World Cup: Four Nations Tournament-Team Canada

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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On Wed., Armstrong was asked how many spots are still up for grabs on the team and he answered:

"Probably not as many as people think"

Team is pretty much set. Hope they make the right calls but I'm wondering if we get any big surprises....like all of a sudden we get Barzal, Tavares, Cirelli and Stamkos all on the team lol.

The team is picked in less than two weeks, it isn't that surprising.

It's humorous they're chasing Daccord.

Pathetic really.

Don’t mind me, just licking my lips over how likely Four Nations names stack up right now in terms of P/GP between Canada and the US

MacKinnon - 1.70
Stone - 1.62
Reinhart - 1.50
Strome - 1.47
Eichel - 1.45
McDavid - 1.39
Marner - 1.30
Scheifele - 1.26
Connor - 1.26
Konecny - 1.15
Point - 1.14
J. Hughes - 1.14
Thompson - 1.13 (injured?)
Cirelli - 1.06
Hagel - 1.06
B. Tkachuk - 1.05
Boldy - 1.05
Suzuki - 1.00
Guentzel - 1.00
Crosby - 0.95
Bennett - 0.95
Tuch - 0.95
Miller - 0.94 (out?)
Thomas - 0.89
M. Tkachuk - 0.87
Matthews - 0.85 (injured?)
Larkin - 0.84
Keller - 0.84
Caufield - 0.84
Lafreniere - 0.83 (basically all ES)
Bedard - 0.75
Marchand - 0.67
Robertson - 0.61
Trocheck - 0.56
Kane - 0.53
Kreider - 0.50

Key US defensemen taking a step back too. A beautiful sight.

Side note: underperformers like Hyman, Verhaeghe, Barzal have zero business being anywhere near this team when the roster will come together essentially right before the tournament starts. Inexcusable to do anything other than ride the hot hands - and such stupidity to have named Marchand to this team over the summer.

I preferred when Canada focused on Canada and other countries focused on Canada too. USA has a good team now, still not something worth fixating on.
 

moropanov

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Mar 7, 2015
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As a non-canadian, is there any chance Strome makes the roster? 3rd highest scoring Canadian in the league right now driving the 1st line of a top 5 team. Certainly having a better year and probably better last two years than a bunch of the other bubble guys (Tavares, Barzal, Hagel, Bedard, Stamkos, Scheifele)

Also Thompson should be the clear starter
Too small sample size these players arent top tier hockey players. Well goalie you can take whoevers hot but Strome's just average nhl player in larger scale.
 

MarkT

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Nov 11, 2017
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You are now moving the goalposts. You used the most unflattering stats to paint why he shouldn’t be on the team. Stats that have no relevance. You yourself admitted he has better even strength numbers than guys you listed. He’s also younger than every single one of them. Not sure what you are expecting. Does he need to put up McDavid numbers? He puts up pretty elite numbers as a youngster (relatively speaking).

And please, save the ad hominem towards me. It is completely ineffective. I admit that I don’t have any affiliation towards Team Canada. At the same time, I am allowed to call out a bad faith argument when I see it. If you seriously think after this interaction that he only had a hot playoffs (your claim), the biggest agenda to push of anyone here is you.
What? You mentioned he was one of the top even strength performers. I checked the numbers. He was behind a lot of guys who didn't even make my team. What's what I was showing you. Also, I didn't factor in age at all because the tournament is later this year, not some time in the distant future. If we were projecting Olympics rosters, I might care about age. And no, he doesn't need to put up McDavid numbers - he would need to put up numbers that put him among the best 13 or so Canadian forwards, and every scoring stat (and others as well) puts him in the 20-30 range - still a very good player, but not good enough to be on the national team.

The only reason I suggested you might be biased is because I have looked at the numbers and not found any that support your assertions. I have absolutely nothing against Lafrenière and honestly think it would be great if young guys like him made the team. I'm basing my team mostly on stats though because I don't have time to watch every single game.

I will say though, thank you for prompting me to look more at the even strength numbers. It made me go back at look at what I was using and put more emphasis on those - it's why I put Hyman and Verhaeghe on my updated team.
 
