Team Canada at Mid November

[19Yzerman19]

Given the Stamkos injury, Giroux's slumping and Duchene playing all-world hockey, I thought it'd be a decent time to re-evaluate the Sochi roster. Who's played their way on to the team, and who's played their way off?

Played their way on: For me, Couture as a two-way force is on the team on the 4th line with Benn and Bergeron. Also Duchene, but that's obvious.

Played their way off: Eric Staal. The guy has been invisible. I originally had him LW'ing the "size" line with Getzlaf and Perry but I've got Jumbo Joe there instead now.

On the hot seat: Giroux hasn't quite lost his spot yet, but he's no longer starting for me. Hall was hurt, but when playing still looks dangerous as long as he's not being asked to carry a line, so I'm keeping him on the "scoring only" line that I'd like to see deployed against the soft underbelly of the roster that exists on almost every other team in the tourney.

I'm still in favour of selecting defensemen to play their natural side - no RD's playing LD on the big ice. It's a recipe for disaster when one mistake can cost you the tournament. So my D pairings haven't changed at all.

In goal, the only change for me is that Price has clearly played his way back onto the squad, and might have played himself into presumptive starter position over Luongo.

Toews Crosby St Louis
Hall Tavares Duchene
Thornton Getzlaf Perry
Benn Bergeron Couture
Sharp Giroux

Keith Doughty
Bouwmeester Pietrangelo
Hamhuis Weber
Subban

Price Luongo Smith

[Poe969]

Stamkos will be there.

[bluck]

I don't see Jumbo Joe playing LW to be honest.

[Swayze11]

Hamhuis? Hall? Luongo? come on.

[codynw]

I can't see Toews or Thornton playing on the wing. Both are incredible at faceoffs.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Swayze11

Hamhuis? Hall? Luongo? come on.

Luongo will make the team, but Hamhuis and Hall would be long shots. Hell, the only way Hall makes it is if Lowe pulls out one of his "IOU" forms.

[codynw]

Why does Steen play for Sweden internationally? He was born in Winnipeg..

edit: Just looked it up, he was born in Winnipeg because his dad played there. He's actually Swedish and has dual citizenship. Bummer.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Luongo will make the team, but Hamhuis and Hall would be long shots. Hell, the only way Hall makes it is if Lowe pulls out one of his "IOU" forms.

Christ hasn't he used those up yet? You'd think he'd have to cash in at least 10 of them to even be allowed near the team.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Luongo will make the team, but Hamhuis and Hall would be long shots. Hell, the only way Hall makes it is if Lowe pulls out one of his "IOU" forms.

Name a better LD than Hamhuis not named Duncan Keith. Maybe Bouwmeester, but honestly, it's 6 of one half a dozen of the other. Bouwmeester has the advantage of playing with Pietrangelo on a regular basis, but Hamhuis used to play with Weber all the time. Either way, I'm taking both, and the only other option I see is ME Vlasic (I don't want Phaneuf). This all goes out the window if you decide you don't give a crap if your defensemen are playing their off-side but I do care because this isn't an all star team. The easiest way to lose this tournament is to end up in a tight game in the third period and have PK Subban playing on his wrong side on an larger ice surface than he's used to when he suddenly gets walked around by Gaborik or someone. Both JBo and Hamhuis have extensive World Championships experience on the big ice, and have always played well.

As for Hall, he is not "the guy" on your team. He's not Crosby, he's not Stamkos and he's not Toews. But on this team, he doesn't have to be; he just needs to go out and score. He's an insanely dangerous hockey player with incredible speed, and he's perfectly suited to a larger ice surface. At the end of last season, if you were going to pick the best LW in hockey, it would've been him or Daniel Sedin. If I'm Russia's or Slovakia's or CZE's coach and I see a line of Hall, Tavares and Duchene coming at my 3rd and 4th lines, I'm legitimately terrified. This assumes that their best players will face some combination of lines featuring Crosby, Toews, Bergeron and other two-way forces (Sharp, Couture, Benn) on a regular basis.

I recognize that there's going to be some bias based on this being a Flames board but let's try to be a bit objective here.

[moon]

I think Hall's injury and the Oilers horrible year puts him on the bubble but he certainly could make the team without Lowe calling in favors. He was top 10 in scoring last year and a PPG guy this year. Plus he is one of the few natural LW on the team.

I also don't see Toews being a winger and see him used as a "3rd line" center although his line will see a ton of ice against top lines of other teams, late in games and on PK.

I would guess something like (lines so tough with guys able to move and not meant 1-4 just typed out how I thought of them):

Kunitz-Crosby-St. Louis
Duchene-Toews-Bergeron
Marleau-Getzlaf-Perry
Tavares-Thornton-Giroux
Couture

Weber-Doughty
Keith-Seabrook
Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester
Subban


Price
Luongo
Smith

Price as the starter

[moon]

Should add the Stamkos injury gets Kunitz on the team in my view. If healthy he replaes Kunitz on that line.

[Hanna Sniper]

Can't imagine not having the Keith-Seabrook pair together, the best pair in hockey and with a short tournament have a pair with some much expedience together will be huge

[saillias]

Yeah you can't leave Seabrook off the team for Hamhuis.


Maybe if there was a 5th guy on the level of: Weber, Doughty, Keith, Peitrangelo. Another guy so good he makes it impossible to not put him on the roster.

And even in that hypothetical case, I'd rather break up the Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester pair than Keith-Seabrook.

[bluck]

Haha I was just going to say a Marleau - Getzlaf - Perry Line would be awesome. Well done Moon I like your lines a lot.

[red sky]

Subban should definitely be the 7th d-man who can QB the PP.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by saillias

Yeah you can't leave Seabrook off the team for Hamhuis.

I'm not. They're not playing the same position. I'm leaving Seabrook off the team for Doughty, Weber, Pietrangelo and Subban.


Seabrook is a right defenseman and I absolutely do not see how you put him on the team when you have right defensemen named:

• Doughty
• Weber
• Pietrangelo
• Subban
• Letang

Every one of those guys is better than Seabrook, and only 3 of them can play right D on any given night. If you're putting a guy on the team ahead of Hamhuis, it's either going to be another LD (like Vlasic) or it's going to be one of Subban or Letang.

[jeffman]

What do you guys think of putting Kevin Dallman in for our 7th D. He might not be as shiny toy like Subban or Letang, but he has had massive success on KHL and would know the KHL ice better

[stemit14]

It really sucks that giordano got hurt. I know he wasn't at the camp but he was on pace for his best season ever... He blocks shots... Has tons of speed... Wins battles against the best players in the league... Has offensive skills... Is a left-handed defenseman... And he has played on the big ice before. If he kept his game up, I really believe he is a better option than the other left-handed defensemen that team canada was considering.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Christ hasn't he used those up yet? You'd think he'd have to cash in at least 10 of them to even be allowed near the team.

The fact Lowe still has a role with the Olympic Team proves that the Hockey Canada still hasn't cleared the stink of the old boy's network from the program.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by bluck

Haha I was just going to say a Marleau - Getzlaf - Perry Line would be awesome. Well done Moon I like your lines a lot.

I don't get the love for Marleau. He was invisible at the last Olympics. Couture seems a better bet as a starter.