Teams are chosen Wednesday. Who should be there, who shouldn't be, for the second-best sporting event in the world? Here's who I would pick for Canada: Goal: Martin Brodeur, Curtis Joseph and Marty Turco. Defence: Rob Blake, Ed Jovanovski, Byran McCabe, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden and Robyn Regehr. Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Kris Draper, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal and Joe Thornton. Taxi squad: Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash and Dion Phaneuf The forward group is so tough. I debated taking another defensive forward (say Madden) instead of St. Louis. I'd have Nash there in a heartbeat if I could pick the team in January, but he hasn't played all year and that worries me. I'd play McCabe strictly on the powerplay and bring Phaneuf along for the experience. cheers, hobbes
USA Roster GOALTENDERS (3) Rick DiPietro Robert Esche John Grahame DEFENSEMEN (7) Chris Chelios Derian Hatcher Jordan Leopold John-Michael Liles Aaron Miller Brian Rafalski Mathieu Schneider FORWARDS (13) Jason Blake Erik Cole Craig Conroy Chris Drury Brian Gionta Scott Gomez Bill Guerin Mike Knuble Mike Modano Mark Parrish Brian Rolston Keith Tkachuk Doug Weight Boy, your Canada roster looks tough
all the really need is staal>spezza>crosby.... martin brodeur and roberto luongo will be the top two goalies. the third string goalie probably be either joseph or theodore. we have a nucleus of young players that will realm into the lineup plus with no yzerman or lemieux its time for these young kids to step up.
Short of Kiprusoff or Hasek/Vokoun putting on a performance for the ages, I don't know how Canada doesn't win this tournament. Anything short of a gold medal is really a monumental upset; probably more so than if Brazil doesn't win the World Cup in Germany. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope we have a great tournament with some upsets (hopefully a USA run), but on paper, no roster is going to be able to compare to what Canada can put together. The battle for silver & bronze will be intriguing. Czech Republic is probably the 2nd best team and they have the welcome problem of choosing between what are possibly the two best goalies in the world. Any hopes for Finland rest on Kiprusoff's shoulders, which isn't really a bad thing right now. I'm particularly interested to see how Sweden and Russia's rosters shape up. Who is going to play goal for Sweden? Off the top of my head, I'll make the following predictions, with the right to revise after the rosters are released tomorrow: Gold - Canada Silver - Czech Republic Bronze - Finland 4th - Russian Federation
I don't exepct to see McCabe selected, and I think one or two of the young forwards whose play in the first half might warrant selection will be omitted as well.
Team Germany Goaltender Olaf Kölzig - 1 Washington Capitals Goaltender Robert Muller - 1 Krefeld Pinguine Goaltender Thomas Greiss - 0 Kölner Haie Defense Sascha Goc - 0 Adler Mannheim Defense Christian Ehrhoff - 1 San Jose Sharks Defense Christoph Schubert - 1 Ottawa Senators Defense Stefan Schauer - 0 Nurnberg Ice Tigers Defense Andreas Renz - 1 Kölner Haie Defense Alexander Sulzer - 0 DEG Metro Stars Defense Lasse Kopitz - 0 Kölner Haie Defense Dennis Seidenberg - 1 Philadelphia Flyers Forward Stefan Ustorf - 3 Eisbären Berlin Forward Jochen Hecht - 2 Buffalo Sabres Forward Marco Sturm - 2 Boston Bruins Forward Daniel Kreutzer - 1 DEG Metro Stars Forward Alexander Barta - 0 Hamburg Freezers Forward Thomas Martinec - 0 Nurnberg Ice Tigers Forward Eduard Lewandowski - 0 Kölner Haie Forward Klaus Kathan - 1 DEG Metro Stars Forward Marcel Goc - 0 San Jose Sharks Forward Michael Hackert - 0 Frankfurt Lions Forward Petr Fical - 0 Nurnberg Ice Tigers Forward Jan Benda - 3 HC Litvinov
What's with the German numbers? Canada's lineup: Big omissions: Crosby, Staal, Spezza, McCabe Goalies Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) Roberto Luongo (Floride) Marty Turco (Dallas) Defenders Rob Blake (Colorado) Adam Foote (Columbus) Ed Jovanovski (Vancouver) Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim) Chris Pronger (Edmonton) Wade Redden (Ottawa) Robin Regehr (Calgary) Forwards Todd Bertuzzi (Vancouver) Shane Doan (Phoenix) Kris Draper (Detroit) Simon Gagné (Philadelphie) Dany Heatley (Ottawa) Jarome Iginla (Calgary) Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay) Rick Nash (Columbus) Brad Richards (Tampa Bay) Joe Sakic (Colorado) Ryan Smyth (Edmonton) Martin St-Louis (Tampa Bay) Joe Thornton (San Jose) Reserves Bryan McCabe (Toronto) Jason Spezza (Ottawa) Eric Staal (Caroline)
How scary is it that all three of those guys didn't even make the team? At first glance, Draper and Doan look to be question marks, but Gretzky wants a complete team and that means leaving some of the bigger guns at home. Staal, Spezza and Crosby (AND McCabe!) will probably be pillars on the 2010 team, but for right now, you really can't blame Gretzky for leaving them off the roster. Here's an interesting hypothetical...could Canada put together 2 teams capable of medalling? With the depth they have right now (not just skaters either...they probably have at least 6 goaltenders that would be #1 for anyone but Finland or Czech Republic), I think it's a distinct possibility.
