Cornuck wrote:I hope that amount of Sharks in the lineup doesn't curse anything.
Can't see it happening. The team is picked and coached by pure winners. Their Captain, who's getting a fair amount of slack on these forums, has won everything there is to win in hockey.
I think this team is poised to do great things. LOVE the amount of BC boys on the back end. I also love the Doughty pick. He may be 20, but Yzerman isn't falling into the same trap Gretzky did in Torino. Even though he is young, he plays in the best league on earth and has excelled and won on the international stage already.
rockalt wrote:
The forward group was a little more surprising I suppose. I'm sure the Bergeron pick was a bit of a shock but I was perhaps equally surprised by the selection of Morrow, Richards, Toews, and Staal (based on his play this year aside from Toews). I'm not a big fan of Toews. Frankly I don't see what the big deal is. He's an exciting up and comer but I really feel there others more deserving than him. One guy I think should have been there is Brad Richards. I've never been a huge fan of his (didn't think he was deserving of the elite contract he received) but he's really turned it on this year. He's a great two way player and has a Conn Smythe to boot. I would have had him on this team over Toews, Morrow, or Bergeron. I suppose it might have come down to positioning (we're pretty deep at centre).
Bergeron is having a great season, and I think that if he didn't have such a horrid injury history he probably would be on this team on a regular basis. I'm not exactly sold on the Bergeron-Crosby chemistry theory because I think Bergeron makes this team on his own merrits, but they have had some great times together in the past and if that continues that's great for us.
Brad Richards did kind of get left behind, but as you said there are better players at centre, and we certainly took a bunch of them. Some will have to play wing.
I don't know why you'd be shocked at the selection of Mike Richards and Eric Staal. Richards is the best defensive forward Canada has. He (like his team) is having a bit of a downer year... but he is certainly capable of playing in this tournament, and playing any role this team asks him to. Staal is a genetic freak. Large frame, good speed, great hands, cup winner and it looks like he's turning his season around at the right time too. I think Eric Staal could very well be a difference maker for Canada.
For some reason I'm a little underwhelmed by this team. I'm sure it's ultra-talented and probably the best on paper in this tournament (as usual) but I'm not sure how it stacks to previous teams. Maybe it's just me but I don't think these players match up to the greats of the 90s (Gretzky, Lemieux, Sakic, & Yzerman is pretty hard to beat). Should be a great Olympics regardless!
Curious comment, but I can somewhat agree. As others have posted some of these guys will go down in history as some of the best players ever. Long gone are the days when 120+ point seasons were considered "good" years. The talent is certainly there. You could take our fourth line of forwards and put them on almost any team in the tourney as their first line (Russia and Sweden might take issue with that, but it's close regardless). Likewise, I think our D is easily the most talented and deepest. What other team can afford to leave off the highest scoring defenseman in hockey, because he's not good enough in his own zone? We also win in goalies. Miller is having a great season, but you take Brodeur-Luongo any day.
