Olympic hockey

[Middleground]

I can't believe it's almost that time again.

This time around, it's going to be tough for Team Canada to defend their gold. The bigger Sochi ice surface with be an advantage to the Russian and Euro teams who rely more on speed and puck handling skills rather than power, forchecking and playing the body. Team Canada is so deep, many great player were omitted from the roster. I think not inviting Spezza is a big mistake because he's got some mad skills that would work well in Sochi. Having said that, we are fairly weak at the goalie position. I am glad that Fleury was not invited.

Here's the Canadian list of invitees:

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defensemen: Karl Alzner, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Travis Hamonic, Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber.

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Rick Nash, James Neal, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews,
As always, there are surprise invites and surprise non-invites. (In the former category, Alzner, Hamonic, and Methot may have raised some eyebrows. In the latter, what about Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Evander Kane, Cam Ward, Francois Beauchemin, Dan Girardi and Patrick Marleau?)

Also worth noting, of the five goalies on the camp roster, only Luongo was on the 2010 gold medal-winning team; neither Martin Brodeur nor Marc-Andre Fleury were invited.

 

[rocket88]

I can't believe it's almost that time again.

This time around, it's going to be tough for Team Canada to defend their gold. The bigger Sochi ice surface with be an advantage to the Russian and Euro teams who rely more on speed and puck handling skills rather than power, forchecking and playing the body. Team Canada is so deep, many great player were omitted from the roster. I think not inviting Spezza is a big mistake because he's got some mad skills that would work well in Sochi. Having said that, we are fairly weak at the goalie position. I am glad that Fleury was not invited.

Here's the Canadian list of invitees:

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defensemen: Karl Alzner, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Travis Hamonic, Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber.

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Rick Nash, James Neal, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews,
As always, there are surprise invites and surprise non-invites. (In the former category, Alzner, Hamonic, and Methot may have raised some eyebrows. In the latter, what about Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Evander Kane, Cam Ward, Francois Beauchemin, Dan Girardi and Patrick Marleau?)

Also worth noting, of the five goalies on the camp roster, only Luongo was on the 2010 gold medal-winning team; neither Martin Brodeur nor Marc-Andre Fleury were invited.

Well Brodeur's an old man. Between Luongo and Crawford, you'll have no problems in goal. The US is bringing back Miller.

I think it looks good for Russia. Bryzgalov in goal, Malkin, Radulov, Kuznetzov, Kovalchuk.

 

[rocket88]

I can't believe it's almost that time again.

This time around, it's going to be tough for Team Canada to defend their gold. The bigger Sochi ice surface with be an advantage to the Russian and Euro teams who rely more on speed and puck handling skills rather than power, forchecking and playing the body. Team Canada is so deep, many great player were omitted from the roster. I think not inviting Spezza is a big mistake because he's got some mad skills that would work well in Sochi. Having said that, we are fairly weak at the goalie position. I am glad that Fleury was not invited.

Here's the Canadian list of invitees:

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defensemen: Karl Alzner, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Travis Hamonic, Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber.

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Rick Nash, James Neal, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews,
As always, there are surprise invites and surprise non-invites. (In the former category, Alzner, Hamonic, and Methot may have raised some eyebrows. In the latter, what about Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Evander Kane, Cam Ward, Francois Beauchemin, Dan Girardi and Patrick Marleau?)

Also worth noting, of the five goalies on the camp roster, only Luongo was on the 2010 gold medal-winning team; neither Martin Brodeur nor Marc-Andre Fleury were invited.

Well Brodeur's an old man. Between Luongo and Crawford, you'll have no problems in goal. The US is bringing back Miller.

I think it looks good for Russia. Bryzgalov in goal, Malkin, Radulov, Kuznetzov, Kovalchuk.

 

[MMC]

I can't believe it's almost that time again.

This time around, it's going to be tough for Team Canada to defend their gold. The bigger Sochi ice surface with be an advantage to the Russian and Euro teams who rely more on speed and puck handling skills rather than power, forchecking and playing the body. Team Canada is so deep, many great player were omitted from the roster. I think not inviting Spezza is a big mistake because he's got some mad skills that would work well in Sochi. Having said that, we are fairly weak at the goalie position. I am glad that Fleury was not invited.

Here's the Canadian list of invitees:

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defensemen: Karl Alzner, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Travis Hamonic, Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber.

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Rick Nash, James Neal, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews,
As always, there are surprise invites and surprise non-invites. (In the former category, Alzner, Hamonic, and Methot may have raised some eyebrows. In the latter, what about Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Evander Kane, Cam Ward, Francois Beauchemin, Dan Girardi and Patrick Marleau?)

Also worth noting, of the five goalies on the camp roster, only Luongo was on the 2010 gold medal-winning team; neither Martin Brodeur nor Marc-Andre Fleury were invited.

