Team Canada

[spin]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=8747&hubname=

Well here it is guys, pretty much as expected I think - GO CANADA!

 

[EagerBeaver]

No Crosby?

Why wasn't Sidney Crosby picked? I see Staal and Spezza were selected.

 

[spin]

I thought Crosby should have been picked as well EagerBeaver, note though that Staal and Spezza are only reserves they won't play.

Team Canada is very deep and they like to go with veterans, so I'm not surprised that Crosby didn't make it - I would have picked him.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Kris Draper?? Rick Nash?? Adam Foote?? I dunno. Nash barely played and just scored his first goal of the year. I think including him and not Staal, Spezza or Crosby is a slap in the face to them. Adam Foote?? He's having a bad year playing in the 'new' NHL. I dunno.

 

[voyageur11]

Why wasn't Sidney Crosby picked? I see Staal and Spezza were selected.

For some reason the gm pick shayne doan and todd bertuzzi over Crosby i dont understand But Lemieux will be happy his star player will be in good shape for the end of the season

 

[mtlman2005]

i do find doan as a wierd pick... he hasn't been that good, but not picking crosby makes sense to me!
What has he really done?? seriously? yes he has 33 pts, but since lemieux and palffy have been out he isn't scoring any more!
I really wanted Spezza as a starter! Him and Heatly are just incredible together!!!
And for Bertuzzi, its just to add a few pounds! Imagine a line Bertuzzi-Thorton-Nash!!! Thats huge!
Even though picking Nash can be a risk seeing how he hasn't played a lot and he can injure himself (again...).

Turco is a weird pick but like he is 3rd, he probably won't even play or be back up!

 

[steak]

My thoughts

First, as I love conspiracy theories, about Sidney Crosby's absence from the roster. A radio announcer here (which I find highly incompetent however) said that when Kevin Lowe took place on the podium, and we all saw the big Nike logo, Crosby was done. He is sponsored by Reebok. Just a quick reflexion.

I think they made some mistakes, yet again, in the selection. Even though we won the gold in Salt Lake City, Brewer was still not in his place. I would have picked Phaneuf instead of Foote or Blake, and would certainly put Staal, Spezza AND McCabe on the starting lineup. Staal would be so much better than Bertuzzi. McCabe is among the top scorers in the league in the "new" NHL, and has been a star player for Canada in Junior World Championship, he would be great in the Olympics. And why split the duo of Spezza and Heatley? I can see St-Louis or Richards on the other side.... it sucks so bad. Shane Doan is not playing well enough to deserve a spot too...

Damn, this post looks so confusing and lacking so much structure. I must be tired... sorry guys.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Spezza and Staal

Somebody is going to have to explain to me why Staal and Spezza, despite having 47 points each, are only alternates. The scouting reports say Spezza is not good defensively and that Staal lacks strength and can be overpowered. All I know is whenever I see the ESPN highlights, Spezza is helping the Ottawa team win and Staal always seems to be in the middle of the winning plays for Carolina. I like guys who win, my motto is "just win, baby!" I don't want to hear the scouting report bullshit, I want winners on my team. And I think Team Canada is more interested in guys who are lazy and undisciplined like Bertuzzi, Thornton etc. I don't think Canada has assembled a "blood and guts" type team and that is what you need to win these competitions. It was a big mistake only selecting Spezza and Staal as alternates.

 

[spin]

Steak, I would have put Phaneuf on instead of either Blake or Foote too and as far as Crosby is concerned he should be there, we will be expecting him to lead us in 2010 and this would have been a great place to get his feet wet. That being said it is tough to argue with the group that picked this team so I say they made the right choice untill proven wrong.

mtlman2005,

C'mon give the kid a break, Crosby has been carrying the Penguins on his back all year, Lemieux hasn't been there physically and Palffy has done nothing - 33pts is special for an 18 year old rookie with no help.

EagerBeaver,

Everyone on this team is a winner - Olympic Gold, World Champions, World Cup Champions, World Junior Champions,Stanley Cup Champions - You could start a Jewelry store with all the rings on this team! Thornton was dominant in the World Cup, and please everybody enough with Bertuzzi he made a mistake once, he will be hungrier than anybody out there and now he has a point to prove, I predict he will be Team Canada's MVP when this is over.

This first step in building a winning team is surrounding yourself with guys who know how to win, I trust The Great One no one cares about winning more than him.

 

[steak]

Spin: I don't object that Gretzky wants to win, I question his choices. I think he prefers to pick friends over who would be the rightful pick. And Canada have enough depth to win the gold despite that fact. Brewer was a favorite of Lowe who had him with the Oilers. Why wasn't Redden picked back then? Why have Quinn be the coach over Bowman, or Crawford, or Lemaire? Again, depth makes us win gold, but are they always the better choice? Some might argue that Joseph is not on the team, that McCabe is on the reserve, that is all valid. But I still have a lot of diffuclites dealing with the fact that Marleau, Crosby, Phaneuf, Staal and Spezza are all dominant young players who will stay home or won't see any action when our country will battle for the gold. While Draper, Doan, Bertuzzi, Foote and Blake will probably wear a gold medal not even being the best players available. I saw a blatant injustice. Why aren't they trusting young guys? I remember Crosby when he was 16, he was often a scratch in the World Junior Championships, but each time he was on the ice, he was the best. Same goes for Spezza, when he was 16. We'll probably win the gold, and I'll probably scream out of joy when it will happen, but we will not do it with our best players imo.

 

[EagerBeaver]

spin,

Come on now, you are all but ceding the gold to Team Canada! It is not going to be so easy and you have two of your better players (Staal and Spezza) sitting on the sidelines! Your handle may be appropriate here because no matter how you "spin" this, Team Canada is not putting its best players out there! And that is good news for the rest of the world!

 

[spin]

Hey Steak, I don't agree with all of hs choices either I already said I would would have put Phaneuf and Crosby ont the team (not Joseph though he has never won anything).

I just didn't think I should be too critical of a group that has just put together back to back championship teams (defending World Cup & Olympic Champions) thats all.

I love to talk and argue hockey, actually I think we should all meet at any strip bar in the city for "MERBS Olympic Hockey Round Table" over some beers - It would be great!

By the way my comment about Gretzky wanting to win was in response to EagerBeaver's blasphemy:

And I think Team Canada is more interested in guys who are lazy and undisciplined like Bertuzzi, Thornton etc. I don't think Canada has assembled a "blood and guts" type team and that is what you need to win these competitions.

But I think he is still a little sore at some us for picking apart the good old USA's roster

 

[spin]

Come on now, you are all but ceding the gold to Team Canada!

No sir EagerBeaver, there are in my opinion at least 4 (maybe 5) other countries with a shot at gold - USA included. You said you wanted winners on your team, I simply pointed out that our team has lots of them.

It is not going to be so easy and you have two of your better players (Staal and Spezza) sitting on the sidelines!

No where in any post did I say this would be easy - I havn't even predicted them to win yet. Y'know I like Staal and Spezza but we would be having this argument about 2 other guys if they had been put on the team - It's a lot like picking the roster for Team USA in the "US Invitational Baseball Classic" coming up this spring - Too many great players not enough spots in the room.

I have said I don't agree with all the roster choices but no one from Team Canada asked me, now the team is made and I stand behind them 100%.

I watched in disbelief during Nagano, and I sat in person and watched the US beat us here in '96 - The Gold medal is far from being won by anyone.



Spin is to Team Canada as EagerBeaver is to the NY Yankees

 

[spin]

I think it's best if the team is more of a mixed bag, including players who can be good defensively and tough guys who are capable of punishing you along the boards with hard body checks. If the team were made up of only Sakics and Crosbys, I think are chances of winning the gold wouldn't be as good. Just my 2 cents.

