The Toronto Maple Leafs have not seen Playoff Hockey since the 2003-2004 season. Their fan base is beginning to believe that this team might be cursed. Not only have they not won Lord Stanley's Cup since 1967, when the NHL was only a 6 team league, they haven't even been back to the Finals since then. Their current roster is jam packed with outstanding young talent, but none of it seems to be heading in the right direction, or even the same direction. The inconsistencies in draft philosophies are evident here, as the Leafs have flip-flopped GMs twice now in the past 4 seasons. Burke pickups are beginning to define this team's identity, which is something it has been lacking in previous years. Not since Mats Sundin was taking this team to the playoffs 6 straight seasons, reaching at least the conference semifinals in 5 of those years, has this team had an identity. Somehow, this team expects to make it to the post-season next year.
Their management, Brian Burke in particular, is in no hurry to pay respect to veteran leadership, case in point with Dion Phaneuf being named the franchise's next captain over the experienced Tomas Kaberle, who finished second on the team in points with 49 last season in 82 games. Burke is sending a message to his players with this move, and that is this team will be physical if nothing else, and guys like Kaberle just don't fit that profile. In all likelihood, Kaberle is gone by the draft, as Burke has widely acknowledged that he has received offers for his services, and that he was willing to listen to said offers. What he gets in return is anyone's guess, just know that the days of Kaberle being worth a first round pick are long gone. Do not expect Toronto to trade back in to the first round with a package that includes only Kaberle, they will have to package a prospect or two in order to get that done. A more realistic expectation would be a scoring forward and a mid-round selection for the Czech defender.
A main issue for the Leafs is coaching, as Ron Wilson has shown he cannot take a group of rag-tag players and make them winners, as he did when he coached in Washington. Even in the playoffs, Wilson's recent track record is one of repeated failure as coach of the San Jose Sharks. His teams are never physical juggernauts, which is what Burke wants this Leafs team to be from here on out. If Burke expects this team to win by hitting with Wilson behind the bench, he is quite mistaken, because that is simply not a style of coaching suited for Wilson. Besides that, this team is too young to know how to win on any level in the NHL, and the only veteran leadership they have in Kaberle is already halfway out the door. If this team wants an example of how to play with tenacity and exuberance, and to win, it should look no further than across its own province to the Ottawa Senators, who nearly took Pittsburgh to seven games in the first round of the playoffs this year.
No player on the Leafs scored more than 55 points last season, and even that was a disappointment in Phil Kessel's game. Boston perhaps knew that Kessel was not going to live up to his draft status (5th overall in 2006), and got what they could for him (to the tune of this years second overall pick and other picks, a king's ransom). The depth of young talent on this roster is truly staggering. Performances last season like Luke Schenn's or Tyler Bozak's in the second half are exactly what Burke wants to see moving forward. What is even more staggering is that Burke acquired a lot of his talent through trades, not the patient build-through-the-draft approach that is becoming popular. He may have to make some more trades, or even go after a big free agent (Kovalchuk, maybe Alex Frolov) before he has what he wants, but Burke will get a competitive on-the-ice product soon. Maybe not in the next year, but soon.
Returning players: Phil Kessel, Mikhail Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg, Luca Caputi, Fredrick Sjostrom, Colton Orr, Dion Phaneuf, Tomas Kaberle (contract only, expect him to be traded), Carl Gunnarsson, Luke Schenn, Francois Beauchemin, Jeff Finger, Mike Komisarek, Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Jonas Gustavsson
Free Agents who will likely be back: Nikolai Kulemin (RFA), John Mitchell (RFA), Christian Hanson (RFA)
According to CapGeek.com, the Maple Leafs have about $10 million in cap space. Expect them to try to make a splash, but the money may be too tight in this instance to go after, say, Ilya Kovalchuk. They need to add at least one top 6 forward, a third line center and a veteran defender.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A team without a face: Edmonton Oilers offseason preview
For the Edmonton Oilers, nothing seems to be going in the right direction. They haven't been back to Lord Stanley's Playoffs since their miracle run to the Finals in 2006. They can't seem to find an identity anywhere, despite earnest attempts by management to put the right personalities together (somewhat ironic if you consider the 2006 team, there's hardly a more iconic hockey player than Ryan Smyth). They finished dead last in the NHL with 62 points, 12 less than 29th place Toronto and 17 less than 14th-in-the-West Columbus. They find themselves in much the same situation the Chicago Blackhawks did a few years ago, or the Pittsburgh Penguins before them: stuck with a roster of older players who can't get it done and young players who can't find an identity or rhythm with the team. It is certainly a formidable task ahead, but rebuilding in the NHL does not take as long as it once did, and is certainly possible in the case of the Oilers, though to think they'll be back in competition next season is a bit far fetched. Make no bones about it, this team is in need of a major overhaul.
One thing that could turn this all around, the Oilers have in the first overall draft pick in this months draft, but speculation is the Oilers are shopping the pick in order to acquire some top flight talent in the short term. Steve Tambellini, the GM of the Oilers, however, knows trading the pick is the flat out wrong thing to do in this situation. He has enough buyouts on his mind to begin with, and trading players like Sheldon Souray won't net his team a whole lot in return (at most a mid round draft choice). Look for them to take Tyler Seguin with the first pick, make him their franchise center, and move Sam Gagner down to the second line (his play last year indicated he is more a 2nd liner than a 1st). It was when this team got trade happy (Chris Pronger and Ryan Smyth both gone during the 2007 season) that it fell from grace, and that will usually happen. This is a league that now strives on team chemistry, and too many trades can decimate said chemistry (just look at the New Jersey Devils last season until they added Kovalchuk). In addition, Tambellini has a long list of young players who haven't been living up to their draft potential and could be dealt as well (Patrick O'Sullivan had a league worst -31 ranking, Robert Nilsson, Ryan Jones, Ryan Whitney, Ladislav Smid, even Ales Hemsky might be on the block). If he can't trade some of these players, expect Tambellini to buy them out. If one thing is to be taken from Tambellini in this situation, it is that he is willing and ready to be patient and do what is necessary to make this team win again. Patience must be a virtue for him, or the Oilers will not find their way out of the basement for some time.
Keep in mind that there is some young talent on this roster, but for whatever reason (last year it was goaltending) this team can't keep up with the Northwest Division, which is now squarely back in Vancouver, Calgary, and Colorado's respective grasp. Losing Hemsky (who was +7 with 22 points in 22 games) for 60 games last season surely helped doom this team, but there is more than enough talent to make up for that. Dustin Penner continues to disappoint, even though his 32 goals and 63 points last season were career highs and gave Edmonton fans at least a glimpse of the talent they thought they grabbed from Anaheim. Shawn Horcoff was awful with 13 goals, 23 assists and a -29 rating in 77 appearances. He is signed on for five more years at around $5 million per season, ouch. Ethan Moreau, while invaluable as a leader, is simply not worth $2 million a season, so a buyout seems logical for him. The lack of offense didn't matter any way, as Edmonton's questionable goaltending cost them game after game (combined, the Oiler goaltenders were 27-47-8 with a .900 save % and 3.28 GAA). Tambellini is going to have a rough time trying to trade Nikolai Khabibulin in favor of Jeff Deslauriers, who needs a new contract. Khabibulin appeared only 18 times, none after his November 19th start against Columbus, and got a DUI citation in February. Their defense didn't help either, as 8 of the 11 defensemen that dressed in the regular season finished with a minus rating (Taylor Chorney's is a ghastly -21).
According to CapGeek.com, the Oilers have about $12.5 Million in cap space. Do not expect them to be big players in free agency, the intention of management is clearly to build through the draft. They need scoring depth, at least 2 top 6 forwards, and another couple of top 4 defenders.
Returning Players: Ales Hemsky, Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones, Robert Nillson, Zack Stortini, Shawn Horcoff, Patrick O'Sullivan, Ethan Moreau, Ryan Whitney, Tom Gilbert, Ladislav Smid, Sheldon Souray, Taylor Chorney, Nikolai Khabibulin
Free Agents who will likely be back: Gilbert Brule (RFA), Sam Gagner (RFA), Andrew Cogliano (RFA), Ryan Stone (RFA), Jeff Deslauriers (RFA)
Top Prospects: Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Linus Omark, Anton Lander
One thing that could turn this all around, the Oilers have in the first overall draft pick in this months draft, but speculation is the Oilers are shopping the pick in order to acquire some top flight talent in the short term. Steve Tambellini, the GM of the Oilers, however, knows trading the pick is the flat out wrong thing to do in this situation. He has enough buyouts on his mind to begin with, and trading players like Sheldon Souray won't net his team a whole lot in return (at most a mid round draft choice). Look for them to take Tyler Seguin with the first pick, make him their franchise center, and move Sam Gagner down to the second line (his play last year indicated he is more a 2nd liner than a 1st). It was when this team got trade happy (Chris Pronger and Ryan Smyth both gone during the 2007 season) that it fell from grace, and that will usually happen. This is a league that now strives on team chemistry, and too many trades can decimate said chemistry (just look at the New Jersey Devils last season until they added Kovalchuk). In addition, Tambellini has a long list of young players who haven't been living up to their draft potential and could be dealt as well (Patrick O'Sullivan had a league worst -31 ranking, Robert Nilsson, Ryan Jones, Ryan Whitney, Ladislav Smid, even Ales Hemsky might be on the block). If he can't trade some of these players, expect Tambellini to buy them out. If one thing is to be taken from Tambellini in this situation, it is that he is willing and ready to be patient and do what is necessary to make this team win again. Patience must be a virtue for him, or the Oilers will not find their way out of the basement for some time.
Keep in mind that there is some young talent on this roster, but for whatever reason (last year it was goaltending) this team can't keep up with the Northwest Division, which is now squarely back in Vancouver, Calgary, and Colorado's respective grasp. Losing Hemsky (who was +7 with 22 points in 22 games) for 60 games last season surely helped doom this team, but there is more than enough talent to make up for that. Dustin Penner continues to disappoint, even though his 32 goals and 63 points last season were career highs and gave Edmonton fans at least a glimpse of the talent they thought they grabbed from Anaheim. Shawn Horcoff was awful with 13 goals, 23 assists and a -29 rating in 77 appearances. He is signed on for five more years at around $5 million per season, ouch. Ethan Moreau, while invaluable as a leader, is simply not worth $2 million a season, so a buyout seems logical for him. The lack of offense didn't matter any way, as Edmonton's questionable goaltending cost them game after game (combined, the Oiler goaltenders were 27-47-8 with a .900 save % and 3.28 GAA). Tambellini is going to have a rough time trying to trade Nikolai Khabibulin in favor of Jeff Deslauriers, who needs a new contract. Khabibulin appeared only 18 times, none after his November 19th start against Columbus, and got a DUI citation in February. Their defense didn't help either, as 8 of the 11 defensemen that dressed in the regular season finished with a minus rating (Taylor Chorney's is a ghastly -21).
According to CapGeek.com, the Oilers have about $12.5 Million in cap space. Do not expect them to be big players in free agency, the intention of management is clearly to build through the draft. They need scoring depth, at least 2 top 6 forwards, and another couple of top 4 defenders.
Returning Players: Ales Hemsky, Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones, Robert Nillson, Zack Stortini, Shawn Horcoff, Patrick O'Sullivan, Ethan Moreau, Ryan Whitney, Tom Gilbert, Ladislav Smid, Sheldon Souray, Taylor Chorney, Nikolai Khabibulin
Free Agents who will likely be back: Gilbert Brule (RFA), Sam Gagner (RFA), Andrew Cogliano (RFA), Ryan Stone (RFA), Jeff Deslauriers (RFA)
Top Prospects: Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Linus Omark, Anton Lander
Monday, April 12, 2010
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Stanley Cup Playoff Preview (Western Conference)
The Western Conference, when compared with the East this season, is simply a much more balanced, physical, and all around better conference than the seemingly top heavy beasts in Pittsburgh, Washington and New Jersey. It took Colorado 95 points to secure the final spot out West, in the East Montreal secured their bid with only 88, which would have placed them in 12th place had they been in the other conference. This group is a mystery, and no one knows exactly what will come of this conference. Can the Sharks finally break their post-season curse? Is this the year the Cup goes back to Chicago for the first time since 1961? Could Phoenix continue to surprise and come out on top? Let's take a look to try to make some sense of this maze:
1. SAN JOSE SHARKS (51-20-11, 113 points) VS. 8. COLORADO AVALANCHE (43-30-9, 95 points)
- This is a series of opposites. You have on one side a team loaded with experience (albeit of bowing out early in the playoffs) that everyone expects to deliver season after season, yet they never do. On the other side, a team with little to no experience of the postseason that had no expectations whatsoever for this season, and they delivered on what nobody thought they could. Goaltending wise, Evgeni Nabokov has never been one to stand out in the post season, ditto for teammate Joe Thornton, who might very well be the biggest playoff choke of all time in hockey considering he led the NHL in scoring the last decade. The Avs have had a magical season thus far, and the amount of injuries this team suffered never seemed to slow them down. Their rookie core stepped in immediately, led by Matt Duchene, Ryan O'reilly and T.J. Galiardi.They put up the 4th most goals in the West and 6th most in the NHL this season, which is mind boggling considering where the Avalanche were just a season ago. The season series was split with both teams pulling out 2 victories, all 4 of the games were filled with shots on both sides, so the goalies should be plenty busy. If this is a goaltender's series, it is much more likely that the flash in the pan belongs to Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson than it does to Nabokov (season stats: Nabokov piled up 44 wins, .922 save % and 2.34 GAA while Cranderson, as some Avalanche fans affectionalely call him, won 38 games with a .917 save % and 2.64 GAA). Anderson faced more shots than any goaltender in the NHL this season, so his 38 wins in a franchise record 70 starts are something to behold. I don't see the Sharks slipping up yet though, and they should beat this team considering what little playoff experience their opponents have and the fact that they have the second best offense in the NHL goal wise. Simply stating the facts as they might appear in this case, which isn't to say an upset won't happen. Sharks in 6 games.
2. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (52-22-8, 112 points) VS. 7. NASHVILLE PREDATORS (47-29-6, 100 points)
- This is where the hockey world gets its first look at the Blackhawk goaltenders in the playoffs, a topic much anticipated by many. Cristobal Huet had a save percentage of .895 in 48 games, winning 26 of those games. Antti Niemi, on the other hand, won the same number of games in just 39 starts, leading some to believe Niemi could see some time this series. It may not matter who starts if neither of them is up to the task of stopping this potent, well coached Nashville lineup which boasts 9 players who scored 10 or more goals this season. Chicago, however, has the second best defense in the Western Conference behind Phoenix, the 'Hawks letting in 209 goals while the 'Yotes just 202. The Preds might be able to bank on some divisional hate for the Blackhawks to motivate them, but they will need much more than that to beat this skilled, fast, physical lineup of Chicago. They will need Dan Ellis or Pekka Rinne to steal games. They will need Shea Weber and Ryan Suter to dominate Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews. They will need spotty goaltending from Chicago. One of the three of those does not a series victory make. Blackhawks in 5 games.
3. VANCOUVER CANUCKS (49-28-5, 103 points)VS. 6. LOS ANGELES KINGS (46-27-9, 101 points)
- Before I break this series down, I would like to talk about the conception of this series by the national media, specifically ESPN. They regard an LA victory in this series as an upset. These teams are seperated in the standings by one game, that's it. This series is more or less a toss up, but what the Canucks do have going for them is recent experience of playoff games, where most of these Kings are seeing the playoffs for the first time. Los Angeles is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2003, and there could be one of those weird magical waves that the Stanley Cup Playoff atmosphere just seem to manufacute year after year. This LA team knows it has a good chance to advance here. Vancouver is the best hope that Canada has of reclaiming the Cup from the United States, so that pressure might be felt in the locker room, and these are not the same athelets who beat the United States in the olympics, for the most part. There won't be a Scott Niedermayer there to deny a chance should that situation arise. Keep in mind that Los Angeles won 24 road games this season, tied for most in the NHL. This is exactly the kind of matchup the NHL owners had in mind when they restructured the game after the lockout, and the parity in their league is rivaled now only by the NFL. This is an LA team that is a victim of inconsistent forward play, and that might take place here should nerves get the better of them. Quick, in addition, was worn down at the end of the season, and I see that translating to quick goals for the Vancouver lineup in otherwise close games that will decide those contests. Vancouver in 6 games.
4. PHOENIX COYOTES (50-25-7, 107 points) VS. 5. DETROIT RED WINGS (44-24-14, 102 points)
- Though Detroit won less games than both Los Angeles and Nashville, they snuck in to the 5th seed as a result of their losses in overtimes and shootouts. Some would argue the team with more wins should be a higher seed, but since the NHL rewards losing in close fashion these days, Detroit avoided meeting Vancouver, Chicago, or San Jose in the first round. Not many are giving Phoenix much of a chance to get this series won, but their defense is the best in the conference, and if they can choke the life out of a rapidly aging Red Wings squad with their trap-style play, they could move on to the next round, and by all accounts, shock the hockey world once again. Detroit righted the ship after the olympic break and were the NHL's best team in the span. They have boatloads of experience with championship results, so Red Wings fans should be confident in their team to get the job done. Just don't expect it to be a 4 or 5 game affair, because if the Red Wings get big headed now, Phoenix will blow right past them. As it is, I don't see that happening, largely because of Mike Babcock being behind the bench. Red Wings in 7 games.
1. SAN JOSE SHARKS (51-20-11, 113 points) VS. 8. COLORADO AVALANCHE (43-30-9, 95 points)
- This is a series of opposites. You have on one side a team loaded with experience (albeit of bowing out early in the playoffs) that everyone expects to deliver season after season, yet they never do. On the other side, a team with little to no experience of the postseason that had no expectations whatsoever for this season, and they delivered on what nobody thought they could. Goaltending wise, Evgeni Nabokov has never been one to stand out in the post season, ditto for teammate Joe Thornton, who might very well be the biggest playoff choke of all time in hockey considering he led the NHL in scoring the last decade. The Avs have had a magical season thus far, and the amount of injuries this team suffered never seemed to slow them down. Their rookie core stepped in immediately, led by Matt Duchene, Ryan O'reilly and T.J. Galiardi.They put up the 4th most goals in the West and 6th most in the NHL this season, which is mind boggling considering where the Avalanche were just a season ago. The season series was split with both teams pulling out 2 victories, all 4 of the games were filled with shots on both sides, so the goalies should be plenty busy. If this is a goaltender's series, it is much more likely that the flash in the pan belongs to Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson than it does to Nabokov (season stats: Nabokov piled up 44 wins, .922 save % and 2.34 GAA while Cranderson, as some Avalanche fans affectionalely call him, won 38 games with a .917 save % and 2.64 GAA). Anderson faced more shots than any goaltender in the NHL this season, so his 38 wins in a franchise record 70 starts are something to behold. I don't see the Sharks slipping up yet though, and they should beat this team considering what little playoff experience their opponents have and the fact that they have the second best offense in the NHL goal wise. Simply stating the facts as they might appear in this case, which isn't to say an upset won't happen. Sharks in 6 games.
2. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (52-22-8, 112 points) VS. 7. NASHVILLE PREDATORS (47-29-6, 100 points)
- This is where the hockey world gets its first look at the Blackhawk goaltenders in the playoffs, a topic much anticipated by many. Cristobal Huet had a save percentage of .895 in 48 games, winning 26 of those games. Antti Niemi, on the other hand, won the same number of games in just 39 starts, leading some to believe Niemi could see some time this series. It may not matter who starts if neither of them is up to the task of stopping this potent, well coached Nashville lineup which boasts 9 players who scored 10 or more goals this season. Chicago, however, has the second best defense in the Western Conference behind Phoenix, the 'Hawks letting in 209 goals while the 'Yotes just 202. The Preds might be able to bank on some divisional hate for the Blackhawks to motivate them, but they will need much more than that to beat this skilled, fast, physical lineup of Chicago. They will need Dan Ellis or Pekka Rinne to steal games. They will need Shea Weber and Ryan Suter to dominate Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews. They will need spotty goaltending from Chicago. One of the three of those does not a series victory make. Blackhawks in 5 games.
3. VANCOUVER CANUCKS (49-28-5, 103 points)VS. 6. LOS ANGELES KINGS (46-27-9, 101 points)
- Before I break this series down, I would like to talk about the conception of this series by the national media, specifically ESPN. They regard an LA victory in this series as an upset. These teams are seperated in the standings by one game, that's it. This series is more or less a toss up, but what the Canucks do have going for them is recent experience of playoff games, where most of these Kings are seeing the playoffs for the first time. Los Angeles is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2003, and there could be one of those weird magical waves that the Stanley Cup Playoff atmosphere just seem to manufacute year after year. This LA team knows it has a good chance to advance here. Vancouver is the best hope that Canada has of reclaiming the Cup from the United States, so that pressure might be felt in the locker room, and these are not the same athelets who beat the United States in the olympics, for the most part. There won't be a Scott Niedermayer there to deny a chance should that situation arise. Keep in mind that Los Angeles won 24 road games this season, tied for most in the NHL. This is exactly the kind of matchup the NHL owners had in mind when they restructured the game after the lockout, and the parity in their league is rivaled now only by the NFL. This is an LA team that is a victim of inconsistent forward play, and that might take place here should nerves get the better of them. Quick, in addition, was worn down at the end of the season, and I see that translating to quick goals for the Vancouver lineup in otherwise close games that will decide those contests. Vancouver in 6 games.
4. PHOENIX COYOTES (50-25-7, 107 points) VS. 5. DETROIT RED WINGS (44-24-14, 102 points)
- Though Detroit won less games than both Los Angeles and Nashville, they snuck in to the 5th seed as a result of their losses in overtimes and shootouts. Some would argue the team with more wins should be a higher seed, but since the NHL rewards losing in close fashion these days, Detroit avoided meeting Vancouver, Chicago, or San Jose in the first round. Not many are giving Phoenix much of a chance to get this series won, but their defense is the best in the conference, and if they can choke the life out of a rapidly aging Red Wings squad with their trap-style play, they could move on to the next round, and by all accounts, shock the hockey world once again. Detroit righted the ship after the olympic break and were the NHL's best team in the span. They have boatloads of experience with championship results, so Red Wings fans should be confident in their team to get the job done. Just don't expect it to be a 4 or 5 game affair, because if the Red Wings get big headed now, Phoenix will blow right past them. As it is, I don't see that happening, largely because of Mike Babcock being behind the bench. Red Wings in 7 games.
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Stanley Cup Playoff Preview (Eastern Conference)
It turns out that Boston/Washington game was pretty boring, too bad the NHL couldn't switch to that Flyers/Rangers game yesterday; I hate it when I'm right sometimes. On that note, now that the regular season is finished, it's time to look ahead to the magic that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There are some intriguing series on both sides of the bracket, but I'd like to start today with a look at the Eastern Conference. Feel free to comment with your picks and certainly to trash mine.
1)WASHINGTON CAPITALS (54-15-3, 121 points) VS. 8)MONTREAL CANADIENS (39-33-10, 88 points)
- This is the time Alexander Ovechkin has been waiting for: he wants vengeance against Crosby, the Penguins, and by proxy, the NHL at large after going down in flames last season. Other teams should duck and cover, and even then this Titanous lineup of Washington's seems overwhelming. Washington scored 101 more goals than Montreal this season, and no Canadien scored more than 30 goals (Washington has 3 30+ goal scorers). In addition, no Hab was over +11 for the season, while the Caps boast 12 players with that total or better. Special teams wise, these are the two best teams in the NHL with respect to playing with the man-advantage (25.2% and 21.8% respecitvely). Montreal is 12th in the league in killing penalties, while Washington is 25th. Goaltending is where this series takes an interesting turn, with Jaroslav Halak coming up against the tandem of Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov. Halak played well in his 45 games this season, taking over the job from Carey Price, posting a .924 save percentage with 26 wins, while Theodore and Varlamov split time, neither looking particularly impressive (Theodore .911 save percentage, 30 wins, Varlamov .909 with 15 wins). I wouldn't rule out Les Habitants pulling the upset here, but I also wouldn't count on it. Capitals in 5 games.
2)NEW JERSEY DEVILS (48-27-7, 103 points) VS. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (41-35-6, 88 points)
- This is not going to be a long series, and if it is, shame on New Jersey. They've played the best trap hockey this season since their 2003 run to the Stanley Cup, and with Jacques Lemers (pioneer, innovator of the trap) behind the bench, this team should make quick work of a team starting Brian Boucher in net. They were the only team to allow less than 200 goals this season in the league. The question for the Devils remains the same as it has been in previous years: can Martin Broduer stand up to Cup Playoff pressure anymore? Last year, he clearly did not, giving up 2 huge goals at the end of game 7 to cough up the season. Even in 08 they lost in the 1st round to the New York Rangers. The Flyers, by all accounts, are seemingly the team just happy to be in, and so the expectations are relatively low. Last time the Flyers were in such a position, they made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008. I'm by no means picking them to win, I'm merely hinting that the Devils armor is not as solid as it may seem. Devils in 6 games.
3) BUFFALO SABRES(45-27-10, 100 points) VS. 6) BOSTON BRUINS (39-30-13, 91 points)
- Both of these teams are 2nd and 3rd in the NHL in goals allowed this season, and this should be one hell of a physical battle. The story, and indeed the hope, of Buffalo is on the shoulders of Ryan Miller, the hero goaltender of team USA in Vancouver who fell just short. a .929 save percentage coupled with 41 wins puts him sqaurely in the debate not just for the Vezina trophy, but also the Hart. For Boston, their offense has been horrendous since losing Marc Savard to that brutal blind-side hit by Matt Cooke. They finished 30th in the NHL in goals for. One wouldn't hesitate to say that if Savard doesn't return in this series, and play well, Boston's goose may be cooked. With a shaky Tim Thomas (he won just 17 games this year after winning the Vezina last season) benched for Tukka Rask, this could be a quick series for Boston, especially if Miller gets hot. That's not to say Rask hasn't played well in relief, he simply will be out-dueled by a superior goaltender. Sabres in 5 games.
4) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (47-28-7, 101 points) VS. 5) OTTAWA SENATORS (44-32-6, 94 points)
- This is certainly an interesting test for the defending champion Penguins in the first round. A top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev is no picnic, and Bryan Elliot has been a solid starter for the Sens all season, after taking the reigns from an injured Pascal Leclaire. While his opponent in this series, Marc-Andre Fleury, did not have his best season (still compiled 37 wins with a .906 save percentage), this is clearly the time of year that this goaltender relishes. He is a playoff goaltender, and his M.O. is to win 4 games out of 7. He has won 7 of the last 8 series that he has been a part of, including some where he needed to stand completely on his head and make 40+ saves a night in order to win (e.g. game 3 of the Philly series, the save on Ovechkin in game 7 last season). Sidney Crosby scored more goals than Ovechkin this year (who would've thought that when the regular season started), and is carrying this team, as always. This series matches up a team trying to put the pieces back together and compete again against a hardened champion, ready to defend their title. These two teams bring the fireworks in the playoffs, just think of those series 2 and 3 years ago. This should be an entertaining series, and the Sens will give the Pens more than they thought capable of Ottawa, but the champs will get it done. Penguins in 5 games.
1)WASHINGTON CAPITALS (54-15-3, 121 points) VS. 8)MONTREAL CANADIENS (39-33-10, 88 points)
- This is the time Alexander Ovechkin has been waiting for: he wants vengeance against Crosby, the Penguins, and by proxy, the NHL at large after going down in flames last season. Other teams should duck and cover, and even then this Titanous lineup of Washington's seems overwhelming. Washington scored 101 more goals than Montreal this season, and no Canadien scored more than 30 goals (Washington has 3 30+ goal scorers). In addition, no Hab was over +11 for the season, while the Caps boast 12 players with that total or better. Special teams wise, these are the two best teams in the NHL with respect to playing with the man-advantage (25.2% and 21.8% respecitvely). Montreal is 12th in the league in killing penalties, while Washington is 25th. Goaltending is where this series takes an interesting turn, with Jaroslav Halak coming up against the tandem of Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov. Halak played well in his 45 games this season, taking over the job from Carey Price, posting a .924 save percentage with 26 wins, while Theodore and Varlamov split time, neither looking particularly impressive (Theodore .911 save percentage, 30 wins, Varlamov .909 with 15 wins). I wouldn't rule out Les Habitants pulling the upset here, but I also wouldn't count on it. Capitals in 5 games.
2)NEW JERSEY DEVILS (48-27-7, 103 points) VS. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (41-35-6, 88 points)
- This is not going to be a long series, and if it is, shame on New Jersey. They've played the best trap hockey this season since their 2003 run to the Stanley Cup, and with Jacques Lemers (pioneer, innovator of the trap) behind the bench, this team should make quick work of a team starting Brian Boucher in net. They were the only team to allow less than 200 goals this season in the league. The question for the Devils remains the same as it has been in previous years: can Martin Broduer stand up to Cup Playoff pressure anymore? Last year, he clearly did not, giving up 2 huge goals at the end of game 7 to cough up the season. Even in 08 they lost in the 1st round to the New York Rangers. The Flyers, by all accounts, are seemingly the team just happy to be in, and so the expectations are relatively low. Last time the Flyers were in such a position, they made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008. I'm by no means picking them to win, I'm merely hinting that the Devils armor is not as solid as it may seem. Devils in 6 games.
3) BUFFALO SABRES(45-27-10, 100 points) VS. 6) BOSTON BRUINS (39-30-13, 91 points)
- Both of these teams are 2nd and 3rd in the NHL in goals allowed this season, and this should be one hell of a physical battle. The story, and indeed the hope, of Buffalo is on the shoulders of Ryan Miller, the hero goaltender of team USA in Vancouver who fell just short. a .929 save percentage coupled with 41 wins puts him sqaurely in the debate not just for the Vezina trophy, but also the Hart. For Boston, their offense has been horrendous since losing Marc Savard to that brutal blind-side hit by Matt Cooke. They finished 30th in the NHL in goals for. One wouldn't hesitate to say that if Savard doesn't return in this series, and play well, Boston's goose may be cooked. With a shaky Tim Thomas (he won just 17 games this year after winning the Vezina last season) benched for Tukka Rask, this could be a quick series for Boston, especially if Miller gets hot. That's not to say Rask hasn't played well in relief, he simply will be out-dueled by a superior goaltender. Sabres in 5 games.
4) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (47-28-7, 101 points) VS. 5) OTTAWA SENATORS (44-32-6, 94 points)
- This is certainly an interesting test for the defending champion Penguins in the first round. A top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev is no picnic, and Bryan Elliot has been a solid starter for the Sens all season, after taking the reigns from an injured Pascal Leclaire. While his opponent in this series, Marc-Andre Fleury, did not have his best season (still compiled 37 wins with a .906 save percentage), this is clearly the time of year that this goaltender relishes. He is a playoff goaltender, and his M.O. is to win 4 games out of 7. He has won 7 of the last 8 series that he has been a part of, including some where he needed to stand completely on his head and make 40+ saves a night in order to win (e.g. game 3 of the Philly series, the save on Ovechkin in game 7 last season). Sidney Crosby scored more goals than Ovechkin this year (who would've thought that when the regular season started), and is carrying this team, as always. This series matches up a team trying to put the pieces back together and compete again against a hardened champion, ready to defend their title. These two teams bring the fireworks in the playoffs, just think of those series 2 and 3 years ago. This should be an entertaining series, and the Sens will give the Pens more than they thought capable of Ottawa, but the champs will get it done. Penguins in 5 games.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
A Return for the playoffs: Final day matchups determine seeding
It's good to be back in the fold after taking an Olympic break myself for the month of March. The NHL is on its final Sunday, and now is as good a time as any to return and analyze. So, let's go around the league this final sunday, starting with the east coast bias that is Ovechkin on NBC, and then on to the showdown of Philly and New York for that final spot in the East. Some of the other games are for seeding (LA/Colorado and Chicago/Detroit), so we'll focus on just 2 games from today's schedule that give an overall feel for the season finale because the rest of the games don't mean a thing (Edmonton/Anaheim, Tampa Bay/Florida, Buffalo/New Jersey, Pittsburgh/New York Islanders).
BOSTON BRUINS (Currently 38-30-18, 6th place in the East) VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS (54-15-12, best record in hockey, clinched the President's trophy)
- This game, more or less, means nothing to either team than a simple tune up for the playoffs. Boston is a team limping into the playoffs, and if their record is any indication (their 89 points is not even enough to be in 10th place out West), they just want to get healthy, and maybe get some kind of momentum going into the big dance. When Zdeno Chara leads your team in assists (37) and is third on the team in points (44), you know that your offense is struggling, to say the least. This team is aching to get Marc Savard back for the playoffs (his 33 points in 41 games is the closest any Bruin comes to a point-a-game pace). They are not necessarily struggling, going 6-3-1 in their last 10, but when you are locked in with the playoff opponent Boston is (they are locked in to a match up with the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Miller), you want to be scoring more goals. Their 202 goal total for the year is 30th in the NHL.
For the Caps, this game is again, a tune up. They've been playing these types of games for weeks, like many teams do when they lock up the President's Trophy in early fashion. This is purely a momentum game for them. They're running with a 5 game win streak, seemingly getting hot at the right time with a big 6-3 win over Pittsburgh (the first time in Ovechkin's young career that he has gotten the better of Sidney Crosby and his mates). Conversely, their 315 goals is 1st in the NHL this season, and no other team even comes close on offense this year (Vancouver is 2nd with 272, almost 50 goals less). If I were a Caps fan, I would hope Ovechkin doesn't do something stupid and get himself suspended for the first couple of games, and even that is a long shot as Boudreau surely won't be double-shifting Ovie today. It will be tough for them not to have their eyes on New York and Philly later today, with one of those teams being eliminated from playoff contention with a loss today.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (40-35-6, 8th in the East) VS. NEW YORK RANGERS (38-33-10, 9th in the East)
- It's games like these that make me wish NBC does for the NHL what it does for the NFL: flex scheduling so that important games like this one can be seen nationally. What could be better for the NHL on a season finale day than to have the Flyers and Rangers battling for the final playoff spot? But instead, they picked Washington/Boston at the beginning of the year and are stuck with that snooze fest of a game. If the Flyers win, and it doesnt matter if it goes to overtime or not, they will be the 7th seed in the East and meet the New Jersey Devils in the first round. If the Rangers win, however, they would meet Ovechkin's Capitals as the number 8 seed. For the Flyers of late, winners of just 3 of their last 10, they are indeed backing in, or perhaps out, of the playoffs. If they want answers, just look the the 3rd best power play unit in hockey this year (21.5%). If this game becomes a slug fest, which it might considering the implications and these teams past history, the Rangers might be able to take that special-teams element out of the game, or at least out of the forefront. The Flyers have, by all accounts, underachieved this season (Richards only 62 points, Carter with 60, and Pronger in 3rd on the team with 55), and if they were to lose this game, many people would question the move earlier in the year to fire then coach John Stevens and replace him with Peter Laviolette. Compound that with the fact that the Flyers are likely starting Brian Boucher today due to the rash of goaltending injuries, and Flyer fans must have already hit the panic button. The Rangers, on the other hand, are red-hot coming into today's game, winning 7 of their last 10, and 9 of their last 13. Other than Marian Gaborik, who has 86 points in 75 games, the Rangers do not immediately boast any kind of offensive advantage over Philly, although the forward did score the winning goal in these teams last meeting on Friday, a 4-3 Rangers win that set up this dramatic showdown.
BOSTON BRUINS (Currently 38-30-18, 6th place in the East) VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS (54-15-12, best record in hockey, clinched the President's trophy)
- This game, more or less, means nothing to either team than a simple tune up for the playoffs. Boston is a team limping into the playoffs, and if their record is any indication (their 89 points is not even enough to be in 10th place out West), they just want to get healthy, and maybe get some kind of momentum going into the big dance. When Zdeno Chara leads your team in assists (37) and is third on the team in points (44), you know that your offense is struggling, to say the least. This team is aching to get Marc Savard back for the playoffs (his 33 points in 41 games is the closest any Bruin comes to a point-a-game pace). They are not necessarily struggling, going 6-3-1 in their last 10, but when you are locked in with the playoff opponent Boston is (they are locked in to a match up with the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Miller), you want to be scoring more goals. Their 202 goal total for the year is 30th in the NHL.
For the Caps, this game is again, a tune up. They've been playing these types of games for weeks, like many teams do when they lock up the President's Trophy in early fashion. This is purely a momentum game for them. They're running with a 5 game win streak, seemingly getting hot at the right time with a big 6-3 win over Pittsburgh (the first time in Ovechkin's young career that he has gotten the better of Sidney Crosby and his mates). Conversely, their 315 goals is 1st in the NHL this season, and no other team even comes close on offense this year (Vancouver is 2nd with 272, almost 50 goals less). If I were a Caps fan, I would hope Ovechkin doesn't do something stupid and get himself suspended for the first couple of games, and even that is a long shot as Boudreau surely won't be double-shifting Ovie today. It will be tough for them not to have their eyes on New York and Philly later today, with one of those teams being eliminated from playoff contention with a loss today.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (40-35-6, 8th in the East) VS. NEW YORK RANGERS (38-33-10, 9th in the East)
- It's games like these that make me wish NBC does for the NHL what it does for the NFL: flex scheduling so that important games like this one can be seen nationally. What could be better for the NHL on a season finale day than to have the Flyers and Rangers battling for the final playoff spot? But instead, they picked Washington/Boston at the beginning of the year and are stuck with that snooze fest of a game. If the Flyers win, and it doesnt matter if it goes to overtime or not, they will be the 7th seed in the East and meet the New Jersey Devils in the first round. If the Rangers win, however, they would meet Ovechkin's Capitals as the number 8 seed. For the Flyers of late, winners of just 3 of their last 10, they are indeed backing in, or perhaps out, of the playoffs. If they want answers, just look the the 3rd best power play unit in hockey this year (21.5%). If this game becomes a slug fest, which it might considering the implications and these teams past history, the Rangers might be able to take that special-teams element out of the game, or at least out of the forefront. The Flyers have, by all accounts, underachieved this season (Richards only 62 points, Carter with 60, and Pronger in 3rd on the team with 55), and if they were to lose this game, many people would question the move earlier in the year to fire then coach John Stevens and replace him with Peter Laviolette. Compound that with the fact that the Flyers are likely starting Brian Boucher today due to the rash of goaltending injuries, and Flyer fans must have already hit the panic button. The Rangers, on the other hand, are red-hot coming into today's game, winning 7 of their last 10, and 9 of their last 13. Other than Marian Gaborik, who has 86 points in 75 games, the Rangers do not immediately boast any kind of offensive advantage over Philly, although the forward did score the winning goal in these teams last meeting on Friday, a 4-3 Rangers win that set up this dramatic showdown.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Trades of the day
Now that the rosters have been unfrozen, some deals have been made. Expect a ton more as the trade deadline is on Wednesday. Here are the deals and analysis:
- Pittsburgh Penguins trade a 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft to the Florida Panthers for Defenseman Jordan Leopold.
