Forwards (15)
Brad Boyes (BOS)
Dany Heatley (OTT)
Eric Staal (CAR)
Jarome Iginla (CGY)
Jason Spezza (OTT)
Joffrey Lupul (EDM)
Jonathan Cheechoo (SJ)
Martin St. Louis (TB)
Michael Peca (TOR)
Patrice Bergeron (BOS)
Rick Nash (CBJ)
Ryan Smyth (EDM)
Sidney Crosby (PIT)
Simon Gagne (PHI)
Todd Bertuzzi (FLA)
Defencemen (10)
Brian Campbell (BUF)
Bryan McCabe (TOR)
Chris Campoli (NYI)
Chris Pronger (ANA)
Jay Bouwmeester (FLA)
Kristopher Letang (PIT)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ)
Mike Commodore (CAR)
Scott Niedermayer (ANA)
Wade Redden (OTT)
Goaltenders (3)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere (ANA)
Martin Brodeur (NJ)
Ray Emery (OTT)
I would LOVE some of what you're smoking.
I'll use the same format though.
Forwards: 15
Sidney Crosby
Eric Staal
Jason Spezza
Joe Thornton
Dany Heatley
Rick Nash
Jarome Iginla
Simon Gagne
Patrice Bergeron
Jonathon Cheechoo
Joe Sakic
Ryan Smyth
Brad Richards
Daniel Brier
Brendan Morrow
Defense: 8
Dion Phaneuf
Brent Seabrook
Scott Niedermeyer
Ed Jovonovksi
Eric Brewer
Robyn Regher
Jay Bouwmeester
Chris Pronger
Goalies: 3
Martin Broduer
Marc Andre Fluery
Cam Ward
I've been having such a hard time deciding who i think will be narrowed down to the 15 spots up front (assuming there is the taxi squad in 2010) that i have'nt posted my team yet. I like how you've got Danny Briere on your team,i bet he makes it in Vancouver.I do think Luongo will be on the team though.
On defense Dan Hamhuis could make the grade by that time and i'll be surprised if Redden isn't there.I think Shea Weber's got a good chance by that time too.
You know a guy i think has a chance in 2010 up front?............Mike Fischer from Ottawa.Call me crazy but i think he has the stuff to make the cut in 2010.
I've been having such a hard time deciding who i think will be narrowed down to the 15 spots up front (assuming there is the taxi squad in 2010) that i have'nt posted my team yet. I like how you've got Danny Briere on your team,i bet he makes it in Vancouver.I do think Luongo will be on the team though.
On defense Dan Hamhuis could make the grade by that time and i'll be surprised if Redden isn't there.I think Shea Weber's got a good chance by that time too.
You know a guy i think has a chance in 2010 up front?............Mike Fischer from Ottawa.Call me crazy but i think he has the stuff to make the cut in 2010.
Fischer idea isn't crazy at all. He reminds me of a more English fluent, center version of Esa Tikkanen.
I love the guy, despite his playing his home games near the Ottawa river.
No way Fischer on the next Olympic team unless Canada sends 3 teams. There is way too much depth for somebody like him, who would have to force his way onto the team being a lesser name, to make it.
The only outside shot he would have to make it is to win the "checkers role" if they make that a compulsory role next time as they did this time over somebody like Morrow. That is the only way he could make it.
Well that's the thing.I think in Vancouver they may have a whole energy/checking line full of specialists at that role.If they do,i'd like to see Fischer on that line.At least the Fischer i've watched the past couple of years.
come Vancouver,i want us to have the best team,not necessarily the best individual talent. It's time to get back to concentrating on team building IMO.
We have hard choices to make coming up but i hope the brain trust will concentrate on what kind of mix will be most effective.It'll be an n.hl game in Vancouver(small ice),not a world championship type venture like the past few olympics have been. We need to build with that in mind IMO.
