I just realized it's been a month since I've written anything….Twitter and the College Hockey Spotlight are completely running my show right now, but I'm going to do my best to start writing more often so you guys are up to speed for the World Junior Championships. Many of you have asked for my thoughts on Team USA's preliminary roster for the WJC, which is set to start on December 26th in Alberta.
Today, I'm going to focus on the goaltenders and the defense and tomorrow I'll tackle the forwards.
Team USA is only bringing two goaltenders to selection camp and quite frankly, I'm a huge fan of this decision. Jack Campbell (19, Sault St Marie, DAL), will make his third trip to this tournament and will be the main guy between the pipes for the red, white and blue. There was never any question about that. The real debate was about who would back him up. Do you go with Andy Iles (19, Cornell, Draft Eligible) who was Campbell's back up last year in Buffalo or do you look towards the future and go with John Gibson (18, Kitchener, ANA) and get him some experience to help him lead the way in next year's tournament?
Both goaltenders had a great showing in the evaluation camp and both have had great starts to their season. While Iles has better numbers with a 1.62 GAA thanks in large part to five shutouts so far this season, it doesn't make much sense for Team USA to bring two 19 year old goalies to the tournament when the #1 is as clearly defined as it is this year. It makes much more sense to bring along your goalie of the future who is fully capable of stepping in if needed, so that when you hand him the reigns next year he's been there and done that.
Iles is still available, should Campbell or Gibson get injured prior to announcing the 22-man roster, but I'm glad they didn't drag out this decision. It gives Gibson the opportunity to mentally prepare and to do so with confidence.
Moving on to the blueline… While Team USA isn't necessarily very deep in this position, the options they do have are very, very strong and like I said on twitter, they don't need 20 fabulous defensemen, only seven.
Adam Clendening (19, Boston University, CHI) and Justin Faulk (19, Carolina Hurricanes) lead the way in the Offense From The Blueline Department. Both of them love to shoot the puck, can run the power play and most importantly are very responsible in their own end. Both of them should make this team.
In the Best of Both Department, we have Derek Forbort (19, North Dakota, LAK), Austin Levi (19, Plymouth, CAR) and Jon Merrill (19, Michigan, NJD). Forbort's game was solid last year and improved greatly this year, mostly due to added strength. He's responsible and versatile and should make this team. The real question marks in this role are Levi and Merrill. I think when it's time to head to Edmonton, Levi will be headed back to Plymouth. He's not bad, but unless his game has improved significantly since August, he's not their best option. On the other hand, Merrill is a terrific player, but had a lackluster evaluation camp and has been suspended indefinitely for breaking team rules at Michigan. He's been practicing with the team for the past month, so there might not be much, if any rust, but he needs to show up 100% committed to being the best hockey player he can possibly be if he wants to make this team.
As an aside, I have a lot of respect for Merrill who could have run to the OHL months ago, but is taking his punishment at Michigan like a man. USA Head Coach Dean Blais doesn't have time for drama in a two week tournament. I'm sure he's spoken to both Michigan's head coach, Red Berenson and Merrill about the situation and this invitation is a huge opportunity for Merrill to get on the right road to repairing his reputation and his past indiscretions shouldn't effect his ability to make this team…only his ability to bring it on the ice.
That brings us to the BAMF department…We have Stephen Johns (19, Notre Dame, CHI), Jarred Tinordi (19, London, MTL), Kevin Gravel (19, St Cloud, LAK), Seth Jones (17, NTDP, Draft Eligible 2013) and Jacob Trouba (17, NTDP - Michigan, Draft Eligible 2012), which to me is one of, if not the, most competitive positions on this team.
In my mind, Johns and Tinordi make this team. Johns has been a lock for me since Day 1 of the evaluation camp in August. Tinordi started out slow, but finished the camp strong and has been effective in London so far this season. Both sacrifice the body are beasts in the corners and are excellent on the PK and in a shut down role. At the end of camp, I was also on the Seth Jones Bandwagon…I might have even been driving it. He's smart with the puck, takes calculated risks, is responsible in his own end and, for a big guy, he's a terrific skater. Expectations are high for him, but I think he's got what it takes to exceed them.
Gravel was sent home half way through the camp in Lake Placid, but I was a big fan of his game and hopeful that he'd be able to continue to develop in St Cloud. Trouba has had a tremendous start to the season in Ann Arbor and has worked his way into the conversation regarding this team. I think both have a very strong chance of making this team, but that neither will head to Edmonton. Of course, that could change if Carolina won't part with Faulk and/or if Merrill still needs to shake off some rust.
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Julie
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