- Edmonton Oilers trade Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators for a 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft.
- Leopold has 7 goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Panthers. He is also -7. Expect his numbers to drastically improve on a Pens roster with more than enough talent to complement Leopold's offensive skills. The Penguins are looking to improve their power play (currently 26th in the league at a pedestrian 16.5%), and the addition of Leopold may be a shot in the arm for this team.
- Nashville gets significantly deeper on the back end and don't give up that much to get Grebeshkov, who currently has 6 goals and 13 assists in 47 games this season for the Oilers. The Oilers will be big sellers at the deadline, and they have some talent that a team on the playoff bubble could make an offer for players like Dustin Penner, Sam Gagner, Ales Hemsky, or Sheldon Souray. Grebeshkov is a -16, but attribute much of that to how awful the Oilers are defensively. There are only 5 Oiler starters with a +/- rating above 0 (Hemsky +7, Smid +5, Stone +2, Stortini +2, Penner +2). Nashville's Power Play is around 16.7% for the season, so like Pittsburgh, Nashville wants this to be a shot in the arm for a unit with more than enough talent to get the job done with the extra man. With only 165 goals on the season, expect Nashville to continue to shop around for offensive talent, and if this trade is any indication, they will trade assets if they feel the Predators are a better team as a result of whatever deal is made.
- Pittsburgh Penguins trade a 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft to the Florida Panthers for Defenseman Jordan Leopold.
- Edmonton Oilers trade Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators for a 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft.
- Leopold has 7 goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Panthers. He is also -7. Expect his numbers to drastically improve on a Pens roster with more than enough talent to complement Leopold's offensive skills. The Penguins are looking to improve their power play (currently 26th in the league at a pedestrian 16.5%), and the addition of Leopold may be a shot in the arm for this team.
- Nashville gets significantly deeper on the back end and don't give up that much to get Grebeshkov, who currently has 6 goals and 13 assists in 47 games this season for the Oilers. The Oilers will be big sellers at the deadline, and they have some talent that a team on the playoff bubble could make an offer for players like Dustin Penner, Sam Gagner, Ales Hemsky, or Sheldon Souray. Grebeshkov is a -16, but attribute much of that to how awful the Oilers are defensively. There are only 5 Oiler starters with a +/- rating above 0 (Hemsky +7, Smid +5, Stone +2, Stortini +2, Penner +2). Nashville's Power Play is around 16.7% for the season, so like Pittsburgh, Nashville wants this to be a shot in the arm for a unit with more than enough talent to get the job done with the extra man. With only 165 goals on the season, expect Nashville to continue to shop around for offensive talent, and if this trade is any indication, they will trade assets if they feel the Predators are a better team as a result of whatever deal is made.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Time for Gold Draws Near: USA VS. CANADA, 1:15 Mountain
So here we are, the exact match up of a week ago, only now for all the marbles. Before I break into the statistical breakdown of this game, I'd like to briefly examine the social environment of this game from both sides. For the Canadians, this is as big as it gets on a national stage, and the consensus from them is one of confidence heading into this game, carried with the usual lack of respect for American hockey. That lack of respect is not entirely unfounded, and exists today as American apathy and ignorance towards hockey (for instance, some of my friends say things like ,"I haven't followed hockey since the strike" and, "I don't know any of the players anymore"). Canadian fans certainly do not want to see a country that clearly does not love hockey as much as it does win the Gold medal on their ice.
And on the other side of that coin, the American fans are confident, and almost cocky, heading into this game. The majority of Americans watching this game, to quote Al Michaels, "don't know the difference between a blue line and a clothes lines." They certainly feel that all the pressure is on the Canadians, especially after squeezing out a 3-2 win against the Slovaks on Friday. A lot of American hockey fans, myself included, feel that Canada never recognizes our attention, dedication to and love for the game. Alas, hockey fans are marginalized in this country, and ignorance seems to be the general trend of the American casual hockey fan (i.e. few fans of the Colorado Avalanche knew who Craig Anderson was before the start of the 2009-2010 season). Now that, in some semblance, the rivalry has been explained, I will now move on to analyze the game.
It is often said that the winner of an Olympic hockey tournament is the team with the best goaltender (a la Dominick Hasek in Nagano 1998). There is no question at this point who the best goaltender in this tournament is, and simply put, its Miller Time. Ryan Miller leads all goaltenders in the Olympics with a crazy .953 save percentage and an equally stunning 1.04 GAA. Roberto Luongo, his opponent in this game, has a .919 save percentage with a 1.75 GAA. Last Sunday, Miller made 43 saves against Martin Brodeur's 17 (on 22 shots, ouch). Regardless, the goaltender who should be starting here isn't, and won't see any ice time at these olympics (despite being on the roster and many other teams deploying 3 different goalies in the tournament, Mike Babcock seems to be holding a grudge against Marc-Andre Fleury for stone walling his Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, but this rant is for another day). I expect the shot chart to look much the same, and Miller will need another Herculean effort today.
The biggest thing to watch in this game is whether or not the Americans get into penalty trouble, since their PK for the tournament has been a questionable 76.9%. The United States, however, has taken the least amount of penalties (13 in five games) of any team in this tournament, so they have been at least disciplined. Canada has given up one less power play goal than the US (3 to 2), and have the best PK in the tournament with an 88.24%. Power play wise, these two teams are just about as efficient as the other (Canada's 29.17% to USA's 28.57). If Canada gets on the advantage, this is certainly an area where they might dominate(their blue line has 27 points in 6 games, America's has only 12 from two players in 5 games). Look out for Shea Weber's bomb from the point that he literally put through the net in the play-in game against Germany.
Interestingly, the Americans have taken almost 100 less shots than the Canadians (155 in 5 games to 243 in 6 games), and have been much more opportune in that regard. Percentage wise, in terms of scoring efficiency, both teams are shooting around 15%(Canada 13.17, USA 14.19). Canada's 32 goals in the tournament are tops, America's 22 (tied with Slovakia) are second best. These teams will score given the chance. Offensive X factors include Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Ryan Getzlaf, and Ryan Malone (not a dynamo, but if he scores it motivates his team).
On the defensive side, the US has given up just 6 goals in 5 games, while Canada has given up 14. The unit in red, white and blue is much more stout physically than Canada's, and while at once not as offensively gifted, they will hit you in the mouth without hesitation. The United States has played much more physically than any other team in this tournament, and if the trends continue today (Miller as a brick wall, USA as an opportune team, a little too much pressure on Canada), the Americans will have their first Gold in 30 years. However, I must stick with my guns, I've been harping on Canada as the gold winner for three weeks now, and I see them getting the job done today, 4-3.
And on the other side of that coin, the American fans are confident, and almost cocky, heading into this game. The majority of Americans watching this game, to quote Al Michaels, "don't know the difference between a blue line and a clothes lines." They certainly feel that all the pressure is on the Canadians, especially after squeezing out a 3-2 win against the Slovaks on Friday. A lot of American hockey fans, myself included, feel that Canada never recognizes our attention, dedication to and love for the game. Alas, hockey fans are marginalized in this country, and ignorance seems to be the general trend of the American casual hockey fan (i.e. few fans of the Colorado Avalanche knew who Craig Anderson was before the start of the 2009-2010 season). Now that, in some semblance, the rivalry has been explained, I will now move on to analyze the game.
It is often said that the winner of an Olympic hockey tournament is the team with the best goaltender (a la Dominick Hasek in Nagano 1998). There is no question at this point who the best goaltender in this tournament is, and simply put, its Miller Time. Ryan Miller leads all goaltenders in the Olympics with a crazy .953 save percentage and an equally stunning 1.04 GAA. Roberto Luongo, his opponent in this game, has a .919 save percentage with a 1.75 GAA. Last Sunday, Miller made 43 saves against Martin Brodeur's 17 (on 22 shots, ouch). Regardless, the goaltender who should be starting here isn't, and won't see any ice time at these olympics (despite being on the roster and many other teams deploying 3 different goalies in the tournament, Mike Babcock seems to be holding a grudge against Marc-Andre Fleury for stone walling his Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, but this rant is for another day). I expect the shot chart to look much the same, and Miller will need another Herculean effort today.
The biggest thing to watch in this game is whether or not the Americans get into penalty trouble, since their PK for the tournament has been a questionable 76.9%. The United States, however, has taken the least amount of penalties (13 in five games) of any team in this tournament, so they have been at least disciplined. Canada has given up one less power play goal than the US (3 to 2), and have the best PK in the tournament with an 88.24%. Power play wise, these two teams are just about as efficient as the other (Canada's 29.17% to USA's 28.57). If Canada gets on the advantage, this is certainly an area where they might dominate(their blue line has 27 points in 6 games, America's has only 12 from two players in 5 games). Look out for Shea Weber's bomb from the point that he literally put through the net in the play-in game against Germany.
Interestingly, the Americans have taken almost 100 less shots than the Canadians (155 in 5 games to 243 in 6 games), and have been much more opportune in that regard. Percentage wise, in terms of scoring efficiency, both teams are shooting around 15%(Canada 13.17, USA 14.19). Canada's 32 goals in the tournament are tops, America's 22 (tied with Slovakia) are second best. These teams will score given the chance. Offensive X factors include Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Ryan Getzlaf, and Ryan Malone (not a dynamo, but if he scores it motivates his team).
On the defensive side, the US has given up just 6 goals in 5 games, while Canada has given up 14. The unit in red, white and blue is much more stout physically than Canada's, and while at once not as offensively gifted, they will hit you in the mouth without hesitation. The United States has played much more physically than any other team in this tournament, and if the trends continue today (Miller as a brick wall, USA as an opportune team, a little too much pressure on Canada), the Americans will have their first Gold in 30 years. However, I must stick with my guns, I've been harping on Canada as the gold winner for three weeks now, and I see them getting the job done today, 4-3.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Super Tuesday in Vancouver
For those expected to win yesterday in the preliminary round of the tournament there were no surprises. Some of the teams cut it a little close, but we'll still get, for the most part, power house match ups today. Tonight will be the biggest international confrontation between Russia and Canada since the Canada Cup in the late 80s. The hockey world is already buzzing at the thought of this game, and in some respects, this is much more tantalizing than an All-Star Game. The fact of the matter is, whoever loses does not medal, a prospect hockey pundits would've scoffed at merely a week ago, myself included. But that precisely is the magic of these Olympic games. Ovechkin/Crosby is gonna be good tonight, needless to say. Here, as usual, is my analysis of the games yesterday and today.
YESTERDAY:
SWITZERLAND 4, BELARUS 3 (SHOOTOUT)
- An interesting game considering the Swiss gave up 3 goals to the Belorussians. Their defense is good, no doubt, but one would have thought that this game would come a little easier for the Swiss. Word at the beginning of these games is that the Swiss want a medal. Not good news for them now that they have to play an extremely confident USA squad, but that was to be expected, considering their seeding. Belarus gave a solid effort at the Olympics, and if you're a country like Belarus, this is really all you'll be able to accomplish against super teams from the NHL.
CANADA 8, GERMANY 2
- This is pretty much what everyone expected would happen. Canada will play the rest of this tournament with a chip on their shoulders, and Roberto Luongo in net it looks like. Great team that just got upset hands it to a team that just can't keep up. Not much else here to consider except that Canada now has a top line of Eric Staal, Sidney Crosby, and Jarome Iginla. This team looked a lot more complete than they did against the USA team, but that was to be expected.
CZECH REPUBLIC 4, LATVIA 3 (OVERTIME)
- This was the big surprise on a day of otherwise fulfilled expectations. The Czechs should have won this game, and they were resiliant when they had to be, especially in the latter portion of the third period and moving into OT. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that they were playing Latvia, and any such lapses in scoring touch will put them in a quick hole against their next opponent Finland. If Kipprusoff stands on his head the way Latvia's Edgars Masalskis did last night, the Czechs will find themselves out of Vancouver shortly.
SLOVAKIA 4, NORWAY 3
- This is eerily similar to their rivals game aginst the Latvians. Norway's goalie wasn't particularly hot, the Slovaks just really wanted to lose this game, it felt like. Sure, they held the fort at the end, but they were playing one of the worst teams in the tournament and it should've been over long before that. If they come with the same lackadaisical effort against the Swedes, they'll get blown out. Even if they don't they might get blown out.
TODAY:
1:00- #1 USA VS. #8 SWITZERLAND
- This is precisely what the USA earned with its win over the Canadians on Sunday: the right to play a lower seeded team. The ball is in the Americans court to get to the gold medal game, at least. Their road is by far the easiest of any team in the tournament, as it should be for a top seed. Don't expect this to be as close as their 3-1 game in pool play. Even if Jonas Hiller is a wall, don't expect the Swiss offense to do much against the physical, smart American defense (they played with much more intelligence against Canada). The USA will win at least 4-1, and advance to play either Finland or the Czech Republic in the Semi-Finals.
5:30- #3 RUSSIA VS. #6 CANADA
- This game is going to be huge. Consequently, I will run through the offenses and defenses in this game, as well as analyze the goaltending and special teams of both teams. This is a game with social and even political implications for both countries. Both countries don't just want Gold like the Americans do, they expect it (a la USA basketball). And one of them will not medal. This is by far the biggest international rivalry going at this time, much to the shagrin of American fans.
WHEN RUSSIA ATTACKS: Look for quick puck movement between the shifty Russian forwards as they attempt to navigate around an all-star defense. Malkin will lead the way though, not Ovechkin as he lead the team in points in pool play. When not on the rush, look for the Russians to attempt to get as much traffic in front of Roberto Luongo as they can. When on the rush, the Russians will be trying to make Luongo move around in his crease and test his quickness. The Canadians will be physical with the Russians much more so than they were with the Americans. The depth of Canada's defensemen trumps the depth of the Russian forwards. EDGE: EVEN
WHEN CANADA ATTACKS: This team almost banked on the American defense jumping up into plays to create counter-attack oppurtunities on Sunday. The Americans didn't, and the Canadians lost. The Russian defenders are good, but not good enough to contain this roster unless they put forth a supreme effort as they are no where near as deep as the Americans. Canada will continue to do what it has done all tournament: work along the side boards to create chances, whether by working them down low into the slot, or passing it back to guys like Shea Weber who can literally put the puck through the net (incredible play from last night's game with the Germans). If Crosby works the sideboards all game, look out as his outlets from there are either Jarome Iginla or the aforementioned Weber. And Russia's defense may not be good enough, or fast enough, to keep up. EDGE: CANADA
RUSSIAN GOALTENDER: EVGENI NABOKOV
- In this tournament, Nabby is 3-0 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.00 GAA. He's been good when he has had to be. But the team he's facing tonight is a horse of a complete different color. An interesting note, however, is that Nabokov plays for the San Jose Sharks, and faces Canada's Heatley-Thornton-Marleau line every day in practice. He may have it in him to stand in his head tonight and pull out a win, do not count him out.
CANADIAN GOALTENDER: ROBERTO LUONGO
- Luongo, while facing decidedly lower competition in Norway and Germany, is in the shape one would expect with a .947 save percentage and a 1.00 GAA. What goes for Nabokov goes for Roberto as well, this is a super team Canada is facing tonight, even more talented than the Americans. He can easily stand on his head, and tonight should not be a big problem for him. However, if Russia gets in his head early and makes it 2-0 (just a random score), that is when Luongo can struggle to win games. If Russia gets in his head early, they have a much better chance to win.
EDGE: CANADA
WHEN RUSSIA IS ON THE POWERPLAY:
- Look for them to go with the Pittsburgh Penguin attack that they have been of playing Gonchar at the point and having Malkin up there as well and letting those two quarterback. Canada, though, knows how to play against that (or at least Crosby and Fleury do). The talent level for both teams is so high that even a one man advantage is huge. Both powerplays, if given the chance, should light the lamp. EDGE: RUSSIA
WHEN CANADA IS ON THE POWERPLAY:
- This powerplay could be compared to a weapon of mass destruction. That's how good they are. That said, they cannot wait to get the powerplay unit working until late in the third, as they did on Sunday. Crosby has to step up, and usually, when that's the case, he does. They have the better powerplay of the two teams, and they need to exploit one of the only advantages they are going to get against this Russian team. EDGE: CANADA
PICK
- This game could be one for the ages. These are two titans at the heights of their powers going at it. Ovechkin/Crosby will be the main focus I'm sure, and that will only make it a little easier for these teams to hate eachother, if they don't already. This is going to be a fantastic game, and I see the Canadians winning in overtime 5-4.
8:00- #4 FINLAND VS. #5 CZECH REPUBLIC
- Tough act to follow, to say the least. However, this game should provide plenty of drama as both teams can score, both can defend, and both can hit. Jaromir Jagr is still not 100% after taking that bomb of a hit from Alexander Ovechkin on Sunday, and his health is huge variable for this Czech team. Goaltending is the quesiton in this game, as Tomas Vokoun was shaky against the Latvians yesterday and Mikka Kipprusoff looked really questionable against the Swedes on Sunday night. The onus is on Finland to take control of this game and move on to the semis, which I think they will with a grind-it-out 3-2 win over the Czechs.
10:00- #2 SWEDEN VS. #7 SLOVAKIA
- Good way to end a full day of great games. Sweden's offense has not looked as impressive as it has in previous years (aging Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Niclas Lidstrom, no Mats Sundin). That is the one hope Slovakia has to win this game. They need a sub par effort from Sweden's scorers to even have a chance. Their effort against Norway was complete garbage, and they are lucky to be here. They could prove me wrong and play a fantastic game tonight (the pieces are certainly there). For Sweden, they just need to score 3 or 4 goals. If they score, they'll win with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes.
-Since all my picks from the first round held true, I don't need to update my speculation bracket. Yet.
YESTERDAY:
SWITZERLAND 4, BELARUS 3 (SHOOTOUT)
- An interesting game considering the Swiss gave up 3 goals to the Belorussians. Their defense is good, no doubt, but one would have thought that this game would come a little easier for the Swiss. Word at the beginning of these games is that the Swiss want a medal. Not good news for them now that they have to play an extremely confident USA squad, but that was to be expected, considering their seeding. Belarus gave a solid effort at the Olympics, and if you're a country like Belarus, this is really all you'll be able to accomplish against super teams from the NHL.
CANADA 8, GERMANY 2
- This is pretty much what everyone expected would happen. Canada will play the rest of this tournament with a chip on their shoulders, and Roberto Luongo in net it looks like. Great team that just got upset hands it to a team that just can't keep up. Not much else here to consider except that Canada now has a top line of Eric Staal, Sidney Crosby, and Jarome Iginla. This team looked a lot more complete than they did against the USA team, but that was to be expected.
CZECH REPUBLIC 4, LATVIA 3 (OVERTIME)
- This was the big surprise on a day of otherwise fulfilled expectations. The Czechs should have won this game, and they were resiliant when they had to be, especially in the latter portion of the third period and moving into OT. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that they were playing Latvia, and any such lapses in scoring touch will put them in a quick hole against their next opponent Finland. If Kipprusoff stands on his head the way Latvia's Edgars Masalskis did last night, the Czechs will find themselves out of Vancouver shortly.
SLOVAKIA 4, NORWAY 3
- This is eerily similar to their rivals game aginst the Latvians. Norway's goalie wasn't particularly hot, the Slovaks just really wanted to lose this game, it felt like. Sure, they held the fort at the end, but they were playing one of the worst teams in the tournament and it should've been over long before that. If they come with the same lackadaisical effort against the Swedes, they'll get blown out. Even if they don't they might get blown out.
