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WC: 2021 USA Roster Talk

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William H Bonney said:
I don't think USAH should care about losing Prince. If he can help grow the sport for Belarus I'm all for it. The varied citizenship practices amongst IIHF countries is a challenge, but I imagine they're not too worried about it until / if it starts affecting top players, which Prince is not. I think the IIHF is fine with it because the 'get quick citizenship and play' tactic is largely employed by smaller countries or those trying to elevate the sport. If lower tier Canadians, Americans, etc. can help Great Britain or Belarus build reputable programs, that's a boon for hockey overall.
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I don't think it does anything in terms of growing the game there. Quite the opposite. Domestic players, who dream of representing their national team, get snubbed because their management decides to acquire outsiders instead of improving their own youth program.

Not only that, it hurts competing countries also. Belarus has a stronger team than Slovakia in this tournament. Imagine being a fan of Slovakia, or even Switzerland or the Czech Republic, and potentially losing to Belarus and missing the playoffs, when you know you're in fact better and you'd win if it wasn't for a few players who shouldn't be there.

As a Swede, I would never want Sweden to start acquiring american NBA players to be competitive in basketball. Nor would I want other countries at our level to go this route and beat us by such methods.
 
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William H Bonney said:
Same. With all the games being televised, I just hope we're able to add a lot of young guys like Robertson, Pinto, Zegras, York, Sanderson, Rathbone, Mittelstadt, Oettinger, etc. At least the team would have skill and be fun to watch, even if it'd be asking a lot for them to win.
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And most, if not all, did not play bubble hockey in the NHL last summer. Those kids would be a lot fresher. Plus played international hockey on big ice.
 
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Elvs said:
I don't think it does anything in terms of growing the game there. Quite the opposite. Domestic players, who dream of representing their national team, get snubbed because their management decides to acquire outsiders instead of improving their own youth program.

Not only that, it hurts competing countries also. Belarus has a stronger team than Slovakia in this tournament. Imagine being a fan of Slovakia, or even Switzerland or the Czech Republic, and potentially losing to Belarus and missing the playoffs, when you know you're in fact better and you'd win if it wasn't for a few players who shouldn't be there.

As a Swede, I would never want Sweden to start acquiring american NBA players to be competitive in basketball. Nor would I want other countries at our level to go this route and beat us by such methods.
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A program like Belarus isn't and hasn't been competitive with its domestic players. And while I feel for those players who may miss out on their dreams, young kids don't start playing hockey, love the game, but then go "you know what, nevermind, the national team added some newly minted citizens." If the national team ended up all new citizens, sure, maybe, but this is applying hindsight to a decision at an age when it's not even a consideration.

Similarly, the possible increased competitiveness of a team like Belarus against other lower tier programs is missing the forest for the trees. Of course those teams want to win, but they largely don't, and it's not because a team like Belarus may improve with some new citizens. Those teams playing in more competitive games against improved teams is good for their development, much more so than finishing say in 6th place instead of 5th if a Belarus matchup remains firmly in the probable win column instead.

And I'm not saying it will definitely grow the game for certain, either. They're adding lower tier players, not McDavid and Matthews. But they're trying something that could help and I get why, as their programs have limited resources and haven't grown as they'd like with the domestic route you suggest.

Of course I don't want the IIHF to go the way of FIFA, and I understand why some are opposed (the differing opinions aren't 'wrong'), but I get why it's not a priority concern for the IIHF in this use case, either.
 
William H Bonney said:
A program like Belarus isn't and hasn't been competitive with its domestic players. And while I feel for those players who may miss out on their dreams, young kids don't start playing hockey, love the game, but then go "you know what, nevermind, the national team added some newly minted citizens." If the national team ended up all new citizens, sure, maybe, but this is applying hindsight to a decision at an age when it's not even a consideration.

Similarly, the possible increased competitiveness of a team like Belarus against other lower tier programs is missing the forest for the trees. Of course those teams want to win, but they largely don't, and it's not because a team like Belarus may improve with some new citizens. Those teams playing in more competitive games against improved teams is good for their development, much more so than finishing say in 6th place instead of 5th if a Belarus matchup remains firmly in the probable win column instead.

