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Olympics: USA Roster Discussion (Roster in post 1)

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usahockey22flyers said:
Sorry to bring this up, and I know this probably wont stop this from being posted again in this thread 5 more times, but...this is an injustice to the 20 men who just gave everything they had to their country for 60 minutes and 38 seconds.

Most of these players have taken non-traditional paths in foreign leagues to keep earning a paycheck and for the older guys...to get a chance to represent their country for the first time, and probably the last time.

From here on out, I hope the discussion in this thread is aimed about the GAMES! ... about how cool it is to see these guys play together, despite being castaways for a lot of strictly NHL fans. Not sure if anyone listens to Spittin Chiclets, but Ryan Whitney talks all the time about how skilled players in the minors/Europe are, sometimes it just doesn't work out for them in the NHL.

Lets continue to support them and especially our women, as they are freaking amazing, their World Championship overtime win vs Canada in 2017 was one of the best hockey games I've ever watched, right up there with Parise/Crosby in Vancouver 2010.

If the NHL guys are so distraught about missing the Olympics, I expect the ones who are available to show up in Denmark this May for the World Championship.
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I always support any of the guys who show up for the team and talking about the nhl not going at this point is ancient history. That said. This team just lost to Slovenia. It’s one of the lower points of USA hockey. There’s no feel good story here.
 
Rabid Husky said:
Lasch was on the Deutschland Cup team and did nothing. That was basically his audition and he didn't perform. May not be entirely "right" but i can see why he was left off.
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True, but if the Deutschland Cup was the be-all-end-all, a majority of the current players shouldn't be on the team as they didn't perform either.
 
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What otherwise would have been a pretty good effort by the team is ruined by Zapolski's terribly soft goal. Not only did it gift Slovakia they're only goal, but it killed the momentum after Donato's goal. The 5 or so minutes after that Zapolski gift was the only time Slovakia did anything worthwhile offensively.

USAH leaving Gaudette home was already indefensible, but watching the way Terry, Donato, and Greenway are driving most of the positive offensive play for the team makes that omission even more egregious.
 
William H Bonney said:
True, but if the Deutschland Cup was the be-all-end-all, a majority of the current players shouldn't be on the team as they didn't perform either.
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No they didn't...but Lasch is mostly a scorer...if he isn't scoring...he doesn't have much else...and he sure didn't there.
Maybe he would be better here but his previous USA showings say it's not likely.
 
William H Bonney said:
What otherwise would have been a pretty good effort by the team is ruined by Zapolski's terribly soft goal. Not only did it gift Slovakia they're only goal, but it killed the momentum after Donato's goal. The 5 or so minutes after that Zapolski gift was the only time Slovakia did anything worthwhile offensively.

USAH leaving Gaudette home was already indefensible, but watching the way Terry, Donato, and Greenway are driving most of the positive offensive play for the team makes that omission even more egregious.
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I agree with you 100%. Watching these first 4+ periods has just reinforced my belief that they should have gone with way more college kids. At least 50%+ of the team. Sure that team would have a lower floor, but they also would have had a higher ceiling.

Also, only having the team together for a handful of practices was a terrible idea. They really should have put the team together in the summer and have them play together in exhibitions/tournaments for several months before the olympics. The team has terrible chemistry, and the offensive sets and defensive coverage are pretty bad as well.

As usual, USA Hockey's decision-making is disappointing.
 
Can we please abandon the Wisniewski PP experiment? Only USAH would bring a player to play premium PP minutes but not trust them to touch the ice in any other situation.
 
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They got the win and looked better tonight than they did against Slovenia. Their skating is still their best asset, the face-off advantage was huge tonight, and the team wasn't giving away the puck like it was Christmas morning as they did with Slovenia.

The kids are all right, the vets are not. Billins was fantastic tonight.

This team is going to have to win close games, but let's not kid ourselves either because Team USA should rarely be losing to Slovakia and especially Slovenia, so the fact that they're not 2-0 right now is still a huge disappointment.
 
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I probably know 5 guys, personally, who are better than current members of this USA team....

Some of these guys have absolutely NO BUSINESS being on a Team USA Olympic roster. Unbelievable.

Half of the roster...are guys well out of their prime... And these weren't exactly special players to begin with....

This team should have been all guys 20-25...with a handful of veterans....

Here's a hot take for those running USA hockey. Most of the pro leagues in Europe are equivalent to the top beer leagues in North America. Bringing in a bunch of guys from those leagues was a horrible mistake.
 
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This is not meant as a dis to those who are out their right not...but...Watching how well the college kids skate and the endless effort they put out drives home again as to why it should have been a NCAA based roster. They could have set up at least a 20 game schedule for the to gel as a unit. Too bad.
 
