The olympics are coming soon and its not too early to talk about what the US team will look like in two years. Over the past decade our former super stars like Modano, Hull, Leetch and Hatcher did their duty and won the 96 world cup and now their time has come. One of the more promising groups of young Americans are coming through and I think they will be able to challange the likes of Canada and Sweden.
Projected Line up.
Offense: in red is a probable Canuck team!
Jason Blake (MN) / Paul Statsny (MO) / Patrick Kane (NY)
Heatley / Lecavalier / St. Louis
Brian Rolston (MI) / Matt Cullen (MN) / Peter Mueller (MN)
Nash / Crosby / Iginla
Zach Parise (MN) / Chris Drury (CT) / Brian Gionta (NY)
Smyth / Spezza / Gange
Chris Higgins (NY) / Scott Gomez (AK) / Eric Cole (NY)
Stillman / Thornton / Perry
Defence:
Erik Johnson (MN) / Brian Rafalski (MI)
Ryan Whitney (MA) / Keith Ballard (MN)
Joe Corvo (IL) / Paul Martin (MN)
in Goal:
Ryan Miller (MI)
Back up: Dipietro
To me I think the defence is looking a little weak, but the offence looks young and very skillfull. I haven't a clue who i would have coach the team. I'd say no to Tortorella. I would go outside the box and have Brian Leetch take the helm, have a college hockey coach like Lucia or Berenson do it.
ahhh hemsky isn't canadian but nice try. I believe that spot will go to getzlaf. Also i think perry and stilman will not make it. For them i think the likes of Gagne and Doan will do fine. I'm still not sold on thornton eather he's big and slow and not really cut out for the international game personally I would give that spot to Staal.
heatley/spezza/Getzlaf not a bad third line
Nash/Lecavilier/St.Louis 2nd line
Gagne/Crosby/Iggy 1st line
Doan/Staal/Smyth-PK/checking line
The defense will probably be Pronger/Boyle
Regehr/Bouwmeester
Weber/Phaneuf
Also if niedermeyer decides to play he will find a spot. Sakic is another wild card to make the team depending on whether he continues to play that long.
nice call on hemsky! I always thought he was a canadian. I still think thornton will get the call becuase i think a larger ice surface would be good for his passing game. but he is slow like you say which is even a bigger liability on olymipic sized ice. I dont see Brodeur? how would you have as a coach?
Although the American team does look better than it has in a long time, I think thinking that they'll compete with Canada and Sweden is a bit of a stretch. With depth like Lecavalier, Crosby, Spezza, and Thorton at centre, no other team will be able to match that. Of course '06 blew up in our face, that was because of extremely poor decicions made by Gretzky. Keeping out Ryan Smyth, and Paul Kariya, even though they were a part of the gold in '02 was a poor move. Then adding in players like Bertuzzi who has just stuggled was ridiculous. I think you're going to see a totally dominant Canadian squad this olympics.
If you compare lines here, you're for one comparing Cullen to Crosby - Mueller to Iginla - Blake to Heater - not to mention the defense that America's team seems they'll be lacking. Let's also not forget that Captain Canada has been left out on this list. I think Sakic could last till '10 for a last run at the gold as captain. I think it might be a close race between Sweden and Canada.
Oh, and on a side note, I would expect Heatley and Spezza to line together considering their success in the last three years together.
I dont think Kessel has lived up to his expectations. Being awesome in college, doesn't always equate to being great in the pro's. remember brian bonin from the gophers? he tore it up in the mid ninties and looked like the bestnew american in years, and he flopped.
Eladlretips: Yeah, on paper the the canadians are clearly better. they are deeper than any team. but they always choke and underperform becuase everyone on the team wants to be a puck hog. Spezza compared to Cullen isn't that far off. Spezza has 38 pts (plays with heatley)and Cullen (34pts)is a third line center. I think the D- looks a little weak. but i think in 2 years erik johnson will be putting up Pronger numbers. I just think allstar teams i.e Canada and Sweden have the propensity to not click. They rely too much on the individual.
I agree with hhsflyer--DiPietro will start over Miller.
That being said, I totally disagree with calling our Canadian Cousins puckhogs. I don't think they underperform at all. Aren't they the defending World Champion? They won gold in 2002 and win just about every WJC.
Canadian teams have underperformed in the past because of the pressure put on them. Like the US in basketball, they know the expectations and the media will grill them if they lose. Spezza, Heatley and Iginla are special players, and so is Sidney Crosby. I'd also replace Smyth with Brad Richards in a heatbeat.
Canadians can be arrogant about the game, but there is no question about their talent and desire to win. Let's face it--they own us on the ice. A US win against a Canadian team in any hockey tournament (men or women's) is a rarity.