And I'm not saying it will definitely grow the game for certain, either. They're adding lower tier players, not McDavid and Matthews. But they're trying something that could help and I get why, as their programs have limited resources and haven't grown as they'd like with the domestic route you suggest.

Of course I don't want the IIHF to go the way of FIFA, and I understand why some are opposed (the differing opinions aren't 'wrong'), but I get why it's not a priority concern for the IIHF in this use case, either.
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Belarus have Sharangovich and Sushko in the NHL right now. They still have the Kostityn's, even if they are way past their prime. They have defensemen such as Hrabarenka (not in this tournament) and Korobov who's both had a cup of coffee in the NHL. They have several other players who are decent in the KHL. All in all, Belarus, even without their North American imports, are probably better than France and Austria, maybe even Norway, in a best on best tournament. Thus, they are competitive enough, imo. I'd hate to see France and Austria following the same route.

Eye of Ra said:
meh, he is atleast a young player. Rather him than some 32 year old KHL/SHLer/AHLer
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I think he means because Hughes said no, they are gonna have to look for yet another fringe NHL'er.
 
Team USA lineup for Worlds.

Goalies:
Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars
Cal Petersen, Los Angeles Kings
Anthony Stolarz, Anaheim Ducks

Defence:

Adam Clendening, Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Matt Hellickson, Binghamton Devils (AHL)
Zac Jones, New York Rangers
Connor Mackey, Stockton Heat (AHL)
Matt Roy, Los Angeles Kings
Ryan Shea, Texas Stars (AHL)
Matt Tennyson, New Jersey Devils
Chris Wideman, Torpedo Nižni Novgorod (KHL)
Christian Wolanin, Los Angeles Kings

Forwards:

Justin Abdelkader, EV Zug (Sveitsi)
Matthew Beniers, Michigan (NCAA)
Colin Blackwell, New York Rangers
Brian Boyle, no team
Alexander Chmelevski, San Jose Barracuda (AHL)
Ryan Donato, San Jose Sharks
Jack Drury, Växjö Lakers (SHL)
Conor Garland, Arizona Coyotes
Kevin Labanc, San Jose Sharks
Trevor Moore, Los Angeles Kings
Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars
Eric Robinson, Columbus Blue Jackets
Kevin Rooney, New York Rangers
Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres
 
Eh, not as bad as I was expecting honestly. Can't have any expectations in this type of year, everyone just wants to be done with it and go home. Was hoping to see a but more higher profile young guys like Zegras, Turcotte, Kaliyev etc.

Nice to see Robertson though
 
Just heard about Robertson and Otter joining the team, hope they do well.

Also see Shea on the blueline, here's hoping the three of them get some chemistry going as a nice leadup to next season. :D
 
Our goalie group is surprisingly strong. Great to see Robertson join.

I really don't understand the defenseman. Why no York, Sanderson, Rathbone, etc ?

Really disappointing to see so many young and talented forwards not there like Zegras, Pinto, Farabee, Mittelstadt, etc.
 
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I don't know, all things considered it could probably be a lot worse. It stinks they couldn't get some better d-men but it looks like they at least prioritized skating/puck moving. There is some talent up front and the goaltending is much better than anticipated. Young group though.
 
William H Bonney said:
Our goalie group is surprisingly strong. Great to see Robertson join.

I really don't understand the defenseman. Why no York, Sanderson, Rathbone, etc ?

Really disappointing to see so many young and talented forwards not there like Zegras, Pinto, Farabee, Mittelstadt, etc.
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Yeah, tough to say without digging in. Could be the NHL teams keeping them out. Could be fatigue. Could be Drury blew his load early. As you mentioned in another post, he tried to get Sanderson but there was a "paperwork" issue.
 
Robertson - Moore - Garland
Donato - Blackwell - Labanc
Robinson - Drury - Thompson
Rooney - Beniers - Chmelevski
Abdelkader, Boyle
 
Rabid Ranger said:
Not with our d-core but maybe they'll surprise me....and the world!
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All teams are crap this year. just varying degrees of crappiness. anything can happen. It's not so much the player selection that worries me...the choice of coach? not impressed with that choice.
 
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