World Cup: Four Nations Tournament-Team Canada

[Crosby2010]

Wow! What a team. It's easier to pick out the non-Hall of Famers from that list

I have 14 for sure HHOFers on that team. This includes Brodeur and Fleury as back ups. 5 Hall of Fame defenseman. Wow! 3 goalies and 6 forwards. This doesn't include Perry, Marleau or Staal who some think might get in (I don't).

looking back on it, its kinda surprising he was there after considering retirement after the ducks won the cup

He coughed the puck up to Pavelski about 20 seconds before the Crosby goal. Pavelski almost looked surprised but got off a quick shot that even Luongo was surprised by, but he got his shoulder on it. Yeah, Niedermayer made me nervous those Olympics.

 

[Crosby2010]

We tend to panic in Canada. This is a great team still. They have all corners taken care of. Just in case you think we don't have depth in Canada, here is a team of the guys not on the team. By the way, even the omissions team left off Tavares, Rielly, Stuart Skinner, etc. to name a few.

 

[Channelcat]

Canada is so confident that they left their best goalie at home

 

[Maelmoor]

Sure you could swap the 12th-13th forward to someone else, but it won't make or break the team, as in that bracket player's are much closer talent wise.

In such a short tournament chemistry will be important, as you need to get going right away and there's no margin of error. Seems they also went for role player's, which is probably smart over skill, given that those guys won't get that many minutes.

Goaltending is a much bigger issue than who will be on the fourth line, it's definitely something that gives hope to the other teams, though as always with goaltending, someone might get hot for a few games and it will be enough.

 

[Crosby2010]

Canada is so confident that they left their best goalie at home

Which goalie?

 

[Woodrow]

I really don't understand Hagel or Cirelli at all.

They are both mediocre regular season players, and both have not been productive playoff players either.

This is a round robin tournament, not a 4 round slog to a Cup. IMO, being heavy, or having grit, will not factor into this tournament nearly as much as pure skill. Line assignments, wearing down the competition, etc, doesn't matter in a round robin tournament.

Hopefully Cooper is as good and fast at adjusting to what is happening and who is a good player at the best on best level. For all his faults Babcock adjusted and deployed his players significantly different and shortened his bench more in 2014 than he did in 2010 when he basically just ran 4 lines.

 

[Voight]

I wonder if there's some beef between Hill and Thompson. Regardless I'm glad they picked the guy who won and not his backup. I wish Fleury would've been there just for the vibes.

Bennett absolutely belongs. He can play on any line and go out there when shit needs disturbing

Thompson should've been picked over Montembault but, third goalie isn't going to see the ice unless there's a crisis so its a moot point.

 

[Voight]

Where is 55 goal scorer Zach Hyman

Currently 3 goal scorer Hyman wasn't going to make this team, he probably could've road McDavids coattails to a spot like Kunitz did with Sid in 2014 had he played a bit better this year.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Hagel, Cirelli, Jarvis and Bennett.

All fine players, maybe 1-2 make the roster for balance but all 4?

 

[lakai17]

I would of added Stammer and MAF for due diligence. They've come up in the red and white.

As Canadian I'm not overly impressed with the management who picked this team and their world juniors team. As others stated the 4th line and 3rd string goalie shouldn't be the make it or break it factor. We're the best.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

TSN had the following lineup a few nights ago when the roster started leaking (great job by TSN, btw, to totally undermine Sportsnet's big roster reveal last night - ha)

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Marchand - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hagel - Point - Stone
Bennett - Cirelli - Konecny
Jarvis

This team, particularly the forward group, was selected with a view to having the top-6 score, and the bottom-6 defend, pressure the puck, create turnovers, and disrupt the play of the opposition.

Firstly, I think the bottom-6 was chosen well and I have no issues with the player selection. Point, Stone and Konecny, probably Hagel too are all good enough players to make any Team Canada, regardless of the overall player selection strategy/roster makeup. Cirelli is no Jonathan Toews, but he's a good defensive centre, strong PKer, strong playoff and winning track record who's won Cooper's trust. Hagel and Bennett will be able to contribute in their roles. So I'm good with the bottom-6.

I think the issue will be with our top-6 scoring goals. With all due respect I could see Marchand, given his age and more methodical playing style, struggling to play at the pace that MacKinnon, in particular, needs to at this level of competition. If the past is any indication, MacKinnon excels when he is flanked by two heavy, skilled forwards (Rantanen, Landeskog/Nichuskin) who can attack downhill with MacK with pace and have the size and forechecking ability to create turnovers in the o-zone. MacKinnon could be a decent fit on the wing, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the Crosby-MacKinnon combination and I'm definitely wary of Marchand's fit on that line.

Marchand with Crosby is a proven combination, and I think they'd work well with someone more cerebral in their approach like Reinhart or Marner.

In the absence of an explosive scoring winger that would allow MacKinnon to play centre, I think MacKinnon would work better on McDavid's wing from a pace perspective, and I definitely think he'd work better on McDavid's wing than would Marner.