I think a medal is a stretch for the US. We are breaking in a new class after the Modano-Roenick-Leetch-Richter generation. It's time for players like Cole, Cullen and Blake to show the way to Parise, Kane and the rest.
I can't believe what I am seeing. That lineup looks so east coast biased. What about dustin brown, jack johnson, and patrick kane. I think that these players are far better than some of the ones on that list. Joe Corvo? I don't think so. Horrible lineup!!!!
With Canada being on home ice, I think that we are definitely the favourites to win. That being said, we probably won't medal...seems to be the way things go lately. There's one major thing lacking to those Team Canada lines...this guy called Joe Sakic, our Captain. He's already stated numerous times he wants to play for Canada in 2010 as his hometown of Burnaby is only mere minutes from Vancouver (not including traffic lol). Canada has an excellent shot at gold in 2010, but that's nothing new. We've had an excellent chance at gold every Olympics, but it's not a guaranteed win. Time will tell. To be honest though, the Americans will contend for a medal, but not gold, maybe bronze. The Americans are really more comparable to the Czechs and Finns, not to Canada, Sweden, and Russia. Anything is possible though...
Either the americans reading/writing this column are blind and retarded or know nothing about hockey.
1. Keith Ballard and Paul Martin. Those two wouldn't even be on the list to make team Canada. Defence Advantage: Canada
2. Besides the fact that Cory Stillman will not play on the team. Never would happen. Where is briere, sakic, any of the Staals? Doesn't matter though, Canada have 6 players better than the best offensive american threat. Gomez vs Thornton? nope Drury vs Spezza? nope Crosby vs Cullen? nope Lecavilier vs Statsny? nope. If you look down the list there is no one on that american team better than his Canadian opposite.
Offensive Advantage: Canada
3. In terms of the netminders, Luongo and whoever else is way better than anything that the Americans can put up. Turco will be getting old by that time. Dipietro is a chump. Miller is mediocre. The advantage here is unbelievably clear.
Advantage: Canada
4. To whoever wrote that Turco was a Canadian, you are an ####. he is american.
5. Burnaby Joe is the man. He'll be there.
6. Cullen is no where near as good as Spezza. his numbers are lower due to games missed. Recognize.
7. The ridiculous riches of Canadian hockey will be shown as the Canadians will do to the world what our junior team did to the world in '06. Believe it.
Turco is Canadian from Sault Ste Marie Ontario. By selection time for 2010 the play of Johnathon Toews and Brent Burns will make the decisions more difficult
Turco is not american but thanks for putting your foot in your mouth chuck. As for Cullen vs Spezza wild Gophers look at the career stats and i think you will be singing a different tune. How many points did cullen put up in a second line role last year in New York?
As for teams like canada choking that is outragous. We won in Salt Lake against the home team USA, than we won the world cup of hockey, won the world juniors 3 years in a row, and won the world championships in the lockout year and i believe last year and maybe one year before that too.
As for Stasny I am not 100% sure but he might play for the same county that his dad played for i believe that was slovakia, but he did go to the state for most of his life so he definatly could play for them. PS has he ever played for a USA team in an international tourney.
Also Toews could make a push for the roster good call by frostback.
PS for Canada's defence I forgot about Redden and Phillips they could easily make a push for the team as well.
I would also like to add that you mentioned sweden doesn't mesh eather but they did win the last olympics. I would also liek to add that the parity of talent between the countries gets closer every year with Russia, Sweden, Canada, being upper tier and Czech's, Finland, USA, and now Slovakia all having chances at winning it all.
sorry about the Turco comment. I thought he had played for the US at some point...
Is the Parity really increasing? I have my doubts. If you look at who has won the tournaments over the last 20 years, it has been a tossup between all of those countries (with some more towards swedes, canada and russia) but they have all had success. I still think that Canada, Russia and Sweden are by far the most talented and that isn't really changing. Most of Czechs best players are getting old. Finland really doesn't have alot of great new player (or old players). They US is getting better for sure. Slovakia is as well, but i still don't think that any of those teams can compete with the level of talent a swede, russian or canadian team can put up. In all honesty, this will sound biased, but if Canada plays with all guns firing, there really isnt a team in the world who could beat us. Just look at the stats of the players.
Chuck 1868. you are amazing! How arogant can you be? You represent Canada so well. I'm not disputing that canada sucks at hockey. I know they have awesome talent. Yeah, stastny was born in quebec. but he grew up in St. Louis played US college hockey and has already represented the US in international competition.
I think it would be in canada's favor to bring toews in the mix. He is a really talented player. As a Wild fan i like Burns but he would be a liability for team Canada, he makes too many mistakes.
