Considering my friend, Kevin has attempted to do the same and the majority of the nation (or at least Alberta) has rolled over with the return of NHL hockey, I have taken it upon myself to create my own Team Sochi.
Part one will look at who will be returning from the 2010 squad and who will be absent. The second part coming later this week will focus on new additions.
Goaltending
Roberto Luongo
Marc-Andre Fleury (Flower Power, Really?!)
Easily one of the bigger stories to come out of Canada's experience in 2010 was the goaltending. Brodeur who was believed to be the saviour between the pipes never truly came to fruition. Spotty showings against the Swiss and US saw his fairy tale ending of being the goalie out there on the final whistle came to a halting end. So forgive me for not considering him for 2014, he'll be at home with his numerous records, stanley cup rings, two gold medals and awaiting a phone call from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
With that being said, it will leave goaltending to the likes of Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury. It's hard to say that it will be a drop in talent considering Bobbie Lou won out the final 4 games to win the gold for Canada. Between now and 2014 though the likelihood of Fleury becoming a more successful goaltender is a possibility. With Evgeni Malkin (Gino), Sidney Crosby (Sid), and Jordan Staal (no nickname for some reason, or the rest of the brothers for that matter. On top of that you have to refer to their whole name and not just the last name as you can with a lot of other NHLers, anyways)locked up long term. The odds of the pens returning to the finals year after year, seems inevitable. Will this success be enough to put Fleury over the top and maybe considered starter for 2014? Highly doubtful as Hockey Canada has shown great loyalty to the goalie position when it comes to choosing a starter. For Argument's sake though, shouldn't we set up some type of head to head/point-spread stat comparison competition for Fleury to possibly take that starting spot?
I'd say Fleury would have to win at least 2 more Cups, and 2 Vezinas. I must admit that is setting the bar pretty high for the young man from Sorel, Quebec but it has to be done. Considering that Luongo, situated on the west coast won't exactly be sitting on his laurels for winning one gold medal. He was brought to Vancouver for a team who has never had good goaltending. So definitely look for him to steal a cup away from Fleury (Canucks-Penguins finals anyone?)
Defence
Chris Pronger
Dan Boyle
Shea Weber
Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook
Drew Doughty
By far the easiest selections, out of the 3 groups. This D corps featured a perfect combination of youth and experience. Drew Doughty shined at Canada Hockey Place at the tender age of 20. He easily won me over as Canada's best D-Man by pulling off the same spin-o-rama move coming off the left wing 3 games in a row against the Swiss, the U.S., and the Germans. I felt maybe he kept it on the backburner after team Canada was up so many goals against the Russians in the quarterfinals. Word of caution though to any first round NHL playoff opponent, expect him to use it.
I'd love to believe Scott Niedermayer could play when he is 40, but for one I can't imagine how much more grey his beard could become. Secondly, the international ice will be a factor. I will say this though, out of three of them (Pronger, Niedermayer, and Boyle) I'd choose him if I had to take one older player on the back end. Pronger on the other hand somehow got slower and slower as the games progressed. Now add 4 years and a larger ice surface. It might sound funny if your an Oilers fan but when your team Canada hopes are on the line maybe not so funny. Boyle who has had impressive season with the Sharks at this point also had a good run at the Olympics but his style of play 4 years from now could be easily matched if not overtaken by the substitution with Mike Green (Seriously though this couldn't have been much of a surprise. In fact, I dare you to look at the leading defencemen point totals and tell me you would be surprised on picking Green.)
Forwards
Joe Thornton
Patrick Marleau
Brenden Morrow
Sidney Crosby
Rick Nash
Mike Richards
Ryan Getzlaf
Corey Perry
Eric Staal
Jonathan Toews
Jarome Iginla
If the Defence was the easiest selections, this by far was the most difficult. I sat in my 3 hour night class this week looking at the forwards who could carry the flame to Sochi in 4 years and it may have been one of the most difficult decisions as an armchair GM ever. 2nd most difficult, was the decision to not trade LBJ for Steve Nash and David Lee in fantasy basketball. Thinking about it really bothers me. My current situation in fantasy basketball is last place and I have LBJ! LeBron James! The heir apparent! The dude I was to trade with is in 1st place. Who by the way is a rookie in our fantasy basketball league. I swear I'm not bitter......Right the forwards, I've truly been stalling on these picks. Even when this will be posted I will probably regret the decision so if you notice a change in the picks on a later date. You're not crazy. Well you might be, because it meant you've visited this site twice and this post in particular. Which I must thank you and I truly do mean you cause I doubt anybody else reads this. Okay, seriously back to the forwards....
