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Hawk Players In The World Cup |
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The 2016 World Cup Of Hockey rosters have been announced and, for the Blackhawks, the usual suspects are where you'd expect them to be:
Crawford
Keith
Toews
Kempny
Hossa
Pokka
Teravainen
Anisimov
Panarin
Hjalmarsson
Kruger
Kane
OK, there's a new wrinkle here. Defenseman Ville Pokka is the only AHL player in the tournament (at this point), named to Team Finland's roster. That's fairly remarkable. And speaks perhaps to Pokka's development over the last year or so.
Except when you consider that the likes of Sami Lepisto is also on Team Finland's roster.
I like international hockey. Some of the most fun I ever had watching the game was the 1996 World Cup, when a balanced U.S. team took Gold over a big, bruising Team Canada and a technically brilliant, creative Russian squad.
There are always contenders and pretenders in every tournament. Finland, which won the World Championship in 2005 on a goal scored by then Hawk forward Tuomo Ruutu, for example, is often a legit contender, but looks weak this year.
For the last five years or so, in the World Juniors and other tourneys, the teams to beat seem to have consistently been Sweden, Canada and perhaps Russia. And for those teams, and in those countries, international bragging rights matter. Here in the U.S., where hockey struggles to maintain a level of importance above soccer, international hockey has not really been a cultural phenomenon since 1980. It certainly matters to the players and coaches, but there's simply a lot less pressure and expectation in the U.S.
It's an honor and a nice opportunity for Pokka, even if he is playing on a less than stellar blue line. But a couple of other Hawk players named to national team rosters bear discussing: Marcus Kruger for Team Sweden, and Michal Kempny for the Czech Republic.
Kruger's selection (yet again) to a fairly stacked Team Sweden roster may provide an "instructive moment" for some Hawk fans who still adamantly refuse to see his value. Joel Quennneville, Stan and Scotty Bowman have zero influence on Swedish hockey. Kruger is on Team Sweden, as he has been consistently for several years going back to World Junior play 8-9 years ago, because he is a useful player who helps win hockey games. And that's what Sweden seems to be looking to do, not just with Kruger, but also adding a player like Patric Hornqvist—over perhaps flashier, more offensively-minded players.
Kempny, like Pokka, is playing for a team that isn't as strong this year as in years past. But Hawk fans who tune in to the games in September will get a nice preview of his abilities.
While the World Cup is dismissed by some as just a meaningless endeavor in marketing by the players' association, I'm excited to watch this year.
All I have for now. Enjoy the holiday weekend here in the U.S..
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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