I think 99% of the GM's would trade Staal to get a healthy Nash. Nash is just getting healthy now so let's hope he's hitting full stride by February.

Train, well said guys I agree 100% with both of your comments. I see a lot of posts from guys giving pt totals and wondering why players didn't make the team based on that, IMHO just because a certain player or players have put up some decent numbers over the first few months of a season does not automaticaly make them the best players in the country.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree i'd take Foote over Chelios (and Derian Hatcher) anytime. However, the USA doesn't have as big of a talent pool to select from like Canada's.

What disappoints me is that some players that were included to the team were undeserving of being selected. On the other hand, some that were left off or placed on the taxi squad were deserving. What more does leading goal scorer Eric Staal have to do?? What about Bryan McCabe, who's played like a younger Al MacInnis? Cujo? I previously wrote about Turco, but Brodeur has been awful, and Luongo plays on one of the league's worse teams. I tip my hat to management for having the guts to select Bertuzzi, but was he deserving of the honor of being selected? Considering all the excess baggage that he brings along, does he and Doan (bigot who insulted all french canadians recently) really deserve being named to the team? What the hell is old man Kris Draper doing on that team?? Lots of questions....

 

[EagerBeaver]

JaJ,

Totally agree about Staal. What more could he have done? He has been winning games left and right for Carolina! It's really a joke that he is not on the Canadian starting team and is only an alternate. It's also a joke that Spezza is an alternate, but they are both centers and there is a logjam. Not sure if they could have been asked to play on the wing.

 

[spin]

I don't know about Staal but Spezza does not play the wing - Just one thing about Draper (not my favorite either guys) BUT he is one of the top penalty killers in the world, and trust me with International Officials we will be getting penalties.

Don't forget Team Canada will be under a very intense microscope at the Games, Gold is the only acceptable result anything less will be considered a failure, so I do understand not loading the team full of young guys - Hey not everyone can make the Olympic Team on their first try.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I do understand not loading the team full of young guys - Hey not everyone can make the Olympic Team on their first try.

I would have included the superstars of tomorrow on the team just for the sake of getting the experience. They are the ones who will be asked to lead future Team Canada teams. Guys like Gretzky, Lemieux and Yzerman (among others) were put on such teams at a very young age in order to prepare them for the future. It worked!

 

[spin]

I would have included the superstars of tomorrow on the team just for the sake of getting the experience. They are the ones who will be asked to lead future Team Canada teams. Guys like Gretzky, Lemieux and Yzerman (among others) were put on such teams at a very young age in order to prepare them for the future. It worked!

JAJ, first of all I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to compare Staal & Spezza to Gretzky & Lemieux. Yzerman had 87 points as a rookie and made the NHL All Star team (as rookie) before being selected to our Canada Cup (World Cup) team the next year - Neither Spezza or Staal has come anywhere close to that.

Second thing is Team Canada is loaded with superstars of tomorrow, the following list includes all players selected to Team Canada under the age of 25:

REGEHR
GAGNE
HEATLEY
LECAVALIER
NASH
RICHARDS

These guys won't even be 30 years old at the NEXT olympics.

Finally think about Staal for a minute, the kid is 21 years old it is only his 2nd year in the NHL and yes MAYBE this will be his breakout year but I am not prepared to crown him anything after 4 months.

In the 81 games he played during his rookie season he had 11 goals & 20 assists for 31 points total (Crosby already has more points in less than half the games). He has NO NHL playoff experience, he was never selected to play for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships, and he never led his Junior team (Peterborough) past the second round.

I am not prepared to consider him one of Canada's best players based only on him having a great 4 months.

 

[JustBob]

FYI, a TSN analyst mentionned that Shane Doan is one of the only (2 or 3) right handed shots on the team. A player's importance is often revealed in these sorts of details, and go beyond the simple looking at stats.