If the Olympics were in a week, how many Flames would participate?

[CroFlames]

If the IIHF and NHL could kiss and make up, the World Championships should be held every four years at season's end and rename it the World Cup.

Start the NHL season 3 weeks earlier, delay the World Championships/Cup a week or so and bam you have a best on best tournament every 4 years that isn't a joke and isn't associated with the crooks at the IOC.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Monahan is great, but I don't think he would make it, unless as a reserve/injury replacement. The Canadian depth is just amazing.

The D is what I find most interesting. There are not nearly as many "locks" as in prior years. Ignoring lefty/righty for the moment, are the following locks?:

Pietrangelo
Burns
Doughty
Letang

Plenty of offense, but perhaps a little long in the tooth. Would the rest skew a little younger/more physical, or has the game changed enough you go with full on speed?

Hamilton
Reilly
Chabot
Theodore
Morrissey
Ekblad
Ellis
Subban
Brodie
Dumba
Makar?

I mean I think they would at least garner consideration. Gio should have a chance. Probably missed a bunch more as well.

[TheIronMaiden]

Canada: 0 Maybe - Giordano
USA: 2 Gaudreau and Tkachuk
Sweden: 1 Lindholm Maybe - Andersson, Backlund
Germany: 1 Rieder
Czech: 1 Rittich
Slovakia: 0 Maybe - Ruzicka
Norway: 0 Maybe - Mathias Emilio Pettersen

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

If the IIHF and NHL could kiss and make up, the World Championships should be held every four years at season's end and rename it the World Cup.

Start the NHL season 3 weeks earlier, delay the World Championships/Cup a week or so and bam you have a best on best tournament every 4 years that isn't a joke and isn't associated with the crooks at the IOC.

Players from final four playoff teams very likely still wouldn't go...


5 on 5, 'Merica is pretty good:

Larkin - Matthews - Kane
Gaudreau - Eichel - Tkachuk
Connor - Wheeler - Boeser
Guentzel - ??? - Oshie
Keller

Other possibilities (probably missing a few): Ty-Johnson Saad Kessel Pacioretty B Tkachuk JT Miller Foligno Atkinson Hughes Stepan Stastny Palmieri Brock Nelson Kevin Hayes

Center depth a little thin...you'd probably want Larkin on first line LW instead of 4th line C...not sure who to slot in there. JG/Tkachuk + Connor/Wheeler together for familiarity.

Krug - Jones
Werenski - Carlson
McDonagh/Hughes/Hanifin/Yandle/Suter? - Trouba/Faulk/E Johnson/Petry?

Bishop
Hellebuyck
Gibson/Campbell/Quick?

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Monahan is great, but I don't think he would make it, unless as a reserve/injury replacement. The Canadian depth is just amazing.

The D is what I find most interesting. There are not nearly as many "locks" as in prior years. Ignoring lefty/righty for the moment, are the following locks?:

Pietrangelo
Burns
Doughty
Letang

Plenty of offense, but perhaps a little long in the tooth. Would the rest skew a little younger/more physical, or has the game changed enough you go with full on speed?

Hamilton
Reilly
Chabot
Theodore
Morrissey
Ekblad
Ellis
Subban
Brodie
Dumba
Makar?

I mean I think they would at least garner consideration. Gio should have a chance. Probably missed a bunch more as well.

Not sure you need Burns dynamism with such excellent forwards? In a short tournament, it seems to me that excellent, predictable play is preferable. Burns might have worked better when there were a bunch of other Sharks on the team (though he really broke out after 2014). I would guess it's between Burns/Ekblad/Hamilton for the 3rd RH slot and extra spot(s)?

Gio and Chabot seem like a cut above Reilly/Theodore/Morrissey for LH...Chabot getting the Doughty treatment like 2010

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I still think Monahan is a viable choice as an extra forward. And that's assuming nobody gets hurt, which somebody always does.

Seguin, Benn, Giroux and Couture would all need to be hurt long term before Monahan even gets a look.

