Rumsfeld wrote:
Umm, are you really incapable of seeeing how shitty that team is compared to this hypothetical one?
Giroux Crosby Nash
Benn St.Louis Stamkos
Perry Getzlaf E.Stall
Bergeron Toews Tavares -- M.Richards Hall Eberle Thornton Marleau Duchene, etc...
Weber Letang
Keith Doughty
Pietrangelo Subban Seabrook
Price
Ward
I wouldn't say shitty. Sure, Canada is a favourite to win this event, along with the Russians who have home court advantage, but I think Sweden will definitely be a contender as well.
Rumsfeld wrote:The forwards that will be left off the Canadian roster would probably comprise a group that would hand you your yellow little asses. Lundquist is your only hope and when Crosby is feeding Stamkos on our first unit PP it won't matter how good your incredibly gay goalie is.
Canada has incredible depth. Sure, your second team would also be a contender, which is why I favour independence for Quebec, as it'd help make international hockey more interesting. But we have other asssets than Lundquist. Apart from his Vezina, this line-up has amassed two Art Rosses, two Calders, a Norris, a Hart, a Lindsay and a Conn Smythe. Not to mention that it is sporting four NHL team captains. Plenty of leadership on board. And damn it, Zetterberg should also have won Calder. He was robbed. Seriously!
Rumsfeld wrote:
Seriously, half your team wouldn't even be considered for the Red and White if they'd been born here instead of your frozen commie shithole.
A couple of the players were probably born in Canada. I know Steen was. And considering the difference in talent pool depth, I find your suggestion that half the players on the Three Crowns would have been considered to play on Team Canada rather encouraging!
Oh, and for the record, at present we have a conservative PM running a centre right govt coalition. Guess you don't get around to reading the news very often.
Rumsfeld wrote:The again, you don't actually watch NHL games, so I guess you think guys like Alfredsson and Steen and Murray are world class players.
Uhm, I do watch NHL games, but not live on a regular basis as they tend to start in the weee hours of the night and I have a job to go to. Thus I mostly make do with highlights and written reports, but I do watch a game every now and then. It's not like I live in a totally hockey-deprived area as say Iowa.
Alfredsson used to be a world class player, who is now past his prime, but I think he'd bring valuable experience, so I'd still take him on my team.
Alex Steen is not a superstar, but I'd say he is one of the best 20-30 Swedish players right now, and he is playing first line minute's on a half decent NHL team as St Louis, so yeah, he makes the cut.
As for Murray - I did say he didn't make the team on skill, but as a police. He's there to make the Canadians know that if they start taking liberties, Crosby may leave the ice in a horizontal position. He's a decent enough defensive D-man, who knows how to deliver a mean hit and doesn't mind dropping his gloves. I know Pittsburg consider his services interesting when attempting a cup run.
Rumsfeld wrote:LOL @ your third and fourth lines, there are NHL teams with better depth than that.
The 2010 Blackhawks would be unimpressed.
OK, I bite. Name an NHL team that has a better bottom six than Loui Eriksson, Patrik Berglund, Daniel Alfredsson, Gabriel Landeskog, Alex Steen and Jakob Silfverberg.
I guess the thing will be settled on the ice in Sochi.
One thing that you probably is forgetting though is that afaik, this tournament will be played on big ice.
It's a format that most North American players are unfamiliar with, but that the Swedish players grow up with.
It tends to be especially frustrating for North American D-men who suddenly find themselves with a lot more blue line to patrol. which means their positioning often tends to get compromised.
I think it's the defense that will prove to be our strength. That combined with great goaltending and a forward corps that doesn't mind backchecking. We won the whole thing last time it was played on big ice, in 2006.
Let's see if we can do it again!