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MarkT

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Yeah, and that doesn't make it less pathetic that Canada may end up hopeful to be selected by Joey Daccord at the best on best level.
I think you need some perspective. Go look at Team Sweden and how their goalies have been playing. If Canada has Talbot, Daccord, and Thompson, they'll have three guys who have all been playing well this year - that's better than we could have hoped for given how dismal Canada's goaltending options have been for a while. Remember when Skinner was likely a consensus choice?
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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I think you need some perspective. Go look at Team Sweden and how their goalies have been playing. If Canada has Talbot, Daccord, and Thompson, they'll have three guys who have all been playing well this year - that's better than we could have hoped for given how dismal Canada's goaltending options have been for a while. Remember when Skinner was likely a consensus choice?
My perspective is that Canada has never gone into anything like a best on best type event and been in a situation where the team would consider hoping that a Joey Daccord level player, who is not even from Canada, would choose Canada. Pathetic is the only word for it. I don't particularly care how Sweden's goaltenders have been playing.
 

jj cale

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It is indeed pathetic, but that's where we find ourselves at this point in time.

Personally I don't want Daccord, I'd rather lose with the guys we have and get the message through loud and clear to HC then win with him.

We shouldn't need to be doing this. They should have been dealing with this ages ago like we all said.
 
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MarkT

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My perspective is that Canada has never gone into anything like a best on best type event and been in a situation where the team would consider hoping that a Joey Daccord level player, who is not even from Canada, would choose Canada. Pathetic is the only word for it. I don't particularly care how Sweden's goaltenders have been playing.
Call it pathetic if you want, but not putting Daccord on the team doesn't make the choices any less pathetic. It's a best on best tournament - you put the guys on the team who give you the best chance to win. The reason I mentioned Sweden, is all this moaning about team Canada's goalie choices starts to look pretty weird when you see that Sweden (known for developing top goalies, has even worse choices for their team. All their supposed best goalies are playing poorly, and they don't have the top end forward talent Canada does to balance it out.
It is indeed pathetic, but that's where we find ourselves at this point in time.

Personally I don't want Daccord, I'd rather lose with the guys we have and get the message through loud and clear to HC then win with him.

We shouldn't need to be doing this. They should have been dealing with this ages ago like we all said.
I agree Canada's overall development of goalies has become pathetic. But man, I don't envy your priorities if you rank sending a message to Hockey Canada as being more important than winning the tournament.

Like it not guys, but Daccord may end up being the best goalie available to us. Statistically, it's Talbot (now that's sad), but Daccord over the past two seasons is not far behind.
 

jj cale

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I agree Canada's overall development of goalies has become pathetic. But man, I don't envy your priorities if you rank sending a message to Hockey Canada as being more important than winning the tournament.

Like it not guys, but Daccord may end up being the best goalie available to us. Statistically, it's Talbot (now that's sad), but Daccord over the past two seasons is not far behind.
Point taken and of course you always want to win but it's because of my priorities and the health of our program going forward that sending a message to TC, as painful as it will be, is probably needed.

It's the long game not the short one in some trumped up all star do wa diddy that counts for far more.

Better to swallow the bitter pill now then in future tournaments with far more stature.
 

PanniniClaus

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Oct 12, 2006
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Joey Daccord has now reached the level where he will be considered for International play. By whatever measure you want to use... He's in the unusual position of having three countries to chose from. So he chooses one.. I don't see what the big deal is at all as he's going to play for one of them so why not Canada?
 

TheDoldrums

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May 3, 2016
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Choosing the country with the best path to playing time happens all the time in international soccer. Daccord is never going to get the US net and Canada offers a chance to win so it would seem like a reasonable suggestion.
 

Regal

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If they’re going to give a charity spot to Bedard I would almost be tempted to give it Celebrini instead; I think he’s more projectable player to a depth role than Bedard is in 2026

I feel like Bedard is thought of in much higher terms but Cellebrini is the better player right now from what I’ve seen.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Call it pathetic if you want, but not putting Daccord on the team doesn't make the choices any less pathetic. It's a best on best tournament - you put the guys on the team who give you the best chance to win. The reason I mentioned Sweden, is all this moaning about team Canada's goalie choices starts to look pretty weird when you see that Sweden (known for developing top goalies, has even worse choices for their team. All their supposed best goalies are playing poorly, and they don't have the top end forward talent Canada does to balance it out.
Canada shouldn't opt for Daccord because he isn't from Canada, but that isn't the pathetic thing I was talking about. It is that Canada is reduced to hoping for Joey Daccord. Not Vezina, Benedict, Gardiner, Durnan, broda, Sawchuk, Hall, Plante, Parent, Dryden, Fuhr, Roy, Belfour, Brodeur, Luongo, or Price....... Daccord. There has never really been a time in hockey history when Canada couldn't select a HHOF goaltender, even if he wasn't the starter, other than now.

