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The Olympic Ranger Thread

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http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=704337&navid=DL|NHL|home

Who plays with Suter will be a story to monitor, but young right-handed shooters John Carlson, Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk all could be capable in that spot. Expect coach Dan Bylsma to use his Pittsburgh Penguins duo of Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik together as a defensive-minded pairing while Cam Fowler and Ryan McDonagh could also be vital players for this club.
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Not mentioning McDonagh until the very end of that paragraph is absolute ignorance. If they dont want to play lefty lefty on the top pair thats fine, but McDonagh very well could be the 2nd best defenseman on Team USA. I dont think its debatable that hes top 4.

Obviously, I wont cry if they dont play him top minutes, but jesus come on. John Carlson? Really?
 
So it looks like Stepan is going to be a scratch, barring injuries? That's disappointing, but every other center on that list is legitimately better than him, so I guess it's only fair...
 
HockeyBasedNYC said:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=704337&navid=DL|NHL|home



Not mentioning McDonagh until the very end of that paragraph is absolute ignorance. If they dont want to play lefty lefty on the top pair thats fine, but McDonagh very well could be the 2nd best defenseman on Team USA. I dont think its debatable that hes top 4.

Obviously, I wont cry if they dont play him top minutes, but jesus come on. John Carlson? Really?
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I really don't think it's all that debatable that McDonagh is the 2nd best D on that roster. He should be 2LD without a doubt.
 
OverTheCap said:
Interesting, would probably switch MaxPac with Brown. Parise-Backes-Oshie could be a real pain in the ass to play against.
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Pretty much my thoughts. Like using pairs for chemistry in Backes-Oshie and JVR-Kessel.

Dislike the lack of a shutdown line which should be a US strength. Switching Brown and Patches would help. But then maybe the 4th line is prime to get exposed on big ice.
 
A lot of the coverage I've seen regarding the USA blue line has been about Suter, which is justified, but also the guys like Carlson and Shattenkirk. It's amazing that McDonagh gets treated like a bubble guy when he's clearly the 2nd best defender on that roster. The inclusion of Orpik is laughable, IMO. The guy is definitely going to be exposed on the big ice. At least Martin can skate.
 
Revelation said:
So it looks like Stepan is going to be a scratch, barring injuries? That's disappointing, but every other center on that list is legitimately better than him, so I guess it's only fair...
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Wouldn't call it a surprise considering the way he's been playing recently. He hasn't exactly been fireworks on the ice.
 
Zuccarello on ice for his first practice with the Norwegian team.

1ed4ab9374866c2f882fe988a640de27.png
 
Considering the symbolic value of what the Olympics are supposed to stand for (peaceful world unity - in competition), I find it exceedingly petty of the NHL to not want to release their players for the competition.

You wont find a single player that will tell you "You know what, I dont want to represent my country in the Olympics" - this is only a suit issue.

** Edit, The NHL are being heavily compensated by the IOC for their participation, so they are not sending the players over there by the goodness of their hearts
 
Trxjw said:
A lot of the coverage I've seen regarding the USA blue line has been about Suter, which is justified, but also the guys like Carlson and Shattenkirk. It's amazing that McDonagh gets treated like a bubble guy when he's clearly the 2nd best defender on that roster. The inclusion of Orpik is laughable, IMO. The guy is definitely going to be exposed on the big ice. At least Martin can skate.
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Totally agree with the Oprik bashing. Guy isn't even that great of a top-4 NHL d-man right now. Let alone on the big ice surface. Sad that Erik Johnson didn't make this team. That guy is the Avs defense and was the US's #1 d-man in Vancouver.

My feeling?

Suter-Shattenkirk
McDonagh-Faulk
Fowler/Martin-Carlson

Orpik
 
I still cannot understand why Brown is on this team. I guess, when they made the rosters, we weren't that far into the season, and thought he'd improve.

But, then they gave him the A, so he more or less has to play.

16 points in 58 games...

Couldn't they bring Brian Boyle instead? He's scoring at pretty much the same pace, and can kill penalties.


And, now he's with Kesler and Kane. okay. :facepalm:
 
I think we might see:

Suter - Carlson
McDonagh - Fowler
Martin - Shattenkirk

Shattenkirk is an okay ES player, but he's really on the team for how effective he can be on the PP. Hence he gets sheltered minutes and likely the bulk of PP time. Suter and Carlson become the real shutdown pairing.
 
Trxjw said:
I think we might see:

Suter - Carlson
McDonagh - Fowler
Martin - Shattenkirk

Shattenkirk is an okay ES player, but he's really on the team for how effective he can be on the PP. Hence he gets sheltered minutes and likely the bulk of PP time. Suter and Carlson become the real shutdown pairing.
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Sarah Kwak ‏@SI_sarahkwak 14m
I *THINK* d pairs are:
Fowler-Suter; mcdonagh-Carlson; shattenkirk-Martin; orpik-Faulk
 
aufheben said:
I'm gonna be pissed if Bylsma/Orpik cost this team a medal.

Edit: nvm, Orpik isn't in the top-6. I like the pairings.
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I'm more worried about certain wingers not getting enough time...they seem to go with to many grity players

The fact that brown made it over ryan still makes me mad
 
Kreider said:
Sarah Kwak ‏@SI_sarahkwak 14m
I *THINK* d pairs are:
Fowler-Suter; mcdonagh-Carlson; shattenkirk-Martin; orpik-Faulk
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I was close. :laugh:

Good on Fowler. Kid has really turned into a fantastic all-around player. I know the McIlrath vs Tarasenko thing has been beaten to death, but I was blown away when we passed on Cam.
 
Trxjw said:
I was close. :laugh:

Good on Fowler. Kid has really turned into a fantastic all-around player. I know the McIlrath vs Tarasenko thing has been beaten to death, but I was blown away when we passed on Cam.
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I was so happy when he fell to us. And then we passed on him.....


:(
 
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