Heya MG. :2wave: Yeah I heard the Hawks have 12 going. 4 different teams too.

 

[Middleground]

Well Brodeur's an old man. Between Luongo and Crawford, you'll have no problems in goal. The US is bringing back Miller.

I think it looks good for Russia. Bryzgalov in goal, Malkin, Radulov, Kuznetzov, Kovalchuk.

The US is exceptionally strong in the goalie department. Hmmmmmm... I wonder if we can make a trade? :lol:

 

[Middleground]

Heya MG. :2wave: Yeah I heard the Hawks have 12 going. 4 different teams too.

Awesome, and not surprising. I think the Sens have about 6-7 invites. I am most happy about Mark Methot, who rather quietly put in a most amazing display of defensive skills last season.

 

[Redress]

Some of the invitee rosters are fascinating. Russia could put(and probably will at times) Ovetchin, Kovalchuck and Datsyuk, along with Bobrovski all on the ice at one time. That is scarey. Or would be if they had and decent defensemen.

Sweden has Lunquist, who could almost win the gold himself. There is probably no goaly in hockey more capable of carrying a team. They also have a good mix of players, lacking only depth.

Finland...look at this list: *Niklas Backstrom, Kari Lehtonen, Antti Niemi, Antti Raanta, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Karri Ramo and Petri Vehanen...talk about an embarrassment of riches. I wonder if Selanne actually plays.

Canada: lots of star power, lots of depth, but goaltending lacks from those above. Still, with that type of forward and defense talent, got to be a favorite.

USA: I like that the USA has a bunch of young guys on the list. You could potentially see a Jones/DeKeyser pairing on defense, 2 6'4, fast, smart, smooth passing young guys with lots of energy. Unfortunately for the US, not enough depth, and not enough firepower. And LoLz @ inviting the 300 pound Byfuglien, and inviting him as a defenseman.

 

[Redress]

Awesome, and not surprising. I think the Sens have about 6-7 invites. I am most happy about Mark Methot, who rather quietly put in a most amazing display of defensive skills last season.

Detroit had 9, with at least 6 who will make the final rosters, probably 8. Plus of course the Team Canada coach is Babcock.

Oh, and MG: circle Dec 1 on your calender. It is Detroit's first trip to Ottawa with Alfredsson. Should be interesting to see the reaction.

 

[Middleground]

Detroit had 9, with at least 6 who will make the final rosters, probably 8. Plus of course the Team Canada coach is Babcock.

Oh, and MG: circle Dec 1 on your calender. It is Detroit's first trip to Ottawa with Alfredsson. Should be interesting to see the reaction.

I just hope we stay classy. They hatred for Heatley was understandable. Not the case for Alfie.

 

[Middleground]

Some of the invitee rosters are fascinating. Russia could put(and probably will at times) Ovetchin, Kovalchuck and Datsyuk, along with Bobrovski all on the ice at one time. That is scarey. Or would be if they had and decent defensemen.

Sweden has Lunquist, who could almost win the gold himself. There is probably no goaly in hockey more capable of carrying a team. They also have a good mix of players, lacking only depth.

Finland...look at this list: *Niklas Backstrom, Kari Lehtonen, Antti Niemi, Antti Raanta, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Karri Ramo and Petri Vehanen...talk about an embarrassment of riches. I wonder if Selanne actually plays.

Canada: lots of star power, lots of depth, but goaltending lacks from those above. Still, with that type of forward and defense talent, got to be a favorite.

USA: I like that the USA has a bunch of young guys on the list. You could potentially see a Jones/DeKeyser pairing on defense, 2 6'4, fast, smart, smooth passing young guys with lots of energy. Unfortunately for the US, not enough depth, and not enough firepower. And LoLz @ inviting the 300 pound Byfuglien, and inviting him as a defenseman.

Because of the bigger ice surface, I think the Russians and Swedes with be the teams to beat. The Canadian-American style of game is best suited for the typical NHL rink.

 

[rocket88]

Some of the invitee rosters are fascinating. Russia could put(and probably will at times) Ovetchin, Kovalchuck and Datsyuk, along with Bobrovski all on the ice at one time. That is scarey. Or would be if they had and decent defensemen.

Makarov and Gonchar are going. Also Denis Denisov who played for the last 2 Gagarin Cup champs (Dynamo Moscow).

 

[Middleground]

Makarov and Gonchar are going. Also Denis Denisov who played for the last 2 Gagarin Cup champs (Dynamo Moscow).

Do you mean Markov, the defenseman who plays for the Habs?

 

[rocket88]

Do you mean Markov, the defenseman who plays for the Habs?

I think I probably do. I'd have to look at the list again.