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USA WC Roster

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Rabid Ranger said:
I was wondering about Mara as well, but perhaps he declined? The team has enough offensive types/pests, so I'm not surprised Connolly and Blake didn't get the nod (although I thought Blake was a sure thing from earlier news reports). As for Preissing, he plays a style that is represented by several of the D-men on the team all ready. No surprise he isn't there.
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Perhaps Mara did decline an invitation. I read that Blake committed to the team a while back, but he might have pulled a Scott Gomez a la 2004 and withdrawn. You say that Preissing plays a style similar to other blueliners on the team, but doesn't Hauer play that style as well? I've never seen the guy play, but I hear he's more of a finesse guy. He certainly isn't Scott Stevens. If I was Don Waddell for a day, I would chose Preissing over Hauer and establish a core group of young blueliners for the future (Leopold, Mara, Liles, Martin, Hale, Orpik).
 
CDeeps said:
Perhaps Mara did decline an invitation. I read that Blake committed to the team a while back, but he might have pulled a Scott Gomez a la 2004 and withdrawn. You say that Preissing plays a style similar to other blueliners on the team, but doesn't Hauer play that style as well? I've never seen the guy play, but I hear he's more of a finesse guy. He certainly isn't Scott Stevens. If I was Don Waddell for a day, I would chose Preissing over Hauer and establish a core group of young blueliners for the future (Leopold, Mara, Liles, Martin, Hale, Orpik).
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I don't think there is any doubt that USA Hockey is trying to "establish a core for the future." That's evident by the roster that has been selected. I'm not going to sit here and say that Brett Hauer is the best possible option, but he's going to be the 7th guy, so it's not really a big deal. He's a veteran with good puck moving skills and some size who is used to the international style game. I don't have a probelm with his addition.
 
Line Combos

Here's my proposed line combinations for Team USA:

York-Modano-Park (Modano needs guys who can fly)
Knuble-Weight-Parish (Good set-up man in Weight, goal-scorers in the other two
Cullen-Legwand-Gionta (Legwand is another speedy skater, as is Gionta)
Hall-Halpern-Cole (Gritty, physical line with goal scoring capability down low)
extra:probably Yan Stastny

Defense:

Gill-Leopold
Martin-Liles
Miller-Roach
extra: Hauer

Goal: 1. Conklin
2. DiPietro
3. T. Thomas
 
No Gomez

Well, there will be no Scott Gomez at this year's WC. Yan Stastny it is! Now if they had only named Eaton instead of Hauer, they would've had two Notre Dame guys on the team.
 
DownFromNJ said:
Ouch. Team USA needed Gomez there.
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He would have been a nice addition, but center is where the U.S. is fairly deep in this tournament (Modano, Weight, Legwand, and Halpern).
 
Yan Stastny plays center too, so I don't know why he's being considered. The team has enough centers at this point. Don't forget that Cullen is also a center but will probably shift to wing due to the logjam in the middle.
 
CDeeps said:
Yan Stastny plays center too, so I don't know why he's being considered. The team has enough centers at this point. Don't forget that Cullen is also a center but will probably shift to wing due to the logjam in the middle.
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Stastny isn't likely to get much action, so unless there is an injury or a blowout, he'll probably ride the pine.
 
Rabid Ranger said:
Stastny isn't likely to get much action, so unless there is an injury or a blowout, he'll probably ride the pine.
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You're right, Stastny probably won't see a lot of ice time. Which begs the question: Why is Team USA is selecting a player who won't be of any help? Waddell should pick a player who's going to contribute. I believe they're set up the middle, so Don should aim for another scoring winger. Maybe he should've considered Erik Westrum, a Phoenix wing who played for the AHL's Utah Grizzlies this season. He's a scrappy, hard-nosed player who performed well on last year's bronze medal-winning team. I thought about Chris Drury and Mike Grier, but they haven't played this season.

Wow, when I think about it, there really isn't a lot of American talent in the 20-30 range. We need the young guys (Parise, Kesler, Dustin Brown, Umberger, Patrick Eaves, etc.) to grow up, fast.
 
Rabid Ranger said:
Defense:

Leopold
Liles
Tanabe
Martin
Gill
Miller
Roach

Possibly one more spot could be filled, perhaps by Rafalski.

.
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i love the defense for the us, aside from gill.. it'll be great to see martin/liles/leopold all running powerplays with tanabe sprinkled in
 
andora said:
i love the defense for the us, aside from gill.. it'll be great to see martin/liles/leopold all running powerplays with tanabe sprinkled in
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Tanabe isn't playing. Brett Hauer is the seventh man. Hal Gill had a great year in Finland and a good World Cup as well before he was injured. I like the size he'll bring.
 
nomorekids said:
Tanabe isn't playing. Brett Hauer is the seventh man. Hal Gill had a great year in Finland and a good World Cup as well before he was injured. I like the size he'll bring.
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I like Hal Gill too. Last year's bronze medal team didn't include many goal scorers, so the team utilized their size and strength to score hard-fought goals. Big guys like Gill, Miller and Grier were instrumental in achieving their third place finish. This year Team USA needs Miller, Gill, Cole, and Hall to set the tone with their punishing style.

Check out this article by Scott Burnside on ESPN.com
(One error on Burnside's part: He lists Team USA's first opponent as Slovakia, when it's acutally Slovenia. Close, they're both Slavic and they're not too far from each other, but Slovakia has much better hockey players.)
 
Rabid Ranger said:
Stastny isn't likely to get much action, so unless there is an injury or a blowout, he'll probably ride the pine.
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I thought that Yan Stastny was from Quebec?
 
am i the only one wondering about the goal scoring ofthis team? a lot of guys who can chip in - but imo not a lot of guys who are tough to keep off the scoring sheet. obviously modano and weight are studs - but mike isnt coming off his best performance and most likely isnt in the greatest shape - and weight just isnt a sniper. knuble had a great year and parrish is capable - but they both seem so streaky. they will need to have a couple of guys get hot. i think the forward group is fast, young and good - just not all that dangerous as shooters.
 
Rabid Ranger said:
Me too! Pretty cool. By the way, here's an article that says that the remaining forward slot is being reserved for Scott Gomez, but if his team (the Aces) makes the 2nd round of the ECHL playoffs, Yan Stasny will join the roster. He was 4th in the DEL in scoring this year: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/2005-04-14-worlds-training_x.htm
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Yan Stasny... Any connection to Peter Štastný? Or the other two?
 
Morrass said:
Hal Gill in the first pairing scares me.
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He's played well in the lats two international tournaments for the U.S. and brings some size and strength to more of a finesse oriented group. He'll be fine.
 
Morrass said:
I thought that Yan Stastny was from Quebec?
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I think both and he and Paul were born in Quebec but were raised in St.Louis, Mo. They both compete internationally for the United States.
 
bleedgreen said:
am i the only one wondering about the goal scoring ofthis team? a lot of guys who can chip in - but imo not a lot of guys who are tough to keep off the scoring sheet. obviously modano and weight are studs - but mike isnt coming off his best performance and most likely isnt in the greatest shape - and weight just isnt a sniper. knuble had a great year and parrish is capable - but they both seem so streaky. they will need to have a couple of guys get hot. i think the forward group is fast, young and good - just not all that dangerous as shooters.
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Yeah, I don't think this team is going to blow anyone out of the water offensively, but that might not be necessary if the team plays to it's strengths. The team, does have two ace playmakers though, and a few guys that can score in bunches, like mark Parrish.
 
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