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The atom bomb has been dropped in Toronto. Team Canada has an official roster. Joining Sidney Crosby in Sochi will be his linemate Chris Kunitz. I had Kunitz on my Canadian roster but there was certainly room for debate about his inclusion on the team.
Originally I thought that Kunitz’s inclusion would be the biggest lightning rod for criticism, but I believe the inclusions of Rick Nash and Jeff Carter merit that criticism more. Claude Giroux and Martin St. Louis are the two players I would have had in place of the Nash and Carter selections.
Rick Nash will be playing the role of Deryk Engelland for Hockey Canada. Guy who takes deserving spot from others for reasons unknown.
One thing worth mentioning about Kunitz is that he is still an effective player regardless of whether he is showing up on the scoresheet or not. I’m not really sure you can say the same about Rick Nash.
Here is what Hockey Canada GM Steve Yzerman had to say about selecting Chris Kunitz:
"He's played extremely well, he's a hard-nosed player. Yes, he plays with Sidney Crosby and he's been a great contributor not only to that line but to his team, whether it be 5-on-5 or the power play. So the question that I think a lot of people have asked is, is Chris Kunitz being helped by Sidney Crosby? They help each other and he's a tremendous player and ultimately, we asked ourselves the question, on his own, does he belong on this team? And our answer was yes, he belongs on this team."
Ken Hitchcock on Kunitz:
“ One of the hardest guys I’ve ever seen to play vs. (You'd think) he weighs 250, ‘cause he knocks everyone on their ass.…
James Neal, Kris Letang, and Marc Andre Fleury were all left off of Canada’s final roster. I don’t believe it is a surprise to see those 3 on the outside looking in. I don’t believe that Letang or Fleury ever had a shot.
I do think James Neal put himself in the conversation based on his stellar offensive numbers from the past 2 seasons. I believe what hurt Neal was is propensity to show undisciplined behavior that has led to multiple suspensions. Babcock is big on trust and if he can’t trust a player to go on the ice and not act foolish he certainly has plenty of other talented options to draw from.
Kris Letang's injuries and quality of play eliminated any potential chance he had of making the Canadian National Team, will those variables be the same ones that put him on the trading block for the Penguins?
There will be 7 Penguins players who will be playing in Sochi. Crosby and Kunitz will represent Canada, Martin and Orpik for US, Jokinen and Maatta for Finland, and Evgeni Malkin will represent Russia.
Congratulations to all the Penguins who will be representing their country in the Olympic Games, all very deserving.
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Apparently there is a hockey game tonight as well. Here is the game day information for Penguins and Canucks for later this evening (10 PM EST).
Line Combos
Projected lineup for the Penguins:
Kunitz-Crosby-Gibbons Jokinen-Malkin-Neal Pyatt-Sutter- Vitale Glass-Sill-Adams
Scuderi-Letang Maatta-Niskanen Orpik-Engelland
1st PP Unit
Kunitz-Crosby-Neal Letang-Malkin
Projected lineup for the Canucks:
D Sedin-H Sedin-Santorelli Sestito-Kesler-Kassian Booth-Richardson-Hansen Weise-Dalpe-Ferriero
Tanev-Hamhuis Bieksa-Corrado Garrison-Weber
1st PP
D Sedin-H Sedin-Sestito Kesler-Garrison
Injuries
Roberto Luongo is day to day with an ankle injury after his collision with LA Kings Captain Dustin Brown.
Chris Higgins has an undisclosed injury and is questionable for the Canucks
Alexander Edler is out indefinitely with a nagging knee injury.
Alexandre Burrows will be out the next 4 weeks with a broken jaw.
Paul Martin, Beau Bennett, and Jayson Megna remain out with no significant change in their status.
Power Play
The Penguins have the #1 power play in the NHL. It is clicking at 26.0%. The return of Evgeni Malkin will without a doubt solidify the Penguins spot amongst the league’s best with the man advantage.
The Penguins are tied for 10th in the NHL with 146 power play opportunities.
The Vancouver Canucks are currently ranked 22nd overall with 15.9%. This is very surprising given the dynamic ability of the Sedin twins and the complimentary pieces like Kesler and Garrison. They are currently 23rd in the NHL with 138 power play opportunities.
Penalty Kill
Tonight will be a battle royal of penalty killing supremacy. The Canucks are the best penalty killing team in the NHL and the Penguins are hot on their trail. Vancouver is at 88.9% while the Penguins are barely behind them at 88.6%.
Depending on how the game goes tonight the Penguins could be leading the NHL in both power play and penalty kill.
The Penguins are tied for 3rd best in the league with only being shorthanded 132 times
The Canucks are tied for 10th overall with 135 times shorthanded.
Fenclose%
The Penguins are 10th overall at 52.3%. As you can see below the injuries have finally started to take their toll on the Penguins ability to possess the puck. Pittsburgh was entrenched as a top 5 possession team but are now in danger of falling out of the top 10.
The Canucks are 9th overall at 52.4%
Even Strength Save %
The Penguins are 24th overall with an EVSV% of .914%. Giving up 5 goals to Winnipeg did not do anything to help out this ranking
The Canucks are 11th overall with an EVSV% of .926%.
Trends
Penguins are 7-0 in their last 7 vs. Pacific
Penguins are 7-3 in their last 10 road games
Canucks are 6-2 in their last 8 vs. Metropolitan
Canucks are 6-2 in their last 8 home games
Stats courtesy of covers.com
Thanks for reading!
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