Interesting. The inclusion of Bertuzzi is generating a lot of controversy in the media but so far, nary a whisper about the inclusion of Heatley. Does this mean vehicular homicide is simply an indiscretion? Or does the fact that it was a friend who died mean "he has suffered enough"? For the record, I think that both should be eligible for inclusion, but I find it somewhat baffling that an on ice assault is deemed more serious than causing death. Serious disconnect here IMO.
The difference could be that the Sneider family has forgiven Heatley, whereas Steve Moore is still very much pissed and fighting the PR battle against Bertuzzi any chance he gets...
Apparently the Canadian Olympic Comittee is reviewing the inclusion of Bertuzzi, Heatley and Shane Doan - the latter because of alleged racial slur.
really maybe they should since the canadian committee have to rethink not putting paul kariya, brendan shanahan and maybe sidney crosby its a joke. i have always stress this in soccer and in hockey put the best players that are performing well now.... you got doan,foote,richards,bertuzzi doesnt make sense.
At this point, all of the rosters are up, here, with the exception of Russia, whose roster I can't seem to find anywhere at the moment: http://www.iihf.com/news/iihfpr0606.htm And the first pullout from the official rosters is Mika Kiprusoff, who has hip problems, and will take the time off, instead of playing goal for Finland. No word yet on a replacement. Kari Lehtonen probably becomes the #1 for the Finns now.
COC, after 90 minute debate, approve Doan, Heatley and Bertuzzi as Olympians. Its a done deal now, barring injury or withdrawal.
They're all up there now. The Russians had an extra day because they were electing the Russian Olympic Committee Thursday. The big news is Malkin made it and Fedorov bowed out. Interesting that there's four players from the Russian league on their final roster. cheers, hobbes
After seeing the rosters and looking at the schedule, I'll make the following predictions: Group A 1. CANADA 2. CZECH REPUBLIC 3. FINLAND 4. SWITZERLAND 5. GERMANY 6. ITALY Group B 1. SWEDEN 2. SLOVAKIA 3. USA 4. RUSSIAN FEDERATION 5. LATVIA 6. KAZAKHSTAN CANADA defeats Russian Federation, 6-2 SWEDEN defeats Switzerland, 4-2 CZECH REPUBLIC defeats United States, 3-1 SLOVAKIA defeats Finland, 5-3 CANADA defeats Slovakia, 7-4 CZECH REPUBLIC defeats Sweden, 3-2 Bronze Medal Game SLOVAKIA defeats Sweden, 5-3 Gold Medal Game CANADA defeats Czech Republic, 4-2 I think Group A seems pretty straightforward, especially if Kiprusoff isn't in goal. Only two potential "upsets" I can envision are Switzerland over Germany (Aebischer or Gerber carrying the Swiss) and possibly the Czechs beating the Canadians in group play (which will only enrage the Canadians for the medal round). Group B is much more difficult to predict, I think. And I highly doubt that you'll see any team get through without a loss. Every team has a weakness, and most of them are in goal (except the Russians). If Budaj plays well, the Slovaks scoring prowess may take them to the top of the group. And Sweden, now that I see their roster on paper, looks a lot better than I thought they would. The USA really just isn't that good, but they'll be scrappy and if Grahame (assuming he starts) gets hot, they should win a few games and even perhaps steal a game in the medal round. Russia's defense, in my opinion, leaves a lot to be desired and Khabibulan, though he is probably the best goalie in Group B, will also face the most shots amongst the contenders. Finishing first in this group is VERY important, because you get to face one of the weak sides from Group A (there are only 7 "strong" teams in this tournament, not 8). A team like Slovakia, that most people probably rate as 4th best in Group B, might surprise early (I expect them to beat Russia in their first game) and get out to a good start. The USA/Russia game on the last day of Group play will be big, because it very well might be for the right to avoid playing Canada.
At least they found a better format than the travesty that was the 2002 tournament design. They should stick it at 16 teams, though.
I don't really think that's an upset. Let me remind you that Germany is currently a Division I team...
No offence, but 16 teams is WAY too many for a tournament of this length. 12 is still too much, but it's the only way to be fair to all teams involved (Slovakia, i'm looking at you).