Toggle sidebar

Olympics: Team Canada 2026

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
ORRFForever said:
You don't think there will be a passing of the torch with Sid wearing a "A"?
Click to expand...

Do you think that McDavid would be a better Captain? Or if you think it is merely symbolic, why not give it to the player who has rightly earned revered status as a player and a leader.

It's not like he hasn't been one of Canada's biggest contributors so far, he leads the event in scoring. He also has a 3-0 record as Captain of Team Canada.

I don't think it would have made sense to give McDavid the C in this tournament as all that would do would be added extra pressure for him to meet the high bar Crosby has set. He has enough of that pressure in the NHL.

Give it to the guy who has the experience.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: ORRFForever
I love reading these threads where everybody puts their favourite players in, scorers, and acts like Canada won't have to kill 6-10 minutes of penalties for any contact. And who will do that? See Mike Peca, Kris Draper, Patrice Bergeron. The guys with roles. Leaving the GMing to the GMs.

I'll say no one in the NHL can beat Adam Lowry one on one this year in battle. Outskated Quinn Hughes for a shorty too. Might be a good addition if you want to win.
 
voyageur said:
I love reading these threads where everybody puts their favourite players in, scorers, and acts like Canada won't have to kill 6-10 minutes of penalties for any contact. And who will do that? See Mike Peca, Kris Draper, Patrice Bergeron. The guys with roles. Leaving the GMing to the GMs.

I'll say no one in the NHL can beat Adam Lowry one on one this year in battle. Outskated Quinn Hughes for a shorty too. Might be a good addition if you want to win.
Click to expand...
Have you seen the roster at Four Nations? They have a litany of players who PK at the highest level already. You talk about Peca and Draper as though they’re elevated from the likes of Konecny and Cirelli. From Bennett and Jarvis.

I like Lowry as a player but he has no place in the lineup. How has our PK been this tournament?
 
whatkubabine said:
Have you seen the roster at Four Nations? They have a litany of players who PK at the highest level already. You talk about Peca and Draper as though they’re elevated from the likes of Konecny and Cirelli. From Bennett and Jarvis.

I like Lowry as a player but he has no place in the lineup. How has our PK been this tournament?
Click to expand...
It's not the Olympics and Olympic refereeing, so the penalties haven't been copious or dubious shall i say.

Just a quick comparison tells me Bennett ES has 15 g 14 a in 55 games, while Lowry has 11 g, 13 a, in 48 games, the former -12 on the season, the latter +17, And one has Tkachuk as a linemate, while the other has Mason Appleton. Lowry is better on the draw, and is actually playing the PK during the season.

Now Cirelli I think you could make a decent claim for outperforming Lowry at most facets. But Lowry might be the better skater, and is definitely tougher. And again Cirelli centers better linemates for his statistics.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: The Blue Baron
daver said:
Do you think that McDavid would be a better Captain? Or if you think it is merely symbolic, why not give it to the player who has rightly earned revered status as a player and a leader.

It's not like he hasn't been one of Canada's biggest contributors so far, he leads the event in scoring. He also has a 3-0 record as Captain of Team Canada.

I don't think it would have made sense to give McDavid the C in this tournament as all that would do would be added extra pressure for him to meet the high bar Crosby has set. He has enough of that pressure in the NHL.

Give it to the guy who has the experience.
Click to expand...
I just think there will be a passing of the torch while Sid is still playing.
 
LeafalCrusader said:
Like to see some younger faster guys get a chance on the big ice. But I think they go vet heavy again.

Hyman McDavid Point
Crosby Mackinnon Reinhart
Hagel Thomas Marner
Konecny Scheifele Stone
Suzuki

Toews Makar
Theodore Pietrangelo
Morrissey Sanheim
Harley

Thompson
Hill
Blackwood
Click to expand...
Italy, from what I can see online will be played on NHL ice, as opposed to Olympics or even Hybrid. But, from the photos, I do believe that this ice surface later will be expanded as the closest seats don't appear to be right at the glass.

So, I do think Canada would have to factor in size. Seen a couple of posters go with smaller lineups, which is more suited to larger ice.

Basically, with like the 2025 PO plus another 60 regular season games (since they'd likely pick the roster by around the New Year) that's all the time a player has to showcase themselves. Plus, like the Worlds, which more of the players who didn't make this team should play if they are outside the PO.

