A few remarks about the roster.
*Roussel is a long shot. He's UFA and the team seems to be negociating with the agent.
*Stephane Da Costa is unsure as well. He came back home for personnal reasons, family problem.
*Stay-at-home defenseman Nicolas Besch is out with a concussion suffered vs Czech republic. He's one of the most experienced player, so it's a tough blow.
*Charles Bertrand declined the selection. He never really got along with Henderson's style of play, anyway, but I was curious to see his progression. He was benched a lot during the 2016 worlds where he wasn't very good, not called-up for the OQT or the 2017 worlds at home. He was there for a pair of friendlies back in november, but I guess the relationship didn't progress very much.
*Coach Dave Henderson and his assistant Pierre Pousse will drive their last WC. The federation is looking for a new coach for next season, including one who be a part-time NT coach, part club coach.
Basically, it's a change of guard here.
Meunier and Huet retired last season, and Meunier is now on the staff as an assistant coach.
Bellemare is still playing NHL playoffs with Vegas.
We're missing the whole big 3 from the 2014 quarterfinals (Roussel, Da Costa, Bellemare) and a 1st pairing D, Besch, former captain Meunier and best GK of all time in Huet.
It means :
GK : it's Hardy turn now, and he will have a lot of pressure. Quemener is #2. I believe Ylonen is #3 by default, despite too few games this year in Finland. Would have liked a look of Buysse, GK of the year in France.
D : Auvitu is there, fortunately. He will play in Europe next year, fed up by the NHL after 2 seasons warming the bench without explanation in NJ and EDM. Hecquefeuille, Janil and Manavian are the most experienced D, all declining a bit. It means a whole new 3rd pairing. Chakiachvili will be there, he's a veteran of several worlds, even without a lot of games.
For the 1st time, we will bring kids. A pair of 21-year old made the team, with talented Hugo Gallet and towering Sebastien Thiry. I doubt they play a lot, though, but they're going to learn. That's the first time we have such young d-men, some hopes for this position (with 19-year old Guebey also waiting for later).
It means former center Damien Raux will once again play defense as a 6th/7th D. Olivier Dame-Malka, who played last year worlds, is a question mark. He was benched during the Magnus league finals because of unecesseray penalties. Lack of disciplin doomed his chances.
F :
With the big 3 out, the biggest fish is Damien Fleury, who played for 2 different teams this season in Finland and Germany. 30-year old winger is a pure sniper, best pure goal scorer of the team. He needs a playmaker though, and that's a question mark.
We believe Alexandre Texier, not even 19 year old, could be the man, or #2 center. Teddy Da Costa should be the other center, despite a slow declining game and lack of disciplin. The other winger will probably be Anthony Rech, who had a breakout season last year, including a very good WC in Paris. Rech played in Germany (same team as Fleury), 1st time out of France for him, and did well.
The other players to watch are Jordann Perret (1st season out of France, in Czech rep.), a speedy, defensive winger ; towering Sasha Treille (Czech rep with Perret), slowly declining as well. Must stay disciplined, though.
And that's about it.
The rest of the team is unproved.
Ritz and Claireaux played well last year as 4th liners, could have a chance to climb the lineup. Lampérier is a Magnus veteran who was 13th forward several times and never seems to take the next step.
So the help must come from the youngest players. Maurin Bouvet (13th forward last year), a speedy player, Floran Douay, a big winger, and smallish dinamo Guillaume Leclerc all played very well in preparation camp. Berthon played in Switzerland and had some games in WC the past years. Gutierrez is a regular in NT all season long, but it will be his 1st WC.
In fact, the whole lineup is a mess, and everybody can play anywhere.
Last game vs Germany, it was :
S. Treille Bouvet Fleury(c)/ Rech T. Da Costa Leclerc/ Berthon Claireaux Lamperier/ Douay Ritz Perret/ Gutierrez
Honestly, I'm afraid. Afraid of the defense, of the lack of star power in front, of the GK changing guard. It's the trickiest WC since the shootout miracle in 2015.