It is indeed pathetic, but that's where we find ourselves at this point in time.

Personally I don't want Daccord, I'd rather lose with the guys we have and get the message through loud and clear to HC then win with him.

We shouldn't need to be doing this. They should have been dealing with this ages ago like we all said.
Yeah I am not interested in a bandaid, not that I think that Daccord makes a difference either way. There likely would have been a wake up call if the NHL had maintained best on best hockey from 2018-2022, but here we are. Something needs to be done about goaltending (which has been true for a long time) and I think it will be more obvious to people when Canada starts naming goaltenders for this and the Olympics.
 
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Rabid Ranger

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Feb 27, 2002
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Daccord isn't Canadian. He shouldn't be on the team. Simple as that.
I mean, he is Canadian (has citizenship through his father). He's also American (born and trained) and Swiss (through his mother). To me, it may be prudent for Hockey Canada to consider him. Is he willing though? Not only for this unbinding tournament but international competition moving forward? All signs indicate he was leaning toward Switzerland. He's not a top three for the U.S. at this point (even though Swayman hasn't been good this year and Demko is injured).
 

jigglysquishy

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Jun 20, 2011
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His father in from Montreal and he has Canadian citizenship. Who are you to declare that he's not Canadian?
He wasn't born or raised in Canada. From a hockey context, no he's not Canadian.

He was born in the States. Played almost all of his minor hockey career in the States. Did he even play in Canada before his 18th birthday?

Most websites don't even list his as Canadian (Elite Prospects lists him as Swiss-American).

He's eligible for Canada on a technicality.
 
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MarkT

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Canada shouldn't opt for Daccord because he isn't from Canada, but that isn't the pathetic thing I was talking about. It is that Canada is reduced to hoping for Joey Daccord. Not Vezina, Benedict, Gardiner, Durnan, broda, Sawchuk, Hall, Plante, Parent, Dryden, Fuhr, Roy, Belfour, Brodeur, Luongo, or Price....... Daccord. There has never really been a time in hockey history when Canada couldn't select a HHOF goaltender, even if he wasn't the starter, other than now.

Yeah I am not interested in a bandaid, not that I think that Daccord makes a difference either way. There likely would have been a wake up call if the NHL had maintained best on best hockey from 2018-2022, but here we are. Something needs to be done about goaltending (which has been true for a long time) and I think it will be more obvious to people when Canada starts naming goaltenders for this and the Olympics.
Wait, let me try to understand this. So because Canada doesn't have great goalies to choose from, they should avoid putting someone on the team who is good enough to make it because he's not Canadian enough (whatever that means) and to make it more obvious that Canada doesn't have great goalies? By this logic, shouldn't Canada name their three goalies Scott Wedgewood, James Reimer, and Tristan Jarry? I mean, that would sent the message you want, right? Heck, why not just name the whole team AHL-level guys and lose on purpose just to tell Hockey Canada that there is a problem?
 
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BruinDust

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Reinhart - McDavid - MacKinnon

Lafreniere - Point - Marner

Marchand - Crosby - Stone

Hagel - Scheifele - Wilson

Extra F: Duchene


Toews - Makar

Theodore - Piertrangelo

Morrissey - Parayko

Extra D: Weegar


Binnington

Hill

Montembault
 

MarkT

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Nov 11, 2017
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He wasn't born or raised in Canada. From a hockey context, no he's not Canadian.

He was born in the States. Played almost all of his minor hockey career in the States. Did he even play in Canada before his 18th birthday?

Most websites don't even list his as Canadian (Elite Prospects lists him as Swiss-American).

He's eligible for Canada on a technicality.
Again, he father is from Canada. Have you never met someone born in country A, whose parents are from county B, who is feels like someone from both A and B? I've had lots of friend like that. They love the country they were born in, but are proud of where their parents are from. How do you know he's not like that? And if you want to be technical, he is a citizen of Canada, Switzerland and the United States. So he's all three - he could choose to play for whichever of the three countries he wants, and since there are at least three guys ahead of him on the US roster, why wouldn't he want to play for Canada? There's lots of history in hockey of guys choose teams to play for that aren't where they were born.

Here's an article that might interest you: IIHF gives green light to Brandon Bochenski, Nigel Dawes and Dustin Boyd to play for Kazakhstan

Is you issue you think he might not be loyal to Canada? I hate tell you this, but not everyone born in a country loves that country. There might be guys who play for Canada, born and raised there, who hate the country. I know I'm not a huge fan of many aspects of Canada, which is why I haven't lived there most of my adult life.
 