TODAY:
1:00- #1 USA VS. #8 SWITZERLAND
- This is precisely what the USA earned with its win over the Canadians on Sunday: the right to play a lower seeded team. The ball is in the Americans court to get to the gold medal game, at least. Their road is by far the easiest of any team in the tournament, as it should be for a top seed. Don't expect this to be as close as their 3-1 game in pool play. Even if Jonas Hiller is a wall, don't expect the Swiss offense to do much against the physical, smart American defense (they played with much more intelligence against Canada). The USA will win at least 4-1, and advance to play either Finland or the Czech Republic in the Semi-Finals.
5:30- #3 RUSSIA VS. #6 CANADA
- This game is going to be huge. Consequently, I will run through the offenses and defenses in this game, as well as analyze the goaltending and special teams of both teams. This is a game with social and even political implications for both countries. Both countries don't just want Gold like the Americans do, they expect it (a la USA basketball). And one of them will not medal. This is by far the biggest international rivalry going at this time, much to the shagrin of American fans.
WHEN RUSSIA ATTACKS: Look for quick puck movement between the shifty Russian forwards as they attempt to navigate around an all-star defense. Malkin will lead the way though, not Ovechkin as he lead the team in points in pool play. When not on the rush, look for the Russians to attempt to get as much traffic in front of Roberto Luongo as they can. When on the rush, the Russians will be trying to make Luongo move around in his crease and test his quickness. The Canadians will be physical with the Russians much more so than they were with the Americans. The depth of Canada's defensemen trumps the depth of the Russian forwards. EDGE: EVEN
WHEN CANADA ATTACKS: This team almost banked on the American defense jumping up into plays to create counter-attack oppurtunities on Sunday. The Americans didn't, and the Canadians lost. The Russian defenders are good, but not good enough to contain this roster unless they put forth a supreme effort as they are no where near as deep as the Americans. Canada will continue to do what it has done all tournament: work along the side boards to create chances, whether by working them down low into the slot, or passing it back to guys like Shea Weber who can literally put the puck through the net (incredible play from last night's game with the Germans). If Crosby works the sideboards all game, look out as his outlets from there are either Jarome Iginla or the aforementioned Weber. And Russia's defense may not be good enough, or fast enough, to keep up. EDGE: CANADA
RUSSIAN GOALTENDER: EVGENI NABOKOV
- In this tournament, Nabby is 3-0 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.00 GAA. He's been good when he has had to be. But the team he's facing tonight is a horse of a complete different color. An interesting note, however, is that Nabokov plays for the San Jose Sharks, and faces Canada's Heatley-Thornton-Marleau line every day in practice. He may have it in him to stand in his head tonight and pull out a win, do not count him out.
CANADIAN GOALTENDER: ROBERTO LUONGO
- Luongo, while facing decidedly lower competition in Norway and Germany, is in the shape one would expect with a .947 save percentage and a 1.00 GAA. What goes for Nabokov goes for Roberto as well, this is a super team Canada is facing tonight, even more talented than the Americans. He can easily stand on his head, and tonight should not be a big problem for him. However, if Russia gets in his head early and makes it 2-0 (just a random score), that is when Luongo can struggle to win games. If Russia gets in his head early, they have a much better chance to win.
EDGE: CANADA
WHEN RUSSIA IS ON THE POWERPLAY:
- Look for them to go with the Pittsburgh Penguin attack that they have been of playing Gonchar at the point and having Malkin up there as well and letting those two quarterback. Canada, though, knows how to play against that (or at least Crosby and Fleury do). The talent level for both teams is so high that even a one man advantage is huge. Both powerplays, if given the chance, should light the lamp. EDGE: RUSSIA
WHEN CANADA IS ON THE POWERPLAY:
- This powerplay could be compared to a weapon of mass destruction. That's how good they are. That said, they cannot wait to get the powerplay unit working until late in the third, as they did on Sunday. Crosby has to step up, and usually, when that's the case, he does. They have the better powerplay of the two teams, and they need to exploit one of the only advantages they are going to get against this Russian team. EDGE: CANADA
PICK
- This game could be one for the ages. These are two titans at the heights of their powers going at it. Ovechkin/Crosby will be the main focus I'm sure, and that will only make it a little easier for these teams to hate eachother, if they don't already. This is going to be a fantastic game, and I see the Canadians winning in overtime 5-4.
8:00- #4 FINLAND VS. #5 CZECH REPUBLIC
- Tough act to follow, to say the least. However, this game should provide plenty of drama as both teams can score, both can defend, and both can hit. Jaromir Jagr is still not 100% after taking that bomb of a hit from Alexander Ovechkin on Sunday, and his health is huge variable for this Czech team. Goaltending is the quesiton in this game, as Tomas Vokoun was shaky against the Latvians yesterday and Mikka Kipprusoff looked really questionable against the Swedes on Sunday night. The onus is on Finland to take control of this game and move on to the semis, which I think they will with a grind-it-out 3-2 win over the Czechs.
10:00- #2 SWEDEN VS. #7 SLOVAKIA
- Good way to end a full day of great games. Sweden's offense has not looked as impressive as it has in previous years (aging Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Niclas Lidstrom, no Mats Sundin). That is the one hope Slovakia has to win this game. They need a sub par effort from Sweden's scorers to even have a chance. Their effort against Norway was complete garbage, and they are lucky to be here. They could prove me wrong and play a fantastic game tonight (the pieces are certainly there). For Sweden, they just need to score 3 or 4 goals. If they score, they'll win with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes.
-Since all my picks from the first round held true, I don't need to update my speculation bracket. Yet.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Commentary on Sunday's games and look ahead to medal round
The moniker "Super Sunday" seemed appropriate in describing the hockey action in Vancouver yesterday. Russia and the Czech Republic battled it out to determine the winner of group B, while Sweden and Finland renewed hostilities to determine the winner of that group. Russia showcased its talent, and Evgeni Malkin wants a little recognition (it seems he will always be under either Crosby or Ovechkin's shadow) with 3 points yesterday, including a huge goal on the powerplay. Sweden showed that Finland may not be as good as the Finns might think. Kipprusoff looked shakey at times last night in goal, but his defense was of little to no help. They should be grateful that they were able to pull out a first round bye, despite losing. But obviously, yesterday was about the huge upset of team Canada by the young guns of the United States. This was the biggest upset for team USA in some time, some would say their biggest since beating the USSR in 1980 in Lake Placid. However, such a comparison is ridiculous and carried no weight. Their upset was big, no doubt about that (it even got casual American sports fans talking about hockey, as shocking as it may seem). But to compare it to the biggest upset in the history of sports (I think its more like the 96 world championships, the last time the USA beat Canada) ignores the fact that the United States' roster is now comprised entirely of elite NHL talent, not the college kids that took on the highly trained and experienced Soviet squad back in 1980 who had beaten NHL teams, including NHL all-star teams. That's not to say the win wasn't exciting, as beating Canada without Mike Komisarek or Paul Martin speaks volumes about the depth of the USA team. They are now the top seed. The onus is on America to take care of business in what would otherwise be called an easy route to the gold medal game. Sunday was everything any hockey fan could have wanted to see. Here's the breakdown of the bracket's first round, game by game, and a quick overview of how I see the whole tournament going.
FEB 23-
1:00- #8 SWITZERLAND VS. #9 BELARUS (WINNER PLAYS #1 USA)
- This is an interesting matchup of lower teams, with the Swiss being the more defensive minded (and having an NHL goalie in Jonas Hiller) team and the Belarussians the more offensive. However, these games often come down to holding the defensive fort and not allowing the other team to score late in the game. Switzerland is simply the better team in this case (they held the USA to 3 goals and took Canada to a shootout). Switzerland moves on, 2-0 to get another crack at the Americans.
5:30- #6 CANADA VS. #11 GERMANY (WINNER PLAYS #3 RUSSIA)
- Canada has really put themselves in an awkward position with the way they finished pool play. They did not want to see Russia until the gold medal game, much less the quarterfinals, but they have only themselves to blame for not putting away Switzerland as they should have and not matching the grit of the Americans. Goaltending is in question now for Canada, do you stick with Brodeur, who hasn't looked good at all, or go with Roberto Luongo, who shut out Norway. The shocker in this case would be if Mike Babcock decides to ride the most clutch goalie he has into the tournament in Marc-Andre Fleury. This game is a no brainer for Canada, don't expect it to be close as they'll want to bounce back from that heartbreaker against the USA. Canada is loaded, Germany isn't. 6-0 at least. Let the pandamonium that will be Canada Vs. Russia ensue.
8:00- #5 CZECH REPUBLIC VS. #12 LATVIA (WINNER PLAYS #4 FINLAND)
- These two teams have already played once, with the Czechs taking a 5-2 win. Not much will change, except the margin might get a little bigger. The Czechs have it, and will take it easily. Finland and the Czechs should be a surprisingly good game.
10:00- #7 SLOVAKIA VS. #11 NORWAY (WINNER PLAYS #2 SWEDEN)
- The last two games on the first day of medal round play certainly don't look to have much excitement. These will be blowouts, and Norway hasn't really been able to show any adversity so far in this tourny. Watch for Norway to try to play dirty, as it did against the USA, in order to try to win. They won't, though.
SPECULATION TIME:
- Here, I'll pick the rest of the bracket. At the end of the tournament, everyone can look back at how wrong I was (My gold medal game was Russia Vs. Canada, thats already wrong).
USA/SWITZERLAND- USA WINS 5-1
FINLAND/CZECH REPUBLIC- FINLAND WINS 4-3
SWEDEN/SLOVAKIA- SWEDEN WINS 5-2
CANADA/RUSSIA- CANADA WINS 5-4
USA/FINLAND- USA WINS 3-1
SWEDEN/CANADA- CANADA WINS 4-2
BRONZE GAME:
FINLAND/SWEDEN- SWEDEN WINS 2-1
GOLD GAME:
USA/CANADA- CANADA WINS 4-3
FEB 23-
1:00- #8 SWITZERLAND VS. #9 BELARUS (WINNER PLAYS #1 USA)
- This is an interesting matchup of lower teams, with the Swiss being the more defensive minded (and having an NHL goalie in Jonas Hiller) team and the Belarussians the more offensive. However, these games often come down to holding the defensive fort and not allowing the other team to score late in the game. Switzerland is simply the better team in this case (they held the USA to 3 goals and took Canada to a shootout). Switzerland moves on, 2-0 to get another crack at the Americans.
5:30- #6 CANADA VS. #11 GERMANY (WINNER PLAYS #3 RUSSIA)
- Canada has really put themselves in an awkward position with the way they finished pool play. They did not want to see Russia until the gold medal game, much less the quarterfinals, but they have only themselves to blame for not putting away Switzerland as they should have and not matching the grit of the Americans. Goaltending is in question now for Canada, do you stick with Brodeur, who hasn't looked good at all, or go with Roberto Luongo, who shut out Norway. The shocker in this case would be if Mike Babcock decides to ride the most clutch goalie he has into the tournament in Marc-Andre Fleury. This game is a no brainer for Canada, don't expect it to be close as they'll want to bounce back from that heartbreaker against the USA. Canada is loaded, Germany isn't. 6-0 at least. Let the pandamonium that will be Canada Vs. Russia ensue.
8:00- #5 CZECH REPUBLIC VS. #12 LATVIA (WINNER PLAYS #4 FINLAND)
- These two teams have already played once, with the Czechs taking a 5-2 win. Not much will change, except the margin might get a little bigger. The Czechs have it, and will take it easily. Finland and the Czechs should be a surprisingly good game.
10:00- #7 SLOVAKIA VS. #11 NORWAY (WINNER PLAYS #2 SWEDEN)
- The last two games on the first day of medal round play certainly don't look to have much excitement. These will be blowouts, and Norway hasn't really been able to show any adversity so far in this tourny. Watch for Norway to try to play dirty, as it did against the USA, in order to try to win. They won't, though.
SPECULATION TIME:
- Here, I'll pick the rest of the bracket. At the end of the tournament, everyone can look back at how wrong I was (My gold medal game was Russia Vs. Canada, thats already wrong).
USA/SWITZERLAND- USA WINS 5-1
FINLAND/CZECH REPUBLIC- FINLAND WINS 4-3
SWEDEN/SLOVAKIA- SWEDEN WINS 5-2
CANADA/RUSSIA- CANADA WINS 5-4
USA/FINLAND- USA WINS 3-1
SWEDEN/CANADA- CANADA WINS 4-2
BRONZE GAME:
FINLAND/SWEDEN- SWEDEN WINS 2-1
GOLD GAME:
USA/CANADA- CANADA WINS 4-3
Friday, February 19, 2010
More olympic hockey, Stunning results from yesterday
All of yesterday's games were entertaining, and two of them turned out to be shocking. Canada now needs to beat the United States on Sunday if it wants a bye into the quarterfinals after taking Switzerland to a shootout. It looks like the United States has a legitimate chance to win on Sunday where hope may not have been as bright before. Russia now must do the same against the Czechs on Sunday to avoid playing in the opening round of the medal rounds. Slovakia shocked many yesterday with a huge upset of the Russians, and their chances for that bye are, for now, intact. The only team they have yet to play is Latvia, so Slovaks gotta be feeling pretty confident in their team right now. Here's the recap and analysis plus a look at the games today:
YESTERDAY:
USA 6, NORWAY 1
- This game was never necessarily in doubt, but American fans must be concerned with this team's inability to cut down odd man rushes defensively. If Canada gets as many chances as Norway and even Switzerland got, it won't be a close game. This USA squad looks uncertain of itself in many ways. Defenders are constantly pinching, and forwards are not covering their spots because it seems every player on the ice wants to be the hero, and plays that way. Americans have to be pleased with Switzerland for taking Canada to a shootout, thus making the showdown on Sunday witht the Canadians a win and you're in with a first round bye, lose and you might have to play in the first round.
CANADA 3, SWITZERLAND 2 (SHOOTOUT)
- Switzerland is a team designed around defense. More precisely, they are designed to take on Canada with the way that they play. Numerous times in the game, the Swiss defense flustered and frustrated the Canadian attack. The Swiss control the superstars through the neutral zones, and they trap them in the offensive zone. Go ahead and call the Swiss team an international version of the New Jersey Devils. This is the second time in the last two olympics that Switzerland has skated right with the Canadians, and to see the Canadians need a shooutout gives the USA team hope. Jonas Hiller is a legitimate star goalie in the NHL, and without him, the score of this game is much different. Don't fault him for being scored on by Sidney Crosby in the shooutout, fault the Swiss offense for not supporting their goaltender or scoring in the shootout against a Martin Brodeur that looked quite beatable in this game. Too bad for the United States Marty probably isn't playing on Sunday, I'd bet on Marc-Andre Fleury.
SLOVAKIA 2, RUSSIA 1 (SHOOTOUT)
- This game was easily the game of the day, and Slovakia shocked many in the hockey world with this win. To be honest though, the Russian offense went a little cold in this game, and Ilya Bryzgalov is not necessarily the guy you want in shootouts because of his size and lack of quickness. The Slovakians hung around a day after being beaten by their rivals in a game in which the Slovaks took numerous penalties. On this night, however, the Slovaks maintained their discipline and it was the Russians who became frustrated. One can question the Russian coach for having Ovechkin shoot 3 times in the shootout, whilst Malkin and Kovalchuk only shot once each. The Slovaks are sitting pretty for now, with their only opponent remaining being a Latvian team that was smashed by this Russian squad. Russia is put in a bit of a bind, but they certainly have the skill to dig themselves out of what at most for this team is a minor obstruction in playing in the first round. They must win on Sunday, or face a grab bag of teams that could really include anyone from the United States to Sweden or even Finland. Canada still could play in the first round as well.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
1:00- SWEDEN 4, BELARUS 2 FINAL
5:30- CZECH REPUBLIC VS. LATVIA
10:00- FINLAND VS. GERMANY
YESTERDAY:
USA 6, NORWAY 1
- This game was never necessarily in doubt, but American fans must be concerned with this team's inability to cut down odd man rushes defensively. If Canada gets as many chances as Norway and even Switzerland got, it won't be a close game. This USA squad looks uncertain of itself in many ways. Defenders are constantly pinching, and forwards are not covering their spots because it seems every player on the ice wants to be the hero, and plays that way. Americans have to be pleased with Switzerland for taking Canada to a shootout, thus making the showdown on Sunday witht the Canadians a win and you're in with a first round bye, lose and you might have to play in the first round.
CANADA 3, SWITZERLAND 2 (SHOOTOUT)
- Switzerland is a team designed around defense. More precisely, they are designed to take on Canada with the way that they play. Numerous times in the game, the Swiss defense flustered and frustrated the Canadian attack. The Swiss control the superstars through the neutral zones, and they trap them in the offensive zone. Go ahead and call the Swiss team an international version of the New Jersey Devils. This is the second time in the last two olympics that Switzerland has skated right with the Canadians, and to see the Canadians need a shooutout gives the USA team hope. Jonas Hiller is a legitimate star goalie in the NHL, and without him, the score of this game is much different. Don't fault him for being scored on by Sidney Crosby in the shooutout, fault the Swiss offense for not supporting their goaltender or scoring in the shootout against a Martin Brodeur that looked quite beatable in this game. Too bad for the United States Marty probably isn't playing on Sunday, I'd bet on Marc-Andre Fleury.
SLOVAKIA 2, RUSSIA 1 (SHOOTOUT)
- This game was easily the game of the day, and Slovakia shocked many in the hockey world with this win. To be honest though, the Russian offense went a little cold in this game, and Ilya Bryzgalov is not necessarily the guy you want in shootouts because of his size and lack of quickness. The Slovakians hung around a day after being beaten by their rivals in a game in which the Slovaks took numerous penalties. On this night, however, the Slovaks maintained their discipline and it was the Russians who became frustrated. One can question the Russian coach for having Ovechkin shoot 3 times in the shootout, whilst Malkin and Kovalchuk only shot once each. The Slovaks are sitting pretty for now, with their only opponent remaining being a Latvian team that was smashed by this Russian squad. Russia is put in a bit of a bind, but they certainly have the skill to dig themselves out of what at most for this team is a minor obstruction in playing in the first round. They must win on Sunday, or face a grab bag of teams that could really include anyone from the United States to Sweden or even Finland. Canada still could play in the first round as well.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
1:00- SWEDEN 4, BELARUS 2 FINAL
5:30- CZECH REPUBLIC VS. LATVIA
10:00- FINLAND VS. GERMANY
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Analysis of yesterday and preview of today at the olympics
Yesterday was a lot more competitive than Tuesday, as none of the games particularly were blowouts. Some good hockey, and upon looking at the standings, with goals for being the first tie breaker after points, both Latvia and Belrus, despite losing, hold the final two spots in the medal round. That will change barring a big surprise, as both Germany and Slovakia should respond from losses yesterday. Today, the hockey will be return to the blowout style we saw Tuesday as Pool A resumes play with USA Vs. Norway at 1 and Canada Vs. Switzerland at 5:30. Tonight, two good teams go at it with Russia playing the Slovaks, fresh from a loss to their bitter rival, the Czech Republic. But let's start with a recap of the action from yesterday:
FINLAND 5, BELARUS 1
- Goaltender Vitali Koval kept Belarus in this game as long as he possibly could have. Mid-way through the second period, the score was 2-1 and Belarus was looking to seize momentum in the game. Niclas Hagman, however, scored for Finland shortly after, and the Finns roll. Selanne and Koivu, of course, played good games for this Finnish squad. For Belarus, it doesn't get any easier with Sweden next. On the bright side, at least they get the two best teams in the pool out of the way first right?
