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JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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It's unfortunate that Stamkos broke his leg, but given that it happened I'm glad that there is a replacement going.
I wouldn't rule out Staal, though I don't want him. Neal fits the Stamkos role best, but he hasn't been playing that well lately. Two goals in his last ten games, and he doesn't bring a whole lot else. Giroux has been playing great hockey lately and would be a good pick. Same for St. Louis. I prefer St. Louis because there is no doubt regarding whether or not he could "play with Crosby" or drop down if they move Carter up.
I wouldn't rule out Staal, though I don't want him. Neal fits the Stamkos role best, but he hasn't been playing that well lately. Two goals in his last ten games, and he doesn't bring a whole lot else. Giroux has been playing great hockey lately and would be a good pick. Same for St. Louis. I prefer St. Louis because there is no doubt regarding whether or not he could "play with Crosby" or drop down if they move Carter up.
86Habs
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- May 4, 2009
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Giroux played exclusively as a RWer his entire career until a few seasons ago, basically until Richards and Carter got shipped out of Philly. But you're right, both Giroux and St Louis should have been on the team in the first place.
Its team Canada - probably the hardest team to make in the hockey world (no offense to other hockey nations).
Look at who's not on this team. Giroux, Neal, St Louis, Thornton, Seabrook, Seguin, Couture, E. Staal, M. Richards, etc.
That's 3 established #1 centers, 2 very good young centers (who both can play the wing well), a 40g scorer (has been on pace for 40 this year, was on pace for 40 last year, and potted 40 the yr before), last years Art Ross winner, a shutdown center (one of the best available), and one of the top shutdown Dmen.
oh no........NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
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anyway, I'm taking it positively. It's an opportunity to show that we are strong even without the best sniper in the world. It's an opportunity for another great player in Canada. I'm thinking about Neal and St.Louis, but I would be ok with Giroux or Hall.
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anyway, I'm taking it positively. It's an opportunity to show that we are strong even without the best sniper in the world. It's an opportunity for another great player in Canada. I'm thinking about Neal and St.Louis, but I would be ok with Giroux or Hall.
orangecrush8
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I'm for either Giroux or St. Louis, but the fact that this is St.Louis' last shot should have no bearing on the decision. Nor should the fact that St.Louis has overcome a lot of doubters in his career
Those sort of things are irrelevant. You take the player which gives you best chance to win.
Nihiliste
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- Feb 8, 2010
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Of that group, I've maintained that Giroux and St. Louis should have always been on the team. Of the rest, Neal, Seguin, and maybe Couture are the only ones that could potentially slot in at RW. Giroux is better than all three, as well as a number of the guys we actually took.
Nah, you're wrong about that. He's not getting picked because he's a kid. Team Canada would dare not embarrass themselves if they picked him and then never won a gold (they'd all point fingers at that decision). Is he good enough to play? You bet. As I've pointed out, he's statistically doing better than a lot of those players in the running, except he's doing it on only 16 minutes of ice time. If he was getting 20-21 minutes a night, he'd have 26-27 goals by now and easily 55-60 points. Even still, he wouldn't get picked because of his age. Talent wise, he's there already. Don't doubt that.
TerminatorBlue
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MessierII
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- Aug 10, 2011
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I get that but to me joe falls into the too good/too experienced not to not take category. He's a top 10 NHL scorer, is huge, insane passing ability, ridiculously strong on the puck, good at faceoffs, strong two way game, tons of international exp. I'd rather have him centering the fourth line than Patrice to be honest.
Wrong. It's his age. Despite other countries having selected their 18-19 year old rookies to their teams, the biggest reason is not because he's not good enough, but because there are too many players from Canada that have seniority and long-standing pedigree of experience in Stanley Cup playoffs, international play, etc. For Canada, no matter how good an 18 year old is, even if he was scoring 30 goals right now, he'd still not get picked. There is no question that some players have been picked now and in the past purely based on "history" and not current performance.
As I said, he has more goals than a lot of those other players in the running, and he's a better + rating (by a long shot), helped turned the Avs around from being last place in the West last year to 4th-5th place this year. It's a case of where if two players are of similar stats and talent, you go with the guy with experienced veteran over the rookie, plain and simple. It is no knock to him "not being good enough". You'll all eat your words in the next olympics when he gets the call. Bottomline is, Canada is STACKED and is the hardest team to make. If you're 18, even if you are gretzky, they are not going to pick you. You just don't pick an 18 year old while you still have a whole slew of seasoned allstar veterans to choose from.
The funny thing is, no matter how stacked Team Canada gets, they don't win Gold every olympics do they? No. You could stack Team Canada with all the big names, but in the end, the team that wins is not who has the best names on paper, but which team has the best working product on the ice. It's finding the right balance between the different kinds of players and styles, that help to make a team function to its optimal level. Too much of the same big names and talent is actually what prevents a lot of great looking teams from winning it all. That's the biggest problem that Canada always faces. We need the Jamie Benn's and Chris Kunitz's and Bergeron's.....
I agree that Joe Thornton should get a lot of consideration, but the problem is position is already stacked. With Crosby, Toews, Tavares, Getzlaf all manning the C, where will we put Joe? Thornton is a great passer, but yeah, the knock on him is his speed on the big european ice. At least he won a gold the last time around so he can always keep his head high knowing he's accomplished the great goal of getting gold for your country at the olympics. I hope they get St. Louis in there....he's not only good enough, but he's a sentimental favorite for everyone....after all he's done for Canada on the international stage his entire career, let this be his final chance to get the gold.
MessierII
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- Aug 10, 2011
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That's a very interesting way of putting it. When you put it that way, I definitely agree with you. But Marty on that line would also look good.
defensemen are an entirely different beast.
it's honestly not even a stacked position, even for Canada.
What big named defenseman have been left off the team this year other than
maybe 1 or 2?
MessierII
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WayneSid9987
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- Nov 24, 2009
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For me, St.Louis is the sentimental pick that may or may not work out.
I think theres better fits in Giroux, Neal, E.Staal.
I do like Duchene on Sids wing though.
If Kunitz doesn't work out:
Duchene-Crosby-Carter/Neal/Giroux
I think theres better fits in Giroux, Neal, E.Staal.
I do like Duchene on Sids wing though.
If Kunitz doesn't work out:
Duchene-Crosby-Carter/Neal/Giroux
Really? As I said only a couple, and after that there's hardly a name there that anyone is complaining about being left off Canada. I'd say only Seabrook/Boyle had serious considerations but like I said....the list gets really thin after that. Those players you mentioned are not "should be on team canada" but they are good players though. For forwards, there are at least a dozen "should be on team canada" lol.
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