Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
I don't see Carolina too much...can someone tell me what makes Justin Faulk so special that he makes the US team without any question? From what I remember he's a reasonably smooth skater who can move the puck but by no means is an offensive dynamo. Perhaps his corsi is thru the roof and he's playing the toughest competition in the NHL to explain why his +/- is always negative.
I wonder if Burke may have overlooked that on the bigger ice the truculent game is tougher to play. Also if he had some of the Gretzky syndrome where he was reluctant to change things up in Milan and left some younger players off the roster who were playing better at the time. Defenceman like Orpik are not as effective on the bigger ice as they are in North America. Canada brought guys like Foote and Regehr to Milan and the team went it's final 3 games without scoring a goal.
On the smaller ice suface you can bring the bigger guys who are better at fighting thru space or defending close to the net. But on the larger ice I think you really need to emphasis positional play and mobility. Also not just straight ahead speed, but also agility and acceleration. A guy like St.Louis may not burn up and down the wing...but he can dart in and out of open space to make a play and with more room can have more time to make plays. Defensively a tough stay at home guy maybe doesn't have the extra step to staple Hemsky into the boards...a guy who can keep the angle and keep him to the outside and get his stick in the lanes to prevent passes to dangerous area's becomes more effective.
|
Faulk has elite passing skills that will exploit many defenses in this tournament. For the question marks about not taking Yandle, Faulk provides an elite level breakout.
Pairing him on the backend with a guys like Kesler and Kessel up front will be a constant worry for the opposition. The Big-Ice transition game they are clearly trying to implement could be exceedingly dangerous.