SWEDEN 2, GERMANY 0
- I thought Sweden would come out of the gates blazing to start pool play, but they stalled. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 21 saves and got some offense. Tough game for Peter Forsberg. All signs point to this being his final Olympics, and put any hopes he had of returning to the NHL to bed. Germany knew they probably weren't going to win, but they have to take care of business against Finland, and especially Belarus if they want to make the medal rounds.
CZECH REPUBLIC 3, SLOVAKIA 1
- Well, it certainly looks like Jaromir Jagr can still get it done. He single-handedly won this game for the Czechs in the second period with two goals 2:02 apart, scoring at a time when it looked like the Slovaks were beginning to get an edge. Frustrating game for Slovakia, and their game tonight against Russia won't be fun. Tough enough to do a back to back in the Olympics, but to do it against the Czechs and then the Russians is a tall order for anyone. Simply need to get better goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, or they might go to a fresh Petr Budaj, who has spent most of this season in the NHL on the bench behind Craig Anderson in Colorado.
TONIGHT:
1:00- USA VS. NORWAY
- This should be the Americans' easiest game in the entire Olympic tournament. That said, they can't afford to overlook Norway and have this game be close. If they take care of business, which they should, this game will be 5-0 easily, maybe worse. Norway was battered in their opening loss to the Canadians on tuesday, and don't expect things to get any easier for them. Well, they also get the top two teams in their pool out of the way first, but even a win against the Swiss on Saturday will not be enough to get them into the top 8.
5:30- CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND
- Canada needs to continue its offensive domination in this game, and it cannot wait until the end of the second period against the Swiss like they did against Norway to heat up. This Swiss team beat Canada in Torino in 2006 in what still is that country's biggest hockey win. Canada is much better than they were in Torino, however. I still think Canada will win even if this game becomes a defensive struggle, because of all the clutch talent they have on the bench when they need a goal (led by Sidney Crosby, of course). Probably 5-1.
10:00- RUSSIA VS. SLOVAKIA
- Slovakia needs to have instant amnesia in regard to their game last night if they want to have any hope to beat the Russians. The Russians, on the other hand, want more of the same from their last game, a 8-2 beating of Latvia. Should be plenty physical, and the scoring no doubt is there. Russia could lose this game, it is quite possible that the Slovaks have enough to beat them. Not necessarily probable, though. 4-2 Russia.
FINLAND 5, BELARUS 1
- Goaltender Vitali Koval kept Belarus in this game as long as he possibly could have. Mid-way through the second period, the score was 2-1 and Belarus was looking to seize momentum in the game. Niclas Hagman, however, scored for Finland shortly after, and the Finns roll. Selanne and Koivu, of course, played good games for this Finnish squad. For Belarus, it doesn't get any easier with Sweden next. On the bright side, at least they get the two best teams in the pool out of the way first right?
SWEDEN 2, GERMANY 0
- I thought Sweden would come out of the gates blazing to start pool play, but they stalled. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 21 saves and got some offense. Tough game for Peter Forsberg. All signs point to this being his final Olympics, and put any hopes he had of returning to the NHL to bed. Germany knew they probably weren't going to win, but they have to take care of business against Finland, and especially Belarus if they want to make the medal rounds.
CZECH REPUBLIC 3, SLOVAKIA 1
- Well, it certainly looks like Jaromir Jagr can still get it done. He single-handedly won this game for the Czechs in the second period with two goals 2:02 apart, scoring at a time when it looked like the Slovaks were beginning to get an edge. Frustrating game for Slovakia, and their game tonight against Russia won't be fun. Tough enough to do a back to back in the Olympics, but to do it against the Czechs and then the Russians is a tall order for anyone. Simply need to get better goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, or they might go to a fresh Petr Budaj, who has spent most of this season in the NHL on the bench behind Craig Anderson in Colorado.
TONIGHT:
1:00- USA VS. NORWAY
- This should be the Americans' easiest game in the entire Olympic tournament. That said, they can't afford to overlook Norway and have this game be close. If they take care of business, which they should, this game will be 5-0 easily, maybe worse. Norway was battered in their opening loss to the Canadians on tuesday, and don't expect things to get any easier for them. Well, they also get the top two teams in their pool out of the way first, but even a win against the Swiss on Saturday will not be enough to get them into the top 8.
5:30- CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND
- Canada needs to continue its offensive domination in this game, and it cannot wait until the end of the second period against the Swiss like they did against Norway to heat up. This Swiss team beat Canada in Torino in 2006 in what still is that country's biggest hockey win. Canada is much better than they were in Torino, however. I still think Canada will win even if this game becomes a defensive struggle, because of all the clutch talent they have on the bench when they need a goal (led by Sidney Crosby, of course). Probably 5-1.
10:00- RUSSIA VS. SLOVAKIA
- Slovakia needs to have instant amnesia in regard to their game last night if they want to have any hope to beat the Russians. The Russians, on the other hand, want more of the same from their last game, a 8-2 beating of Latvia. Should be plenty physical, and the scoring no doubt is there. Russia could lose this game, it is quite possible that the Slovaks have enough to beat them. Not necessarily probable, though. 4-2 Russia.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Post-game reaction and preview for Olympics tonight
Yesterday, Olympic hockey returned in all its glory. Ok, well, maybe not so glorious for some teams, but that was to be expected. Tonight there is a clash that may crush either Slovakia or the Czech Republic's shot at the medal rounds. Other than that, the best games are still yet to come.
LAST NIGHT:
USA 3, SWITZERLAND 1
- A solid performance by Switzerland, I had this game being 5-1. Their defense is stout, but as a team that wants to make the medal round, they can not afford a slip up against Norway in their final game. Don't bet on the Swiss beating Canada. On the American side, this game was scary, and could be called a disappointment in some ways. Sure, the Swiss are strictly a defensive team, but this doesn't bode all that well for a team with big games looming (Canada, others in the medal rounds against the likes of Sweden, Russia, Finland, etc).
CANADA 8, NORWAY 0
- Pretty much went as expected. The Canadians started out slow, but found their game. Crosby had 3 assists, Iginla a hat trick. For Canada, this was business as usual. Luongo was stellar, and this team proved why it is the favorite for gold. Norway tried, they really did, and they played well for a while, but this was like asking a child to fight a heavyweight boxer. Not pretty.
RUSSIA 8, LATVIA 2
- I was impressed with the effort Latvia showed throughout the game. This is a surprisingly speedy group, and they're feisty. They may not get far, or even advance out of pool play, but if they scratch their way in (say via upset of either Slovakia or the Czechs), they could upset someone in the medal round. However, last night, the Russians were simply too much. Malkin, Kovalchuk, and Afinogenov as a starting line is more than scary. Throw in Datsyuk, Semin, and Ovechkin on top of that. Exactly what everyone thought would happen. Latvia put up a fight, at least.
TONIGHT:
1:00 PM: FINLAND VS. BELARUS
- This game should be a good barometer for a Finnish team that honestly at this point doesn't know what to expect in this deep hockey field. Obviously, this is a must win for Finland, they cannot afford to slip up today. For Belarus, in their pool (Sweden, Germany, Finland the other teams) it is looking grim that they'll make the medal rounds. Expect Finland to dominate the game, but the score may be closer than those we saw yesterday, something along the lines of 4-2 for Finland.
5:30 PM: SWEDEN VS. GERMANY
- This will be an entertaining game, and might be the closest of those already played (Even though the USA/Swiss game was 3-1, it wasn't as close as the score indicated). Hockey fans all over the world are anxious to see Peter Forsberg play again for Sweden. Nothing but a great thing when Forsberg is in the olympics, or in the international hockey eye. I'm thinking if Sweden clicks early, they may roll 3-0 or 4-0. If not, I think they'll still win, but maybe only 4-2. Sweden is clearly the better team here, and the best team in their pool.
10:00 PM: SLOVAKIA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC
- This game is going to be dirty. Scrappy will be the operative word for most of this night. These teams absolutely despise eachother, and in the Olympics, that makes for great hockey. Both teams have solid offensive players who can put the puck in the net, and neither team's defensive players are a wall (that is, except for 6'9", 265 lb Zdeno Chara, who is closer to 7'0", 300 lbs on skates and equiptment). Should be a fireworks display, and a fight to the finish. As of now, I give the slight edge to the Slovaks because their defense is more stout than that of the Czechs. Powerplay-wise, these teams are dead even. Again, this will be a fantastic hockey game tonight, stay up and watch if you have the chance. This game may even end in a tie, but for now I've got Slovakia 3, Czech Republic 2.
LAST NIGHT:
USA 3, SWITZERLAND 1
- A solid performance by Switzerland, I had this game being 5-1. Their defense is stout, but as a team that wants to make the medal round, they can not afford a slip up against Norway in their final game. Don't bet on the Swiss beating Canada. On the American side, this game was scary, and could be called a disappointment in some ways. Sure, the Swiss are strictly a defensive team, but this doesn't bode all that well for a team with big games looming (Canada, others in the medal rounds against the likes of Sweden, Russia, Finland, etc).
CANADA 8, NORWAY 0
- Pretty much went as expected. The Canadians started out slow, but found their game. Crosby had 3 assists, Iginla a hat trick. For Canada, this was business as usual. Luongo was stellar, and this team proved why it is the favorite for gold. Norway tried, they really did, and they played well for a while, but this was like asking a child to fight a heavyweight boxer. Not pretty.
RUSSIA 8, LATVIA 2
- I was impressed with the effort Latvia showed throughout the game. This is a surprisingly speedy group, and they're feisty. They may not get far, or even advance out of pool play, but if they scratch their way in (say via upset of either Slovakia or the Czechs), they could upset someone in the medal round. However, last night, the Russians were simply too much. Malkin, Kovalchuk, and Afinogenov as a starting line is more than scary. Throw in Datsyuk, Semin, and Ovechkin on top of that. Exactly what everyone thought would happen. Latvia put up a fight, at least.
TONIGHT:
1:00 PM: FINLAND VS. BELARUS
- This game should be a good barometer for a Finnish team that honestly at this point doesn't know what to expect in this deep hockey field. Obviously, this is a must win for Finland, they cannot afford to slip up today. For Belarus, in their pool (Sweden, Germany, Finland the other teams) it is looking grim that they'll make the medal rounds. Expect Finland to dominate the game, but the score may be closer than those we saw yesterday, something along the lines of 4-2 for Finland.
5:30 PM: SWEDEN VS. GERMANY
- This will be an entertaining game, and might be the closest of those already played (Even though the USA/Swiss game was 3-1, it wasn't as close as the score indicated). Hockey fans all over the world are anxious to see Peter Forsberg play again for Sweden. Nothing but a great thing when Forsberg is in the olympics, or in the international hockey eye. I'm thinking if Sweden clicks early, they may roll 3-0 or 4-0. If not, I think they'll still win, but maybe only 4-2. Sweden is clearly the better team here, and the best team in their pool.
10:00 PM: SLOVAKIA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC
- This game is going to be dirty. Scrappy will be the operative word for most of this night. These teams absolutely despise eachother, and in the Olympics, that makes for great hockey. Both teams have solid offensive players who can put the puck in the net, and neither team's defensive players are a wall (that is, except for 6'9", 265 lb Zdeno Chara, who is closer to 7'0", 300 lbs on skates and equiptment). Should be a fireworks display, and a fight to the finish. As of now, I give the slight edge to the Slovaks because their defense is more stout than that of the Czechs. Powerplay-wise, these teams are dead even. Again, this will be a fantastic hockey game tonight, stay up and watch if you have the chance. This game may even end in a tie, but for now I've got Slovakia 3, Czech Republic 2.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Olympic Roster Updates
This weekend as the NHL wrapped up play before the Olympic break, attention was focused on the health of certain players who had planned to play for their countries in Vancouver. Anaheim forward Ryan Getzlaf returned to the lineup against the Edmonton Oilers and had 4 points, making a clear statement that he can play, and play well, if Canada needs him to. They have since announced that he will play for Canada and have no roster changes planned. The other main player on the injury bubble for the olympics was Detroit forward Tomas Holmstom, who will not play, and will be replaced by teammate Johan Franzen, which could be big. Franzen is notably much more skilled than Holmstrom and can do just as much damage, if not more, on the powerplay. Sweden upgrades its roster, and indeed its chances to advance deep in the medal rounds.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Roster Freeze
Well , looks like I was dead wrong on the roster freeze, it looks like GMs would rather negotiate deals through the olympics. As a result, I think deadline day may be smaller in scale this season if deals are announced as soon as rosters are unfrozen. Even still, deadline day is mere 3 days after the Gold Medal game that is scheduled for Feb. 28, so teams may already have agreed to deals but wait til Mar. 3 to announce them. Here's all the deals that did happen last week before the freeze, and my analysis of the Kovalchuk deal:
- Chicago receives: Kim Johnnson and Nick Leddy, Minnesota receives: Cam Barker
- A swap of defenders, and the Blackhawks add a more veteran presence on the blue line than Barker, who's youth and energy should help a Minnesota squad struggling to stay afloat. In addition, Chicago gets Minnesota's 2009 first round pick in Leddy.
- Ottawa receives: Matt Cullen, Carolina receives: Alexandre Picard and 2nd round pick in 2010.
- Ottawa gets some baggage out and brings in Cullen, a forward who is certainly a veteran when it comes to the playoffs. Bryan Murray wants this team to advance past the first round, not simply qualify for the playoffs.
- Montreal receives: Dominic Moore, Florida receives: 2nd round pick in 2011.
- Moore is a solid forward who could add some depth to the Canadiens forwards.
- San Jose receives: 6th round pick in 2010, New York (R) receive: Jody Shelley
- Could be the Rangers are tired of getting bullied by the likes of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Jersey within its own division.
- Thrashers receive: Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, 1st round pick in 2010, Devils receive: Anssi Salmela, Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Sure, the Thrashers got a good group of prospects in this deal, but I don't think they got near what they thought they would get on the open market with Kovalchuk. Could be that this was the best deal the Thrashers got, and it that is the case, I don't see why Atlanta GM Don Waddell simply doesn't make more of an effort to re-sign Kovie. The Devils get a hell of a rental, and that's what he is in New Jersey, a rental. Expect him to sign elsewhere (Maybe even a mega deal in the KHL) come July 1.
- Chicago receives: Kim Johnnson and Nick Leddy, Minnesota receives: Cam Barker
- A swap of defenders, and the Blackhawks add a more veteran presence on the blue line than Barker, who's youth and energy should help a Minnesota squad struggling to stay afloat. In addition, Chicago gets Minnesota's 2009 first round pick in Leddy.
- Ottawa receives: Matt Cullen, Carolina receives: Alexandre Picard and 2nd round pick in 2010.
- Ottawa gets some baggage out and brings in Cullen, a forward who is certainly a veteran when it comes to the playoffs. Bryan Murray wants this team to advance past the first round, not simply qualify for the playoffs.
- Montreal receives: Dominic Moore, Florida receives: 2nd round pick in 2011.
- Moore is a solid forward who could add some depth to the Canadiens forwards.
- San Jose receives: 6th round pick in 2010, New York (R) receive: Jody Shelley
- Could be the Rangers are tired of getting bullied by the likes of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Jersey within its own division.
- Thrashers receive: Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, 1st round pick in 2010, Devils receive: Anssi Salmela, Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Sure, the Thrashers got a good group of prospects in this deal, but I don't think they got near what they thought they would get on the open market with Kovalchuk. Could be that this was the best deal the Thrashers got, and it that is the case, I don't see why Atlanta GM Don Waddell simply doesn't make more of an effort to re-sign Kovie. The Devils get a hell of a rental, and that's what he is in New Jersey, a rental. Expect him to sign elsewhere (Maybe even a mega deal in the KHL) come July 1.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Games start Tuesday, here's at least some thoughts on those games.
The first few games of this tournament and these especially will not be too particularly interesting if the talent on each team plays as it is expected. Don't expect any of the favorites to lose on this night. And if they do, be shocked. Be very shocked.
1:00 PM: United States Vs. Switzerland: The only reason I suspect this game to be close is if the NHL players on the USA side show some fatigue from just recently finishing games with their respective teams in that league. Switzerland is somewhat solid defensively, so it won't be complete dominance by the United States, but i do see them getting blown out late, maybe 4-1 or 5-1. If Switzerland takes a lot of penalties as a result of the gap in athletic talent on the ice between the two teams, expect the USA to take complete advantage with how many weapons that they have.
5:30 PM: Canada Vs. Norway: This is just going to be an ugly game, pure and simple. There is no remote hope for Norway in defending the likes of Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, and Jarome Iginla. And that's just Canada's top line, they have three others with just as much talent. Give Norway some credit for finding their way back into the olympics, but this is an extremelty tough draw for anyone. Nobody wanted to play Canada in the first game, Norway has to. Maybe 8-0 or 9-0.
10:00 PM: Russia Vs. Latvia: I wish I could say that this is going to be slightly less of a blowout than Norway/Canada, but I can't, because Russia is absolutely going to destroy the Latvians in this game. Russia can be cruel and play Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk as a line or break them up. Whatever they do, the Latvians won't be able to stop it. Additionally, this Russian team is simply too physical for Latvia to handle. They might have a lot of KHLers on their roster, but they are playing world-class NHL talent, and it won't be pretty. This one might not be as bad as the game earlier in the day, but still don't be surprised to see the score 5-0 or 6-0.
-I'll be writing on each of these games in the Olympics along with a recap of all the games. Tomorrow, the games don't get much more competitive (Finland Vs. Belarus and Sweden Vs. Germany), but the international hockey world will once again get to see Olympic legend Peter Forsberg skate with the Triple Crown on his jersey. Also, we get to see the grudge match that is the Czech Republic Vs. Slovakia. Should be an awesome game late at night.
1:00 PM: United States Vs. Switzerland: The only reason I suspect this game to be close is if the NHL players on the USA side show some fatigue from just recently finishing games with their respective teams in that league. Switzerland is somewhat solid defensively, so it won't be complete dominance by the United States, but i do see them getting blown out late, maybe 4-1 or 5-1. If Switzerland takes a lot of penalties as a result of the gap in athletic talent on the ice between the two teams, expect the USA to take complete advantage with how many weapons that they have.
5:30 PM: Canada Vs. Norway: This is just going to be an ugly game, pure and simple. There is no remote hope for Norway in defending the likes of Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, and Jarome Iginla. And that's just Canada's top line, they have three others with just as much talent. Give Norway some credit for finding their way back into the olympics, but this is an extremelty tough draw for anyone. Nobody wanted to play Canada in the first game, Norway has to. Maybe 8-0 or 9-0.
10:00 PM: Russia Vs. Latvia: I wish I could say that this is going to be slightly less of a blowout than Norway/Canada, but I can't, because Russia is absolutely going to destroy the Latvians in this game. Russia can be cruel and play Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk as a line or break them up. Whatever they do, the Latvians won't be able to stop it. Additionally, this Russian team is simply too physical for Latvia to handle. They might have a lot of KHLers on their roster, but they are playing world-class NHL talent, and it won't be pretty. This one might not be as bad as the game earlier in the day, but still don't be surprised to see the score 5-0 or 6-0.
-I'll be writing on each of these games in the Olympics along with a recap of all the games. Tomorrow, the games don't get much more competitive (Finland Vs. Belarus and Sweden Vs. Germany), but the international hockey world will once again get to see Olympic legend Peter Forsberg skate with the Triple Crown on his jersey. Also, we get to see the grudge match that is the Czech Republic Vs. Slovakia. Should be an awesome game late at night.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Roster Freeze Friday 1:00
Expect some teams to make moves now in the next couple of days rather than at the deadline just for the simple fact that there is a two week break and it might help get a player better used to a new roster. It looks like word out of Montreal is that both Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price are safe. But I'm not buying it. Expect one of them to be gone as both will fetch a pretty penny at market, especially Price. For Friday though, I'd at least expect a few big trades we'd normally see on deadline day.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Trade 2/10: Lehtonen to Dallas, Where Does that Leave Turco?
