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GDT: May 1 • Canada vs. Latvia

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Congrats to our boy, Andrew Wiggins on being named Rookie of the Year in the NBA.

We can play some b-ball as well.
 
Benedict Kovalchuk said:
Can't speak to the others, but I imagine that if Giordano could skate he'd have an eye to Calgary's playoff run over the World Championship.
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:laugh: Missed that one there.....somehow thought Flames was eliminated....and I'm actually cheering for them, after the Habs.

Not sure what I had in mind...
 
Found em.

The team prepped for Friday's tournament opener against Latvia with a Thursday practice that revealed some insight into potential line combinations.
Captain Sidney Crosby was anchoring the top line flanked by Colorado Avalanche forward and fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon on left wing with Dallas Stars veteran Jason Spezza on his right. Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux centred the second line between the Buffalo Sabres' Tyler Ennis and Dallas sniper Tyler Seguin. Colorado centre Matt Duchene slid between Edmonton Oilers teammates Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle on the third line.
The fourth line rotated between Canada's remaining five forwards: Avalanche centre Ryan O'Reilly, Flyers Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn, Dallas' Cody Eakin, Los Angeles Kings youngster Tyler Toffoli.
San Jose blue liner Brent Burns was paired alongside the Kings' Jake Muzzin on the first defence pairing, with Florida rookie Aaron Ekblad and Colorado's Tyson Barrie ont he second pairing. The final pairing will feature two of: Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis, Ottawa's Patrick Wiercioch and Columbus' David Savard.
Arizona netminder Mike Smith is poised to get the start with the Kings' Martin Jones backing up.
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Why are they keeping Hall and Duchene together? It was a hot mess last time.
 
Aceonfire said:
Why are they keeping Hall and Duchene together? It was a hot mess last time.
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Meh. There's no reason why that line shouldn't work beyond the fact that it didn't for a couple weeks a couple of years ago.. All are good on the cycle. Duchene and Hall have the speed to play together and Eberle is a great complimentary player that honestly works with anyone.
 
Tralfamadore said:
If I remember correctly Duchene did nothing but bring Hall down :sarcasm:
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It wasn't that. They just have had chemistry. They didn't read each other very well.

Spawn said:
Meh. There's no reason why that line shouldn't work beyond the fact that it didn't for a couple weeks a couple of years ago.. All are good on the cycle. Duchene and Hall have the speed to play together and Eberle is a great complimentary player that honestly works with anyone.
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I agree that Eberle can play with anyone but Duchene is too similar to Hall. Hopefully they can figure it out as it is easily the fastest line Canada has.
 
Sterling31 said:
Just spittballing - with NHL connection.

Endless possibilities:
MacKinnon-Crosby-Spezza
Hall-Seguin-Giroux
O'Reilly-Duchene- Eberle
Schenn-Coutourier-Toffoli

Actually fun making lines for this team.
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There is absolutely no way to consider Giroux on the right wing. He would do fine but he's just so dominant on the centre. No need for it, especially not in this tournament.
 
I'm not expecting anything huge in this game. Canada hasn't been together long. Latvia will probably give us trouble all the up till the last 5 minutes of the 3rd period.
 
I'd like O'Reilly-Sid-Mackinnon better.
Needs a guy like O'Reilly who can strip pucks and get em to the Sid/Mack.
Still lots of games, experimentation to happen though.
 
Elvs said:
Surprised to see Indrasis on the roster. I read in another thread that he was injured recently. Can he play? Also no Karsums, Kulda or Bartulis. Tough for Latvia. :(
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Yeah, he's injured and was originally not expected to make the trip, but he really wants to play and is recovering quicker than expected, so they'll play him in the latter half of the tournament if he's good to go by then. Not sure about Bart, but both Kulda and Karsums are nursing some injuries. I think I read that Karsums has had the same minor surgery at the end of the last three seasons.

Based on the teams strength on paper I think it's gonna be another one of those 6-1, 7-0 games for Canada, but these young Latvian kids like to be feisty, so who knows what they'll pull out of their you-know-whats tomorrow. They looked good in the last two exhibition games (wins against Slovakia), and Daugy really seems to be taking the captain's job seriously, leading by example and carrying the team on his back. I'm a bit surprised by the Muštukovs start, but I guess Masaļskis' career is nearing its end, so why not get the other guys some more experience in games where anything that's not a massive blowout is considered a respectable start. The guy does have 10 shutout minutes against the Boston Bruins under his belt after all.
 
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