Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Which Penguins Are Playing With Who In World Cup?

September 7, 2016, 10:43 AM ET [45 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
As the World Cup of hockey draws closer the specificities of each teams lineups will start to become more clear. Pittsburgh has a number of players who are taking part in this tournament and include the following players: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist, Carl Hagelin, and Matt Murray. Here are some updates about those players and what their roles appear to be on those teams.

Sidney Crosby

Crosby is going to be the Captain for Team Canada again. He is also going to be their number one center. His linemates will make Bruins fans drool.




Sidney Crosby has some positive experience playing with Patrice Bergeron in international competitions. Brad Marchand has been training with Crosby this summer. That is going to be an excellent line.

Evgeni Malkin

Malkin will have a leadership role with the Russian squad




Malkin is going to be centering what appears to be Russia's second line.




While Nikolai Kulemin has seen better days Malkin's right winger is one of the best players in the sport. No offense to any of the Blues centers but none of them are Evgeni Malkin. It should be fun to watch the time and space those two players can create.




For whatever reason Malkin has never really been on Russia's top power play which is odd considering how great he is on the man advantage. Could you imagine a goalie trying to deal with one timer bombs from Alex Ovechkin on the left circle and Evgeni Malkin on the right circle, no thanks.

Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist

The two Penguins wingers will be representing Team Sweden. Here is how they fall on the original depth chart




Patric Hornqvist has a heck of a line with Filip Forsberg and Nicklas Backstrom. His job will be exactly as it is with Pittsburgh. Create havoc in the offensive zone. There should be plenty to create because those other two linemates are tremendous.

Carl Hagelin will be on the third line, but it will be a far cry from Pittsburgh's "third line". Marcus Kruger is no Nick Bonino and Jakub Silfverberg is no Phil Kessel. That said it can be an effective third line for Sweden.

Olli Maatta

The Finnish team is going to lean heavily on Olli Maatta




He is slated to earn top pairing minutes with Buffalo's Rasmus Ristolainen. It will be interesting to see how Maatta handles those minutes as he might actually be healthy for the first time in a long time.

Matt Murray

Murray is the current #1 goaltender for Team North America. That could change if Hellebyuck or Gibson play significantly better but for now it will be Murray's chance to build upon his early professional success.

For those of you in the Pittsburgh area mark your calendars for September 13th




Those are three of the more talented teams in the tournament and there will be many players worth checking out all in the same city.




Independent of your thoughts about athletes sitting for the anthem it is probably a good idea to have somebody convince Jack Johnson to sit during it if these are the parameters.

Thanks for reading!
Join the Discussion: » 45 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Ryan Wilson
» A sure thing paired with some rare sights
» Penguins earn victory on Jake night
» A salute to Jake Guentzel
» Sid puts on show as Avs dig out of hole
» A dud in Dallas