Duchene, underwhelming as he may be as a franchise player, has been on two of these teams and can fill a role. Couturier is probably seen as better defensively.

Monahan's an elite goal scorer, but that group doesn't need him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

If he were RH, maybe, but LH depth is surprisingly sparse.


I still think the best/biggest money maker for a World Cup is 3 on 3. Lowest injury risk...would probably work pretty well in the pre-season as most elite guys just need conditioning.

Team Canada West
Team Ontario
Team Canada East (really QC+NS)
USA East
USA West (Michigan probably west, but could go either way...)
Sweden
Finland
Russia
Czech
Europe

Can design pools so there is almost always a CAN or USA game to broadcast.

What would these rosters even look like? It feels like a USA West team—even with Michigan supplying most of the players—would be very thin.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Damn, I miss NHL Olympics.

Bettman and co. are thieves of joy.

If by "and co." you are referring to the criminal organization commonly known as the IOC, then you are correct.

[Magnum PEI]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

What would these rosters even look like? It feels like a USA West team—even with Michigan supplying most of the players—would be very thin.

Minnesota produces NHL ers about the same rate as Alberta. St. Louis area is producing high end players now too - Bishop, Tkachuks x2, Keller. Theyd also have Matthews and Kessel. Probably equal to a Western Canada team.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Magnum PEI

Minnesota produces NHL ers about the same rate as Alberta. St. Louis area is producing high end players now too - Bishop, Tkachuks x2, Keller. Theyd also have Matthews and Kessel. Probably equal to a Western Canada team.

So, for forwards ranked by production I have a top-nine of:

Auston Matthews (CA)
Jake Guentzel (NE)
Matthew Tkachuk (AZ)
Blake Wheeler (MN)
TJ Oshie (WA)
Clayton Keller (MO)
Brock Nelson (MN)
Zach Parise (MN)
Anders Lee (MN)

You could substitute 35-year-old Zach Parise for Brady Tkachuk, and I don't think that is a great list. You could improve it by including players from Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, but all of those states are in the Eastern time zone. You are right, though: it is comparable to a Western Canadian roster.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

You could substitute 35-year-old Zach Parise for Brady Tkachuk, and I don't think that is a great list. You could improve it by including players from Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, but all of those states are in the Eastern time zone. You are right, though: it is comparable to a Western Canadian roster.

This is specifically for 3 on 3, so your roster is probably ~12 skaters and 2 goalies.

Adding to your list:
Auston Matthews (CA)
Jake Guentzel (NE)
Matthew Tkachuk (AZ)
Blake Wheeler (MN)
TJ Oshie (WA)
Clayton Keller (MO)

Kyle Connor MICH
Dylan Larkin MICH
Boeser MIN
Tyler Johnson WA
Kessel WIS
B Tkachuk

A few other randoms (sure there's a bunch more):
Debrincat MICH
Schmaltz WIS
Dzingel ILL
Pavelski WIS
Galchenyuk WIS

For D:
Krug MICH
Werenski MICH
Trouba MICH
Suter WIS

Bishop (COL) in net

There could be some negotiation/fudging for all of the teams. Most of what I have found is just birth place...there are lots of mixed-bag cases, like Couturier - born Phoenix (but has represented Canada). It's an artifical event to make money...you can figure it out. Maybe even pre-select ~6-8 players to each team, and live draft the rest of the guys who are more ambiguous (within their own countries).


Not sure EAST USA is actually that much better beyond their top 3 of Kane, Gaudreau, Eichel, and Carlson on D.

Ontario is probably the clear favourite...it might have to be a GTA only team, and split the rest of ONT to the other two teams.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

If the IIHF and NHL could kiss and make up, the World Championships should be held every four years at season's end and rename it the World Cup.

Start the NHL season 3 weeks earlier, delay the World Championships/Cup a week or so and bam you have a best on best tournament every 4 years that isn't a joke and isn't associated with the crooks at the IOC.