The Atlanta Thrashers have traded Kari Lehtonen to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and their fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Analysis: A good move for both teams. It seems Atlanta has just about given up on the playoffs this season but is looking after its future as well. Dallas adds a solid starter who is better than Marty Turco at this point in his career. Look for Turco to go to either Washington or Chicago for more than he's worth (probably a player and a draft pick).
Note: This is something I'll be doing with trades I feel are significant to mention or that I think will affect the standings. On Deadline Day, I'll be running a streaming commentary on trades as they happen.
Analysis: A good move for both teams. It seems Atlanta has just about given up on the playoffs this season but is looking after its future as well. Dallas adds a solid starter who is better than Marty Turco at this point in his career. Look for Turco to go to either Washington or Chicago for more than he's worth (probably a player and a draft pick).
Note: This is something I'll be doing with trades I feel are significant to mention or that I think will affect the standings. On Deadline Day, I'll be running a streaming commentary on trades as they happen.
Power Rankings, Week of 2/8
With these rankings, I'm going to post my rankings counting down from 30 to 1 with a little blurb about how I think each team is doing. This week, I'll explore each team's trade options before the olympic break.
30)Edmonton Oilers (18-31-6): Things are tough in Edmonton these days, and Sheldon Souray's days as an Oiler are numbered. Since winning back to back games, they've lost three straight and only scored three goals. Ouch.
29)New York Islanders (23-27-8): Losers of seven straight, the magic of John Tavares' rookie season is quickly coming to an end. 0 for 17 on the powerplay during that span as well. Gotta wonder what the tone is from management come trade deadline.
28)St. Louis Blues (25-25-9): Gotta think St. Louis is gonna pack it and trade what talent they can for future prospects come the deadline. Keith Tkachuk, as much as it pains me to say this, will likely be dealt. A monumental collapse in Denver against the Avalanche on Monday really seals these guys in as sellers.
27)Carolina Hurricanes (21-30-7): Cam Ward is hurt again. I see this team dealing Ray Whitney before the Olympic Break, possibly to the Pittsburgh Penguins, themselves desperate for a winger. Good sign for the future with Eric Staal as captain, 6-2 in their last 8.
26)Toronto Maple Leafs (19-30-11): Good trades for this team as Brian Burke is beginning to assemble a core for this young team moving forward. And that core seems to be based on physicality. For this season though, maybe Burke has another big deal up his sleeve come deadline.
25)Columbus Blue Jackets (24-27-9): This is a team that has tried with all its might to find an identity. Steve Mason for some reason, has struggled, as has Rick Nash. And it seemed that this team was going to contend for the Central division crown this year at the outset. I don't see this team doing much at the deadline other than moving salary around.
24)Florida Panthers (24-25-9): They've lost three in a row, and the playoffs are getting further and further out of their reach every day. As of right now, they stand two games back, very much in it. They must be praying Vokoun doesn't get overworked in Vancouver while playing for his native Czech Republic. This team could make a big splash at the deadline, as they have the caliber of prospects and veterans necessary for a blockbuster deal.
23)Atlanta Thrashers (25-24-8): No Kovalchuk, no playoffs. Unless this team goes out on the deadline and gets a legitamite first line scorer, they're not going anywhere. And Don Waddell does not want to start trading away all the prospects he's put together the past few years. I still think he didn't get a fair return on Kovalchuk. Don't expect them to risk a prospect for a rental.
22)New York Rangers (26-26-7): This team is still struggling, but they're beginning to pick it up since acquiring Olli Jokinen. I think they'll be satisfied with him, and won't be aggressive on deadline day. He may lead them to the playoffs.
21)Minnesota Wild (29-25-4): Another team that is beginning to find a bit of a rhythm after a slow start. If they make the right moves at the deadline (another gritty winger a la Clutterbuck and maybe another solid defender), they'll move back in the race for the Northwest division, providing Nicklas Backstrom can provide the goaltending necessary to do so.
20)Boston Bruins (24-22-11): Boy, that 10 game losing streak hurt. Took them right out of a tight race for the Northeast, now looking like a sprint between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. Don't necessarily need to make a move to make the playoffs, but if they don't do something to change the pace of their season, they'll be on the outside looking in come mid April.
19)Detroit Red Wings (27-21-10): Losers of their last 2, the Red Wings are still struggling to find goals. Injuries have devastated this team, but in addition this team has started to age. Some players on the roster simply can't be effective professionals anymore, and their record is starting to reflect that. Barring a huge deal, there's a bigger chance than not that Detroit misses the playoffs.
18)Anaheim Ducks (28-24-7): This is a team that has allowed 181 goals this season, and before this season had a reputation of being particularly stout. The dominance they showed in the playoffs last season is gone, and they're lucky Ryan Getzlaf isn't hurt worse than he is, and will only remain day-to-day. Definitely need to upgrade their roster to keep playing once the playoffs start.
17)Dallas Stars (26-21-11): They remain competitive in the Western conference despite not having Mike Ribeiro in the lineup. Need players like James Neal to step up and lead this team to the playoffs. Maybe need to get more physical on the blue line at the deadline to secure an eight seed at best.
16)Nashville Predators (31-22-4): 3-6-1 in their last 10, they are quickly falling out of a playoff spot. Their defense is stout, and this mid season slump of the Predators should fade after the Olympic break. Have to go 4 of 6 on the road before that though. If they don't pick it up, yikes.
15)Tampa Bay Lightning (25-21-11): Sticking around in the eighth and final spot in the East, the young guns of this team appear to be bringing about some change. They've won 7 of 10, and are certainly carrying momentum with them into the Olympic Break.
14)Montreal Canadiens (28-26-6): With Bob Gainey now gone as GM of the team, this is a team looking for answers. A losing record at the Belle Centre certainly does not bode well for some of these players when the deadline comes around.
13)Philadelphia Flyers (29-25-3): Just above .500, the Flyers continue to hang around despite poor goaltending. They have got to start winning some games on the road if they want to make the playoffs, or even avoid a first-round date with a team like Washington.
12)Calgary Flames (29-21-9): Beginning to turn things around in the post-Phaneuf era in calgary, they are still only 3-4-3 over their last 10, and hopes of catching Colorado and Vancouver are fading rapidly for this team. More changes await this team, maybe even another big transition and another superstar in Calgary if they continue to lose ground.
11)Ottawa Senators (33-22-4): An awfully impressive 11 game win streak recently cut short, the Senators are right back in the middle of the race for the Northeast. Need Pascal Leclaire to find a healthy place for his game, because if he goes down again, they're done.
10)Buffalo Sabres (32-18-7): Losers of 8 of their last 10, Ryan Miller might be looking ahead to the Olympics in Vancouver. That or what little support he was getting from his defense is crumbling. Trending down, while Ottawa seems to be trending up. Could see a trade to try to reverse fortunes, maybe they could pursue a Scott Hannan out of Colorado for the right price.
9)Pittsburgh Penguins (35-22-2): They're beginning to get healthy again, and it is obvious this team is not necessarily interested in pushing with everything they've got just to win the Atlantic. Probably going to finish a deal for Ray Whitney any day now, and pairing him with Sidney Crosby would be dominant. Threw away that game on Sunday in Washington.
8)Los Angeles Kings (36-20-3): This team is looking better and better every week. They could easily finish with the fourth seed in the Western Conference and home ice advantage. Johnathan Quick leads the league in wins (34).
7)Phoenix Coyotes (36-19-5): Dave Tippet is an absolute magician with this roster thus far this season. Can tell they love playing in Phoenix still, with a 22-8-2 record at home this year. Bryzgalov will only gain confidence with his upcoming trip to the olympics. Don't need to trade for anything, but might pick up a veteran or two anyway to try to cement their spot in the top 8.
6)Vancouver Canucks (35-20-2): Another team that is looking better and better each week. Henrik Sedin has been outstanding, and certainly must be considered an MVP candidate (though at this juncture Ryan Miller of Buffalo must be considered the favorite). Don't need anything at the deadline, may try to get more physical though to challenge the Avalanche to do the same.
5)New Jersey Devils (36-20-2): Only won 3 of their last 10, they are hoping that Kovalchuk can seal a division for them. With him on their team, they really don't need to trade for anything else at the deadline.
4)Colorado Avalanche (33-19-6): The depth of young talent on this roster is simply mind boggling. Some credit must be given to ex-GM Francois Giguere for drafting the likes of Chris Stewart, who had the Gordie Howe Hat Trick on Monday against the Blues. Matt Duchene should win the Calder. If anything, the Avs would like to get one or two more hard working veterans to cement the squad. Craig Anderson is an MVP candidate.
3)Chicago Blackhawks (38-15-5): Though they've only been .500 over their last 10 games, they still have scored the fourth most goals this season (trailing only Pittsburgh, San Jose and Washington), while allowing the second least amount of goals (behind only New Jersey). Don't need a thing at the deadline, although to win a Cup it is this writer's opinion that they need a better goalie.
2)San Jose Sharks (39-11-9): Cruising right along for the Sharks, 8-1-1 over their last 10. Looking good going into the playoffs, I think the Sharks roster is more or less set for the rest of the season. The only mission left for this team is in the postseason.
1)Washington Capitals (41-12-6): Beginning to look dominant, the Capitals lead the league in goals with 234, 34 more than the Sharks' 200. Offensively, this team is special. Defense and Goaltending wise, this team may struggle when the playoffs get deeper and deeper. If this phrase is applicable to anyone right now, it'd be the Caps, "Defense Wins Championships." If they can go out and add A) a legitimate starting goaltender and B) another strong defender, they may have enough to overwhelm the likes of Pittsburgh and New Jersey in the Eastern Conference.
30)Edmonton Oilers (18-31-6): Things are tough in Edmonton these days, and Sheldon Souray's days as an Oiler are numbered. Since winning back to back games, they've lost three straight and only scored three goals. Ouch.
29)New York Islanders (23-27-8): Losers of seven straight, the magic of John Tavares' rookie season is quickly coming to an end. 0 for 17 on the powerplay during that span as well. Gotta wonder what the tone is from management come trade deadline.
28)St. Louis Blues (25-25-9): Gotta think St. Louis is gonna pack it and trade what talent they can for future prospects come the deadline. Keith Tkachuk, as much as it pains me to say this, will likely be dealt. A monumental collapse in Denver against the Avalanche on Monday really seals these guys in as sellers.
27)Carolina Hurricanes (21-30-7): Cam Ward is hurt again. I see this team dealing Ray Whitney before the Olympic Break, possibly to the Pittsburgh Penguins, themselves desperate for a winger. Good sign for the future with Eric Staal as captain, 6-2 in their last 8.
26)Toronto Maple Leafs (19-30-11): Good trades for this team as Brian Burke is beginning to assemble a core for this young team moving forward. And that core seems to be based on physicality. For this season though, maybe Burke has another big deal up his sleeve come deadline.
25)Columbus Blue Jackets (24-27-9): This is a team that has tried with all its might to find an identity. Steve Mason for some reason, has struggled, as has Rick Nash. And it seemed that this team was going to contend for the Central division crown this year at the outset. I don't see this team doing much at the deadline other than moving salary around.
24)Florida Panthers (24-25-9): They've lost three in a row, and the playoffs are getting further and further out of their reach every day. As of right now, they stand two games back, very much in it. They must be praying Vokoun doesn't get overworked in Vancouver while playing for his native Czech Republic. This team could make a big splash at the deadline, as they have the caliber of prospects and veterans necessary for a blockbuster deal.
23)Atlanta Thrashers (25-24-8): No Kovalchuk, no playoffs. Unless this team goes out on the deadline and gets a legitamite first line scorer, they're not going anywhere. And Don Waddell does not want to start trading away all the prospects he's put together the past few years. I still think he didn't get a fair return on Kovalchuk. Don't expect them to risk a prospect for a rental.
22)New York Rangers (26-26-7): This team is still struggling, but they're beginning to pick it up since acquiring Olli Jokinen. I think they'll be satisfied with him, and won't be aggressive on deadline day. He may lead them to the playoffs.
21)Minnesota Wild (29-25-4): Another team that is beginning to find a bit of a rhythm after a slow start. If they make the right moves at the deadline (another gritty winger a la Clutterbuck and maybe another solid defender), they'll move back in the race for the Northwest division, providing Nicklas Backstrom can provide the goaltending necessary to do so.
20)Boston Bruins (24-22-11): Boy, that 10 game losing streak hurt. Took them right out of a tight race for the Northeast, now looking like a sprint between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. Don't necessarily need to make a move to make the playoffs, but if they don't do something to change the pace of their season, they'll be on the outside looking in come mid April.
19)Detroit Red Wings (27-21-10): Losers of their last 2, the Red Wings are still struggling to find goals. Injuries have devastated this team, but in addition this team has started to age. Some players on the roster simply can't be effective professionals anymore, and their record is starting to reflect that. Barring a huge deal, there's a bigger chance than not that Detroit misses the playoffs.
18)Anaheim Ducks (28-24-7): This is a team that has allowed 181 goals this season, and before this season had a reputation of being particularly stout. The dominance they showed in the playoffs last season is gone, and they're lucky Ryan Getzlaf isn't hurt worse than he is, and will only remain day-to-day. Definitely need to upgrade their roster to keep playing once the playoffs start.
17)Dallas Stars (26-21-11): They remain competitive in the Western conference despite not having Mike Ribeiro in the lineup. Need players like James Neal to step up and lead this team to the playoffs. Maybe need to get more physical on the blue line at the deadline to secure an eight seed at best.
16)Nashville Predators (31-22-4): 3-6-1 in their last 10, they are quickly falling out of a playoff spot. Their defense is stout, and this mid season slump of the Predators should fade after the Olympic break. Have to go 4 of 6 on the road before that though. If they don't pick it up, yikes.
15)Tampa Bay Lightning (25-21-11): Sticking around in the eighth and final spot in the East, the young guns of this team appear to be bringing about some change. They've won 7 of 10, and are certainly carrying momentum with them into the Olympic Break.
14)Montreal Canadiens (28-26-6): With Bob Gainey now gone as GM of the team, this is a team looking for answers. A losing record at the Belle Centre certainly does not bode well for some of these players when the deadline comes around.
13)Philadelphia Flyers (29-25-3): Just above .500, the Flyers continue to hang around despite poor goaltending. They have got to start winning some games on the road if they want to make the playoffs, or even avoid a first-round date with a team like Washington.
12)Calgary Flames (29-21-9): Beginning to turn things around in the post-Phaneuf era in calgary, they are still only 3-4-3 over their last 10, and hopes of catching Colorado and Vancouver are fading rapidly for this team. More changes await this team, maybe even another big transition and another superstar in Calgary if they continue to lose ground.
11)Ottawa Senators (33-22-4): An awfully impressive 11 game win streak recently cut short, the Senators are right back in the middle of the race for the Northeast. Need Pascal Leclaire to find a healthy place for his game, because if he goes down again, they're done.
10)Buffalo Sabres (32-18-7): Losers of 8 of their last 10, Ryan Miller might be looking ahead to the Olympics in Vancouver. That or what little support he was getting from his defense is crumbling. Trending down, while Ottawa seems to be trending up. Could see a trade to try to reverse fortunes, maybe they could pursue a Scott Hannan out of Colorado for the right price.
9)Pittsburgh Penguins (35-22-2): They're beginning to get healthy again, and it is obvious this team is not necessarily interested in pushing with everything they've got just to win the Atlantic. Probably going to finish a deal for Ray Whitney any day now, and pairing him with Sidney Crosby would be dominant. Threw away that game on Sunday in Washington.
8)Los Angeles Kings (36-20-3): This team is looking better and better every week. They could easily finish with the fourth seed in the Western Conference and home ice advantage. Johnathan Quick leads the league in wins (34).
7)Phoenix Coyotes (36-19-5): Dave Tippet is an absolute magician with this roster thus far this season. Can tell they love playing in Phoenix still, with a 22-8-2 record at home this year. Bryzgalov will only gain confidence with his upcoming trip to the olympics. Don't need to trade for anything, but might pick up a veteran or two anyway to try to cement their spot in the top 8.
6)Vancouver Canucks (35-20-2): Another team that is looking better and better each week. Henrik Sedin has been outstanding, and certainly must be considered an MVP candidate (though at this juncture Ryan Miller of Buffalo must be considered the favorite). Don't need anything at the deadline, may try to get more physical though to challenge the Avalanche to do the same.
5)New Jersey Devils (36-20-2): Only won 3 of their last 10, they are hoping that Kovalchuk can seal a division for them. With him on their team, they really don't need to trade for anything else at the deadline.
4)Colorado Avalanche (33-19-6): The depth of young talent on this roster is simply mind boggling. Some credit must be given to ex-GM Francois Giguere for drafting the likes of Chris Stewart, who had the Gordie Howe Hat Trick on Monday against the Blues. Matt Duchene should win the Calder. If anything, the Avs would like to get one or two more hard working veterans to cement the squad. Craig Anderson is an MVP candidate.
3)Chicago Blackhawks (38-15-5): Though they've only been .500 over their last 10 games, they still have scored the fourth most goals this season (trailing only Pittsburgh, San Jose and Washington), while allowing the second least amount of goals (behind only New Jersey). Don't need a thing at the deadline, although to win a Cup it is this writer's opinion that they need a better goalie.
2)San Jose Sharks (39-11-9): Cruising right along for the Sharks, 8-1-1 over their last 10. Looking good going into the playoffs, I think the Sharks roster is more or less set for the rest of the season. The only mission left for this team is in the postseason.
1)Washington Capitals (41-12-6): Beginning to look dominant, the Capitals lead the league in goals with 234, 34 more than the Sharks' 200. Offensively, this team is special. Defense and Goaltending wise, this team may struggle when the playoffs get deeper and deeper. If this phrase is applicable to anyone right now, it'd be the Caps, "Defense Wins Championships." If they can go out and add A) a legitimate starting goaltender and B) another strong defender, they may have enough to overwhelm the likes of Pittsburgh and New Jersey in the Eastern Conference.
Olympic Rosters and Commentary
Hardly a week from the start of the Winter Games in Vancouver, I figured I should start this blog already. And there couldn't be a better time to start. This year's field of teams is certainly much more competitive than in Torino, In 2006, the rosters of most of these teams was either completely different from the 2010 version, or a lot of the younger players on young teams have simply matured a little. This is especially true in the case of Russia (Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Semin, etc). These players give that country a chance to run the table and seize the Gold Medal. And even still, the early juggernaught and favorite appears to be an absolutely stacked Team Canada(as usual), led by Sidney Crosby. Among the other teams, Sweden appears to have just as a solid a team in 2006, when it won gold over Finland, including one Peter Forsberg. But of course, one has to keep an eye on a young and hungry USA team with a ton of talent and physicality. Here is my analysis of each teams roster and commentary on their chances to win.
BELARUS (Group C)
Goalies:
- Vitali Koval (Dynamo Minsk)
- Maxim Malyutin (HK Vitebsk)
- Andrei Mezin (Dynamo Minsk)
- Not necessarily the talent level required to win many games at the olympics. Could be a tough draw for Belarus as they have to play Germany, Finland and Sweden in the opening round. Don't expect them to do much.