Reinhart is a RHS RW/sometimes C. What experience does he have playing LW, let alone LW next to a player of McDavid's calibre? But overall, this roster would have looked a lot different/worse if not for the emergence of Reinhart as an elite scorer over the past few season.

So I'll say the same thing I've been saying for a few years now - Canada lacks explosive speed and scoring ability from the wing position. I would certainly have given the final forward spot to Lafreniere over Jarvis, even if Lafreniere isn't quite there as a national team player. Lafreniere can give Team Canada what I think it needs - a heavy, skilled natural winger that can play either wing, has a great shot, can play with playmaking wingers, can play with pace off the rush and can go to the "dirty areas" and score from there. Not only would I have named Lafreniere to my roster, I'd have him up in my top-6 next to MacKinnon. I would have lined up Konecny with them and let them go to work.

Again, with all due respect to Marchand I don't think he's quite capable of providing what Canada needs at this point in his career. I think this lineup is better than the one named last night and is the one Canada should have gone with:

McDavid - Crosby - Reinhart
Lafreniere - MacKinnon - Konecny
Bennett - Point - Marner
Marchand/Hagel - Cirelli - Stone

 

[Channelcat]

Thompson should've been picked over Montembault but, third goalie isn't going to see the ice unless there's a crisis so its a moot point.

I suppose they may have wanted some Habs representation

 

[Voight]

I suppose they may have wanted some Habs representation

Mixing in politics with the team selection is just dumb, but anyhow.

 

[Voight]

looking back on it, its kinda surprising he was there after considering retirement after the ducks won the cup

I disagree, the season he came back he finished 10th in Norris voting despite playing just over half a season and the following year (2009) he finished 9th in voting. So heading into the 2009-2010 season, he was still regarded as a top defensemen.

A greta way to end his career tho - captain of Gold Medal winning Team Canada, at the Olympics in his home province. Quite the storybook ending.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Hagel, Konecny, Cirelli, Stone, Bennett, Parayko is good picks. They will bring grit. You still need that in todays hockey.

 

[llwyd]

Obviously massively stocked, you basically don't need goalies... Yeah, a snark, but just a partial one: with these skaters even an average performance might be quite enough.

 

[Mathieukferland]

TSN had the following lineup a few nights ago when the roster started leaking (great job by TSN, btw, to totally undermine Sportsnet's big roster reveal last night - ha)

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Marchand - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hagel - Point - Stone
Bennett - Cirelli - Konecny
Jarvis

This team, particularly the forward group, was selected with a view to having the top-6 score, and the bottom-6 defend, pressure the puck, create turnovers, and disrupt the play of the opposition.

Firstly, I think the bottom-6 was chosen well and I have no issues with the player selection. Point, Stone and Konecny, probably Hagel too are all good enough players to make any Team Canada, regardless of the overall player selection strategy/roster makeup. Cirelli is no Jonathan Toews, but he's a good defensive centre, strong PKer, strong playoff and winning track record who's won Cooper's trust. Hagel and Bennett will be able to contribute in their roles. So I'm good with the bottom-6.

I think the issue will be with our top-6 scoring goals. With all due respect I could see Marchand, given his age and more methodical playing style, struggling to play at the pace that MacKinnon, in particular, needs to at this level of competition. If the past is any indication, MacKinnon excels when he is flanked by two heavy, skilled forwards (Rantanen, Landeskog/Nichuskin) who can attack downhill with MacK with pace and have the size and forechecking ability to create turnovers in the o-zone. MacKinnon could be a decent fit on the wing, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the Crosby-MacKinnon combination and I'm definitely wary of Marchand's fit on that line.

Marchand with Crosby is a proven combination, and I think they'd work well with someone more cerebral in their approach like Reinhart or Marner.

In the absence of an explosive scoring winger that would allow MacKinnon to play centre, I think MacKinnon would work better on McDavid's wing from a pace perspective, and I definitely think he'd work better on McDavid's wing than would Marner.

Reinhart is a RHS RW/sometimes C. What experience does he have playing LW, let alone LW next to a player of McDavid's calibre? But overall, this roster would have looked a lot different/worse if not for the emergence of Reinhart as an elite scorer over the past few season.

So I'll say the same thing I've been saying for a few years now - Canada lacks explosive speed and scoring ability from the wing position. I would certainly have given the final forward spot to Lafreniere over Jarvis, even if Lafreniere isn't quite there as a national team player. Lafreniere can give Team Canada what I think it needs - a heavy, skilled natural winger that can play either wing, has a great shot, can play with playmaking wingers, can play with pace off the rush and can go to the "dirty areas" and score from there. Not only would I have named Lafreniere to my roster, I'd have him up in my top-6 next to MacKinnon. I would have lined up Konecny with them and let them go to work.

Again, with all due respect to Marchand I don't think he's quite capable of providing what Canada needs at this point in his career. I think this lineup is better than the one named last night and is the one Canada should have gone with:

McDavid - Crosby - Reinhart
Lafreniere - MacKinnon - Konecny
Bennett - Point - Marner
Marchand/Hagel - Cirelli - Stone

Based on what your saying, it almost sounds like Celebrini should be on McDavid’s left if your logic is true. I think if someone gets injured, that’s who I’m calling up, especially if it’s a top 6 forward injured

 

[kevsh]

The US goaltending advantage is overblown: You can only play one goalie at once, so it's likely Hellebucyk vs. Hill. The other two for each team will only see action if the starter falters or gets injured.

