USA Olympic Squad

[sureWhyNot 19]

I know there has been threads in the past on this, but each week things change so I figured why not. Anyways, here is my team. What do you think? What does your roster look like?

FORWARDS:

Patrick Kane - Paul Stasny - Zach Parise

Phil Kessel - Tim Connolly - Bobby Ryan

Jamie Langenbrunner - Ryan Kesler - James van Riemsdyk

Dustin Brown - Scott Gomez - Ryan Malone

DEFENSE:

Brian Rafalski - Ryan Suter

Erik Johnson - Alex Goligoski

Ryan Whitney - Zach Bogosian

GOALTENDERS:

1) Ryan Miller

2) Tim Thomas

3) Craig Anderson

TAXI SQUAD: Ron Hainsey, Dustin Byfuglien, Kyle Okposo, David Booth

[titanium2 867]

With Burke in charge I sincerely doubt that Rafalski will be his #1 dman.

[StormJH1 231]

I think we're screwed. It's good to see us moving in the direction of younger and faster to compete with the European teams (and Canada), but out of the 21 players you listed above, if all of those players were Canadian, how many of them would make the Canadian team? I count two or three, maybe: Kane, Parise, and Rafalski. That's it.

I also don't have faith in any of the U.S. goaltenders on that type of a stage (Thomas' Vezina was the product of a great defensive Bruins team...see Manny Fernandez's numbers from that year if you don't believe that)

Plus, at the very time our team is getting smaller and faster, we're going to an Olympics in Vancouver played on NHL-SIZED rinks. In other words, if our one shot was to build a finesse team based on skating, hard work, and chemistry, we'll be playing a style of game totally different from past Olympics on international-sized rinks. So, our players could play more like they would in the NHL, and we don't have the best NHL players.

But the tournaments are quick and crazy, and there's a lot of screwy stuff that goes on with referreeing, etc., so you never now. U-S-A! U-S-A!

[Guest Shoreline]

I'm just hoping USA gets a friggen medal. Recent years in world competition the US teams have sucked. It's a nice line-up but I'm more interested in how they perform together.

[T-Ruff 47]

My Team USA:

Parise - Stastny - Kessel

Ryan - Pavelski - Kane

Brown [A] - Kesler - Malone

Backes - Drury [C] - Byfuglien

Suter - Martin

Rafalski [A] - Komisarek

Johnson - Orpik

Miller

Thomas

taxi: Anderson, Whitney, JVR, Langenbrunner

[eva unit zero 271]

Team USA:

Parise/Kesler/Ryan

Blake/Connolly/Kessel

Brown/Gomez/Gionta

Langenbrunner/Drury/Dubinsky

Rafalski/Carle

Goligoski/Greene

Johnson/Suter

Miller

Anderson

Taxi: Pavelski, Wheeler, Whitney, Thomas

[sureWhyNot 19]

How are you leaving JVR outta the lineup? If in fact we are going into a year with an outside shot of medaling, don't you think it would be worthwhile to bring some younger guys up who will be part of Team USA for a while? Not to mention JVR is killing it in Philly.

Also, I kept my lineup with guys playing their natural position. LW are playing LW, C are playing C and so on. With so little time to practice I think keeping guys at their natural positions could help.

Miller is elite. Arguably the best goalie in hockey when healthy. Edge USA in goal tending.

[sureWhyNot 19]

Team USA:

Parise/Kesler/Ryan

Blake/Connolly/Kessel

Brown/Gomez/Gionta

Langenbrunner/Drury/Dubinsky

Rafalski/Carle

Goligoski/Greene

Johnson/Suter

Miller

Anderson

Taxi: Pavelski, Wheeler, Whitney, Thomas

Ahh, I forgot about him in my lineup. Good pick for sure. I would definitely add Carle somewhere in my top 4 as well.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'm just hoping USA gets a friggen medal. Recent years in world competition the US teams have sucked. It's a nice line-up but I'm more interested in how they perform together.

Even if you don't get a medal in hockey you know you're coming home with the highest combined medal count for the games.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

How are you leaving JVR outta the lineup? If in fact we are going into a year with an outside shot of medaling, don't you think it would be worthwhile to bring some younger guys up who will be part of Team USA for a while? Not to mention JVR is killing it in Philly.

Also, I kept my lineup with guys playing their natural position. LW are playing LW, C are playing C and so on. With so little time to practice I think keeping guys at their natural positions could help.

Miller is elite. Arguably the best goalie in hockey when healthy. Edge USA in goal tending.

I'd take a Brodeur/Luongo tandem over anyone else in the league. Brodeur is money.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

i think i'd rather have Modano as a 4th line center than Drury

Brown/Gomez/Gionta

gomez and gionta on a checking line? lol

[sureWhyNot 19]

I actually think that we look OK. I am not saying we are going to medal for sure - that would be idiotic. But I do think that if a couple things go our way, we could end up surprising some people. This thing is a sprint, and if the right guys get hot at the right time - who knows, anything can happen.