Defensemen:
- Andrei Antonov (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Andrei Bashko (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Vladimir Denisov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Viktor Kostiuchenok (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Ruslan Salei (Colorado Avalanche)
- Nikolai Stasenko (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Vadim Sushko (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Alexander Syrei (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Wow! An NHLer! Don't know how reliable he'll be though, he's been hurt most of the Avalanche's season. And if he's the best defenseman on the team (which he is), you know much can't be said for the rest. Forsberg on a line with the Sedins will eat that up offensively.
Forwards:
- Oleg Antonenko (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)
- Sergei Demagin (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk)
- Mikhail Grabovski (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Alexei Kaliuzhny (Dynamo Moscow)
- Konstantin Koltsov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Andrei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)
- Sergei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)
- Alexander Kulakov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Andrei Mikhalev (Dynamo Minsk)
- Andrei Stas (Dynamo Minsk)
- Alexei Uragov (MVD Balashikha)
- Sergei Zadelenov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Well, there are some talented players here from the NHL, but not enough of them. The Kostitsyns won't be that much help defensively, and Grabovski is hardly known to dominate anything, much less against the teams Belarus will be playing. The good players will score, but not enough to win. Belarus will not advance in the pool they are in, simple as that.
CANADA (Group A)
Goalies:
- Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
- Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
- Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- By far and away the best goalies in the Olympics. No other group holds even a candle to the talent of these three. If one of them gets hot, which will probably happen considering their skills, the tournament will be over shortly.
Defensemen:
- Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
- Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
- Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks)
- Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
- Again, by far and away the best group of defensemen in the tournament. Not even close with all these dominant defensemen Canada has lined up on the blue line. All of them are dominant defenders, and all of them can absolutely wreck opposing players with their ability to hit. Scary good.
Forwards:
- Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
- Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)
- Dany Heatly (San Jose Sharks)
- Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
- Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks)
- Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars)
- Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)
- Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
- Johnathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Dear god, can it get any better than this collection of forwards? This is unstoppable, I don't care who your defense is (most of the best defenders in the world are on this team anyway). Even if Ryan Getzlaf misses the games, which he might, then the next absolute offensive force in Canada's reserve is Jeff Carter, who was 2nd in the NHL in goals last season. I don't see anyone stopping this lineup. I do see one team challenging them in Russia, but I just dont think Russia will win a shootout game with this team either. If its 6-5 or even 7-6, expect Canada to be on top. They should win the Gold Medal on their home turf.
CZECH REPUBLIC (Group B)
Goalies
- Tomas Vokoun (Florida Panthers)
- Jakub Stepanek (HC Vitkovice Steel)
- Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta Thrashers)
- A solid group of goaltenders here. Vokoun should anchor them, how far that is depends on how well he plays. The best this team could do is get to the Bronze Medal game even if he is hot. Tough tests in Slovakia and Russia await them in the round robin.
Defensemen
- Miroslav Blatak (Salavet Julajev Ufa)
- Jan Hejda (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Filip Kuba (Ottawa Senators)
- Pavel Kubina (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Roman Polak (St. Louis Blues)
- Marek Zidlicky (Minnesota Wild)
- Some pretty good defenders here, including Kaberle. But none are better than mediocre at best. Don't get me wrong, they'll be fine, but they won't be able to contain offenses like Russia's, Canada's, the United States', or Sweden's come the medal round.
Forwards
- Petr Cajanek (SKA Petrohrad)
- Roman Cervenka (HC Slavia Praha)
- Patrick Elias (New Jersey Devils)
- Martin Erat (Nashville Predators)
- Tomas Fleischmann (Washington Capitals)
- Martin Havlat (Minnesota Wild)
- Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk)
- David Krejci (Boston Bruins)
- Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators)
- Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens)
- Tomas Rolinek (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
- Josef Vasicek (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
- A surprisingly good mix of players from the NHL, the Czech league and the KHL. As usual, they'll be able to score, the defense and goaltending is the question this year, though. There's no more Dominik Hasek in his glory days, they'll have to score a lot to win in all likelihood. At best they're in the Bronze game, but I don't see them winning it.
FINLAND (Group C)
Goalies:
- Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild)
- Mikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames)
- Anterro Nittymaki (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- A really good group of goaltenders. Don't expect Nittymaki to get much playing time, especially if this team advances out of their pool, which they should. Both Backstrom and Kiprusoff are capable of backstopping a team to a gold medal, which they fell just short of in 2006 (the gold medal game was the only game Finland lost in the entire Olympics).
Defensemen:
- Lasse Kukkonen (Avangard Omsk)
- Sami Lepisto (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Toni Lydman (Buffalo Sabres)
- Janne Niskala (Frolunda)
- Joni Pitkanen (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Sami Salo (Vancouver Canucks)
- Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers)
- All in all, this is a solid group of defenders that could potentially see them to a gold medal game if they can upset Russia or Canada. More offensive than defensive, though.
Forwards:
- Valtteri Filppula (Detroit Red Wings)
- Niklas Hagman (Calgary Flames)
- Jarkko Immonen (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Olli Jokinen (New York Rangers)
- Niko Kapanen (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild)
- Saku Koivu (Anaheim Ducks)
- Jere Lehtinen (Dallas Stars)
- Antti Miettinen (Minnesota Wild)
- Ville Peltonen (Dynamo Minsk)
- Jarkko Ruutu (Ottawa Senators)
- Tuomo Ruutu (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Teemu Selanne (Anaheim Ducks)
- A lot of veteran NHL players in this group of forwards. It will be interesting to see how the lines are constructed with these players and to see which veterans go with which of the younger players. I wouldn't say they necessarily have the offense to get them past the best defenses and the best goalies. This is a good team, but the furthest they get is a Bronze Medal, and thats assuming all the pieces fall together for this team.
GERMANY (Group C)
Goalies:
- Dennis Endras (Augsburger Panther)
- Thomas Greiss (San Jose Sharks)
- Dmitri Patzold (ERC Inglostadt)
- Well, certainly good goalies in certain contexts, but the Olympic games is not one of them. If they can't find a way to get hot against Finland and Sweden in the round robin, they won't make the medal round.
Defensemen:
- Michael Bakos (ERC Inglostadt)
- Christian Erhoff (Vancouver Canucks)
- Jakub Ficenec (ERC Inglostadt)
- Jason Holland (DEG Metro Stars Dusseldorf)
- Korbinian Holzer (DEG Metro Stars Dusseldorf)
- Chris Schmidt (Alder Mannheim)
- Denis Seidenberg (Florida Panthers)
- Alexander Sulzer (Milwaukee Admirals[AHL])
- A lot of solid defenders from the German league, but that simply won't be able to contain the plethora of NHL stars they'll have to deal with in pool play alone. I don't think the Belarus game is necessarily a slam dunk for this team either.
Forwards:
- Alexander Barta (Hamburg Freezers)
- Sven Felski (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Marcel Goc (Nashville Predators)
- Philip Gogulla (Portland Pirates[AHL])
- Thomas Greilinger (ERC Inglostadt)
- Manuel Klinge (Kassel Huskies)
- Marcel Muller (Kolner Haie)
- Travis James Mulock (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Andrei Rankel (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Marco Sturm (Boston Bruins)
- John Tripp (Hamburg Freezers)
- Michael Wolf (Iserlohn Roosters)
- Again, I'm sure this group is an effective German league All-Star team, but at this level, and considering the NHL laden rosters they have to deal with, they'll need a miracle to make the medal round. Finland and Sweden are simply too good for Germany to deal with, and they will not advance to the medal round. Since the Belarus game is not a lock by any means, if they lose that, stick a fork in Germany, they'd be done.
LATVIA (Group B)
Goalies:
- Edgars Masalskis (Dinamo Riga)
- Ervins Mustokovs (Dinamo Riga)
- Sergejs Naumovs (Dinamo Riga)
- Well, this is Latvian goaltending. Even at its best all it could boast was Arturs Irbe. In their pool, they are hopeless against Slovakia, Russia and the Czech Republic. They simply will be overwhelmed. I wouldn't hesitate to say Russia could beat this team 10-0.
Defensmen:
- Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Georgijs Pujacs (Sibir Novosibirsk)
- Karlis Skrastins (Dallas Stars)
- Arvids Rekis (Wolfsberg)
- Krisjanis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
- Rodrigo Lavins (Dinamo Riga)
- Guntis Galvins (Dinamo Riga)
- Kristaps Sotnieks (Dinamo Riga)
- The only 2 NHL players are here, and neither of them are that good. The offenses they will face will tear them apart, and they have little to no chance. They are the epitome of a cupcake team in this year's group of teams.
Forwards:
- Herberts Vasiljevs (Krefeld Pinguine)
- Janis Sprukts (Dinamo Riga)
- Aleksandrs Nizivijs (Dinamo Riga)
- Martins Karsums (Norfolk Admirals[AHL])
- Martins Cipulis (Dinamo Riga)
- Girts Ankipans (Dinamo Riga)
- Lauris Darzins (Dinamo Riga)
- Aleksejs Sirokovs (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Michelis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
- Kaspars Daugavins (Birmingham Senators[AHL])
- Armands Berzins (Dinamo Riga)
- Gints Meija (Dinamo Riga)
- So who thinks Dinamo Riga plus a few other mediocre at their very best players can take on Russia, the Czech Republic or Slovakia? I'm waiting. This team is almost the worst in the tourney, but that honor is Norway's. 0% chance to make the medal round.
NORWAY (Group A)
Goalies:
- Pal Grotnes (Stjernen Frederickstadt)
- Andre Lysenstoen (Heki Heinola)
- Ruben Smith (Storhamar Dragons)
- These goalies come from the Norwegian and Finnish leagues. They have to take on Canada and the United States. Beating Switzerland would be considered an upset. I'd be surprised if this team won a game in Vancouver.
Defensemen:
- Alexander Bonsaksen (Modo)
- Jonas Holos (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Tommy Jakobsen (Lorenskog IK)
- Juha Kaunismaki (Stavanger Oilers)
- Lars Erik Lund (Valarenga Oslo)
- Ole Kristian Tollefsen (Detroit Red Wings)
- Mats Trygg (Kolner Haie)
- If this is the best Norway has for the teams its gonna be facing and the offensive weapons they'll have to face, they don't have even a puncher's chance. All the Canadian weapons and the young guns of the USA will simply have a feast on this defense.
Forwards:
- Mats Zuccarello Aasen (Modo)
- Morten Ask (Nuremberg Ice Tigers)
- Anders Bastiansen (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Kristian Forsberg (Modo)
- Mads Hansen (Brynas Gavle)
- Marius Holtet (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Mathis Olimb (Frolunda Gothenburg)
- Martin Roymark (Frolunda Gothenburg)
- Per-Age Skroder (Modo)
- Lars Erik Spets (Valarenga Oslo)
- Patrick Thoresen (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Tore Vikingstad (Hannover Scorpions)
- Martin Laumann Ylven (Linkopings HC)
- A lot of these players are from the Swedish Elite league, so there is certainly some talent here. Thoreson has played in the NHL previously, and they do have one other NHLer in Tollefson. Regardless, they simply don't have the talent to be one of the top 2 teams in the pool that advances, save the miracle of olympic history. Expect Canada to destroy and demoralize this team, and the USA to do much the same. The game against Switzerland may be a good game.
RUSSIA (Group B)
Goalies:
- Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks)
- Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals)
- This is certainly a talented group of goaltenders. Nabokov is really the balance between the two dominant traits of the others, speed and quickness for Varlamov and pure size and strength for Bryzgalov. Should be an easy task for this team, even against Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Defensemen:
- Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers)
- Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators)
- Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens)
- Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow)
- Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan)
- This group of defenders is certainly skilled at hitting. The offensive skill is there as well, making this unit one of the best in the tourny, and certainly the best in their pool. This group should be able to control the teams they face in the round robin with little difficulty. It'll be late medal round before this group sees its first real challenge (perhaps the United States).
Forwards:
- Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
- Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils)
- Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals)
- Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Denis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yalayev Ufa)
- Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
- Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
- Certainly as much firepower as Canada, but nowhere near as much depth. This team will need to ride the momentum of Ovechkin and Malkin if they want to win gold. The power play of this team is an absolute nightmare for other teams (Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, etc), and should be a source of motivation for this team. They will easily advance to the medal round. They should be in the gold medal game, as they are clearly the second most talented roster behind Canada. This team does need to beware of the upset in the medal rounds, though. Especially if they're playing an emotionally charged United States team. The sky is the limit for Russia, but in the end, I think they lose to Canada in the final game and get the Silver medal.
SLOVAKIA(Group B)
Goalies:
- Jaroslav Halak (Montreal Canadiens)
- Peter Budaj (Colorado Avalanche)
- Rastislav Stana (Severstal Cerepovec)
- Halak is usually an overachiever, and has outshined Carey Price in Montreal. It will be a battle with their territorial rival, the Czech Repiblic, that will determine whether or not they advance to the medal round. Budaj is solid, but by no means can carry a team to a medal.
Defensemen:
- Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins)
- Milan Jurcina (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Richard Lintner (Dinamo Minsk)
- Andrej Meszaros (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Andrej Sekera (Buffalo Sabres)
- Lubomir Visnovsky (Edmonton Oilers)
- Martin Strbak (HK MVD)
This is a solid group of defensemen, led by the biggest beast defenseman in the NHL. If it all comes down to their game against the Czech Republic, look for this group to surprise and take Slovakia to the medal round. It is within close grasp, depending on how they play. They can shut down their offense at the very least if thats what it takes to win. And to spite your rival in doing so would be special.
Forwards:
- Lubos Bartecko (SC Bern)
- Branko Radivojevic (Spartak Moscow)
- Martin Cibak (Spartak Moscow)
- Pavol Demitra (Vancouver Canucks)
- Marian Gaborik (New York Rangers)
- Michal Handzus (Los Angeles Kings)
- Marian Hossa (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Marcel Hossa (Dinamo Riga)
- Tomas Kopecky (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Zigmund Palffy (HK 36 Skalica)
- Jozef Stumpel (Barys Astana)
- Miroslav Satan (New York Islanders)
- Richard Zednik (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
- This is where this team hinges on whether or not it can make the medal round. If the offensive stars of this team can gel, they can easily make the medal round. If not, they won't. As far as their chances go for a medal, I don't see them getting to even the Bronze Medal game. Too much talent when it comes to the best 4 or 5 teams for them to crack it, even if Halak is amazing.
SWEDEN (Group C)
Goalies:
- Jonas Gustavsson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Stefan Liv (HV71 Jonkoping)
- Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)
- Lundqvist has already proven he can win a gold medal. Gustavsson is a solid backup in this Olympic context. The question is whether or not Lundqvist can get hot and carry this team on his back. If he can do that, the offense will take care of itself.
Defensemen:
- Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Magnus Johansson (Linkopings HC)
- Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings)
- Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
- Douglas Murray (San Jose Sharks)
- Johnny Oduya (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabres)
- This group is a good mix of young defenders and veterans who have won olympic gold in the past. Lidstrom has won 2 gold medals, and his presence certainly is huge in determining how far this team can go.
Forwards:
- Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators)
- Peter Forsberg (Modo)
- Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
- Patric Hornqvist (Nashville Predators)
- Fredrik Modin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Samuel Pahlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
- Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
- Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo Moscow)
- Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings)
- Obviously, this is the best team in group C. I wouldn't count them out on defending the gold they won 4 years ago, the have the offensive talent and the goaltending to do it again. They will advance to at least the Bronze Medal Game, and if they are in it, they have a good chance to win. Their challenge is simply taking care of business, not letting any outside pressure fall on them.
SWITZERLAND(Group A)
Goalies:
- Martin Gerber (Atlant Mytishchi)
- Jonas Hiller (Anaheim Ducks)
- Tobias Stephan (Geneva-Servette)
- Hiller is a solid starting option even in the Olympics. Switzerland really wasn't going to get a good draw in regards to who they play in the round robin, and the United States and Canada should each be too much for this team to handle.
Defensemen:
- Goran Bezina (Geneva-Servette)
- Severin Blindenbacher (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Rafael Diaz (EV Zug)
- Roman Josi (SC Bern)
- Luca Sbisa (Lethbirdge Hurricanes)
- Mathias Seger (ZSC Lion Zurich)
- Mark Streit (New York Islanders)
- Yannick Weber (Hamilton Bulldogs[AHL])
- Solid, servicable defensemen all accross the board, but definitely not enough to contain the USA or Canada. Should be able to manhandle Norway, though.
Forwards:
- Andres Ambuhl (Hartford Wolf Pack[AHL])
- Thomas Deruns (Geneva-Servette)
- Hnat Domenichelli (HC Lugano)
- Sandy Jeannin (HC Fribourg)
- Thibaut Monnet (ZSC Lions Zurich)
- Thierry Paterlini (Rapperswil)
- Martin Pluss (SC Bern)
- Kevin Romy (HC Lugano)
- Ivo Ruthemann (SC Bern)
- Raffaele Sannitz (HC Lugano)
- Julien Sprunger (HC Fribourg)
- Roman Wick (Kloten Flyers)
- Well, this is a Swiss team. I hear they're hoping to win a medal, but there is just no way that is going to happen in my mind. For them to do so, they would need a collapse from the USA team, and there is just too much talent on that roster for that to be even likely. Again, should be able to beat Norway, but don't expect them to beat either the USA or Canada.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA(Group A)
Goalies:
-Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)
- Johnathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)
- Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres)
- This is probably the second best group of goalies in the tournament, the other happens to be in their pool. Miller and Thomas should be able to handle Switzerland and Norway, and their showdown with Canada likely won't mean a thing except tournament positioning.
Defensemen:
- Ryan Whitney (Anaheim Ducks)
- Erik Johnson (St. Louis Blues)
- Jack Johnson (Los Angeles Kings)
- Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings)
- Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators)
- Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- This is also a young, talented, physical group of defensemen that could take this team deep if it dominates. The offenses they're facing (excluding Canada) are easily dealt with, or should be, by this group. Some solid offensive strength here as well, and the powerplay has no shortage of weapons on the back end.
Forwards:
- David Backes (St. Louis Blues)
- Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings)
- Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers)
- Chris Drury (New York Rangers)
- Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks)
- Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Jamie Lagenbrunner (New Jersey Devils)
- Ryan Malone (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils)
- Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks)
- Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks)
- Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche)
- This is a scary team. Assuming they take care of whats in front of them, an honest break in the pool they were placed in should get this team to the medal round. That's where they become the team that no one wants to play. The death of Brenden Burke, team general manager Brian Burke's son will motivate this team to perform at its best. I think they will win Bronze safely, and it is not set in stone that the Gold Medal game is set as Canada Vs. Russia. This team, especially if Ryan Miller or Tim Thomas carries them with spectacular play, could win the Gold medal, in all actuality. It would be tough, but talent wise, this team is almost as stacked as Canada, and probably as stacked as Russia. This team is deep, and talent is everywhere for different reasons. This team is physical, and Brooks Orpik should set a tone of physicality from the start. Like Russia, the sky is really the limit for this American team, and anything they want is in their grasp.
FINAL PICKS
GOLD MEDAL GAME: CANADA VS. RUSSIA
BRONZE MEDAL GAME: SWEDEN VS. USA
GOLD: CANADA
SILVER: RUSSIA
BRONZE: USA
Tournament MVP: Sidney Crosby
BELARUS (Group C)
Goalies:
- Vitali Koval (Dynamo Minsk)
- Maxim Malyutin (HK Vitebsk)
- Andrei Mezin (Dynamo Minsk)
- Not necessarily the talent level required to win many games at the olympics. Could be a tough draw for Belarus as they have to play Germany, Finland and Sweden in the opening round. Don't expect them to do much.
