Team Canada Roster Debate

2 weeks to go...

Coming into the season, these guys were heavily favoured to fill out the roster:

Iginla-Crosby-Nash, Carter-Getzlaf-Heatley, Lecavalier-Thornton-St.Louis, Morrow-Richards-Doan, Toews, E.Staal, Gagne

Niedermayer-Weber, Seabrook-Keith, Bouwmeester-Boyle, Pronger-Green

Luongo, Brodeur, Fleury
----------------------

Some unlikely challengers have emerged: B.Richards, Marleau, Fisher, Smyth (Imo), Penner, Perry (Imo), Stastny, J.Staal, Stamkos, Malone, Horton, Doughty, Robidas, Campbell, Phillips

Some good bets have fallen behind: Ward, Mason, Lucic, Lecavalier, Doan, Carter, Pronger, Richards

Can you leave a ppg defenseman at home because of his defensive shortcomings? Can rely on Mike Green against the Russians?

How about Brad Richards? How about reuniting him with Marty St. Louis on the 3rd line?

Does Fisher realistically have a chance? (Please, let's not turn this thread into an entire discussion on this )

Thoughts?

I believe Stastny is American, so he won;t be able to

I'm wondering if we'll see the entire Marleau - Thornton - Heatley line just transplanted.

Michael Fisher Portnoy II wrote:I believe Stastny is American, so he won;t be able to

As American as apple pie and Wayne Gretzky.

Nice Gohan, it's time to do this - and I need to take a quick break here at work, so, yeah, good times...

Remember: this is MY OPINION.

Marleau - Thornton - Heatley
Nash - Crosby - Iginla
Perry - Getzlaf - St.Louis
Morrow - Fisher - Doan

Taxi Squad for forwards:
Richards
Lecavallier

Niedermayer-Pronger,
Seabrook-Keith,
Weber-Boyle

Taxi Squad:
Bouwmeester
Green

Goalies:
Luongo
Brodeur
Fleury

Man this is such a tough decision. We can have so much fun and so much discussion and debate if we choose our own teams. Do you go solely by this season? Or by past appearances in Olympic and world Hockey? Do you bring in the veterans or go with new faces?

I think you have to have guys like Iginla, Morrow, Doan and Smyth in there. These are experienced veterans in the Olympics and Worlds. They can pretty much do it all on the ice.

By the way, P. Stastny is considered American. (EDIT: Been beaten to it by three others)

Michael Fisher Portnoy II wrote:I believe Stastny is American, so he won;t be able to

Born in Quebec City...
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=69840

But he has dual citizenship, like Foligno. He chose the U.S.

A lot of these guys were born or raised in the US while their father was playing pro there. And in the case of Heatley, Germany.

You can choose to play for any country in which you hold a passport in, but you may only play for that one country.

Dash wrote:But he has dual citizenship, like Foligno. He chose the U.S.

You mean he chooses the easier team to make .... Wich I fully understand!

Dash wrote:But he has dual citizenship, like Foligno. He chose the U.S.

A lot of these guys were born or raised in the US while their father was playing pro there. And in the case of Heatley, Germany.

You can choose to play for any country in which you hold a passport in, but you may only play for that one country.

Yeah, he's chosen to play for the US twice before... so he'd likely continue that trend.

caissie_1 wrote:

Dash wrote:But he has dual citizenship, like Foligno. He chose the U.S.

You mean he chooses the easier team to make .... Wich I fully understand!

I think that's basically what it comes down to.

I'm hesitant to select a Canadian team, cause I know I'll likely miss people.

I really hope Marleau isn't on the team. I have a bet with my friend, after we set the rosters in February of this year. We had TWO differences back then (pretty incredible, i know- and we're both fans of different teams).

his picks:
Marleau
Lucic

mine:
Toews
St. Louis

The loser buys the winner an authentic Team Canada Jersey with the clincher on the back (for example, if St. Louis is the only one of the four that makes it, that's who's on).


You can't really argue with Marleau's numbers, and I can see the argument for just including that entire line- but I would argue that you could put just about anybody on a line with Thornton/Heatley and have similar results. You also have to look at who you leave out by putting in Marleau- is Marleau a better one for one player than Staal, Lecavalier, Richards, Perry, etc?

I don't think so. I've always said that Marleau reaps the benefits of having two SUPERstars on his line, who get most of the attention- Joe Thornton because he is a magician of a passer, and Heatley because he has a quick release and wicked shot.

Marleau's a great two way player, but I think there's too many better options to pair with those guys to include him.

Just my two cents, and it's probably very biased.

My team is:

Richards-Crosby-Iginla
Heatley-Thornton-Nash
Perry-Getzlaf-St.Louis
Morrow-Toews-Doan

You need to have Richards to aggrevate OV on that top line against Russia. He can play the opposing wing and line up right beside him. Besides that- what a hell of a top line. Keep Heatley and Thornton together, and pair them with Nash- who is also known to have some chemistry with Heatley, and plays a dominating game to boot.
The Third you're keeping Getzlaf and Perry together, and adding some speed down the side with St. Louis, and the third line.. well.. what a checking line that would be. Toews is interchangeable with several players, including our one and only Mike Fisher.

D

Pronger-Neidermayer
Green-Weber
Bouwmeester-Boyle
Phaneuf

I'd use Phaneuf interchangeably with Mike Green in games where we need a physical presence.

G
Brodeur
Fleury
Luongo


Not much argument here.

No Doughty?

asq2 wrote:No Doughty?

Diddle, I forgot him too I think. There's too many D-men, what the heck is gonna happen. Wait for injuries I guess.

asq2 wrote:No Doughty?

Not for me, in my opinion it's more a factor of you leave out in favour of him. He can ride the taxi, but let's be honest- each one of my top 6 Dmen are far more capable than Doughty. Plus, he'll have his time for Olympics- he's very young and I'm not sure World Jr. experience can translate to Olympics.

Except in Toews case. I can't think of a higher pressure situation than that shootout vs. USA when he really came through. That was one of my favourite team canada moments of all time.