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So, I am going to start by stating the obvious here, Canada will be stacked regardless of who they ended up choosing.
Now, in terms of who will fit better within the team, is the challenging part. I am seeing a lot of people talk about having chemistry,
and pairing players with guys they are familiar with (Crosby-Kunitz, Getzlaf-Perry, etc). Its a good idea, but at the same time, it doesn't
necessarily create the best overall squad, because as some have already said, these guys are professionals; some of the best professionals
in the league, so to say these guys would struggle to mesh quickly is over emphasized. Some of the pairings make sense, because both players
are worthy for a spot, however, some of them don't make sense. While there is a good argument for the pairs, its hard to rely on the chemistry alone.
Lets take the Crosby-Kunitz pairing for example. While this pairing would make sense in so many ways, what happens if Crosby goes down? who plays with
Kunitz? How effective will he be? I understand he played alright without Crosby when he was out due to the concussion/neck issues, but was he Canadian
Olympic team worthy, Not even close. When putting these teams together, you would think Yzerman and company will be aware of things like injuries.
You need to put together a squad that is not only the best option when healthy, but also still gives you the best chance to win if a player goes down.
With that said, I don't believe Kunitz is a better individual player than the other options available, so to make the chemistry option an argument isn't enough
to make him worthy of a spot. Because IF Crosby were to get hurt, would Kunitz be more effective with a different center than another bubble option like Sharp,
Hall, etc? IMO, I don't believe so.Also, when has Kunitz proven to come up big in important games. Never really impressed me in the last few playoffs. None of
this is to say that Kunitz is to be ignored, he has definitely played well and deserves to be considered, I just don't think he is superior to the other players
available even with the chemistry he has with Crosby.
Obviously having guys who have history together would be a great bonus and would be beneficial, I don't believe it always results in the best roster assembled.
Stamkos-St.Louis makes sense, because Stamkos is a proven sniper, and St. Louis has proved in the past and is proving now that he is more than capable to play at an elite level with lesser talent around him.
Getzlaf-Perry are in the same ball park. Perry has played numerous times without Getzlaf and still produced points.
Sharp-Toews. Not much else to say other than those two are both great two way forwards, both playing at elite levels now and have been for the past few seasons. Oh, and they just won the Stanley Cup, in which they were big contributors. So they can clearly perform on a big stage.
Those are just a few possibilities, but those all make more sense than the Crosby-Kunitz Duo IMO.
Obviously the talent at Center is absurd for Canada. If you compare the depth/talent at this position to USA's, it is unfair. I mean to leave Seguin out of the
Olympic talk all together speaks volumes, because that man has played great so far this year, but he is much less effective at the wing, and he is not one of
their best options up the middle. But seriously, a guy with Seguin's talent and current numbers would be a first line possibility for other countries; the US being one of those.
So some of these talented Canadian centers will have to play wing, so the real question is who fits best or who will be equally as effective on the wing as they
are down the middle. I think the best way to go is with the guys that have better speed and/or have some experience at the wing in the past. You also don't want to
overload the wings with centers, but seeing as how they have so much talent at that permission it could be a huge dilemma.
I am not alone when I say that we would love to see an entire team filled with scorers and playmaker's, and any players you take for Canada, will be exactly that. But some have not exactly excelled at the offensive end this season. However you also have to take into account the superior play of some guys in their own end, their ability on the special teams and their leadership. This is where I believe Richards, Bergeron, etc deserve consideration.
With that said, here are the lines I feel would be best..
F
Stamkos-Crosby-St. Louis
Sharp-Toews-Giroux
Tavares-Getzlaf-Perry
Duchene-Bergeron-Benn
Extras- Richards, Couture
D
Keith-Seabrook
Pietriengelo-Weber
Bouwmeester-Subban
Extra
Doughty
At D, its tough because there are plenty of good options, and I got a feeling that they will go with Doughty over Bouwmeester, but I think he has been great since joining the Blues, and they could use at least 2 Left handed shots on the blue line. It should be interesting for sure.
G
1.Price
2.Luongo
3.Fleury
At goal, I don't see how they leave Fleury off the roster. Despite his playoff struggles the past few years, it is hard to leave him off this team because of the numbers he has been posting this season and also the performance of his competition (Smith,Holtby, etc). Other Notable candidates are Jonathan Bernier and Corey Crawford, but, Fleury deserves the spot based on his performance as of late.
Just like when I said in the beginning, Canada is stacked with talent, and any roster they put out there will be considered the favorite heading into the tournament, Its just a matter of having the right mix to take them to where they want to be. Should be interesting, I'm sure they will pick a better squad than the US did, because think a lot of people know/feel they dropped the ball on that squad.
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I'm sure you are a very proud person but I would be pretty worried with that U.S lineup they just announced. Do you seriously think it will be easier to score goals on the big ice or try and stop them? To me this tourny could be more about who can score the most goals and not who can play a grinders game on an ice rink that wasn't meant for that style of hockey. Not saying Canada will be able to outscore everyone but I like their chances a hell of a lot more then the Americans.