Defensemen:
- Andrei Antonov (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Andrei Bashko (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Vladimir Denisov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Viktor Kostiuchenok (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Ruslan Salei (Colorado Avalanche)
- Nikolai Stasenko (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Vadim Sushko (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Alexander Syrei (Shakhter Soligorsk)
- Wow! An NHLer! Don't know how reliable he'll be though, he's been hurt most of the Avalanche's season. And if he's the best defenseman on the team (which he is), you know much can't be said for the rest. Forsberg on a line with the Sedins will eat that up offensively.
Forwards:
- Oleg Antonenko (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg)
- Sergei Demagin (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk)
- Mikhail Grabovski (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Alexei Kaliuzhny (Dynamo Moscow)
- Konstantin Koltsov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Andrei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)
- Sergei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)
- Alexander Kulakov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Andrei Mikhalev (Dynamo Minsk)
- Andrei Stas (Dynamo Minsk)
- Alexei Uragov (MVD Balashikha)
- Sergei Zadelenov (Dynamo Minsk)
- Well, there are some talented players here from the NHL, but not enough of them. The Kostitsyns won't be that much help defensively, and Grabovski is hardly known to dominate anything, much less against the teams Belarus will be playing. The good players will score, but not enough to win. Belarus will not advance in the pool they are in, simple as that.
CANADA (Group A)
Goalies:
- Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
- Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
- Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- By far and away the best goalies in the Olympics. No other group holds even a candle to the talent of these three. If one of them gets hot, which will probably happen considering their skills, the tournament will be over shortly.
Defensemen:
- Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
- Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
- Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks)
- Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
- Again, by far and away the best group of defensemen in the tournament. Not even close with all these dominant defensemen Canada has lined up on the blue line. All of them are dominant defenders, and all of them can absolutely wreck opposing players with their ability to hit. Scary good.
Forwards:
- Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
- Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)
- Dany Heatly (San Jose Sharks)
- Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
- Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks)
- Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars)
- Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)
- Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
- Johnathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Dear god, can it get any better than this collection of forwards? This is unstoppable, I don't care who your defense is (most of the best defenders in the world are on this team anyway). Even if Ryan Getzlaf misses the games, which he might, then the next absolute offensive force in Canada's reserve is Jeff Carter, who was 2nd in the NHL in goals last season. I don't see anyone stopping this lineup. I do see one team challenging them in Russia, but I just dont think Russia will win a shootout game with this team either. If its 6-5 or even 7-6, expect Canada to be on top. They should win the Gold Medal on their home turf.
CZECH REPUBLIC (Group B)
Goalies
- Tomas Vokoun (Florida Panthers)
- Jakub Stepanek (HC Vitkovice Steel)
- Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta Thrashers)
- A solid group of goaltenders here. Vokoun should anchor them, how far that is depends on how well he plays. The best this team could do is get to the Bronze Medal game even if he is hot. Tough tests in Slovakia and Russia await them in the round robin.
Defensemen
- Miroslav Blatak (Salavet Julajev Ufa)
- Jan Hejda (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Filip Kuba (Ottawa Senators)
- Pavel Kubina (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Roman Polak (St. Louis Blues)
- Marek Zidlicky (Minnesota Wild)
- Some pretty good defenders here, including Kaberle. But none are better than mediocre at best. Don't get me wrong, they'll be fine, but they won't be able to contain offenses like Russia's, Canada's, the United States', or Sweden's come the medal round.
Forwards
- Petr Cajanek (SKA Petrohrad)
- Roman Cervenka (HC Slavia Praha)
- Patrick Elias (New Jersey Devils)
- Martin Erat (Nashville Predators)
- Tomas Fleischmann (Washington Capitals)
- Martin Havlat (Minnesota Wild)
- Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk)
- David Krejci (Boston Bruins)
- Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators)
- Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens)
- Tomas Rolinek (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
- Josef Vasicek (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
- A surprisingly good mix of players from the NHL, the Czech league and the KHL. As usual, they'll be able to score, the defense and goaltending is the question this year, though. There's no more Dominik Hasek in his glory days, they'll have to score a lot to win in all likelihood. At best they're in the Bronze game, but I don't see them winning it.
FINLAND (Group C)
Goalies:
- Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild)
- Mikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames)
- Anterro Nittymaki (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- A really good group of goaltenders. Don't expect Nittymaki to get much playing time, especially if this team advances out of their pool, which they should. Both Backstrom and Kiprusoff are capable of backstopping a team to a gold medal, which they fell just short of in 2006 (the gold medal game was the only game Finland lost in the entire Olympics).
Defensemen:
- Lasse Kukkonen (Avangard Omsk)
- Sami Lepisto (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Toni Lydman (Buffalo Sabres)
- Janne Niskala (Frolunda)
- Joni Pitkanen (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Sami Salo (Vancouver Canucks)
- Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers)
- All in all, this is a solid group of defenders that could potentially see them to a gold medal game if they can upset Russia or Canada. More offensive than defensive, though.
Forwards:
- Valtteri Filppula (Detroit Red Wings)
- Niklas Hagman (Calgary Flames)
- Jarkko Immonen (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Olli Jokinen (New York Rangers)
- Niko Kapanen (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild)
- Saku Koivu (Anaheim Ducks)
- Jere Lehtinen (Dallas Stars)
- Antti Miettinen (Minnesota Wild)
- Ville Peltonen (Dynamo Minsk)
- Jarkko Ruutu (Ottawa Senators)
- Tuomo Ruutu (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Teemu Selanne (Anaheim Ducks)
- A lot of veteran NHL players in this group of forwards. It will be interesting to see how the lines are constructed with these players and to see which veterans go with which of the younger players. I wouldn't say they necessarily have the offense to get them past the best defenses and the best goalies. This is a good team, but the furthest they get is a Bronze Medal, and thats assuming all the pieces fall together for this team.
GERMANY (Group C)
Goalies:
- Dennis Endras (Augsburger Panther)
- Thomas Greiss (San Jose Sharks)
- Dmitri Patzold (ERC Inglostadt)
- Well, certainly good goalies in certain contexts, but the Olympic games is not one of them. If they can't find a way to get hot against Finland and Sweden in the round robin, they won't make the medal round.
Defensemen:
- Michael Bakos (ERC Inglostadt)
- Christian Erhoff (Vancouver Canucks)
- Jakub Ficenec (ERC Inglostadt)
- Jason Holland (DEG Metro Stars Dusseldorf)
- Korbinian Holzer (DEG Metro Stars Dusseldorf)
- Chris Schmidt (Alder Mannheim)
- Denis Seidenberg (Florida Panthers)
- Alexander Sulzer (Milwaukee Admirals[AHL])
- A lot of solid defenders from the German league, but that simply won't be able to contain the plethora of NHL stars they'll have to deal with in pool play alone. I don't think the Belarus game is necessarily a slam dunk for this team either.
Forwards:
- Alexander Barta (Hamburg Freezers)
- Sven Felski (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Marcel Goc (Nashville Predators)
- Philip Gogulla (Portland Pirates[AHL])
- Thomas Greilinger (ERC Inglostadt)
- Manuel Klinge (Kassel Huskies)
- Marcel Muller (Kolner Haie)
- Travis James Mulock (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Andrei Rankel (Eisbaren Berlin)
- Marco Sturm (Boston Bruins)
- John Tripp (Hamburg Freezers)
- Michael Wolf (Iserlohn Roosters)
- Again, I'm sure this group is an effective German league All-Star team, but at this level, and considering the NHL laden rosters they have to deal with, they'll need a miracle to make the medal round. Finland and Sweden are simply too good for Germany to deal with, and they will not advance to the medal round. Since the Belarus game is not a lock by any means, if they lose that, stick a fork in Germany, they'd be done.
LATVIA (Group B)
Goalies:
- Edgars Masalskis (Dinamo Riga)
- Ervins Mustokovs (Dinamo Riga)
- Sergejs Naumovs (Dinamo Riga)
- Well, this is Latvian goaltending. Even at its best all it could boast was Arturs Irbe. In their pool, they are hopeless against Slovakia, Russia and the Czech Republic. They simply will be overwhelmed. I wouldn't hesitate to say Russia could beat this team 10-0.
Defensmen:
- Oskars Bartulis (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Georgijs Pujacs (Sibir Novosibirsk)
- Karlis Skrastins (Dallas Stars)
- Arvids Rekis (Wolfsberg)
- Krisjanis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
- Rodrigo Lavins (Dinamo Riga)
- Guntis Galvins (Dinamo Riga)
- Kristaps Sotnieks (Dinamo Riga)
- The only 2 NHL players are here, and neither of them are that good. The offenses they will face will tear them apart, and they have little to no chance. They are the epitome of a cupcake team in this year's group of teams.
Forwards:
- Herberts Vasiljevs (Krefeld Pinguine)
- Janis Sprukts (Dinamo Riga)
- Aleksandrs Nizivijs (Dinamo Riga)
- Martins Karsums (Norfolk Admirals[AHL])
- Martins Cipulis (Dinamo Riga)
- Girts Ankipans (Dinamo Riga)
- Lauris Darzins (Dinamo Riga)
- Aleksejs Sirokovs (Amur Khabarovsk)
- Michelis Redlihs (Dinamo Riga)
- Kaspars Daugavins (Birmingham Senators[AHL])
- Armands Berzins (Dinamo Riga)
- Gints Meija (Dinamo Riga)
- So who thinks Dinamo Riga plus a few other mediocre at their very best players can take on Russia, the Czech Republic or Slovakia? I'm waiting. This team is almost the worst in the tourney, but that honor is Norway's. 0% chance to make the medal round.
NORWAY (Group A)
Goalies:
- Pal Grotnes (Stjernen Frederickstadt)
- Andre Lysenstoen (Heki Heinola)
- Ruben Smith (Storhamar Dragons)
- These goalies come from the Norwegian and Finnish leagues. They have to take on Canada and the United States. Beating Switzerland would be considered an upset. I'd be surprised if this team won a game in Vancouver.
Defensemen:
- Alexander Bonsaksen (Modo)
- Jonas Holos (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Tommy Jakobsen (Lorenskog IK)
- Juha Kaunismaki (Stavanger Oilers)
- Lars Erik Lund (Valarenga Oslo)
- Ole Kristian Tollefsen (Detroit Red Wings)
- Mats Trygg (Kolner Haie)
- If this is the best Norway has for the teams its gonna be facing and the offensive weapons they'll have to face, they don't have even a puncher's chance. All the Canadian weapons and the young guns of the USA will simply have a feast on this defense.
Forwards:
- Mats Zuccarello Aasen (Modo)
- Morten Ask (Nuremberg Ice Tigers)
- Anders Bastiansen (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Kristian Forsberg (Modo)
- Mads Hansen (Brynas Gavle)
- Marius Holtet (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Mathis Olimb (Frolunda Gothenburg)
- Martin Roymark (Frolunda Gothenburg)
- Per-Age Skroder (Modo)
- Lars Erik Spets (Valarenga Oslo)
- Patrick Thoresen (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Tore Vikingstad (Hannover Scorpions)
- Martin Laumann Ylven (Linkopings HC)
- A lot of these players are from the Swedish Elite league, so there is certainly some talent here. Thoreson has played in the NHL previously, and they do have one other NHLer in Tollefson. Regardless, they simply don't have the talent to be one of the top 2 teams in the pool that advances, save the miracle of olympic history. Expect Canada to destroy and demoralize this team, and the USA to do much the same. The game against Switzerland may be a good game.
RUSSIA (Group B)
Goalies:
- Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks)
- Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes)
- Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals)
- This is certainly a talented group of goaltenders. Nabokov is really the balance between the two dominant traits of the others, speed and quickness for Varlamov and pure size and strength for Bryzgalov. Should be an easy task for this team, even against Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Defensemen:
- Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers)
- Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators)
- Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens)
- Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow)
- Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan)
- This group of defenders is certainly skilled at hitting. The offensive skill is there as well, making this unit one of the best in the tourny, and certainly the best in their pool. This group should be able to control the teams they face in the round robin with little difficulty. It'll be late medal round before this group sees its first real challenge (perhaps the United States).
Forwards:
- Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
- Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils)
- Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals)
- Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
- Denis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan)
- Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yalayev Ufa)
- Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
- Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
- Certainly as much firepower as Canada, but nowhere near as much depth. This team will need to ride the momentum of Ovechkin and Malkin if they want to win gold. The power play of this team is an absolute nightmare for other teams (Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, etc), and should be a source of motivation for this team. They will easily advance to the medal round. They should be in the gold medal game, as they are clearly the second most talented roster behind Canada. This team does need to beware of the upset in the medal rounds, though. Especially if they're playing an emotionally charged United States team. The sky is the limit for Russia, but in the end, I think they lose to Canada in the final game and get the Silver medal.
SLOVAKIA(Group B)
Goalies:
- Jaroslav Halak (Montreal Canadiens)
- Peter Budaj (Colorado Avalanche)
- Rastislav Stana (Severstal Cerepovec)
- Halak is usually an overachiever, and has outshined Carey Price in Montreal. It will be a battle with their territorial rival, the Czech Repiblic, that will determine whether or not they advance to the medal round. Budaj is solid, but by no means can carry a team to a medal.
Defensemen:
- Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins)
- Milan Jurcina (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Richard Lintner (Dinamo Minsk)
- Andrej Meszaros (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Andrej Sekera (Buffalo Sabres)
- Lubomir Visnovsky (Edmonton Oilers)
- Martin Strbak (HK MVD)
This is a solid group of defensemen, led by the biggest beast defenseman in the NHL. If it all comes down to their game against the Czech Republic, look for this group to surprise and take Slovakia to the medal round. It is within close grasp, depending on how they play. They can shut down their offense at the very least if thats what it takes to win. And to spite your rival in doing so would be special.
Forwards:
- Lubos Bartecko (SC Bern)
- Branko Radivojevic (Spartak Moscow)
- Martin Cibak (Spartak Moscow)
- Pavol Demitra (Vancouver Canucks)
- Marian Gaborik (New York Rangers)
- Michal Handzus (Los Angeles Kings)
- Marian Hossa (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Marcel Hossa (Dinamo Riga)
- Tomas Kopecky (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Zigmund Palffy (HK 36 Skalica)
- Jozef Stumpel (Barys Astana)
- Miroslav Satan (New York Islanders)
- Richard Zednik (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
- This is where this team hinges on whether or not it can make the medal round. If the offensive stars of this team can gel, they can easily make the medal round. If not, they won't. As far as their chances go for a medal, I don't see them getting to even the Bronze Medal game. Too much talent when it comes to the best 4 or 5 teams for them to crack it, even if Halak is amazing.
SWEDEN (Group C)
Goalies:
- Jonas Gustavsson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Stefan Liv (HV71 Jonkoping)
- Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)
- Lundqvist has already proven he can win a gold medal. Gustavsson is a solid backup in this Olympic context. The question is whether or not Lundqvist can get hot and carry this team on his back. If he can do that, the offense will take care of itself.
Defensemen:
- Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Magnus Johansson (Linkopings HC)
- Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings)
- Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
- Douglas Murray (San Jose Sharks)
- Johnny Oduya (Atlanta Thrashers)
- Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabres)
- This group is a good mix of young defenders and veterans who have won olympic gold in the past. Lidstrom has won 2 gold medals, and his presence certainly is huge in determining how far this team can go.
Forwards:
- Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators)
- Peter Forsberg (Modo)
- Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
- Patric Hornqvist (Nashville Predators)
- Fredrik Modin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Samuel Pahlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
- Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
- Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo Moscow)
- Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings)
- Obviously, this is the best team in group C. I wouldn't count them out on defending the gold they won 4 years ago, the have the offensive talent and the goaltending to do it again. They will advance to at least the Bronze Medal Game, and if they are in it, they have a good chance to win. Their challenge is simply taking care of business, not letting any outside pressure fall on them.
SWITZERLAND(Group A)
Goalies:
- Martin Gerber (Atlant Mytishchi)
- Jonas Hiller (Anaheim Ducks)
- Tobias Stephan (Geneva-Servette)
- Hiller is a solid starting option even in the Olympics. Switzerland really wasn't going to get a good draw in regards to who they play in the round robin, and the United States and Canada should each be too much for this team to handle.
Defensemen:
- Goran Bezina (Geneva-Servette)
- Severin Blindenbacher (Farjestad Karlstad)
- Rafael Diaz (EV Zug)
- Roman Josi (SC Bern)
- Luca Sbisa (Lethbirdge Hurricanes)
- Mathias Seger (ZSC Lion Zurich)
- Mark Streit (New York Islanders)
- Yannick Weber (Hamilton Bulldogs[AHL])
- Solid, servicable defensemen all accross the board, but definitely not enough to contain the USA or Canada. Should be able to manhandle Norway, though.
Forwards:
- Andres Ambuhl (Hartford Wolf Pack[AHL])
- Thomas Deruns (Geneva-Servette)
- Hnat Domenichelli (HC Lugano)
- Sandy Jeannin (HC Fribourg)
- Thibaut Monnet (ZSC Lions Zurich)
- Thierry Paterlini (Rapperswil)
- Martin Pluss (SC Bern)
- Kevin Romy (HC Lugano)
- Ivo Ruthemann (SC Bern)
- Raffaele Sannitz (HC Lugano)
- Julien Sprunger (HC Fribourg)
- Roman Wick (Kloten Flyers)
- Well, this is a Swiss team. I hear they're hoping to win a medal, but there is just no way that is going to happen in my mind. For them to do so, they would need a collapse from the USA team, and there is just too much talent on that roster for that to be even likely. Again, should be able to beat Norway, but don't expect them to beat either the USA or Canada.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA(Group A)
Goalies:
-Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)
- Johnathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)
- Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres)
- This is probably the second best group of goalies in the tournament, the other happens to be in their pool. Miller and Thomas should be able to handle Switzerland and Norway, and their showdown with Canada likely won't mean a thing except tournament positioning.
Defensemen:
- Ryan Whitney (Anaheim Ducks)
- Erik Johnson (St. Louis Blues)
- Jack Johnson (Los Angeles Kings)
- Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings)
- Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators)
- Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- This is also a young, talented, physical group of defensemen that could take this team deep if it dominates. The offenses they're facing (excluding Canada) are easily dealt with, or should be, by this group. Some solid offensive strength here as well, and the powerplay has no shortage of weapons on the back end.
Forwards:
- David Backes (St. Louis Blues)
- Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings)
- Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers)
- Chris Drury (New York Rangers)
- Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks)
- Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Jamie Lagenbrunner (New Jersey Devils)
- Ryan Malone (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils)
- Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks)
- Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks)
- Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche)
- This is a scary team. Assuming they take care of whats in front of them, an honest break in the pool they were placed in should get this team to the medal round. That's where they become the team that no one wants to play. The death of Brenden Burke, team general manager Brian Burke's son will motivate this team to perform at its best. I think they will win Bronze safely, and it is not set in stone that the Gold Medal game is set as Canada Vs. Russia. This team, especially if Ryan Miller or Tim Thomas carries them with spectacular play, could win the Gold medal, in all actuality. It would be tough, but talent wise, this team is almost as stacked as Canada, and probably as stacked as Russia. This team is deep, and talent is everywhere for different reasons. This team is physical, and Brooks Orpik should set a tone of physicality from the start. Like Russia, the sky is really the limit for this American team, and anything they want is in their grasp.
FINAL PICKS
GOLD MEDAL GAME: CANADA VS. RUSSIA
BRONZE MEDAL GAME: SWEDEN VS. USA
GOLD: CANADA
SILVER: RUSSIA
BRONZE: USA
Tournament MVP: Sidney Crosby
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