The US blueline is younger, fast, very skilled by I'd take Canada's group (+ a healthy Doughty) every day. 3-4 years from now, probably America's group but today I like the Canada's starting 6 with all that experience and quite a few Cup rings to go with it.

Forwards, US has more balance overall but seriously, McDavid/Mack/Sid down the middle? Eichel/Matthews/Hughes are not close to matching that.

I agree that Canada has maybe too much grinder types in the bottom 6 - the good news is they can all provide offence too - and I'm not big on Marchand's inclusion. But our 1-2-3 down the middle with Reinhart, Stone, Marner, Point on the wings is just crazy good.

I like Canada's chances clearly and I'll predict now if it's a Canada/USA final, we beat them pretty soundly. Sweden/Finland can both play spoiler and I would not be stunned if one of those two makes the final.

In fact, just to blow this shameless marketing gimmick disguised as an actual serious tournament up in Bettman's face I'd love to see those two in the final.

 

[Three On Zero]

No real problem with the roster.

Might be a bit overkill on the two way guys on forward, but Canada always seems to prefer winning 2-0 rather than 5-3.

They’ll need it with the goaltending mess anyways, which was always going to be an issue no matter who they took.

Would have loved to see Bedard make it for the Olympic experience, but he hasn’t deserved it with his play


Game 7 of the SCF losing 2-1 is bad….?


Without a Makar he would have 100% been there, but with the PP being Bouchards #1 ability and Makar being possibly the only better D in the world than him at it, then it’s just unfortunate for him

Even without Makar, Bouchard would likely be a long shot for the team. His defensive deficiencies are too much for a tournament like this

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Based on what your saying, it almost sounds like Celebrini should be on McDavid’s left if your logic is true. I think if someone gets injured, that’s who I’m calling up, especially if it’s a top 6 forward injured

I like Celebrini, and I dare say I like him more than Bedard when it comes to putting together this roster. To me though it could be difficult to have such a young player in the top-6 eating that many minutes at ES, against such a high level of competition. This particular exhibition-type tournament would be a good time to try though.

I like McDavid with Crosby because Sid provides the puck retrieval ability that McDavid needs (and which Hyman provides in Edmonton). Reinhart is the triggerman and provides defensive cover. If Cooper is adamant about running McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby down the middle, Point would need to move to the wing somewhere in the top-9 (he's too good for the 4th line imo). Within the confines of the roster named, Hagel would be someone I'd look to move up to McDavid's wing to provide the forecheck/puck retrieval capability alongside McDavid and Reinhart.

 

[LeafLoyalist]

Except he wasn't. Gourde was for both cups. Stop making stuff up lmao.

Except...
Cirelli played more minutes against the top guys.....

 

[Crosby2010]

Hagel, Konecny, Cirelli, Stone, Bennett, Parayko is good picks. They will bring grit. You still need that in todays hockey.

You do, yes. It is needed. Canada has always picked these types of players in every single team in history, and that includes the World Juniors. The only concern I have is did it take away some skill by picking too many of them? Or will they be part of an energy line and actually perform well? We'll see. Let's just face the facts that the people making this team thought long and hard about it. It wasn't done lightly.

 

[Eye of Ra]

This is how i would line it up...

McDavid - Mackinnon - Reinhart
Crosby - Point - Marner
Marchand - Cirelli - Stone
Hagel - Bennett - Konecny

2 scoring lines. 2 checking units.

 

[Cup or Bust]

No real surprises. I think they picked the right players for the most part. I am an Oilers fan and wouldn't really have considered Bouchard or Skinner for the team unless I needed a powerplay guy, but Canada is fine in that area.

 

[jj cale]

The US goaltending advantage is overblown: You can only play one goalie at once, so it's likely Hellebucyk vs. Hill. The other two for each team will only see action if the starter falters or gets injured.

The US blueline is younger, fast, very skilled by I'd take Canada's group (+ a healthy Doughty) every day. 3-4 years from now, probably America's group but today I like the Canada's starting 6 with all that experience and quite a few Cup rings to go with it.

Forwards, US has more balance overall but seriously, McDavid/Mack/Sid down the middle? Eichel/Matthews/Hughes are not close to matching that.

I agree that Canada has maybe too much grinder types in the bottom 6 - the good news is they can all provide offence too - and I'm not big on Marchand's inclusion. But our 1-2-3 down the middle with Reinhart, Stone, Marner, Point on the wings is just crazy good.

I like Canada's chances clearly and I'll predict now if it's a Canada/USA final, we beat them pretty soundly. Sweden/Finland can both play spoiler and I would not be stunned if one of those two makes the final.

In fact, just to blow this shameless marketing gimmick disguised as an actual serious tournament up in Bettman's face I'd love to see those two in the final.

I'm puzzled at how you can be reading the situation like this but I sure hope you're right.