I like this in theory, but the Final Four teams in the NHL playoffs would probably be too beat up to send many players to this World Cup. Might be better to hold it in September.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by troutman

I like this in theory, but the Final Four teams in the NHL playoffs would probably be too beat up to send many players to this World Cup. Might be better to hold it in September.

Hold it in February. Mid-season. Stop your league. Nobody cares about random regular season games in the dead of winter, especially not when you can have a best-on-best international tournament that no longer exists in any other form with the death of Olympic participation.

The bottom 550 guys in the league get two much needed weeks off from blocking shots, getting punched, and other manners of worn down.

The stars get to wear their country's colours on the big stage. If you shut down the league, they're the show. Do it after the Super Bowl when all you have to compete with is regular season NBA.

The owners get paid and the opportunity to have highlight packages with national team moments.

We get to see true best on best hockey. No salary caps, no draft picks, no trades, just the best 23 guys from each country, and the chips fall where they fall.

I don't have the hate boner for Gary that a lot of people do, but he hasn't handled this well. Hockey has innumerable significant moments of its history and lore that occur on the international stage.

To deprive the sport of international play at the highest level, as though the WHC was good enough, does a disservice to the game, and I think Bettman needs to remedy this.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Monahan is great, but I don't think he would make it, unless as a reserve/injury replacement. The Canadian depth is just amazing.

The D is what I find most interesting. There are not nearly as many "locks" as in prior years. Ignoring lefty/righty for the moment, are the following locks?:

Pietrangelo
Burns
Doughty
Letang

Plenty of offense, but perhaps a little long in the tooth. Would the rest skew a little younger/more physical, or has the game changed enough you go with full on speed?

Hamilton
Reilly
Chabot
Theodore
Morrissey
Ekblad
Ellis
Subban
Brodie
Dumba
Makar?

I mean I think they would at least garner consideration. Gio should have a chance. Probably missed a bunch more as well.

As the reigning Norris winner who was snubbed on the 2016 WC roster (Muzzin? #### off), I think Gio would've been a shoe-in for this team.

If they were to prioritize partners the way they have in the past, Brodie would have a shot, at least. There's no doubt in my mind that he could hang in that tournament, given that it's going to be nothing but skill and skating.

Canada, logically, takes veteran D to tournaments like these. They don't need someone like Makar to come in on the powerplay. They have fourteen 1st line forwards, they have no space for a defenseman who isn't a Norris-calibre player in his own end. Doughty made the team in 2010 because he was already that good a defender.

I'm probably remiss in keeping Burns off my earlier list - there's no way Dougie makes the team ahead of him.

[dino7c]

Backlund would be there...zero doubt

[SuperMatt18]

This is always a fun exercise for team Canada.

IMO Monahan is probably on the outside looking in though.

If you look at the last three seasons here are the top 22 point producers by PPG for Canadians. And you have 14 forward roster spots.

McDavid
MacKinnon
Marchand
Crosby
Stamkos
Hall
Bergeron
Huberdeau (This one surprised me)
Giroux
Scheifele
Marner
Tavares
Point
Stone
Seguin
Monahan
Perron (Also very surprising)
Couturier
Barzal
O'Reilly
Getzlaf
Toews

Personally I have the guys in bold as the locks.

Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron (This one has been a staple lately)
McDavid - MacKinnon - Stamkos (Good luck stopping this)
Hall - Tavares - Marner (Chemistry from the Leafs)
??? - ??? - ???
??? - ???

That leaves 5 spots.

For that 4th line I'm going with a 200 ft shutdown line that also provides offense. Couturier is great 200ft player, O'Reilly is coming off a Conn Smythe, and Stone also has a great 200ft game and is a natural RW.

Marchand - Crosby - Bergeron (This line has been a staple lately)
McDavid - MacKinnon - Stamkos
Hall - Tavares - Marner (Chemistry from the Leafs)
Couturier - O'Reilly - Stone
??? - ???