That is not what I see them doing at all. At the last Olympics the team could not score goals. That was by far their biggest problem, and adding an energy/checking specialist type line would go nowhere to helping that. They wont go from having only 1 checking specialist to having a line of them after that. No way. If anything they might eliminate the checking specialist altogether, but they certainly wont have a full line of them.
I doubt you'll see many old timers on the 2010 team. The Sakic/Blake/Foote generation are all gonna be a bit old. And the guys who are gonna be in their mid-late 30's in 2010 like Redden, Iginla, Bertuzzi, McCabe etc were total *** in Torino.
There are so many great young players and some of Thornton/Richards/Lecav will be enough of a veteran presence for the younger players.
Hopefully the biggest change will be no Quinn and no Hitchcock. The game has passed them by.
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Which brings us to the next question.Who is likely to be up for the top coach position at that time?
I really like Mike Babcock, he did an amazing job at the WC when he coached.
He's a definite possibility.
But i'm thinking a Sutter boy is going to be offered the job.
I don't know who'll be on the Oly team in 2010. That's three-and-a-half years away. But I can tell you now what this team needs, that they didn't have in February:
*Leadership. A lot of people talked about the veteran presence on the Olympic team this year. Frankly, there wasn't enough. The 2002 team had leadership-a-plenty with Lemieux, Yzerman, MacInnis, Nieuwendyk, Peca, Sakic, Brodeur, Foote, and Shanahan. The team in February had Sakic, Foote and Brodeur, and to a lesser extent, a more mature Ryan Smyth. I think we knew leadership would be an issue when Gagne was given an A. The team in 2006 had a lot of international experience, thanks to success in the last three Worlds and the 2004 World Cup, but most of the players that were being counted on for offence were under 30. It's imperative that there
*Forecheck. Smyth and Doan were the only guys on the Olympic team in February who generated an aggressive forecheck. In 2002, you had your top two lines (Sakic-Iginla-Gagne and Lemieux-Yzerman-Kariya) and then seven players - Shanahan, Lindros, Nolan, Nieuwendyk, Peca, Smyth and a focused Theo Fleury - who played aggressive, all-round hockey which included a relentless forecheck. I was one of those who said in December that Shanahan should not have been on the Olympic team. Boy, was I ever wrong. Shanny would have made a world of difference on the 2006 team. Again, Morrow and Richards are players who would make a big difference.
*Defence. Canada had lots of skill up front. But they had a two-pronged problem: they didn't forecheck, and the defence didn't get them the puck. This is where they really missed Scott Niedermayer, and, to a lesser extent, Ed Jovanovski and even Eric Brewer. Those were our top three defencemen in making the outlet pass in 2002. Even Redden and Pronger looked lost out there at times. Foote was abysmal, a shame for a player who rates among Canada's best ever defencemen in international play. A guy like Dan Boyle would hae been a difference maker. They need defencemen who can rush the puck, or make use of the long stretch pass. Phaneuf should be there, but so could a guy like Dan Hamhuis.
*Coaching. With our absence of puck-movers on defence, an aggressive forecheck and leadership, Canada needed coaching. They didn't get it. Pat Quinn thought Kris Draper would be a perfect fit on a line with Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla. In a short tournament like the Olympics, there is no grace for any mistakes. We can't afford another coaching screw up. Quinn is very popular with his players, but he's tactically weak. Canada needs a coach who can mixed the strategist mindset of a Hitchcock or Martin, with the popularity of a Quinn. And that man, is Randy Carlyle, with Yzerman or Lemieux as an assistant.
The biggest reason Canada failed in February was their inability to gel as a team, despite many of them playing together in international play. A lot of the blame for that can be hung on coaching and leadership.
If the NHL continues to send players to the Olympics beyond 2010 (likely to be held in Salzburg, Austria), it's imperative to have two to four players on the team be Canadian-born players playing on international teams. The Czechs and the Swedes both carried several European-based players in 1998 and 2006, respectively. We've seen European-based players like Dean Evason and Jamie Heward thrive for Canada on gold-winning entries at the Worlds. It gives Canada a couple more players familiar with the international game and rules, and the little nuances that go along with international hockey. It also gives Canada players who won't be affected by jet lag. It won't be necessary in Vancouver in 2010, but come 2014, it will be.
