Team Canada Four Nations roster predictions?

Lightsol

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
5,283
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Sounds like this is the final roster...


That goaltending, though :help:

Also, what is WITH the hockey media trying to convince Canada that Bedard should be there because "FIRST OVERALL"? nhl.com has an article literally demanding Bedard be on the team, along with Lafrieniere, because "FIRST OVERALL! THE FUTURE!"

Surprised they're not demanding Celebrini, too...
 

MilkofthePoppy

Registered User
Oct 27, 2022
1,099
1,911
I don’t know Mitch Marner personally, but the drama surrounding him is something I’ve grown tired of.
  • The Gilmour name-dropping and incorporating his number into Marner’s salary. A clear PR move by Marner's camp, despite the fact Marner was only five when Gilmour retired, and they’re vastly different players.
  • The offer-sheet drama.
  • The LeBron-like "Letter to Fans" after signing his massive contract—again with the Leaf greats namedropping.
  • His dad complaining to the media about Marner not being in captaincy discussions.
  • His dad calling Gilmour to complain about Babcock.
  • The endless whining about media and social media scrutiny.
  • Frequently turning questions about teammates into comments about himself.
  • The childish dancing.
  • The need for the big goalie hugs and cliche sports superstions, "being the last player off the ice."
  • The big hats and mickey mouse outfits.
  • Tone-deaf statements like, "We’re treated like gods."
  • Constantly framing things as "me and Auston"—more name-dropping.
  • His contradictory statements... "you guys (leaf fans) expect alot and I wouldnt have it any other way" in his letter to fans..but then hes the biggest complainer about social media and criticism. Criticism that is more than warranted for a team who has one series winnin 8 years. Or calling the playoffs a war and the hardest trophy to win in sports, but then also being the softest player in the series, not playing physical and avoiding physical areas. Two seperate broadcasts did segments on his unspiring efforts vs Boston and there are numerous videos of him "pulling the chute".
No other Leaf generates anything close to this level of circus.

Individually, I could tolerate a couple of these. But taken together, it’s a mountain of attention-seeking and drama that has become a distraction for the team. If he ACTUALLY played with Gilmour's heart, maybe I could accept some of the attention seeking behavior, but his play doesnt back up his behavior. His perception of himself is much bigger than his play.

He reminds me of P.K. Subban in Montreal and P.K wore out his welcome in Montreal because of his antics.

However, even with the drama aside, I dont think soft, slow, perimeter players with weak shots can drive a line in the playoffs. Ive been correct in this assessment for the past 5 years. AND the money he gets, he absolutely should drive a line.

What about wearing an Indiana Jones hat after blowing a 3-0 against Columbus? LOL...
 

Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
19,244
7,665
Orillia, Ontario
Besides Crosby, Makar, Mackinnon, and McDavid this looks like a fairly average Canadian roster in comparison to what we saw assembled in the 90s and early 2000s. Our 2002 Olympic Team was the f***ing Galacticos.

In retrospect, it looks better now than it did at the time. Many of those guys were either past their primes or had not yet become what they eventually did.
 

francis246

Registered User
Nov 16, 2007
14,692
18,244
I don’t know Mitch Marner personally, but the drama surrounding him is something I’ve grown tired of.
  • The Gilmour name-dropping and incorporating his number into Marner’s salary. A clear PR move by Marner's camp, despite the fact Marner was only five when Gilmour retired, and they’re vastly different players.
  • The offer-sheet drama.
  • The LeBron-like "Letter to Fans" after signing his massive contract—again with the Leaf greats namedropping.
  • His dad complaining to the media about Marner not being in captaincy discussions.
  • His dad calling Gilmour to complain about Babcock.
  • The endless whining about media and social media scrutiny.
  • Frequently turning questions about teammates into comments about himself.
  • The childish dancing.
  • The need for the big goalie hugs and cliche sports superstions, "being the last player off the ice."
  • The big hats and mickey mouse outfits.
  • Tone-deaf statements like, "We’re treated like gods."
  • Constantly framing things as "me and Auston"—more name-dropping.
  • His contradictory statements... "you guys (leaf fans) expect alot and I wouldnt have it any other way" in his letter to fans..but then hes the biggest complainer about social media and criticism. Criticism that is more than warranted for a team who has one series winnin 8 years. Or calling the playoffs a war and the hardest trophy to win in sports, but then also being the softest player in the series, not playing physical and avoiding physical areas. Two seperate broadcasts did segments on his unspiring efforts vs Boston and there are numerous videos of him "pulling the chute".
No other Leaf generates anything close to this level of circus.

Individually, I could tolerate a couple of these. But taken together, it’s a mountain of attention-seeking and drama that has become a distraction for the team. If he ACTUALLY played with Gilmour's heart, maybe I could accept some of the attention seeking behavior, but his play doesnt back up his behavior. His perception of himself is much bigger than his play.

He reminds me of P.K. Subban in Montreal and P.K wore out his welcome in Montreal because of his antics.