My predictions are:

Gold: Canada

Silver: Russia

Bronze: Sweden

[sureWhyNot 19]

i think i'd rather have Modano as a 4th line center than Drury

gomez and gionta on a checking line? lol

With the USA worried about matching offense I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Gomez or Gionta on the 4th line. Probably more Gomez the Gionta.

Modano doesn't have a ice cubes chance in hell of making this team. And Drury shouldn't be on anything other then the taxi squad if that after his dismal pasy couple of years.

[sureWhyNot 19]

eva unit zero you don't even have Stasny in your lineup?

[Guest Lidstromboli]

i agree Modano probably won't make it, but if there's one "vet" that could make the team i would want it to be him

burke isn't going to put Gomez type of guys in the bottom six

"The way I build my teams, you've seen my teams play. We go for high, high skill in the top six forwards and we go for hardhats on the bottom," Burke said.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=389260

Edited November 23, 2009 by Lidstromboli

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

That's a very small lineup.

Canada is going to have bigger and stronger forwards out there that can wear the U.S. down easily along the boards if the two teams should face each other. Also, the defense is really weak.

To me, the U.S. lacks the overwhelming skill set that countries like Sweden, Russia or Canada can put out there on the ice.

Oh and eva forgot Kane in his lineup. He's America's best player right now bar none.

[MacK_Attack 108]

Even if you don't get a medal in hockey you know you're coming home with the highest combined medal count for the games.

I'd say Germany will win the most.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Surewhynot's roster looks very solid, and I think that's very close to the final roster they will announce. A lot of people pick Canada, Russia, Sweden over them in a heartbeat, but I truly think the USA is equal to Russia and Sweden, but not quite as good as Canada (not trying to be biased). It's going to be an entertaining Olympics that's for sure... Finland, Slovakia, and the Czechs might have good shots as well. But yeah, I like watching the American's play, it's a very uptempo transition style game with guys that can make magic in the offensive zone. Goalies will hang in there as well.

[toby91_ca 620]

How are you leaving JVR outta the lineup?

Well, he wasn't even included in the summer roster....probably because he never played a game in the NHL at that point and he's only played 17 games so far in his NHL career, so while he's got a shot of he keeps it up, I think he's an outside shot at best.

[eva unit zero 271]

After some more time to actually put thought into it, I have made some modifications to my Team USA:

Parise/Kesler/Ryan

Blake/Connolly/Kessel

Brown/Stastny/Gionta

Langenbrunner/Drury/Rolston

Rafalski/Carle

Goligoski/Greene

Johnson/Suter

Miller

Anderson

Taxi: Dubinsky, Wheeler, Whitney, Thomas

As far as Kane goes, I didn't forget him. I left him off intentionally because I don't want that little s*** representing my country.

[Carman 387]

Kane one of USA's few pure goalscorers... Glad you put personal bias over your country's Olympic success.

Anyways, I can't wait for the Olympics. USA has a team that on paper shouldn't match up with Canada, but if Miller gets hot they can certainly contend and in a short series anything can happen. Should be very entertaining nonetheless, and seeing all this young talent is very promising for the future.

[HenryMalredo 2]

I can see the US compete for a medal. Canada and Sweden are the only two teams that are significantly better. Russia's been getting too much love. Sure, Ovechkin and Malkin might be the two most talented players in hockey and Kovalchuck and Datsyuk are no slouches either, but beyond that, I'm not impressed. And Canada and Sweden are certainly not invincible (Switzerland and Belarus anyone?)

[eva unit zero 271]

Kane one of USA's few pure goalscorers... Glad you put personal bias over your country's Olympic success.

Anyways, I can't wait for the Olympics. USA has a team that on paper shouldn't match up with Canada, but if Miller gets hot they can certainly contend and in a short series anything can happen. Should be very entertaining nonetheless, and seeing all this young talent is very promising for the future.

Kane is the USA's 3rd, maybe 4th best winger. His only skill is his shot, and he hasn't shown that he is a good enough player to make use of that shot without a playmaker or some kind of additional threat on his line. Same kind of criticisms Kessel was slammed with in his negotiations this summer, except the only 'attitude problem' comments you ever hear about Kessel are about the fact that he wanted in the kind of money a 40 goal RFA gets paid, and Boston couldn't pay it. Kane, OTOH, beat up a cabbie over $0.20 despite the fact he's a god damn millionaire and should be giving the cabbie a $20 tip.

So no thanks to a selfish child who is a defensive liability and whose contributions can be replaced by players who fit better as part of a, get this, TEAM.

[Carman 387]

Kane is a very good teammate on the ice and is one of the most offensively gifted players currently in the NHL not to mention from the USA, nice to see a random fan that has never played with him and is only judging him by a random teenage drunken mistake. There are people in the NHL that have done much worse things then an altercation. I'm not defending what he did, it was stupid but keeping him off the Olympic team for it? Man you must be quite the disciplinarian.

Kane has always been a jackass and a general premaddona. But he is a hell of a hockey player and fills a very important and needed role on the US Olympic team. Then again I'm probably biased for having a personal connections, I just cannot fathom not having him on the team.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Kane is the second best American player in the NHL only behind Parise.