Team Canada

[sens13]

do u like the 2010 edition of team canada...personally...i love it!!
GO CANADA!!

Yes
No

[jonf]

Eberle in for Bergeron!

[Hacker]

The defense is suspect at best and I'm not seeing a shut-down line

[sillywilly]

russia will win the gold... D sucks

[davevandyk]

russia will win the gold... D sucks

If Canada's defense sucks, who's do you consider better? I think they have the best 'on paper' team. There are 3 or 4 teams that can beat them on a given game, but they should be the favourites in my opinion.

[sillywilly]

they are favored.... not like they have been in the past however. Team canada is only even money this year. Usually you have to bet $200 to win $50. This year a $50 wager will win me $50. Russia is 2.5:1 so $100 wins me $250.

all three of the russian goalies have a higher save % than Brodeur

Canada is favored, I'm just calling the upset here. Russia was the team that knocked canada out in 2006. take a look, its not a bad looking team and if anyone can beat team canada, its gonna be russia, I can't see anyone else coming close


Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton), Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Ufa), Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow), Andrei Markov (Montreal), Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus), Anton Vonchenkov (Ottawa)
Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Ufa), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington), Alexander Radulov (Salavat Ufa), Alexander Semin (Washington), Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan), Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Ufa)

[jonf]

The only relevant stat for a goalie is the W column. Save percentage is very fickle. Essentially, all save percentages above .900 are the same thing. If you gave 500 hockey experts the choice of Brodeur, Varlamov, Bryzgalov, or Nabokov in a one game, loser is banished to the underworld battle, every single one of them will pick Brodeur as their goalie.

Also, way to not answer the question. How does their D suck? What would you have done differently?

[sillywilly]

i would def have had bouwmeester and dion p on the team.

[jonf]

Dion and Bouwmeester are both underachieving this year (as much as I like my Calgary D). Statistically, they are having worse years than every D man on the team. It's not just a question of who you put on the team. Who would you take off to put them in?

[sensfan63]

Dion and Bouwmeester are both underachieving this year (as much as I like my Calgary D). Statistically, they are having worse years than every D man on the team. It's not just a question of who you put on the team. Who would you take off to put them in?

Scott Niedermayer. He's had a very poor year. I understand that he's set the bar pretty high for himself, but his best attributes have always been his positioning and his make-up speed. He's lost a little bit of both this year.

I am absolutely shocked that Jay Bouwmeester wasn't included, despite his slow start with Calgary (a new team, by the way). He basically carried Florida his entire career. I think he even led them in scoring once. He is a beast, and and can play both an offensive and defensive game.

I would also lobby for Mike Green to be included. I believe it was Pierre McGuire who pointed out that in the last Olympics, the Canadian PP was woeful. Who better to take charge but the best PP defenseman in the league the last two years? Green's D isn't exactly reliable defensively, but hell, last time I checked he was +12. Obviously he's not that bad.

CORRECTION Green is +15 and third on the team. Not bad.

[jonf]

Scott Niedermayer. He's had a very poor year. I understand that he's set the bar pretty high for himself, but his best attributes have always been his positioning and his make-up speed. He's lost a little bit of both this year.

I am absolutely shocked that Jay Bouwmeester wasn't included, despite his slow start with Calgary (a new team, by the way). He basically carried Florida his entire career. I think he even led them in scoring once. He is a beast, and and can play both an offensive and defensive game.

I would also lobby for Mike Green to be included. I believe it was Pierre McGuire who pointed out that in the last Olympics, the Canadian PP was woeful. Who better to take charge but the best PP defenseman in the league the last two years? Green's D isn't exactly reliable defensively, but hell, last time I checked he was +12. Obviously he's not that bad.

CORRECTION Green is +15 and third on the team. Not bad.

But where did Bouwmeester carry Florida to? Nowhere. Not knocking the guy, but it's not exactly a massive feat to lead the Panthers in scoring, in a weak division. Niedermayer isn't having a stellar year defensively, but at a certain point you need some guys back there who have been there, done that, and played in all the big games. They took a pretty young d-core with keith, seabrook, doughty, and weber...I don't think balancing it out with some experience is a bad thing.

Green is fantastic offensively, but he scares me defensively. A couple days after he was passed over, tsn showed a highlight pack: first highlight, Green rockets a shot in from the point, and the commentators ask if maybe Yzerman made a mistake. Next clip they show Green standing behind the net, looking more lost than an elephant in antarctica, while his man stands wide open in front of the net potting a goal. Basically, while he would be an asset on the powerplay, with Keith, Boyle, Doughty and Neidermayer there to fill that role, you don't need a guy like Green, who is a one trick pony.

Finally...Andrej Mezsaros had a +34 season. That's how useful that stat is. When you're playing with the best line in hockey in front of you, your +/- will benefit somewhat.

[sensfan63]

But where did Bouwmeester carry Florida to? Nowhere. Not knocking the guy, but it's not exactly a massive feat to lead the Panthers in scoring, in a weak division. Niedermayer isn't having a stellar year defensively, but at a certain point you need some guys back there who have been there, done that, and played in all the big games. They took a pretty young d-core with keith, seabrook, doughty, and weber...I don't think balancing it out with some experience is a bad thing.

Green is fantastic offensively, but he scares me defensively. A couple days after he was passed over, tsn showed a highlight pack: first highlight, Green rockets a shot in from the point, and the commentators ask if maybe Yzerman made a mistake. Next clip they show Green standing behind the net, looking more lost than an elephant in antarctica, while his man stands wide open in front of the net potting a goal. Basically, while he would be an asset on the powerplay, with Keith, Boyle, Doughty and Neidermayer there to fill that role, you don't need a guy like Green, who is a one trick pony.

Finally...Andrej Mezsaros had a +34 season. That's how useful that stat is. When you're playing with the best line in hockey in front of you, your +/- will benefit somewhat.

There is only so far a defenceman can carry a team, you know that. He has been an ELITE defenceman for years, his omission absolutely shocks me.

As for Green, I definitely acknowledge these defensive shortcomings. However, I just saw an awful highlight where Seabrook AND Keith were wandering with no place to go and the Bruins scored. It happens.

And as for the +/- stat, I realize that sometimes it just doesn't mean a whole lot. However, think of it this way. Green plays over 25 minutes/game, which I believe is in the top ten in the league. He scores a ton of points on the PP (not contributing to his +/-) too. I always like to see where a player ranks among his team. Like I said before, he's third on the team while playing the most minutes.

Finally...Preissing was +40, I believe, when Mez was +34. So that automatically discounts that argument.

[sens13]

phaneuf and bouwmeester have been underachieving and guys like keith and seabrook have been floorishing in chicago...niedermayer is pretty much only there for leadership which is A MUST if they wanna win gold!!! and the way brodeur is playing i dont really think it'll matter whose in front of him lol GO CANADA