As Orientation Camp opened for Team Canada on Monday, many people start to make their initial guesses as to what the Canadian roster will look like come February. With that being said, I will look at the entire lineup line-by-line and predict what I think Team Canada will look like. Here we go:
Line #1 - LW Eric Staal C Sidney Crosby RW John Tavares
Analysis - Sidney Crosby is Canada's #1 Center and likely will be the Captain of this team, so no surprise here with him on the 1st line. I put Eric Staal and Tavares on his wings, both are natural centers and will have to make the move to wing for this team. Staal played with Crosby in Vancouver 2010, so he works out on this line, and bring in a guy like Tavares and this line has some serious skill on it. Tavares could easily be playing center as well, but for now I have him at RW with Crosby
Line #2 - LW Steven Stamkos C Claude Giroux RW Martin St. Louis
Analysis - I think that Stamkos and Giroux are both a lock for these spots, Giroux is the #2 center behind Sid and Stamkos will make the jump from center to wing. Stamkos played with Giroux in the World Hockey Championship so they have some chemistry here, and throw in St. Louis who not only plays with Stamkos in Tampa but benefits from the big ice surface with his speed and that completes the 2nd (or 1B) line. This line has the potential to be a really dangerous scoring threat, one that could score a lot of the goals for this team
Line #3 - LW Mike Richards C Johnathan Toews RW Rick Nash
Analysis - After Crosby and Giroux, Toews comes in as Canada's next best center and I choose to pair him with the same guys he played so successfully with in 2010, Rick Nash and Mike Richards. This was the checking line and often match-up line for Mike Babcock against other country's best lines, and I think there is no reason not to reunite them here. Look for this line to log major minutes if Babcock decides to put them together
Line #4 - LW Milan Lucic C Ryan Getzlaf RW Corey Perry
Analysis - Getzlaf and Perry were both important pieces of the 2010 Gold Medal team, and that experience gives them an advantage over a lot of the younger forwards invited to camp. After making this decision, I looked through several players to play LW with the 2 Ducks, including Taylor Hall, Logan Couture, Jordan Eberle and James Neal. However, I decided to choose Lucic because I feel that Mike Babcock wants his 3rd and 4th liners to be big, strong guys and Lucic fits well with Perry and Getzlaf in that role. Its hard to think of any of these guys being 4th line players, but the reality is Canada is stacked with forwards and it works out well in their favour
13th forward - Patrice Bergeron
Analysis - Many say hes a lock to make this team purely because of his faceoffs and defensive skill, so I have him in the same role he played in 2010 as the team's 13th forward
D-Pair #1 - Shea Weber and Drew Doughty
Analysis - The 2 best D Canada has right now, and while they both are right-handed shots it's a no-brainer that they should be playing together. Both players have a phenomenal balance of offensive and defensive skill, while also both having played on the 2010 team. Whether they play together or not, I think they are both a lock to make this team
D-Pair #2 - Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook
Analysis - Speaking of returning members from 2010, the Hawks duo will once again be counted on in a shutdown role for Team Canada. While Seabrook might have a little more work to make the team, Keith is a lock and will be in the top 4 with or without his buddy Brent
D-Pair #3 - Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo
Analysis - Pietrangelo is a star on the rise and has a good chance to make this team, so I decided to pair him with his D partner in St. Louis in Jay Bouwmeester. Bouwmeester might not be the most talented guy at camp, definitely not as offensive as guys like PK Subban, Kris Letang, Mike Green, Dan Boyle, but he is a hard-working defenceman who excels in the shutdown role. Canada isn't looking for pure goal scoring, especially from the back-end, so Bouwmeester is the safe choice to provide stability on Canada's D
7th D - Dan Boyle
Analysis - Couldn't decide between Boyle and Subban, but choose Boyle simply for a veteran presence and because he is a returning member from 2010
Goalie #1 - Roberto Luongo
Analysis - Many people can argue this one, and goaltending is the biggest issue for Team Canada no question about it, however in my opinion Luongo is the clear cut #1 pick. I think he is due for a big year now that things are a little more cleared up with the departure of Cory Schneider in Vancouver, and this could lead to him being the #1 guy. Luongo started as backup to Brodeur in Vancouver 2010, but finished the Olympics as the starter and led Team Canada to a Gold Medal, which he will try to do again
Goalie #2 - Carey Price
Analysis - Carey Price will play Luongo's role from 2010 in Sochi 2014; he will start as the team's backup goalie but will be their to prove himself if need be and if Luongo is struggling then he can take the spot from him. Price may as well be the team's #1 goalie instead of Luongo, but I think he starts as the #2
Goalie #3 - Corey Crawford
Analysis - After leading the Hawks to the Stanley Cup this season, many people feel Crawford has proven himself and could contend for the #1 spot on this team. In my opinion, he could easily be the backup but won't get the starting job, so I have him as the 3rd goalie here. However, I think all 3 of these goalies could be in any of the 3 goalie positions once the Olympics starts, only Mike Babcock and Steve Yzerman will know the answer
There you have it, my prediction for Team Canada 2014. I have 14 returning members from 2010 and 9 new members, an interesting mix of young and old players if you ask me. For fun, if you were to make a team of all the people who didn't make Team Canada it would look as follows:
Line #1 - LW Taylor Hall C Logan Couture RW Jordan Eberle
Line #2 - LW James Neal C Joe Thornton RW Patrick Sharp
Line #3 - LW Chris Kunitz C Matt Duchene RW Jeff Carter
Line #4 - LW Andrew Ladd C Jordan Staal RW Brad Marchand
D-Pair #1 - PK Subban and Mike Green
D-Pair #2 - Kris Letang and Dion Phaneuf
D-Pair #3 - Karl Alzner and Marc Staal
Goalie #1 - Mike Smith
Goalie #2 - Braden Holtby
Team B would be pretty good if you asked me, if you were to put both teams in the Olympics I would be confident that either team could win and Team B could potentially beat Team A in a 1-game showdown. I wish they would remove the worst country and just give Canada 2 teams, we are that good. I can't express how excited I am for Sochi 2014, watching Team Canada win Gold in 2010 (in Canada) was one of the greatest moments of my life. GO CANADA GO
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News (Sochi 2014 watch)
