Team Canada 2014 -- who will be on it?

A monkey could have chemistry with Crosby. No excuse for Kunitz to be there. Other players more deserving. Who does Couture have chemistry with? He's never won anything.

Why is Thornton there? He's slowed down, not nearly as physical as his nickname suggests, and Spezza is a better passer.

If all those other players are so versatile that they could play wing, then by all means put them on wing, because Spezza is a better center than most of them.

wprager wrote:A monkey could have chemistry with Crosby.   No excuse for Kunitz to be there.  Other players more deserving.   Who does Couture have chemistry with? He's never won anything.  

Why is Thornton there?  He's slowed down, not nearly as physical as his nickname suggests, and Spezza is a better passer.  

If all those other players are so versatile that they could play wing, then by all means put them on wing, because Spezza is a better center than most of them.  

If you really want to compare apples to apples, "Jumbo" Joe is the guy. Spezza deserves to be there every bit as much as him and he's the better player right now.

Logan Couture and Joe Thornton play together on one of the best lines in the NHL. Thornton is there because he won Gold last time and is still close to a PPG forward. I don't expect any of those 2 to be on the team anyway but they've proven more. Logan COuture is also on of the most complete forward in the NHL.
Crosby
Toews
Getzlaf
Bergeron

Those 4 are the best centers in Canada for their respective roles and sorry, Spezza does not come close to being as complete as they are. Each one of them has more hardware than Spezza can only dream of. You already have guys like Giroux, Stamkos, Mike Richards etc who are centers and are forced to play wing. Who else do you want to convert?

You can disagree all you want but the facts remain the same: TC doesn't believe Spezza is good enough to make the team and I agree with them.

wprager wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:
I thought Benn wasn't invited either?

Geez, what is it with you guys and counter-arguments?  Why can't you just let them win this one on the merits of their blanket statements??!

Spezza was an idiot between 22-27 but I'd bet Phaneuf has him beat in that department.  Not sure about Benn.  Maybe you need to be an idiot longer.  I really don't know how this works.

On par no question. Phaneuf shouldn't be there either but he's a LH shot and that's the only reason he's there.

5-f Couture played more with Marleau and Havlat, than Thornton. They are also both listed as centres. At this point in their careers I'd rather have Spezza than Thornton, anyway. Better passer, really has improved on his face offs and defensive play the last 3-4 years.

Stamkos is primarily a shooter. He'll be playing wing because Babcock likes to play a puck-possession game and for that you need to win more than half your face offs.

Bergeron won't be on that team if it's at all based on how he starts the season. Broken ribs, separated shoulder, punctured lung -- and then he's getting married. He's not going to be in great shape coming into camp.

Giroux is such a complete player he can play wing. Hell, put Crosby on wing and have Spezza feeding him the passes. Could be pure magic. Can't you see it being any worse than Kunitz? I mean, really.

wprager wrote:5-f Couture played more with Marleau and Havlat, than Thornton.  They are also both listed as centres.  At this point in their careers I'd rather have Spezza than Thornton, anyway.  Better passer, really has improved on his face offs and defensive play the last 3-4 years.

Stamkos is primarily a shooter.  He'll be playing wing because Babcock likes to play a puck-possession game and for that you need to win more than half your face offs.

Bergeron won't be on that team if it's at all based on how he starts the season.  Broken ribs, separated shoulder, punctured lung -- and then he's getting married.  He's not going to be in great shape coming into camp.  

Giroux is such a complete player he can play wing.  Hell, put Crosby on wing and have Spezza feeding him the passes.  Could be pure magic.  Can't you see it being any worse than Kunitz?  I mean, really.

Thornton might not get there but lets say him and Spezza are on equal grounds which is fair, Thornton won last time out with team Canada and has been a dominate player year after year and has stayed extremely healthy in that time and he has shown the ability to do the other things needed to win in the playoffs and when the games matter. Spezza has done pretty close to nothing Thornton has from a WJC, to a Hart trophy, to the Olympics. His resume destroys Spezza's and they are very similar in the type of game they play with the puck.

Like it or not, it's a no brainer to not take Spezza because he would have never made that team. Why waste everyones time? Just to pump the tires of a guy that has no chance? It's not an all-star game, they are trying to put the best team in place right now. There is a reason a guy like Marchand is getting the invite and not Spezza, does anyone question who the better player is? Absolutely not. Everyone knows exactly why each player is there and Methot is included in that group of guys that they want to come in and do a certain job.

Like I said before, Spezza is a #1 center and nothing else which is both a blessing and a curse for him as a player. No one ever questions his spot on any team, he's the guy that is going to put up points and make the offense go but no one is going to confuse him with a guy that is willing to do what ever it takes to win. Maybe that changes if gets the "C", maybe he takes his game to the next level and starts to really show he's become a leader and will do more than what is asked of him so everyone else follows, it could happen. To this point though, it hasn't and he's still the same player he has always been despite being improved everywhere on the ice for the most part. He's given himself a rep and they are hard to shake... only thing that will shake off his rep is winning and he's never been able to do that, team sport or not, he's usually the center piece.

They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

One of the things Yzerman said he wants to focus on when building the team is speed. Spezza's not exactly the fastest man on the planet.

I think this horse has been beaten enough, although it is nice to have some lively discussion around here...things have dropped off after Alfie-gate.

I recommend that closer to Olympic time we have some sort of competition for picking Canada's roster. Most correct picks gets bragging rights for four years.

Ev wrote:They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

No, I think he's saying there is no question that Spezza is a better player than Marchand. Spezza is one-dimentional in that he will put up points and make rookie 3rd liners get 17 goals and an All Star appearance but he's not going to win anything, ever, so why put him on the team.

