[GDT] Team Canada Olympic Roster Announcment (8am MT)

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Redrum

Wow, Kunitz? He's basically a 3rd liner leeching off Crysby, but I guess the chemistry is important too. At least a couple dozen more deserving players though. Kinda sucks for them.

Name these couple dozen players that deserve to go more than Kunitz. I'm very intrigued. If you can name more than 5 that actually deserve to be there more I'll be shocked.

[V]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

What the hell am I missing?

Ha, not exactly the poster I would expect to miss that.

[ChuckieNZ]

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

The 3 goalies chosen don't have a Stanley Cup ring! Lame picks in net, can't believe Team Canada is going with those netminders. Price has won 1 game 7 and that was in the 1st round, Smith hasn't played in a game 7, and we know Loserongo blew it in game 7 for the cup. This team will have an extremely tough time getting to the medal round with that goaltending in this international all-star tournament. Forwards and defensemen look solid and there are ten players that have won the Stanley Cup.

Except that Luongo was the starting goaltender in the 2010 gold medal performance, and did perform then when it counted.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by codynw

Name these couple dozen players that deserve to go more than Kunitz. I'm very intrigued. If you can name more than 5 that actually deserve to be there more I'll be shocked.

More than just throwing names out of guys who didnt get the call....after analyzing the roster its blatently obvious that Yzerman and company picked this team based on positions/situations as much as on skill. So you would need to come up with a list of LW's that deserved it/would be more effective than Kunitz.

"[It's] not necessarily the best 14," Yzerman said, "but the right 14."


"Every one of us in Canada has an opinion on who should be on this team and nobody's wrong," Yzerman said. "Nobody's wrong because they're all really good players. Ultimately, this group is in charge of deciding who the 14 (forwards), eight (defencemen) and three (goalies) are."

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

How many 93 point seasons has Kuntiz had?

I'm a little late responding to this post, but I doubt it was ever a choice between Kunitz and Giroux... It was between Giroux and Getzlaf. He loses that battle right now.

Unless you're going to present an argument that you'll take him as a bottom 6 center over Toews and Bergeron.

[Meers]

One thing I never realized about Hamhuis is that he's the runaway best +/- Canadian defenceman over the last three seasons.

Given that he's also one of the best penalty killing defencemen in the league and played at times with Weber in Nashville, his selection begins to make a lot more sense for me.

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

The issue is that he's not been very good at the role this season. If I had to pick, I'd take Garrison over Hamhuis since Garrison has been better defensively and has a helluva shot.

Really? I'm sure you've watched more of Vancouver than I have, but it seems to me watching Garrison this year has been like watching a tire fire on skates. Basically he has a shot and gets pucks through but he can't skate very well and doesn't really seem to try very hard to win battles. He was directly responsible for the Kings GWG on Hockey Night this past Saturday.

Originally Posted by TheChief

Canada has enough talent to fuel two more teams.


Kane B.Richardson Lupul
Skinner Hopkins Iginla
O Reilly Kadri Stewart
Marchand J.Staal Gallagher
Ex; Ribero Simmonds

Campbell Franson
Garrison Bieksa
Beachemin Hamonic
Wideman Gudbranson

Brodeur, Harding, Ward

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

The 3 goalies chosen don't have a Stanley Cup ring! Lame picks in net, can't believe Team Canada is going with those netminders. Price has won 1 game 7 and that was in the 1st round, Smith hasn't played in a game 7, and we know Loserongo blew it in game 7 for the cup. This team will have an extremely tough time getting to the medal round with that goaltending in this international all-star tournament. Forwards and defensemen look solid and there are ten players that have won the Stanley Cup.

Hahaha, yeah, I can't imagine them getting to the medal round, much less winning, say, a gold medal at the olympics, with Roberto Luongo in net. That could never happen.

Originally Posted by saillias

I'm a little late responding to this post, but I doubt it was ever a choice between Kunitz and Giroux... It was between Giroux and Getzlaf. He loses that battle right now.

Why, because Kunitz and Giroux aren't both hockey players? Here's how it becomes a choice between Kunitz and Giroux: pick one of them and put him on Sidney Crosby's wing for the Olympics. I pick Giroux. See how easy that was?

[saillias]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

Why, because Kunitz and Giroux aren't both hockey players? Here's how it becomes a choice between Kunitz and Giroux: pick one of them and put him on Sidney Crosby's wing for the Olympics. I pick Giroux. See how easy that was?