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MarkT

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Reinhart - McDavid - MacKinnon

Lafreniere - Point - Marner

Marchand - Crosby - Stone

Hagel - Scheifele - Wilson

Extra F: Duchene


Toews - Makar

Theodore - Piertrangelo

Morrissey - Parayko

Extra D: Weegar


Binnington

Hill

Montembault
You're definitely missing at least Thomas and Konecny. Someone is also going to have to point out to me which stats they're using to put Lafreniere not only on the team, but in the top six. Also, switch Reinhart and MacKinnon - they're on the wrong wing.
I understand Theodore - Piertrangelo, but Parayko? Canada has a lot of better defensemen to choose from. I'd put Bouchard, Chabot, Dobson, Sanheim, Burns, Matheson, and Hamilton ahead of his at least, plus Dunn and Doughty if they're healthy.

Lastly, those three goalies are interesting - none of them are having a good year, so it seems like you're going by reputation and history more than anything. I'd be very worried if those were the three Canada actually picks.
 

BruinDust

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Aug 2, 2005
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You're definitely missing at least Thomas and Konecny. Someone is also going to have to point out to me which stats they're using to put Lafreniere not only on the team, but in the top six. Also, switch Reinhart and MacKinnon - they're on the wrong wing.
I understand Theodore - Piertrangelo, but Parayko? Canada has a lot of better defensemen to choose from. I'd put Bouchard, Chabot, Dobson, Sanheim, Burns, Matheson, and Hamilton ahead of his at least, plus Dunn and Doughty if they're healthy.

Lastly, those three goalies are interesting - none of them are having a good year, so it seems like you're going by reputation and history more than anything. I'd be very worried if those were the three Canada actually picks.

I'm not trying to build an all-star team. Trying to build a team to win a short tournament on NA sized ice. Familiarity, defined roles for players and lines, etc. Trying to stay away from too much shifting guys to their off-wing or centers playing wing. It's unavoidable to a certain degree but I'd like to mitigate it. Canada has too many centers and too many high-end scoring right shot forwards. I can't take them all. Hench a guy like Lafreniere gets a nod due to the lack of high-end left-shot wingers. He can compliment a goal scoring C in Point with the play driving RW Marner. Brings a straight-line game and a bit of size and physicality to boot. Has already has success for Canada in international competition.

If you want to flip-flop Reinhart and MacKinnon fine, I'm good either way. McDavid is used to a right-shot on his LW so you get that with Reinhart or MacKinnon. I felt having the pure shooter in Reinhart on his off-wing would be better but that might be splitting hairs.

Crosby's line is your shutdown line, 4th line role is clearly defined. I took Duchene as he can play all 3 forward positions.

There might be better RD than Parayko but you can't have all skill back there on D. He's one of the best shut-down defenders in the league, should compliment Morrisey well. They can go up against any line. Weegar gets the nod as the spare D as he's a rare commodity in that he's a right-shot who can play both sides. Pairs of Toews-Makar and Theodore-Pietrangelo should be able to hit the ground running in Game 1 the chemistry/familiarity is already there. You don't have time in a tournament this short to figure everything out. You need the team ready right from the start. You go with just the 13 best forwards and 7 best D and by the time you get everyone in their correct place, your tournament might already be over.

I don't like any of the choices in net but I'll take two guys with cups and the other guy is comfortable playing at the Bell Centre which can be a tough place to play.
 

JackSlater

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Wait, let me try to understand this. So because Canada doesn't have great goalies to choose from, they should avoid putting someone on the team who is good enough to make it because he's not Canadian enough (whatever that means) and to make it more obvious that Canada doesn't have great goalies? By this logic, shouldn't Canada name their three goalies Scott Wedgewood, James Reimer, and Tristan Jarry? I mean, that would sent the message you want, right? Heck, why not just name the whole team AHL-level guys and lose on purpose just to tell Hockey Canada that there is a problem?
I don't know what you can't grasp. It is pathetic that Canada does not have even one elite goaltender to select. It is a random quirk that Daccord, born and raised in the United States, happens to have Canadian citizenship through a parent and Canada should pick a goaltender that Canada actually produced rather than hoping to be selected by the likes of Joey Daccord. Canada's goaltending has been a problem for a long time and while the interest in Daccord indicates how significant it is, selecting him or not won't make it less obvious.
 
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