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The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will begin with a bang -- or perhaps a cannon -- for Team USA.
In the first of three pre-tournament exhibition tilts, the Americans will welcome (if that’s the word you’d like to use) their bitter rival, Team Canada, to Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio in what will be an ultimate ‘measuring stick’ game for head coach John Tortorella’s feisty squad.
Make no mistake about it, Team USA was built with the idea of being a team to irritate, outwork, and ultimately beat Team Canada in the first World Cup since 2004. It’s why the Americans opted for a grit-based bottom-six with names like Justin Abdelkader, Brandon Dubinsky, David Backes, Ryan Kesler, and TJ Oshie. It’s no secret that these players are grinding types that can be straight-up miserable to go up against on a shift-to-shift basis.
But will the club’s variety within their forward group be enough to slow down a Canadian roster that’s so utterly loaded with high-end talent that John Tavares and Steven Stamkos are on the third line?
On paper, it seems unlikely, which is why the USA will need every single player clicking.
Up front, a guy like Dubinsky, is a presumed matchup problem for Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby. Rivals from the Metropolitan Division, Dubinsky was the thorn in Crosby’s side all throughout the Blue Jackets’ first-round playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014 (it could also go back to Dubinsky’s time with the N.Y. Rangers), and there’s no love lost between the two. But Crosby has backup on his line with the equally irritating presence of winger Brad Marchand.
How chippy this game is from the puck drop, especially from Team USA’s side, will be an interesting tell, if only because the Americans come in with that natural element in their game from a roster standpoint, but absolutely cannot take penalties against a Canada squad of this caliber.
In net, Jonathan Quick gets the start for Team USA while Canada’s Carey Price will make his first start in game action since Nov. 25 last year. Price, probably the best goaltender in the world, was on fire before that knee injury cut his 2015-16 season short, with 10 wins and a .934 save percentage in 12 games. Price was also simply lights out in his last international tournament, where he won five games and put up a .972 save percentage in five games for Canada en route to 2014 Olympic Gold.
Will there be rust on Price’s pads? Perhaps, and it’ll be on Team USA’s top line of Max Pacioretty, Joe Pavelski, and Chicago’s Patrick Kane to expose if and when they can. That line is the absolute closest the Americans have to match Canada’s skill on any of their four lines, to be honest, and it has to be there and contributing in the ways they’re expected to, right away for Team USA to succeed.
Expected Lines:
Max Pacioretty - Joe Pavelski - Patrick Kane Zach Parise - Derek Stepan - Blake Wheeler Justin Abdelkader - Ryan Kesler - TJ Oshie Brandon Dubinsky - David Backes - Kyle PalmieriRyan Suter - Dustin Byfuglien Ryan McDonagh - John Carlson Jack Johnson - Matt Niskanen
As noted, Quick will start this game, but Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Ben Bishop is expected to play the second half of the game or at least the third period of hockey.
James van Riemsdyk, Erik Johnson, and goaltender Cory Schneider are the expected scratches.
The game starts at 7 p.m. and can be found on ESPNU in the United States.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can also be read in the New England Hockey Journal magazine. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.