Lots of interesting speculation is possible about who might make the 2010 team for Canada.
Here's my two cents on the likely candidates for consideration (keep in mind these are just the candidates my own roster picks will follow);
Center: Crosby, Thornton, Getzlaf, Spezza, Lecavalier, Stamkos, Tavares, Sakic, Toewes, Savard, Richards (Mike), Carter, Staal (Eric), Roy
Wings: Iginla, Heatley, Gagne, Nash, St Louis, Doan, Perry, Marleau, Smyth
Defense: Pronger, Weber, Phaneuf, Regehr, Green, Niedermayer, Boyle, Campbell, Bieksa, Bouwmeester, Seabrook, Keith
Goal: Luongo, Brodeur, Mason (Steve), Ward
Ok, so clearly we have too many centers, and not enough wingers. Traditionally this problem is solved by moving some of the centers to wing, and some others off the list entirely.
Here is what I think the team could/should look like;
Line 1: Heatley/Getzlaf/Nash
They have it all, size, speed, lots of scoring punch, and they can physically punish the oppositions first line. All three players are locks to make the team, and all three were on a line together last year at the IIHC where they were just about unstoppable.
Line 2: Iginla/Crosby/Gagne
Crosby gets two natural fits for his wingers; Gagne whose speed and shot make him stretch the defense, and Iginla for his ability to do all the dirty work and score goals while protecting Crosby from any thuggery.
Line 3: St Louis/Staal/Toewes
Staal has proven he can be an overwhelming dominant pivot with his size and speed. St Louis' burst and playmaking will create room, and the converted winger Toewes is exactly the type of two-way player that can cover for any deficiencies defensively while chipping in at the offensive size of the rink. It's a third line that would compare very well to most other teams top units.
Checking: Smyth/Richards/Doan
Pure nasty. They may lack in speed, but these guys all bring the hammer, and will make life miserable for opposing teams. All of them can kill penalities, and work the dirty zones, and all of them can move up or down the roster to provide grit on a line that might be lacking some.
Alternates: Thornton, Sakic
Thornton would be every other nations top center, but for Canada his lack of elite footspeed is troublesome, and keeps him out of the top lines. That said, he's a powerplay specialist, and in the event of injury to any player above him could easily slot onto the roster. Sakic is the ultimate leader/good luck charm, even if he never sees the ice in a critical situation, having him around makes the team better.
1st D Unit: Pronger/Niedermayer
The two Ducks are familiar with each others tendencies, can control the play at any tempo, work the 1st unit powerplay together, kill penalties, etc. The all purpose guys who can log inhuman ice-time.
2nd D Unit: Phaneuf/Weber
When you absolutely have to kill somebody, these guys go over the boards. Familiar from their time as shutdown partners at the WJC, and fellow 2003 draftees, they are both mobile, hitting machines with solid outlet games and absolute bombs for slapshots. They would make life hell for any matchups.
3rd D Unit: Regeher/Keith
When you need to shutdown a unit, I send these guys over the boards. Keith is more mobile than Regher, but big Robyn is the type of human eraser every team needs. Together they would annhilate the opposing teams chances while keeping the play moving towards the other end.
7th/8th Dmen: Green, Boyle. Both have weaknesses in their own end that make them ill-fit for prolonged duty, but both bring offensive gifts to the table that can't be replicated elsewhere. Green in particular would be my sub for Niedermayer on the 1st unit PP as his puck rushing and shooting abilities are second to none.
Goaltending: Luongo / Brodeur / Mason
The only controversy will be how Marty handles being the #2 banana to Bobby-Lu. Given that Bobby Lu made it to the 2nd rnd and Marty didn't, that shouldn't be a hard argument to make. Should Marty take a pass, Ward steps in to the three spot.
I think the greatest controversy - and likely difference from reality - is likely to come with my defense picks. Canada has a boat-load of quality defenders to choose from, and I'm certain that some of them will be incorrect (i.e. Phaneuf in particular has to rebound to pre-08 form to merit consideration), and the lack of Thornton/Lecavalier/Spezza from any of the top lines will likely raise some eyebrows, as it would seem heresy to predict all three fail to make the team outright based in previous contributions to Team Canada.
Thoughts?
5 comments:
Well- the way Luongo has played in the past couple / few games... I think the nod goes back to Brodeur to start as goalie. But who knows, still a year away.
Love the Heatley/Getzlaf/Nash line - lock that in.
Iginla/Crosby/Gagne is another fine combination.
While I love E.Staal and Toewes, I'm not sure St.Louis is the guy here. I'm inclined to think that Perry makes the mix (though would probably be paired with Getzlaf instead of Staal).