Halladay: Thats a good post. I think its fair to say that canada has choked somewhat at the international level, with tournaments that mean something . World cup and olympics. Canada won the 2002 olympics, and the '04 world cup. Canada has performed quite poorly over the past 30 years all considering. one olympic's and won world cup. the US has won one olympics and one world cup too. If Canada clicks or Sweden clicks its pretty scary, I have to admit! But with all the pressure and high expectations they can suffer like the US mens basketball team. or like the New york Yankees in baseball, who, on paper have a tremendous line up.
However, I think any nation that ends up having awesome goaltending can win any tournament. Remember Hasek in '98? he was unbelievable. If he played for kazahkstan in that tournament it could have been plausible that the kazahks. would have won the gold.
FYI The rink size will be the same as the NHL. Look it up in the olympic rules. The surface size will be the same as the host country. North American is NHL size and everywhere else is international. Or you can wait until Canada takes home the GOLD and find out then
WildGolphers hit it right on the head. A hot goaltender can carry a team a long way regardless of his teams talent level. The US has solid goaltending and their team usually plays inspired at big competitions like the Olympics.
Even with your goaltending arguement that only further supports the Canadian team. With the best goalie in hockey Roberto Luongo Canadas chances increase. Vokoun (czech) Lunquvist (Sweden) Kipper (Finland) Khabibulin/Bryzgalov (Russia) All have better chances than the States of riding a goalie. (Belarus have Salei and Germany have Kolzig and Hecht and Austria has Vanek) Kazakstan has Nabokov and thats it. And yes Nabokov is kazak because he played for there world junior team once im not sure if he won that appeal to switch to russia.
Kazakstan could not win because they have no players and you can't win a tourney when your team gets outshot 50-10 everygame even if you have a hot goalie. There are as i stated earlier there are 7 teams with a legitamate shot at winning every year. Canada Sweden Russia USA Finland Czech and Slovakia in that order.
straka, jagr, lang, sykora are all on there down phases of there careers. Prospal you might also say the same if he wasn't on a line with lecavlier and st louis. Havlat might not be healthy and lets face it other than hejduk no one is proven.
Other than kaberle that D is pretty average. The czechs were good when Jagr and Elias were two of the best players in the NHL and Hasek wasn't being outplayed by Osgood.
Sorry That lineup isn't scaring anyone other than maybe slovakia cause of the rivalry.
just in case you did not know, there will be no olympic size ice 2010. Since the games are going to be played in GM MOTOR PLACE. The NHL rinks have been approved for 2010 winter olympics.
How can you say DiPietro is better than Miller. Miller is the better of the two.
DiPietro's stats over the last two and a half years are:
(76)W (56)L (16)OTL 2.69 GAA .910 SV%
Miller's stats over the last two and a half years are:
(85)W (42)L (10)OTL 2.63 GAA .917 SV%
Miller has played is 11 less games over that time frame and with Miller in net he has led the Sabres to the conference finals the last two years. But yeah your right DiPietro is better.
Last edited by smileygoo on December 20th at 9:49 AM.
I think a player getting underestimated by Canada would be Jonathan Toews. He'll be 23-24 by then and he has already excelled in international play. Some of the ex-NHLer's (Yzerman for one) are extrememly intrigued by him.
Ok..I'll bite...as crazy as a discussion about this now seems ---here is my thoughts on why these line-ups are bogus. Canada has always relied on TEAMbuilding as opposed to making an all star team. For that reason Mike Richards (PHI) will be on Team Canada. Exact same reason that a Kris Draper and a Claude Lemieux could make Team Canada in the past. Its for this reason that I like the looks of this USA team...multidimensional with the likes of Gionta, Parise, Higgins.
heatley and spezza should defiantly be on a line together and st louis and lecavalier should be kept together as well. the games are being played on nhl ice.. 1st time ever
DiPietro and Miller are both above average NHL goalies. There is not a lot of difference in the stats you cite--other than wins. Miller has more wins and DiPietro more OTL's--which could be shootouts, we don't know. Buffalo has been a better team than the Islanders.
I wouldn't have a problem at all with Miller in the nets for the USA. I still believe DiPietro is better and will start over Miller.
Only one goalie can play--but it doesn't really matter, they're about the same to me--very good, but not great. If one is hot before the tournament, he'll probably get the nod.
ALL of you are insane.. How the hell can you compare TEAM CANADA TO USA???? LOOK AT THE DEPTH WE HAVE (CANADIANS) and look at the US.. The best US players are Stastny, Parise, and Kane. COmpared to Crosby, Igilna, Lacavier.?? SEE my point???? CANADA WILL DOMINATE THE OLYMPICS!!!!!
yeah but iggy and lecavalier have been in the league for years to develop. Statsny- Parise and Kane will be scarry in two years. Two years development for them will be crucial. Do you see my point??
Ultimate 2010 USA roster:
C: R.J. Umberger RW: Patrick Kane LW: Zach Parise
C: Tim Connolly RW: Brian Gionta LW: Dustin Brown
C: Chris Drury RW: Lee Stempniak LW: Paul Gaustad
C: Peter Mueller RW: Phil Kessel LW: Chris Higgins
D: Brian Rafalski, Ryan Whitney
D: Erik Johnson, Ryan Suter
D: Matt Niskanen, Tom Gilbert
G: Ryan Miller, Rick DiPietro
Last edited by AroundTheBend on December 20th at 8:50 PM.
ChuckDoesntrock: I picked Jason Blake because he is a 40+ goal scorer, is one of the fastest skaters in the league and can provide veteran leadership. Plus he can get under alot of oponents skins. He is not a dirty player but does just enough to really upset the oposition. So, thats why i have Jason Blake. I have Cullen in there because he is on a tear this year and is one of the most rounded players in the league, plus he is very creative with the puck. Brown Could be good, we will just have to wait and see. and No Chuck, I don't suck. I don't follow the ducks, Maybe my user name would point to that fact, but i guess you dont follow hockey, do you?
Last edited by WildGophers on December 21st at 9:39 PM.
It's nice to see so much discussion about USA Hockey, thanks for the post.
There's got to be a mix of young and old on this USA team, but we're not ready for an overall youth movement. Blake has gotten a bad rap for lack of production in Toronto, but I defend you're choice--he'd be on my US team. But, so would Dustin Brown.
Players like Blake, Cullen, Drury and Cole have to carry the torch now. They are not the youngsters anymore (Blake is more the old guard--he's 35 I believe). I'm convinced that, depending on the circumstances, Modano and Chelios could actually be considered.
The USA has a good deal of young talent (quite different than 10 years ago) and we have a bright future ahead of us. I just think it will be some time before we see Americans dominate on the scoresheet the like Canadians and Europeans.
Fugee: Yeah, I thought about putting Modano and Chelios on the team. I couldn't put both on the team. But the are both testements to the game. Maybe I would put chelios on the blue line because the blue line does look alittle weak. iF not chelios i think Brett Hedican would be nice because he is one of the best skating veteran defensemen in the league.
I just don't see a spot for Modano. He was my fav. player as a child when he played for the North stars and i have a sentimental tie to him. but for centermen I would have a few others that i'd perfer. The veterans I see on the team would be Rolston/Blake/Drury maybe even Tkachuk. I agree with your principle of mixing youth and veterans.
I read your article about Bradley and Herb Brooks. That was sensational! Awesome. Thats why I would take a college coach like Herb Brooks to coach the national next team. My canidate would be Don Lucia, I think he is the finest coach in College hockey, every program he has touched turned to gold.
I am so ignorant about College Hockey--I really don't know a whole lot about Lucia--nothing in fact. He's got to be a good coach to be at Minnesota, though. I'd like to know more about him.
That being said, I think USA Hockey will still look for an NHL coach while the NHL players are there--my guess is that they will give Tortorella a shot. He's got a Stanley Cup, and he's largely ornery to the media and has the appearance of wanting to do things his way.
What I would want most for any coach they choose is to do what Herb did--tell USA Hockey to only hire him if they wanted to win gold. I really like Dave King, the former Calgary, Columbus and Canadian Olympic team coach. He's been in the coaching wastelands recently, and I think he would jump at the chance to coach again--I don't know if he's burned bridges in Canada or what, but I've always thought highly of him.
I love my Canadian's shot at winning the 2010 games if they choose their players correctly - but the US can win. How? Very simple: Goaltending.
Why did Team USA win the World Cup in 1996? Goaltending. Mike Richter was sensasional. The US will be one of a few teams contending for gold and it will hinge on either Miller or Dipietro to play the tournament of their lives at the Olympics. If they do, they can win.
Team Canada will find ways not to send their best team as they usually tend to do. They kept Sid Crosby at home and brought Todd Brat-tuzzi. But also, Canada will have youngsters like John Tavares and Steve Stamkos who are playing junior hockey right now.
Higgins should be taken off and add Mark Parrish...it would really be awesome to reunite Cullen and Parrish on the same lilne...I think that line of Rolston, Cullen and Mueller would outscore Nash, Crosby and Iginla...good defensively, Roldton and Parrish play great together now and Cullen and Parrish were great in college and would click right away
Lucia as the 2010 US Olympic hockey coach??hahaha. Lets take our head out of the gutter for a second. And djaaron this isn't the WCHA in the late 90's, to say nash, iginla, and crosby would be outscored by rolston, mueller, and matt cullen?? Do you even watch professional hockey?
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