Then for those last two spots it's down to:

Huberdeau
Giroux
Scheifele
Point
Seguin
Monahan
Perron
Barzal
Getzlaf
Toews

Personally I'm probably going with Point here as one of the two just because I think he's so well rounded, and my guess is they would go with Toews as the other extra. Just due to experience and he's been a game breaker there in the past.

Huberdeau, Giroux, Scheifele, Seguin, Monahan, Perron, & Barzal probably aren't quite good enough as 200ft players to get that spot IMO.. Getzlaf is too old.

Defense is tougher. If the tournament is today then Gio is still there IMO, especially with Canada usually wanting LD/RD pairings and LD being a bit thin for Canada right now.

Giordano - Pietrangelo
Theodore - Ellis
Reilly - Parayko
Keith - Weber

Probably something like that is what I would go with (using LD/RD restrictions)

My guess is Doughty still ends up going and he would replace Parayko because of his history with hockey canada. Letang, Burns, & Hamilton probably deserve to be on the roster too but RH D is just so stacked.

If I don't care about LH/RH then I probably replace Theodore and Reilly with Doughty and Hamilton here.

[SuperMatt18]

For the other teams.

U.S.: Gaudreau and Tkachuk rank 5th and 8th in PPG among American forwards. They are locks in my opinion. That defense is stacked so I don't think Hanifin gets a look.

Sweden: Lindholm is a lock. Backlund is probably there as 13/14 forward IMO. Andersson might be the 4th RH d-man but it's unlikely. Depends if they want a LH/RH split.

Czech: Rittich is there as a goalie for sure IMO.

Germany: Reider is there for sure.

So you'd have Gio, Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Rittich, Reider, and probably Backlund at the Olympics from the Flames if the Olympics started tomorrow.

[FireGilbert]

This is a strange hypothetical thread so I am going to pivot with my own hypothetical. What if the NHL 3 on 3 all star game was instead international featuring 6 teams of Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Europe? This would be way more exciting than the current format. Going with 6F, 3D, 2G and starting with players already named to the all stars I have:

Canada:
F: McDavid, MacKinnon, O'Reilly, Scheifele, Huberdeau, Barzal
D: Pietrangelo, Hamilton, Weber
G: Holtby, Fleury

USA:
F: Eichel, Matthews, Kane, Tkachuk, Palmieri, Pacioretty
D: Carlson, Jones, Suter
G: Hellebuyck, Bishop

Russia:
F: Ovechkin, Panarin, Kucherov, Malkin, Kuznetsov, Svechnikov
D: Provorov, Sergachev, Orlov
G: Vasilevskiy, Varlamov

Sweden:
F: Pettersson, Silfverberg, Zibanejad, Nylander, Lindholm, Backstrom
D: Hedman, Dahlin, Ekholm
G: Markstrom, Lehner

Finland:
F: Teravainen, Barkov, Laine, Aho, Rantanen, Donskoi
D: Vatanen, Heiskanen, Ristolainen
G: Rask, Korpisalo

Europe:
F: Pastrnak, Draisaitl, Kopitar, Vorachek, Ehlers, Tatar
D: Josi, Hronek, Chara
G: Andersen, Halak

Overall it looks like a very even tournament although Finland and Europe seem a little weaker. The Flames are Tkachuk and Lindholm with Giordano and Rittich being strongly considered for their teams.

[TheScorpion]

Gaudreau absolutely makes a 3v3 American roster over Tkachuk, Palmieri, and Pacioretty. Not even a question IMO.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Backlund would be there...zero doubt

I have a hard time believing that If you were putting a team together for right now, Sweden wouldn’t be taking the player who just captained their world championship team to gold, who is one of the best defensive centres in the game over the last number of years, and who was arguably the best shutdown forward in the entire league last season*. I can’t see Sweden leaving him off the team.

*Among NHL forwards who would regularly face the toughest competition, Backlund allowed the fewest 5 on 5 goals against per game, and I think Bergeron was the only player somewhat close.