However, even with the drama aside, I dont think soft, slow, perimeter players with weak shots can drive a line in the playoffs. Ive been correct in this assessment for the past 5 years. AND the money he gets, he absolutely should drive a line.

Lmao, no PK Subban stuff was just an organization that was being haters. Many players have come out and defended Subban . Subban himself has spoken on the situation. Subban had his own brand and he liked wearing his own stuff. The organization was afraid that PK was becoming more popular than the Canadiens brand. Which is crazy, how can an organization with 100 years of history be so insecure about a player being popular in the market he plays in. That’s why he was traded and that trade did not go over well in the locker room. There were a lot of players pissed off, some happy. We also know that Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher threw PK under the bus to management as they wanted to be captain. The fans loved PK and still love PK. That situation is not even remotely the same as Marner, the PK situation was rooted in locker room jealousy that ended up destroying the room. PK didn’t do anything besides be himself and that rubbed management and a few players the wrong way.

The only parallels I see between the two is that for some reason in hockey, having a personality is a cardinal sin. Its archaic. Having personality is good and it increases viewership. It’s crazy how we celebrate Greb for walking out of entrance 5 and doing street interviews ect and doing a YouTube video but we shit on PK for having his own brand and Marner for dancing on a boat. It’s all the same.
 
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ACC1224

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Marner isn't the one creating the circus. You are. Everybody that actually interacts with him and 99% of fans love him.
He was always a guaranteed lock for this team. Everybody else is able to recognize how good he is.
He would have been penciled into the lineup the moment the tournament was announced.
 

TheTotalPackage

Registered User
Sep 14, 2006
7,657
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Marner is a lock for this tournament, and for the Olympics.

Say what you want about him, he is one of the most talented players in the league, let alone Canadian players.

Plus, do we see some of the forward names being bandied about as being on the team? Marner is better than half of them.
 

Antropovsky

Registered User
Jun 2, 2007
15,553
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Lmao, no PK Subban stuff was just an organization that was being haters. Many players have come out and defended Subban . Subban himself has spoken on the situation. Subban had his own brand and he liked wearing his own stuff. The organization was afraid that PK was becoming more popular than the Canadiens brand. Which is crazy, how can an organization with 100 years of history be so insecure about a player being popular in the market he plays in. That’s why he was traded and that trade did not go over well in the locker room. There were a lot of players pissed off, some happy. We also know that Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher threw PK under the bus to management as they wanted to be captain. The fans loved PK and still love PK. That situation is not even remotely the same as Marner, the PK situation was rooted in locker room jealousy that ended up destroying the room. PK didn’t do anything besides be himself and that rubbed management and a few players the wrong way.

The only parallels I see between the two is that for some reason in hockey, having a personality is a cardinal sin. Its archaic. Having personality is good and it increases viewership. It’s crazy how we celebrate Greb for walking out of entrance 5 and doing street interviews ect and doing a YouTube video but we shit on PK for having his own brand and Marner for dancing on a boat. It’s all the same.
Interesting. Though I disagree, I dont think personality has anything to do with Marners dad calling up Dougie to complain about Babs, or going to the media to complain about Marner not being in Captaincy talk... or Marner constantly complaining about social media and reporters or apparently having private security harrass the media. Or his Lebron James like letter to the fans etc.... none of these are "personality". As usual, you've skimmed over these points and focused only on the ones that suit your argument.

Ill add that nobody brought uo the boat dancing - but you. Which is interesting. I brought up the boat dancing video months ago to highlight that he has the body of a 15 year old and that he doesnt train. Certain posters said I was wrong, that it was genetics. Which is interesting because this past summer Tree and Berube and Matthews couldnt stop talking about how Marner put in the work this summer. Which again supports my argument that Marner hadnt been taiking training seriously and was a reason he hasnt progressed and is easily knocked around. Recall that M.Jordan said he didnt like that he was so weak and put alot of work in the offseason getting stronger. Which is what most athletes do.
 
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TMLBlueandWhite

Knies Is The Next Hyman But Better
Feb 2, 2023
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Lmao, no PK Subban stuff was just an organization that was being haters. Many players have come out and defended Subban . Subban himself has spoken on the situation. Subban had his own brand and he liked wearing his own stuff. The organization was afraid that PK was becoming more popular than the Canadiens brand. Which is crazy, how can an organization with 100 years of history be so insecure about a player being popular in the market he plays in. That’s why he was traded and that trade did not go over well in the locker room. There were a lot of players pissed off, some happy. We also know that Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher threw PK under the bus to management as they wanted to be captain. The fans loved PK and still love PK. That situation is not even remotely the same as Marner, the PK situation was rooted in locker room jealousy that ended up destroying the room. PK didn’t do anything besides be himself and that rubbed management and a few players the wrong way.

The only parallels I see between the two is that for some reason in hockey, having a personality is a cardinal sin. Its archaic. Having personality is good and it increases viewership. It’s crazy how we celebrate Greb for walking out of entrance 5 and doing street interviews ect and doing a YouTube video but we shit on PK for having his own brand and Marner for dancing on a boat. It’s all the same.

