jpg
 
Yup, those are some nice looking jerseys. The Czech one might throw some people off though as the away jersey still has a lot of white.
 
Canada's Olympic team roster announcement is just over a week away. I thought it would be interesting to see what the team would look like by just picking the top-13 scoring forwards (plus Stamkos), the top-8 scoring defencemen, and the 3 goalies with the most wins. This is the line-up I came up with:

Kunitz-Crosby-Stamkos
Hall-Getzlaf-Perry
Marleau-Thornton-Tavares
Sharp-Toews-St. Louis
Giroux-Seguin

Keith-Seabrook
Subban-Weber
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Garrison-Doughty

Fleury
Harding
Price

Obviously, this isn't how Yzerman and co. are going to pick the team, but I think that's actually pretty close to what we'll see.

Each forward line contains two forwards that play on the team same, and with the exception of the Thornton/Marleau combo they also play on the same line. It's kind of interesting, all of the players on the left-wing and the two spare forwards are probably the guys on the bubble right now. The centres and right wingers are all probably locks, with the exception of maybe Thornton. I'm not exactly crazy about Kunitz and Sharp being on the team, because while I think they are good players they're really only in the conversation because they are linemates with Olympians. Bergeron will likely knock one of those bubble guys out of the line-up, but I think other than that that's the forward group we'll see. So I wouldn't be surprised to see 12 of the 13 highest scoring forwards on the team, plus Stamkos and Bergeron.

The defence, aside from Garrison (who I was very surprised to see among the scoring leaders), is probably exactly what we'll see. There's two pairings that are already partners on their NHL teams. There's been a bunch of talk about Subban being left off the team but I just can't see it. They'll likely replace Garrison with a defensive guy like Hamhuis or Vlasic. But again, I think we'll see 7 of the 8 top scoring defencemen.

For goalies, Price and Luongo are generally considered the two locks, so at least 1 of the 3 goalies with the most wins won't be there. I'd be surprised to see with Harding or Fleury there to be honest. I'm not really sure who I would go with, but it really won't matter as the 3rd goalie won't see any playing time anyway.
 
I read Dreger's report last night and thought it was interesting. He does seem to have connections so his lineup is probably the closest to the one we'll see.

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/darren_dreger/?id=438611

It's hard to get a feel for the forwards because there's SO many guys in the mix, but I think the back-end is set.

Keith - Doughty
Bouwmeester - Pietrangelo
Vlasic - Weber
Subban, Boyle?

That defense you came up with is actually really close.

The TSN guys seem to think Boyle will be there which makes you think they've heard it somewhere that he's getting strong consideration.

Price - Luongo - Smith
 
It blows my mind that Smith might be named to our Olympic team.  He is right in the middle of a season where he has been a way below average goalie.  He has cost the Coyotes more points than he has gained them.  And last year he was only an average goalie.  I believe reporters form an opinion on someone and generally speaking never change it.  They still see the Smith of a few seasons ago and from someone who sits in the stands in Phoenix most nights that Smith is long gone.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Canada's Olympic team roster announcement is just over a week away. I thought it would be interesting to see what the team would look like by just picking the top-13 scoring forwards (plus Stamkos), the top-8 scoring defencemen, and the 3 goalies with the most wins. This is the line-up I came up with:

Kunitz-Crosby-Stamkos
Hall-Getzlaf-Perry
Marleau-Thornton-Tavares
Sharp-Toews-St. Louis
Giroux-Seguin

Keith-Seabrook
Subban-Weber
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Garrison-Doughty

Fleury
Harding
Price

Obviously, this isn't how Yzerman and co. are going to pick the team, but I think that's actually pretty close to what we'll see.

Each forward line contains two forwards that play on the team same, and with the exception of the Thornton/Marleau combo they also play on the same line. It's kind of interesting, all of the players on the left-wing and the two spare forwards are probably the guys on the bubble right now. The centres and right wingers are all probably locks, with the exception of maybe Thornton. I'm not exactly crazy about Kunitz and Sharp being on the team, because while I think they are good players they're really only in the conversation because they are linemates with Olympians. Bergeron will likely knock one of those bubble guys out of the line-up, but I think other than that that's the forward group we'll see. So I wouldn't be surprised to see 12 of the 13 highest scoring forwards on the team, plus Stamkos and Bergeron.

The defence, aside from Garrison (who I was very surprised to see among the scoring leaders), is probably exactly what we'll see. There's two pairings that are already partners on their NHL teams. There's been a bunch of talk about Subban being left off the team but I just can't see it. They'll likely replace Garrison with a defensive guy like Hamhuis or Vlasic. But again, I think we'll see 7 of the 8 top scoring defencemen.

For goalies, Price and Luongo are generally considered the two locks, so at least 1 of the 3 goalies with the most wins won't be there. I'd be surprised to see with Harding or Fleury there to be honest. I'm not really sure who I would go with, but it really won't matter as the 3rd goalie won't see any playing time anyway.

I put Couture and Duchene ahead of Seguin and Hall.
 
Dreger's latest report is probably closest to what the group will look like.

Couture - Crosby - Stamkos
Benn - Toews - Giroux
Marleau - Tavares - Nash
Staal - Getzlaf - Perry
Duchene -        - Carter

With Kunitz, Sharp, Lucic, Neal, St. Louis and Bergeron being still in the mix.
 