It was that easy because you put about 5 seconds of thought into the decision. Giroux = better player = take him over Kunitz.

Ok. I have no debate with you. The roster is what it is.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Big mistake not picking Martin St. Louis.

Kind of like last time?

It's only a mistake if we don't win gold. Time will tell...

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Big mistake not picking Martin St. Louis.

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Kind of like last time?

It's only a mistake if we don't win gold. Time will tell...

Even then, I don't think it could ever be regarded as a clear mistake. St Louis was not on the roster when Canada won in 2002 and 2010, but was a part of the 2006 team that did not medal. It's pretty hard to argue from past results that this omission could be construed as a mistake.

If Canada fails to win gold, it will likely not be because of one player. In 1998 and 2006 it was a result of several problems with the rosters, but more prominently also because of philosophical and systemic miscalculations by those who assembled the teams. Most likely, if Canada does not win gold in 2014, it will have to do with a bad game or even a single bad bounce, and these are things that are nearly impossible to plan for.

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by TheChief

Canada has enough talent to fuel two more teams.

Team 3

Kane B.Richardson Lupul
Skinner Hopkins Iginla
O Reilly Kadri Stewart
Marchand J.Staal Gallagher
Ex; Ribero Simmonds

Campbell Franson
Garrison Bieksa
Beachemin Hamonic
Wideman Gudbranson

Brodeur, Harding, Ward

That team would get destroyed

[moon]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

That team would get destroyed

They wouldn't get destroyed depending on goaltending they should be competitive with Switzerland, Czech and Slovakia. Although that would include taking B. Richardson out of the line-up and replacing him with the one of the many more qualified guys to fill that role.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by moon

They wouldn't get destroyed depending on goaltending they should be competitive with Switzerland, Czech and Slovakia. Although that would include taking B. Richardson out of the line-up and replacing him with the one of the many more qualified guys to fill that role.

Yeah I would agree. Every team outside the US and Canada has players from outside the best league in the world. All the guys on that list are very good NHLers.

I think he meant B Richards. Not Richardson.

[LChoy]

Out of curiosity, what does everyone think the Shootout roster look like?
Crosby, Toews, Stamkos, Perry, Getzlaf all seem pretty sufficient

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Lchoy

Out of curiosity, what does everyone think the Shootout roster look like?
Crosby, Toews, Stamkos, Perry, Getzlaf all seem pretty sufficient

I'm sure Gretzky will be left off again.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Lchoy

Out of curiosity, what does everyone think the Shootout roster look like?
Crosby, Toews, Stamkos, Perry, Getzlaf all seem pretty sufficient

Stamkos, oddly enough, isn't great in shootouts. He's said he just doesn't feel comfortable in them, for whatever reason.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by codynw

Stamkos, oddly enough, isn't great in shootouts. He's said he just doesn't feel comfortable in them, for whatever reason.

Snipers generally aren't great in the shootout. Their prowess depends on catching goaltenders off-guard or out of position with quick hard shots. It's not really effective in the shootout, espeically with the size of most goalies.

I would go with skill guys Crosby, Tavares, Duchene, Toews, Perry

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by ChuckieNZ

Except that Luongo was the starting goaltender in the 2010 gold medal performance, and did perform then when it counted.

True, although the 3rd period wasn't ideal. I don't remember if they were good goals, but we did lose a 2 goal lead.

[powderjunkie]

Canada has the luxury of leaving 8 40 goal scorers at home. Russia left 1 and USA left 1.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/JBombul...0-goal-scorers

I bet you can't guess the guy from Florida...I didn't know he had a 40 goal year.

[stemit14]

I wonder how Crosby really feels about Kunitz being on the team... I'm sure they are good friends and they play well together but I watch a lot of Pittsburgh games and, obviously, plays tend to die on the sticks of Kunitz and dupuis more than they do on crosby's stick. Of course that's going to happen cause he's the best player in the world but he might prefer the opportunity to play with guys that have skills closer to his level.

Lots of us have played hockey with guys that are a lower skill level than we are and it can be frustrating at times. I know it can't really compare with NHLers playing with each other but Crosby may prefer the opportunity to have St. Louis and Stamkos on his wings for once instead of Kunitz and Dupuis.