I'll admit it wasn't all that hard to take a few players off the team. The Patrice Bergeron experiment can only be considered the worst trial run since 3D TVs. Mark my words 3D TVs will fail. No way a whole family is going to watch movies and regular TV with those damn glasses on. What happens if I lose a pair in the couch? Am I to go to Future Shop, and buy a Monster brand pair of 3D glasses that the salesman will hype me up to buy for $50? I will not! Simply because cereal companies will be releasing those awesome cut out 3D glasses like they did back in the 90s. Alright seriously the Patrice Bergeron selection must have been the executive's belief that they had overlooked Marc Savard too many times. Realizing he was hurt so they convinced themselves to believe that Patrice Bergeron was somehow his reincarnation. Thus didn't need an invite to orientation as he was still recovering from his post-concussion syndrome. Not to mention that his offensive output during the season was not due to his regular second line duties, but his promotion to the first line. Guaranteed Savard gritted his teeth every time he saw Bergeron on the bench. I only say bench cause the probability of seeing him on the ice was much lower.
Now the tough part, it came down to four guys for me. The sharks line consisting of: Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla.
I'll start with the sharks' line as a whole. They performed admirably during the games and regular season. They've haunted me ever since I decided to draft Datsyuk after Thornton was picked thinking he'd be the only successful player on that line. Little did I know the chemistry they possessed. I had the pleasure of going to one of their games as they came to Edmonton on Nov. 27 as a gift from my girlfriend. I went in thinking I was going to be able to boo Heatley and see his line fail terribly. Instead I was treated to a Patrick Marleau hat trick and Pavelski SO winner. The only real positive came from seeing the Oilers Movember moustaches upclose and personal. (Wow)
That was then, 4 years from now Marleau will be shipped off somewhere else as he'll realize that winning in San Jose isn't possible and will be lured by a real contender, as his contract is up before both Thornton and Heatley's. He and the rest of the NHL loving public will realize that his stat totals, at least for this year and the next 2 will be a slight inflation of what they truly are. Ask Devin Setoguchi and Jonathan Cheechoo. It's truly a reflection of Thornton's play which at times is overlooked especially in the bigger light that is cast on his inability to show up for the big games. He's like the NHL version of Steve Nash. That being said, Marleau will be the first victim of my tough selection to remove from 2014 but don't worry Marleau always has that disappointed look on his face.
 |
As for the NHL version of Steve Nash. The international ice will play a factor for some of the older players hoping to play in Sochi, as alluded to my friend Kevin Der. 4 more years of Thornton in the NHL can only be seen as successful, hopefully in post-season play and a small decline in points. The large international ice in the Olympics will hamper him though. In addition, the depth of talent -- centre wise will allow for a transition to the youth.
The decision to keep Heatley was tough considering I let go of his current comrades. His talent on the wing can not be overlooked and to find a comparable young forward with his size and ability is difficult to find. He is also the youngest on the Sharks' line and will only be 33 when it comes to Sochi.
(Hey Aaron, I noticed you kept Iginla there at the bottom. Trying to sneak him on the team?) In a way yes, but this two time gold medal Olympian can't really sneak around. He is the only black guy to play for team Canada at the Olympic level. He also had 3 points in the 2002 Gold Medal game against the U.S. and fed the puck to Crosby on the GWG that Crosby himself has said, "I didn't really see it to be honest." Okay, the man from St. Albert will be 36 by the time Sochi rolls around but I do strongly suspect Iginla will be up to the task when 2014 arrives.
You forgot Brenden Morrow, you might be asking. Well, the dude married one of his former teammate's (Guy Carbonneau) daughter, one gold medal will do...... seriously.
SOTD - Telephone(feat. Beyonce) - Lady Gaga
No comments:
Post a Comment