2008 world championship
Canada, U.S. rosters take shape
Here's a look at the Canadian and American rosters so far for next month's world championships:
Team USA
Goal: Craig Anderson, Robert Esche, Tim Thomas
Defence: Keith Ballard, Tom Gilbert, Tim Gleason, Matt Greene, Paul Martin, Mark Stuart, James Wisniewski
Forward: David Backes, David Booth, Dustin Brown, Adam Burish, Jeff Halpern, Pat Kane, Phil Kessel, Peter Mueller, Pat O'Sullivan, Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak
Coach: John Tortorella (Assistants: Mike Sullivan, Kurt Kleinendorst)
Management: Brian Burke, David Poile, Ray Shero, Don Waddell
Team Canada
Goal: Cam Ward, Pascal Leclaire, Mathieu Garon
Defence: Duncan Keith, Jay Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano, Brent Burns, Steve Staios, Ed Jovanovski
Forward: Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Ray Whitney, Chris Kunitz, Dany Heatley, Jonathan Toews, Shane Doan, Jamal Mayers, Jason Chimera, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Getzlaf, Rick Nash, Sam Gagner, Jason Spezza
Coach: Ken Hitchcock (Assistants: Craig MacTavish, Mike Johnston, Pat Burns)
Management: Bob Nicholson, Steve Yzerman, Doug Armstrong, Luc Robitaille
Canada also has players joining the team for training: Logan Pyett, Kyle Turris, Cory Emmerton
Omissions of note from non-playoff teams:
(USA) Tkachuk, Guerin, Hainsey, Erik and Jack Johnson, Ryan Miller
(Canada) Boyes, Kariya, Horton, McDonald, Seabrook, Morris, Boyle
Things get going next Friday in Halifax and Quebec.
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Labels: World championship
by James Mirtle @ 5:20 PM
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18 comments
18 Comments:
Team USA
Wow. Interesting distribution. Ten guys from the WCHA, including five of the seven defensemen. Three from the ECAC, which is clearly the fourth strongest conference in the NCAA. I'm surprised that there's only one from the CCHA and none from Hockey East. Okay, I'm fudging it a bit, since Vermont is now in Hockey East, but was in the ECAC when Tim Thomas played there.
CCHA:
David Booth - Michigan State
ECAC:
Tim Thomas - Vermont
Jeff Halpern - Princeton
Lee Stempniak - Dartmouth
WCHA:
Keith Ballard - Minnesota
Tom Gilbert - Wisconsin
Matt Greene - North Dakota
Paul Martin - Minnesota
Mark Stuart - Colorado College
David Backes - Minnesota State
Adam Burish - Wisconsin
Phil Kessel - Minnesota
Zach Parise - North Dakota
Drew Stafford - North Dakota
Team Canada is much more balanced, though still no Hockey East players.
CCHA:
Duncan Keith - Michigan State
Chris Kunitz - Ferris State
Jamal Mayers - Western Michigan
ECAC:
Patrick Sharp - Vermont
Martin St. Louis - Vermont
WCHA:
Dany Heatley - Wisconsin
Jonathan Toews - North Dakota
Same caveat about Sharp and St. Louis as with Tim Thomas.
Any word on whether Ovechkin will play for the Russians?
He's undecided so far; I believe he's talking it over with the Caps.
I think Ryan Kesler is a pretty big omission on the US side.
No Mike Cammalleri for Canada? He was on the winning team last year.
If Canada ices those FWs, and USA plays Robert Esche behind those Dmen, there ought to be a Royal Commission is Canada doesn't win 8-0.
I told you Spezza would be on the team.
pronger?
The Preds announced that Dan Hamhuis is playing for Team Canada...
Good to see Esche playing.
Nice score for Keinendorst, considering his AHL team went 2nd worst in the standings this season.
How is Pominville American? B. in Quebec, played in the Q etc. Didn't he grow up rooting for Team Canada? I understand this is a commonplace in intl sports, but I don't get the psychology.
Brad Boyes' omission from Team Canada's roster is simply baffling.
Pominville has dual citzenship. Never was asked by Team Canada but was by the US. So he accepted.
I'm not baffled by the omission of Boyes so much as the one of Kariya.
Is their an unwritten story to why Kariya is so out of sorts with Hockey Canada? He gave organs and bone to the program all through his superstar years but gets no love now that he's over 30?
Is Jamal Mayers really a better fit for the team than Kariya? Really?
So what gives?
On the American side of the ledger the absence of Miller in net is noteworthy, especially in the case of Anderson. Wiesniewski over either of the Johnson's seems to me to be a mistake.
Overall the Americans look to be small but fast and skilled, and to lack both experience and size on the blueline.
In contrast the Canadians have a set of over-sized skill forwards in Getzlaf, Heatley, Staal and Nash who should be able to plow through checks by the Parise's and Stempniak's of the world.
On the downside, Canada's defense corps is being anchored by... Special Ed - so identifying our weakness isn't really difficult.
Over the last few years, Hockey Canada has been pretty good about keeping it quiet regarding which guys declined an invitation. It's quite possible that Kariya was asked, but declined.
You missed Eric Brewer on the notable ommissions list, I would say he is the biggest and most obvious.
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