Xokkeu said:
If you think there are better players out there at least name them
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Off top of my head
F's
Gaudette-N'eastern
Gambrell-Denver
Stevens-N'eastern
Eisseymont-St Cloud
Laszynski-Ohio st
Mittlestadt-Minn
Possibly
Bellows-BU
Tkachuk-BU

D
Brickley-Minn st
Belpedio-Miami
Wolanin-N Dakota
Rauhauser-B Green
Possibly
Schuldt-St Cloud
Fox-Harvard
 
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Like I said the Slovenia game might have woken them up...a little. They didn't look great last not - not at all. But they were better.


That said I watched some of Russia and they are fun to watch...and good. That USA Russia game is going to be good tomorrow morning!
 
I'm watching the re-run of Russia and Slovenia right now (watched 1st period live last night) and they are PUNKING Slovenia. So bad it makes you wonder what the hell was USA thinking losing to them?


It's like watching a DI team versus a DIII Team.
 
Pez68 said:
Here's a hot take for those running USA hockey. Most of the pro leagues in Europe are equivalent to the top beer leagues in North America. Bringing in a bunch of guys from those leagues was a horrible mistake.
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That's quite the hot take....
If by beer league you mean top Senior AAA clubs (aka Allen Cup level teams), then yeah, they're probably equivalent to SerieA, DEL2, EIHL, etc. (I'm basing this on guys I know who have played in these various leagues).
The KHL, NLA, SHL and other top european leagues are simply on another level though. Seriously, the north Americans who are over there in those leagues right now were College or Major Junior standouts, were good/great in the AHL, and many even had a decent NHL career. You simply can't say the same about beer leagues!
 
swoopster said:
This is not meant as a dis to those who are out their right not...but...Watching how well the college kids skate and the endless effort they put out drives home again as to why it should have been a NCAA based roster. They could have set up at least a 20 game schedule for the to gel as a unit. Too bad.
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I said that above.


Middlestadt, for example, I think could have been an asset on our team. Numerous others.


The jury is still out...they looked better last morning/night (who knows what time of day it is I'm losing my mind trying to watch/keep up with the hockey games) but Russia made Slovenia look like a DIII team this morning.


the USA Russia game is going to be good! Alarm is set so I'm watching it live...
 
They said they would not double dip and select guys from the WJC for the Olympics and that is probably a mistake.

These are guys not at the Olympics from the 2017 WJC gold medal team that should be.
Fox
Bellows
Lindgren

Also mentioned earlier are the Northeastern and Denver kids.
There's some US talent in the CHL like Yamamoto (and Bellows now too).

They can still win a medal but those vets are going to have to work a lot harder.
 
Mickey the mouse said:
Off top of my head...
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Without including WJC players (per USAH not wanting to double dip), here's my All-NCAA Roster...

FORWARD
Donato (HU / 21-10-31) – Terry (DU / 11-21-32) – Gambrell (DU / 11-23-34)
Suess (MSUM / 17-18-35) – Gaudette (NU / 24-23-47) – Sheehy (MN / 12-11-23)
Jackson (SCSU / 14-17-31) – Eyssimont (SCSU / 12-18-30) – Halloran (CC / 17-23-40)
Greenway (BU / 9-16-25) – Laczynski (OSU / 12-25-37) – Pinho (PC / 11-15-26)
Foley (PC / 13-19-32)
Stevens (NU / 20-13-33)
Carpenter (BU / 17-11-28)

Also Considered: Marody (UM), Calderone (UM), Oglevie (ND), Pitlick (MN), Weis (OSU), Jobst (OSU), Joshua (OSU), Sturtz (PSU), Berger (PSU), Wagner (UW), Bergh (CC), Gersich (UND), Vesel (UNO), Scarfo (UC), Snively (YU), Ferguson (RMU), McLoughlin (CAN)

DEFENSE
Brickley (MSUM / 8-20-28, +13) – Gross (ND / 7-15-22, +10)
Schuldt (SCSU / 6-22-28, +21) – Borgen (SCSU / 2-10-12, +10)
Wolanin (UND / 9-16-25, +11) – Belpedio (MU / 9-17-26, +2)
Rauhauser (BGSU / 7-26-33, +14)
Hamilton (PSU / 4-19-23, +8)

Also Considered: Hutton (MU), Bryson (PC), Poolman (UND), Fitzgerald (BC), Nuttle (CU), Sherman (HU), Marino (HU), Priskie (QU), Frye (UAF)

GOALIE
Morris (ND / .950, .1.75)
Kielly (CLK / .934, 1.74)
Madsen (HU / .922, 2.20)

Also Considered: Hawkey (PC), Hayton (UW), Johnson (UND), Kupsky (UC), Blitzer (BSU)
 
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