Breakdown of Team Canada's Roster
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Macman
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- May 15, 2004
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Cruiser008 said:
I don't really get your point. Players from the West and Ontario have always accounted for the majority of the makeup of Canadian teams. This year's world junior wasn't an anomaly at all, except when it came to goaltending. Atlantic Canada has also rarely produced good players, although that's starting to change now that major junior has been there for 10 years. It's had a trickle-down affect to the point that the Atlantic team actually won the bronze at this year's world under 17s. That would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
Maybe it's time for Quebec to start producing more quality players (with the exception of goaltenders)?
I've been harping about that for years now.i'm not trying to put the "Q" down as i respect the league but somewhere along the line(seems to have started after the arrival of Roy) they started just turning out kick-ass goaltenders and not hot-shot talent skaters both on d and offense.
O.K,they have put out some nice talent of late with Richards,Lecavalier and Crosby coming but it's a far cry from what they used to crank out if you ask me,they used to have premier skater talent coming out their ears but it's been a while now if you ask me.I;m not sure if they have just unconsciously been focusing on goalies in their teaching or what is going on but Quebec to me has slipped in terms of their skater talent.Flying Frenchmen....where are you? To me Mario has been their last unbelievable skater star.....that's a long time ago now for what used to be such a talent producer region. I want them to get it back
O.K,they have put out some nice talent of late with Richards,Lecavalier and Crosby coming but it's a far cry from what they used to crank out if you ask me,they used to have premier skater talent coming out their ears but it's been a while now if you ask me.I;m not sure if they have just unconsciously been focusing on goalies in their teaching or what is going on but Quebec to me has slipped in terms of their skater talent.Flying Frenchmen....where are you? To me Mario has been their last unbelievable skater star.....that's a long time ago now for what used to be such a talent producer region. I want them to get it back
Ismellofhockey
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- Mar 31, 2002
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Cruiser008 said:
That's the problem right there, there are plenty of talented players coming out of the Q, not a lot of defensemen but the Q seems to be an offensive-minded league which would be more likely to produce forwards but also goaltenders who will face a lot of shots, which combined with the appearance of goaltending coaches in the Q before the CHL and WHL makes for better goaltenders.
Now I'm mearely repeating what I've heard around here so I'm no authority on the issue but that's what I believe.
The Q has produced 25% of #1 picks over the last 20 years: Lecavalier, Fleury, Daigle, Turgeon, Lemieux.
A lot of current canadian stars are from the Q: Richards, Brière, Lecavalier, St-Louis, Luongo, Théodore, Desjardins, Brodeur, Giguère, Bergeron, Crosby, Lemieux, Tanguay, Ribeiro...
The WJC team was an aberration, the QMJHL is still a good development league and that's why a lot of europeans still make the cross-over.
Yea, what's up with Canada's players? Gosh, those guys can barely skate let alone hold a stick and skate...
Why are there not a lot of players from the SEC conference? I mean, in a country of 300 million, that region must contain at least 30 million. Or what about that PAC-10? Damn, must be 50 million out there...
I never understand why there is always analysis about where players come from with respect to the junior leagues. I just see it as the country has all of these awesome players, who cares where they came from? Maybe that's because I am an American and I'm not born following one junior league and hating (?) the other two? Please someone let me know. Are people raised liking one league and hating the others? There just seems to be a lot of analysis lately that, frankly, I don't understand. It doesn't matter what villiage or city these players came from. They are from Canada. They will represent their nation well and do their fans proud. And until another country proves otherwise at ANY level, they are the best right now.
Why are there not a lot of players from the SEC conference? I mean, in a country of 300 million, that region must contain at least 30 million. Or what about that PAC-10? Damn, must be 50 million out there...
I never understand why there is always analysis about where players come from with respect to the junior leagues. I just see it as the country has all of these awesome players, who cares where they came from? Maybe that's because I am an American and I'm not born following one junior league and hating (?) the other two? Please someone let me know. Are people raised liking one league and hating the others? There just seems to be a lot of analysis lately that, frankly, I don't understand. It doesn't matter what villiage or city these players came from. They are from Canada. They will represent their nation well and do their fans proud. And until another country proves otherwise at ANY level, they are the best right now.
Thornton97 said:
That's very interesting. I never thought it would seem weird to someone else. People have always compared leagues and where players are from.
Personally I don't hate other leagues, and I doubt many people do. A lot of people prefer the league where they were raised on/where they live. But I don't think people hate other leagues.
However, I think a regional bias kicks in during the memorial cup and at the draft. For some reason, people want to see kids out of their region get drafted and win the Memorial Cup. I can't really offer any other explanation other than wanting to see your region/province do well, but it is a good question.
Thornton97 said:
Yeah, i wish everyone would keep that in mind when talking about regional divisions....
At the same time however, it is at least interesting to think about, to ask yourself "why is that?" and come up with real answers. People who say "b/c the west/east is best" should be ignored of course, but I'm sure there are good reasons why these trends (if they are trends) exist, and I don't think there's anything wrong with asking why that is.