To which I say, a lot of that is true, and a lot of that is just stupid. On each an every one of Canada's winning teams (be it the WJC, IIHF World, Olympic) there are players who are there for the first time, some who have *lost* in the *big ones*, some who have never won, etc.

Thornton won the Hart, yeah. Brodeur used to be something, too, now he doesn't even get an invite. Thornton has been increasingly disappointing over the last few years. People are questioning his heart, Cherry goes on crusades trying to defend him, Couture takes over as their best player. Everyone says it's about speed, well Jumbo was never known for being fast, not even when we was winning that Hart.

Fact is, Thornton has been on a steady decline, and Spezza -- apart from last season's back surgery -- has been improving other facets of his game while still racking up the points.

Anyhow, we'll see what happens in the first 3 months of the season. This orientation camp is a joke anyway, as they don't even have the money to insure all those NHL contracts, so they are not even going to have any on-ice sessions. They'll be evaluated on body fat and tan.

Ev wrote:They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

Saying Spezza is the better player, not even sure that's in question or ever will be.

tim1_2 wrote:One of the things Yzerman said he wants to focus on when building the team is speed.  Spezza's not exactly the fastest man on the planet.  

I think this horse has been beaten enough, although it is nice to have some lively discussion around here...things have dropped off after Alfie-gate.  

I recommend that closer to Olympic time we have some sort of competition for picking Canada's roster.  Most correct picks gets bragging rights for four years.

Then why is Thornton there?

wprager wrote:

Ev wrote:They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

No, I think he's saying there is no question that Spezza is a better player than Marchand.  Spezza is one-dimentional in that he will put up points and make rookie 3rd liners get 17 goals and an All Star appearance but he's not going to win anything, ever, so why put him on the team.

To which I say, a lot of that is true, and a lot of that is just stupid.  On each an every one of Canada's winning teams (be it the WJC, IIHF World, Olympic) there are players who are there for the first time, some who have *lost* in the *big ones*, some who have never won, etc.

Thornton won the Hart, yeah.  Brodeur used to be something, too, now he doesn't even get an invite.  Thornton has been increasingly disappointing over the last few years.  People are questioning his heart, Cherry goes on crusades trying to defend him, Couture takes over as their best player.  Everyone says it's about speed, well Jumbo was never known for being fast, not even when we was winning that Hart.  

Fact is, Thornton has been on a steady decline, and Spezza -- apart from last season's back surgery -- has been improving other facets of his game while still racking up the points.

Anyhow, we'll see what happens in the first 3 months of the season.  This orientation camp is a joke anyway, as they don't even have the money to insure all those NHL contracts, so they are not even going to have any on-ice sessions.  They'll be evaluated on body fat and tan.

What? He was a monster all year and especially in the playoffs for the Sharks this year. I suggest watching him play if you need to form a better opinion, may have been the best player in the NHL in the first two round of the playoffs but I digress. If he's on the decline then that decline might be another decade of Thornton in San Jose.

No one is saying Spezza won't ever win anything but fact is he hasn't yet and it's not like he has shown he has changed into the player everyone in Ottawa wants him to be. Maybe slapping the "C" on him will do that and something clicks and that would be great but right here, right now Spezza's past is what it is and it's that of a guy who has never been part of a team that has won a championship in Jr, NHL, or internationally. Spangler Cup is as close as he has gotten to anything remotely close to a legit championship.

Team Canada has no use for Spezza and rightfully so, his time has come and gone in terms of being part of the national team for all the reasons many of us have listed.

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

Saying Spezza is the better player, not even sure that's in question or ever will be.  

Ah sorry, just read it wrong.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:One of the things Yzerman said he wants to focus on when building the team is speed.  Spezza's not exactly the fastest man on the planet.  

I think this horse has been beaten enough, although it is nice to have some lively discussion around here...things have dropped off after Alfie-gate.  

I recommend that closer to Olympic time we have some sort of competition for picking Canada's roster.  Most correct picks gets bragging rights for four years.

Then why is Thornton there?

Listen, I think Spezza should've been invited to the camp as much as anyone, but ultimately he isn't going to be on the team either way (barring maybe some miraculous first half of the season). Thornton has been their previously, so I guess they consider that an asset. Honestly, I'd be surprised if Thornton made the team.

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:They are very different players, and Marchand fits a role that team Canada needs, but are you saying Marchand is a better player than Spezza?

I am happy that Spezza is snubbed, and he definitely doesn't fit on the team anywhere at the moment. if he was American, Swedish, etc., no question he'd be there.

Saying Spezza is the better player, not even sure that's in question or ever will be.  

Ah sorry, just read it wrong.

Yah, I'm not Spezza's biggest fan but he's a #1 center and on a decent year an NHL all-star. He just doesn't bring anything that Canada needs and like Tim said, baring him going on an absolute tear and an injury to Crosby and another center then he won't be on the team.

Just throwing it out there, but this whole insurance dealio for players trying out for the olympic squad may have had something to do with spezza? anything? I read somewhere because of it, some players would be forced to only an off-ice evaluation at camp because insurance costs were too high, but I don't know if it's TC that has to pay or the players

At the end of the day Spezza is gonna be pissed and he's gonna be excellent for the Sens and that's what we should care about. Any Sens fan disappointed in this should reevaluate their priorities.

LeKing wrote:At the end of the day Spezza is gonna be pissed and he's gonna be excellent for the Sens and that's what we should care about. Any Sens fan disappointed in this should reevaluate their priorities.

Yup, hope Anderson gets cut as well.