So, you need to be one of the final couple of Dmen (on each side) or one of the final few forwards from making this tournament to have a chance for the 26 games.
 
DJB said:
I can’t believe people are putting Hyman on this team. He’s carried by McDavid .

To me there are way better options with better players
Click to expand...
its about what your adding not who your adding. a player like hyman or wilson adds something that a player like marner doesn't have, even if marner is the better player.
 
The captain conversation is weird, it will obviously be Crosby. People still complain about how stupid it was when CLarke picked Lindros to be the captain over Gretzky in 1998. Crosby is the leader, regardless of McDavid being the best player.

As for referees, the NHL insisted on NHL referees in games featuring mostly NHL players every time the NHL went to the Olympics. Until they announce otherwise it should be assumed that the referees will be NHL refs, not IIHF refs. The issue for someone like Wilson though is that the IIHF would be the ones reviewing hits, and obviously no fighting without suspension in IIHF events.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Avsfan1921
JackSlater said:
The captain conversation is weird, it will obviously be Crosby. People still complain about how stupid it was when CLarke picked Lindros to be the captain over Gretzky in 1998. Crosby is the leader, regardless of McDavid being the best player.

As for referees, the NHL insisted on NHL referees in games featuring mostly NHL players every time the NHL went to the Olympics. Until they announce otherwise it should be assumed that the referees will be NHL refs, not IIHF refs. The issue for someone like Wilson though is that the IIHF would be the ones reviewing hits, and obviously no fighting without suspension in IIHF events.
Click to expand...
Connor isn't a kid, like Sid was in 2010 at like 22 going on 23. Connor will be 29 at the games. But, still, best to leave it on Sid. Better to have it clear who to look to rather than some looking at non C Sid while some look to McDavid.

As for the roster, smaller ice surface in Italy vs the Olympic ice. Probably will play a factor, but not sure that will get Wilson onto the team. Since the games will be in Italy, see how the IIHF sets up the rosters. Is it a 23 or up to a 25 man roster? If you can go up to 25, then I can see them adding Wilson as one of the 2 spares and putting him in as needed. If it is 23, probably not. But, who knows who is playing well next season.
 
DJB said:
I can’t believe people are putting Hyman on this team. He’s carried by McDavid .

To me there are way better options with better players
Click to expand...
Hyman at least makes sense because he has proven to have a high degree of chemistry with McDavid, who has often struggled to develop chemistry with new Team Canada linemates. Now Canada can pick better players than Hyman, but they need to pick players with a similar scoring profile to Hyman or McDavid is wasted. And Canada doesn’t seem to want to do that either.

At the very least, Hyman is a much more defensible pick than Chris Kunitz, who looked very out of place in 2014.
 
StreetHawk said:
Connor isn't a kid, like Sid was in 2010 at like 22 going on 23. Connor will be 29 at the games. But, still, best to leave it on Sid. Better to have it clear who to look to rather than some looking at non C Sid while some look to McDavid.

As for the roster, smaller ice surface in Italy vs the Olympic ice. Probably will play a factor, but not sure that will get Wilson onto the team. Since the games will be in Italy, see how the IIHF sets up the rosters. Is it a 23 or up to a 25 man roster? If you can go up to 25, then I can see them adding Wilson as one of the 2 spares and putting him in as needed. If it is 23, probably not. But, who knows who is playing well next season.
Click to expand...
The 2026 Olympics will be on NHL sized ice. We should be expecting NHL referees on NHL ice. It won't be all that different than the four nations event. Presumably there will be 25 man rosters again, which is smarter than what the NHL has done at the four nations. I do agree that we will have to wait and see who is playing well during the 2026 season, or guys who likely (cough Scheifele) won't be as hot next year.
 
Bjorn Le said:
Hyman at least makes sense because he has proven to have a high degree of chemistry with McDavid, who has often struggled to develop chemistry with new Team Canada linemates. Now Canada can pick better players than Hyman, but they need to pick players with a similar scoring profile to Hyman or McDavid is wasted. And Canada doesn’t seem to want to do that either.

At the very least, Hyman is a much more defensible pick than Chris Kunitz, who looked very out of place in 2014.
Click to expand...
Chemistry will be less of an issue with more practice time, imo. Four Nations they had like a day or two to set something up (and the thing they tried was obviously bad). That said it can still be valuable to skip straight to "we know these players work together" in a tournament like this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ORRFForever
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom