International TournamentsDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
I've been going through the different preliminary rosters teams are throwing together and can't help to feel that all the teams seem to be better this year than in a while. Especially Canada and Sweden have managed to whistle up a lot of good talent, with maybe the goalie position being the weakest link in both.
Only team I think hasn't improved much from the past couple of years is Czech, but who knows what you can do with homegrown talent. Finland won the tourney last year with it.
Is this because a lot of the "better" NHL teams fell during the first round then normally? For example Zetterberg is a rare treat to the Swedish team, with Detroit going deep usually.
Or are players starting to think already about the next Olympics?
It may well have something to do with the Olympics, yes. It's an open secret that willingness to go to these tournaments plays a role in the Olympic team selection process for countries in which the decisions are difficult. That Canadian roster is great all up and down the line. per the latest from eliteprospects:
Devan Dubnyk (G)
Matthew Hackett (G)
Cam Ward (G)
Duncan Keith (D)
Jay Bouwmeester (D)
Marc-Édouard Vlasic (D)
Dion Phaneuf (D)
Luke Schenn (D)
P.K. Subban (D)
Ryan Murray (D)
Marc Methot (D)
Ryan Getzlaf (C)
Jamie Benn (C/LW)
John Tavares (C)
Patrick Sharp (C/W)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C)
Ryan O'Reilly (C)
Corey Perry (RW)
Jordan Eberle (RW)
Teddy Purcell (RW)
Adam Mitchell (RW)
Alexandre Burrows (LW/RW)
Evander Kane (LW)
Andrew Ladd (LW)
Jeff Skinner (LW/RW)
Stamkos, Crosby and Toews all said no. If they said yes then I would agree.
Right, while Canada looks to be stacked and your C-team would beat most teams (Canadians words not mine) those 3 individuals makes all the difference. Excuses are coming earlier than usual this year.
Right, while Canada looks to be stacked and your C-team would beat most teams (Canadians words not mine) those 3 individuals makes all the difference. Excuses are coming earlier than usual this year.
I was replying to the OP.
Last edited by Majik1987: 04-29-2012 at 10:47 PM.
Reason: we'll decide. report it if need be.
I was just pointing out the stupidity of you looking at the flaw of not having your absolute star players that didn't make it perfect rather than concentrating on a stacked team.
Many Canadian players answered the call.
Last edited by Majik1987: 04-29-2012 at 10:47 PM.
Reason: qe and response
Right, while Canada looks to be stacked and your C-team would beat most teams (Canadians words not mine) those 3 individuals makes all the difference. Excuses are coming earlier than usual this year.
In all fairness, i see some questionable forwards on the Canadian roster. In fact, i'd put any chance of this team going places on Cam Ward's shoulders.
It may well have something to do with the Olympics, yes. It's an open secret that willingness to go to these tournaments plays a role in the Olympic team selection process for countries in which the decisions are difficult. That Canadian roster is great all up and down the line. per the latest from eliteprospects:
Devan Dubnyk (G)
Matthew Hackett (G)
Cam Ward (G)
Duncan Keith (D)
Jay Bouwmeester (D)
Marc-Édouard Vlasic (D)
Dion Phaneuf (D)
Luke Schenn (D)
P.K. Subban (D)
Ryan Murray (D)
Marc Methot (D)
Ryan Getzlaf (C)
Jamie Benn (C/LW)
John Tavares (C)
Patrick Sharp (C/W)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C)
Ryan O'Reilly (C)
Corey Perry (RW)
Jordan Eberle (RW)
Teddy Purcell (RW)
Adam Mitchell (RW)
Alexandre Burrows (LW/RW)
Evander Kane (LW)
Andrew Ladd (LW)
Jeff Skinner (LW/RW)
That's a great team right there.
Who is Adam Mitchell...?
Edit - Seriously? The best option they could find was some random winger in Germany...?
Is it just me, or does team USA's roster this year seem much better than before?
This is what I wrote in January:
Quote:
Canada will have a chance to win even if they field a Z team, I'm more interested in the squad the US sends this year, seemed like last year they finally realized that their hockey isn't quite up there to compete with the best of Europe so hopefully they'll send a decent team this year.
And it seems I was right, after the pretty damn bad teams they've sent in the recent past it's looking good.
This really is worth of watching (other than your own country games too). Teams are having pretty solid squads with players that are for sure exciting to watch.
Team Finland is trying to break the home-curse by not getting the dream team to the hometournament... Usually hometeam has stacked (up to its potentional) team and it fails to win... So why not try the new way. Last year we breaked the silver curse, why not break all the curses just for fun!
Really looking forward to this tournament again this year. Think Canada will win one of the medals, hope it's the Gold.
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Exhibit A as to how hockey doesn't matter on ESPN:
Last night an ESPN program was discussing how the Detroit Pistons needed a hero citing the heroes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions and no mention of the Detroit Red Wings. All this despite the Red Wings probably being the most succesful team in Detroit right now.
Right, while Canada looks to be stacked and your C-team would beat most teams (Canadians words not mine) those 3 individuals makes all the difference. Excuses are coming earlier than usual this year.
Canadian words, and yet people from outside of Canada bring it up several times more often than Canadians do. Very interesting.
Anyway, the rosters look better this year than they have been in a while. Especially the Americans, as others have said. Finland seems like a very good host too. I'm actually watching a bit of the 2003 final on ESPN classic as I type this, and the crowd in Finland is very good (mostly Swedish fans). Should be a good watch again this year.
This really is worth of watching (other than your own country games too). Teams are having pretty solid squads with players that are for sure exciting to watch.
Team Finland is trying to break the home-curse by not getting the dream team to the hometournament... Usually hometeam has stacked (up to its potentional) team and it fails to win... So why not try the new way. Last year we breaked the silver curse, why not break all the curses just for fun!
OT
What dream team? Team Finland has all the best players available in it that haven't quit the NT, except for Bergenheim who is injured and Pitkänen. Fact to the matter is Finland is void of any talent in the ageg roups 85-90 and this is starting to show more and more every year, especially now that the old guard has quit the NT.
/OT
Seems to me this will be one of the stronger WC:s in a while. Even USA seems to have some talent this year. Team Sweden is looking especially scary this year I predict they'll be going a long way only weakness is in goal for them atm. Russia is strong as usual. Canada also seems to have a deadly team this year. It's shaping up to be a pretty good WC imo. Too bad Finnish hockey federation is doing their very best to ruin for everyone even remotely interested in it..
but team canada =/= hockey canada