I wonder how good Bernier would look behind a good defence like team Canada will ice for this tournament. One that doesn't allow 40+ shots every game. I'll bet he'll be in the mix for 2018.
 
I hope Nash doesn't make it. Besides thinking he is overrated, there are better options than him. But I'm sure his previous tournaments will resonate with Team Canada brass.
 
Peter D. said:
I hope Nash doesn't make it. Besides thinking he is overrated, there are better options than him. But I'm sure his previous tournaments will resonate with Team Canada brass.

Along with Nash, I'm a bit suprised to see Staal on Dreger's list. I'm not even necessarily sold on Giroux.

I'd sooner see Bergeron or/and Sharp.
 
Snoopzilla said:
Dreger's latest report is probably closest to what the group will look like.

Close, sure. But with so many locks it's not really hard to get close. Like others said, I'd be pretty shocked to see Nash and Staal on the team. And to a lesser extent Carter and Couture as well.

I also can't fathom how they could leave Thornton off the team.
 
I really think Nash should be there. To argue otherwise, to me, seems to be saying that the selection process should almost entirely revolve around what's gone on in the NHL this season and while I appreciate that there's an argument for that line of thought I can't get behind it. Nash played so well at the last Olympics and last year that to leave him off based on 26 subpar games strikes me as a little shortsighted.
 
Nik the Trik said:
I really think Nash should be there. To argue otherwise, to me, seems to be saying that the selection process should almost entirely revolve around what's gone on in the NHL this season and while I appreciate that there's an argument for that line of thought I can't get behind it. Nash played so well at the last Olympics and last year that to leave him off based on 26 subpar games strikes me as a little shortsighted.

I think you could argue somewhat they he has been somewhat ordinary the couple of years prior in Columbus though.  Granted he was scoring 30 goals on some bad teams but I think he wasn't really performing a complete game at that time.  So I could flip things around and say "should we give Nash a spot on the roster because of 44 games last year and ignore the last 2 1/2 years of more average play?

He also followed up a very strong regular season with 1 goal (5 points) in 12 playoff games.  I certainly wouldn't have a problem with him being on the team, because he does have that ability to be a difference maker but there are some very good players who are going to be cut too.

I mean, Jarome Iginla had a great 2010 Olympics too and a very strong second half to the season/postseason last year.  I certainly wouldn't want him on the Olympic roster though.
 
2badknees said:
Along with Nash, I'm a bit suprised to see Staal on Dreger's list. I'm not even necessarily sold on Giroux.

I'd sooner see Bergeron or/and Sharp.

Staal was a big part of the 3rd line at the Vancouver Olympics. I don't think that can be discounted. Same with Nash. These guys have been big pieces of gold medal winning teams, and it's not like they've aged out of being effective since. I'm not sure if Nash has recovered from his concussion enough to be part of the team, but I don't really see much issue with Staal.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Snoopzilla said:
Dreger's latest report is probably closest to what the group will look like.

Close, sure. But with so many locks it's not really hard to get close. Like others said, I'd be pretty shocked to see Nash and Staal on the team. And to a lesser extent Carter and Couture as well.

I also can't fathom how they could leave Thornton off the team.

It's really hard to tell how many forward locks there actually are right now. Crosby, Toews, Getzlaf, Stamkos, Tavares, Perry are 6, so presumably that's all your centers, plus I guess Stamkos and Perry at wing. But other than that there's a bit of uncertainty involving every other guy in the mix.

There's a pretty interesting cbc video that shows Yzerman, Chiarelli, etc discussing the players.

Staal they mentioned as a guy they want as the 4th line LW. Chiarelli says that Nash has been thoroughly unimpressive every he time he's watched him this season, but the others contend that Nash always rises to the occasion at these events.

I'll post the video if I can find it.
 
Here's the video for anyone interested: "Defending Gold"

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/ID/2427880548/

Skip to 8 minutes for when the player analysis really starts.
 
I think Nash is a little overrated too, but he's always seemed to be very impressive for Canada in international play, particularly on big ice. I think he'll be there.

I also believe Patrick Sharp has become a near-lock to make the squad.
 
L K said:
I think you could argue somewhat they he has been somewhat ordinary the couple of years prior in Columbus though.  Granted he was scoring 30 goals on some bad teams but I think he wasn't really performing a complete game at that time.  So I could flip things around and say "should we give Nash a spot on the roster because of 44 games last year and ignore the last 2 1/2 years of more average play?

But it's not just being on a "bad team", the argument for Nash for years was that he was scoring 30 a year despite Nashville's persistent inability to find him anything resembling a decent center or, even, linemate. I wouldn't call a 32 goal, 66 point season over 75 games "ordinary" regardless of who he was playing with but with Derek Brassard and a 21 year old Jakub Voracek? With Fyodor Tyutin as the team's top scoring defenseman with 27 points?

Last year was Nash's first where he wasn't a one man show and he responded with a 39 goal, 78 point pace. Being as he's going to have decent centers to play with in Sochi I'd be pretty reluctant to use his Columbus days as serious evidence for anything really.
 

About Us

This website is NOT associated with the Toronto Maple Leafs or the NHL.


It is operated by Rick Couchman and Jeff Lewis.
Back
Top