Richards and Doan are locks in my mind but I'm afraid that Captain Canada's time has come and gone. I like Marleau or Lecavalier here - Lecavalier's defensive game is great and having an extra faceoff man on your checking line makes sense to me.
Sakic can have a pompom but father time, not to mention a snowblower, has taken its toll. Remember Yzerman slumped on the Detroit bench as Edmonton eliminated them in 2006 - Stevie, spare Joe the same fate.
As for the other Joe, as much as it pains me, someone had best put a fork in him. He's clutch, if you are referring to the grasping of his own throat. I love his game, I love his wingspan, I love his surfer-dude style - I hate his Malkinesqe intensity.
Stamkos, Spezza or Savard (who, let's face it has really shown a dimension to his game this year that I've not seen before) should be the Black Aces here.
On the Blueline no problem with Nieds and Prongs. Or Phaeuf and Weber. Rehger or Bieksa and Kieth make a fair third pair. I hope Green and Boyle both make it but I have trouble seeing Bouwmeester not demand a spot on the team through his play next season.
In net the trio of Luongo/Brodeur/Ward, and in that order, are probably already filled in, with ink, on Stevie Y's depth chart. No reason to change, though it will be ironic that the non-Cup winner is the presumed number one.
Great list Cam, now lets do the gold medal winners - I fear - the Russians.
I think slotting Tavares is premature. He may at best have 50 games of NHL experience under his belt when the games start.
The same goes for Stamkos. Simply not enough to play at that level.
Slot Savard and Carter instead.
Seabrook may also figure into the top 8.
First things first, the shot at Thornton being 'Malkinesque' is way off base. Here's the playoff stats for both;
Thornton: 76gams, 12-41-63
Malkin: 37games, 16-27-43
Malkin has played half as many games, has 2/3 of Joe's points, more goals, and taken his team to the finals - something Joe has never done.
Granted, there were two or three years where Thornton sucked it up and played through rib cage injuries etc. that suppressed his totals, but even healthy he's only a ppg in the playoffs. Malkin had the flu through the final two series last year and still finished well over a ppg.
Let's also keep in mind that Thornton has never been a dynamic drive to the net forward - so the criticism of him 'not being involved enough' is a strange one - he's always been a periphery guy making his living off of feeding others. Malkin's game isn't built that way, and includes a speed/attack game that Thornton doesn't have.
As for leaving Smyth off the team, I can see the appeal, but it wouldn't be Marleau I would put in his place, but someone who is more a pure checking winger with speed - a Draper type, and the names that come to mind are Rene Bourque Alex Burroughs, or even Shawn Horcoff.
Lecavalier as a 4th liner? I just can't see it happening.
If not Martin St Louis one name I thought might have an outside shot at the team is Paul Kariya. He'd need to prove he is over his hip/knee surgeries but his pedigree in international competition is solid, and he brings experience and speed to his role.
Marc Savard is definitely an interesting candidate for the black aces now that his defensive game has finally appeared.
I second your thoughts that Bouwmeester might force his way on to the team, but I think right now I'd have him on the outside looking in. Ditto for Seabrook.
This is an interesting thread...
Canads 2010
My Lines:
1 Iginla/Crosby/Nash
Protection from both rw and lw but they can also both take those sweet Crosby-esque seeing eye passes and pound them for goals. Note these guys are also def-responsible[dr]
2 Perry/Getzlaf/Heatley
The Chemistry between Perry and Getzlaf is hot during the season and playoffs and Heatley likes to cycle the puck and also jives with Getzlaf from past IIHF play. The line is also dr
3 St.Louis/E.Staal/Gagne
Yet another line with speed finese and dr, but score with the best of them. They are gritty enough to cycle and have character at this level of play.
4 Doan-M.Richards-Lecavalier
The one switch on the checking line, placing Lecavalier as 2nd center on LW. His dr has improved and he can be used in many other situations other than checking.
Spares: Thornton, Toews
Let us spare Sakic...Make Iginla Captain and Assistants to Crosby and Heatley
Stamkos, Tavares should not be there [unless they are tearing up league the time line-ups are due in early dec]
I hate Marleau. Carter is interesting but his game needs to mature. If B.Richards ever returns to form, more complex...
Def
Assuminig S.Neidermeyer doesn't retire then yes/if he retires Bowmeester with Pronger and Regehr with Keith and Seabrook to spares...
Neidermeyer-Pronger
Phaneuf-Weber
Bowmeester-Keith
Spare: Green, Regehr, Doughty
This will be all be performance based during the early season + past performance.
Goal
Brodeur, Luongo, Ward
I think both S.Mason and Thomas will get looked at BUT the experience and skill of the top 3 will be hard to supplant.
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