I don't know who'll be on the Oly team in 2010. That's three-and-a-half years away. But I can tell you now what this team needs, that they didn't have in February:
*Leadership. A lot of people talked about the veteran presence on the Olympic team this year. Frankly, there wasn't enough. The 2002 team had leadership-a-plenty with Lemieux, Yzerman, MacInnis, Nieuwendyk, Peca, Sakic, Brodeur, Foote, and Shanahan. The team in February had Sakic, Foote and Brodeur, and to a lesser extent, a more mature Ryan Smyth. I think we knew leadership would be an issue when Gagne was given an A. The team in 2006 had a lot of international experience, thanks to success in the last three Worlds and the 2004 World Cup, but most of the players that were being counted on for offence were under 30. It's imperative that there
*Forecheck. Smyth and Doan were the only guys on the Olympic team in February who generated an aggressive forecheck. In 2002, you had your top two lines (Sakic-Iginla-Gagne and Lemieux-Yzerman-Kariya) and then seven players - Shanahan, Lindros, Nolan, Nieuwendyk, Peca, Smyth and a focused Theo Fleury - who played aggressive, all-round hockey which included a relentless forecheck. I was one of those who said in December that Shanahan should not have been on the Olympic team. Boy, was I ever wrong. Shanny would have made a world of difference on the 2006 team. Again, Morrow and Richards are players who would make a big difference.
*Defence. Canada had lots of skill up front. But they had a two-pronged problem: they didn't forecheck, and the defence didn't get them the puck. This is where they really missed Scott Niedermayer, and, to a lesser extent, Ed Jovanovski and even Eric Brewer. Those were our top three defencemen in making the outlet pass in 2002. Even Redden and Pronger looked lost out there at times. Foote was abysmal, a shame for a player who rates among Canada's best ever defencemen in international play. A guy like Dan Boyle would hae been a difference maker. They need defencemen who can rush the puck, or make use of the long stretch pass. Phaneuf should be there, but so could a guy like Dan Hamhuis.
*Coaching. With our absence of puck-movers on defence, an aggressive forecheck and leadership, Canada needed coaching. They didn't get it. Pat Quinn thought Kris Draper would be a perfect fit on a line with Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla. In a short tournament like the Olympics, there is no grace for any mistakes. We can't afford another coaching screw up. Quinn is very popular with his players, but he's tactically weak. Canada needs a coach who can mixed the strategist mindset of a Hitchcock or Martin, with the popularity of a Quinn. And that man, is Randy Carlyle, with Yzerman or Lemieux as an assistant.
The biggest reason Canada failed in February was their inability to gel as a team, despite many of them playing together in international play. A lot of the blame for that can be hung on coaching and leadership.
If the NHL continues to send players to the Olympics beyond 2010 (likely to be held in Salzburg, Austria), it's imperative to have two to four players on the team be Canadian-born players playing on international teams. The Czechs and the Swedes both carried several European-based players in 1998 and 2006, respectively. We've seen European-based players like Dean Evason and Jamie Heward thrive for Canada on gold-winning entries at the Worlds. It gives Canada a couple more players familiar with the international game and rules, and the little nuances that go along with international hockey. It also gives Canada players who won't be affected by jet lag. It won't be necessary in Vancouver in 2010, but come 2014, it will be.
May not be the best team in terms of star players but here is the roster I would like to see for for BC. 1 Homer pick for my checking line
Sidney Crosby - Patrice Bergeron - Corry Perry
Kyle Wellwood - Eric Staal - Justin Williams
Andy MacDonald - Daniel Briere - Michael Cammalleri
Jeff Carter - Travis Zajac - Steve Bernier
Dion Phaneuf - Scott Niedermayer
Mike Van Ryan - Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook - JAY Bouwmeester
Cam Ward
Martin Brodeur
Marc Andre Fleury