I thought Subban got traded cause he kept beating up his own teammates in practice.

He dummied quite a few of them over the years. He was hated in the dressing room. He didn't outgrow the team..

He didn't grow up at all.
 

fahad203

Registered User
Oct 3, 2009
39,113
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Marner isn't the one creating the circus. You are. Everybody that actually interacts with him and 99% of fans love him.
He was always a guaranteed lock for this team. Everybody else is able to recognize how good he is.

Marner is the player Leafs fan wanted for ages. I mean for ages we haven't had two way player that can score and play an all around game

Maybe people would have been happy with Dylan Strome who has done nothing in NHL except for two decent seasons. Or perhaps Pavel Zacha who has been a flop

A classic case of not appreciating or knowing what you have. Mitch Marner is legitely one of the best players in the league
 

francis246

Registered User
Nov 16, 2007
14,692
18,244
Interesting. Though I disagree, I dont think personality has anything to do with Marners dad calling up Dougie to complain about Babs, or going to the media to complain about Marner not being in Captaincy talk... or Marner constantly complaining about social media and reporters or apparently having private security harrass the media. Or his Lebron James like letter to the fans etc.... none of these are "personality". As usual, you've skimmed over these points and focused only on the ones that suit your argument.

Ill add that nobody brought uo the boat dancing - but you. Which is interesting. I brought up the boat dancing video months ago to highlight that he has the body of a 15 year old and that he doesnt train. Certain posters said I was wrong, that it was genetics. Which is interesting because this past summer Tree and Berube and Matthews couldnt stop talking about how Marner put in the work this summer. Which again supports my argument that Marner hadnt been taiking training seriously and was a reason he hasnt progressed and is easily knocked around. Recall that M.Jordan said he didnt like that he was so weak and put alot of work in the offseason getting stronger. Which is what most athletes do.

If Marner’s dad complains what does that have to do with Marner? That’s his dad complaining. I think that’s just a dad being over protective of his teenage son at the time. Why are we getting mad at Marner over his dad’s actions? Even if Marner felt away about Babcock, none of that stuff came out until after Babcock was fired. So did he really create a big thing about it? No Marner was quiet for 3+ years.


Anyways I don’t want to hijack this thread and make it about Marner. He’s gonna make team Canada, so congrats to him!
 
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francis246

Registered User
Nov 16, 2007
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I thought Subban got traded cause he kept beating up his own teammates in practice.

He dummied quite a few of them over the years. He was hated in the dressing room. He didn't outgrow the team..

He didn't grow up at all.

Nahh, he did a tell all a few years ago. Management told him they felt like he was more into his brand than being a Canadien. He says it wasn’t like that for him, he loved being a Canadian, trade was hard for him. But he also wanted to create a brand for himself so that he has something of his own besides hockey. Gallagher and Pacioretty turned the room against him basically, Gallagher more so. They went to management and basically sold him out. He’s still close with Price and few of the others, so I think the room was split on him possibly. Either way, trade worked out for both teams. Nashville made a Cup finals with Subban and MTL made a cup finals with Weber
 
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ACC1224

Super Elite, Passing ALL Tests since 2002
Aug 19, 2002
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Nahh, he did a tell all a few years ago. Management told him they felt like he was more into his brand than being a Canadien. He says it wasn’t like that for him, he loved being a Canadian, trade was hard for him. But he also wanted to create a brand for himself so that he has something of his own besides hockey. Gallagher and Pacioretty turned the room against him basically, Gallagher more so. They went to management and basically sold him out. He’s still close with Price and few of the others, so I think the room was split on him possibly. Either way, trade worked out for both teams. Nashville made a Cup finals with Subban and MTL made a cup finals with Weber
Big difference between the two is Marner is very popular with all players in the room
 
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Antropovsky

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Jun 2, 2007
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If Marner’s dad complains what does that have to do with Marner? That’s his dad complaining. I think that’s just a dad being over protective of his teenage son at the time. Why are we getting mad at Marner over his dad’s actions? Even if Marner felt away about Babcock, none of that stuff came out until after Babcock was fired. So did he really create a big thing about it? No Marner was quiet for 3+ years.


Anyways I don’t want to hijack this thread and make it about Marner. He’s gonna make team Canada, so congrats to him!
Again, you addressed just one more item on the list of drama that surrounds Marner. The only difference between what I said and what your doing is that I listed the drama in one post and you are addressing them one post at a time, but its clear there is a list of drama that surrounds Marner and only Marner. Matthews, Nylander and Tavares don't have the drama.

Sure let's move on.
 
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fahad203

Registered User
Oct 3, 2009
39,113
22,895
Verhaeghe is clutching a -16 rating this year.
He hasn't just been bad, he has been HORRIBLE.

Still a great player though. That number isn't just reflective of his performance.
I think he definitely should get a consideration
 

1specter

Registered User
Sep 27, 2016
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Cirelli, Jarvis and arguably Bennett being named over guys like JT, Barzal and Verhaeghe is pretty funny.
 

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