I hardly hate the "q" at all,more like love it and i want it to start churning out the quality and quantity of offensive and defensive stars it used to for the good of our national teams.And when i mean the "Q" i should be more specific and say Quebec instead because it's them i feel have fallen behind in producing players with the exception of goaltenders. i mean,Richards and Crosby are'nt even Quebecer's...they are from the Maritimes.What happened to all the flying Frenchmen? They are in short supply these days and have been for awhile now.Defensemen? Difficult to be found....Bourque being the last great one,that's a long time ago.Thornton97 said:
Look around the league at the start of the 1980's and look now and compare French nhl talent from then to today and you can't help but notice the difference. It's a legitimate point,at least if you care about the strentgh of Canadian hockey.Having Quebec hockey healthy is good for the health of Canadian hockey and that's what i care about,period.
Cruiser008 said:
I can never understand this crap! Yes, I remember the cencus takers at the WJC as well. People more concerned with a hockey players postal code than their ability.
As far as I can tell, they'll all be wearing a Maple Leaf. Deal with it dude.
"As far as I can tell, they'll all be wearing a Maple Leaf. Deal with it dude."
Yah, amen.
My childhood team in Montreal was made up of five cities. In midget I played right wing on the highest scoing line in the league. It was an Anglo-Irish kid on right, a Jew at center and a unilingual Quebecois on left.
Now, that's Canadian!
As for this team: the defence and goaltending is the strongest in the tourney. I worry about scoring. Please let the 13th forward be a trigger man. . .
Yah, amen.
My childhood team in Montreal was made up of five cities. In midget I played right wing on the highest scoing line in the league. It was an Anglo-Irish kid on right, a Jew at center and a unilingual Quebecois on left.
Now, that's Canadian!
As for this team: the defence and goaltending is the strongest in the tourney. I worry about scoring. Please let the 13th forward be a trigger man. . .
time said:
How can you worry about the scoring? Thornton, Doan, Marleau, Nash, Heatley, and Smyth are on the team.
Scandale du Jour
JordanStaal#1Fan
It is quite simple to explain why there is less Québécois in the NHL today then 20 years ago. Quebec produces smallish forwards with speed and a lot of offensive instincts and in the 80's offense was number 1. Today, it is defense and physical play who are favorised and in the "Q" we never have been stand outs in this department. Not to be patriotic or anything, but hockey would be healthier if the game was played "Q" style...
Agreee and disagree.Love your players,and you can produde them any style,big or small......you can do it.Takes a star i think............at this point English or French ...as long as he's the real deal.Big star,no f'in around.Beliauveu,Geoffrion,Ricard,.Big dudes with fire and talent....i miss the flying frenchmen.I want them back...takes stars to get them back.Crosby wants to play for us and he's horny to do so,he's what we need,we can spur him on to greatness i'm tellin ya.As for the "q",yeah,continue to play it with elan.....but don't forget your best athletes, you were born to breed playing hockey.......don't you remember seeing the Maurice Richard Cartoon video about the boy who gets the Maple Leaf sweater from Sear's catalogue? It Tell's us who we are. Peace guys,should be more French Quebecois posters around here too.DanyHeatley#1Fan said:
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You're right,still good developmental league.....but for the same type of player.They used to produce gems of all kind.Ismellofhockey said:
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Another factor to consider, since the Quebec Nordiques leave, the number of minor hockey players have dropped a lot in the Quebec region mostly but in other regions of Quebec too.
19bruins19 said:
Those guys are all really good, but only Nash is a top-rank goal scorer, unless Heatley has his game back. Doan, Marleau and Smyth are 25-35 a season guys, and Thornton is much more of a set-up man.
Don't get me wrong: this team is loaded with talent. It's just we do not have overwhelming firepower this time. Iggy, Vinnie, Sakic, Mario, St. Louis -- that's a lot of offense to leave at home.
Of course, were most of those guys available, Canada would be the prohibitive favourite (which, of course, is how I'd prefer things!).
Cole Caulifield
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- Apr 22, 2004
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The defense and goaltending is good enough for an okay offense to carry the team to gold.
Particularly if Heatley is back to 100%.
Thornton and Nash is a scary combination of skill and size up front too. Ideal duo.
Particularly if Heatley is back to 100%.
Thornton and Nash is a scary combination of skill and size up front too. Ideal duo.
time said:
Aside from actual point production, Smyth provides a lot more offence than his goal totals let on. Back in the World Cup he did a lot of the dirty work that allowed Heatley and Lecavalier to do alot of damage in the tournament. He's very effective at keeping the puck in the other teams end (and coincidently, out of his end), and generating scoring chances. I think you'll see Thornton and Nash have excellent tournaments, much like Heatley and Lecavalier did in the World Cup. Not to say Smyth made those guys, but he creates a lot of room out there because of how often he wins puck battles.
Cruiser008 said:
i'm sure it just goes in cycles. Just a couple years ago you could make the argument that Ontario had the majority of the good defensemen. Pronger, Blake, Stevens, McCabe, Jovo, Foote, Aucoin. I don't really have the time or energy to check, but I would assume that if you checked out the drafts of the early to mid 1990's you would see a lot more Ontario defense prospects, just like you see a lot more western blue chip prospects being drafted over the last couple years
If not for the health concerns of Stevens and Blake, I'd say Ontario still has the best core of defensemen as of right now
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