newfy 695 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 Very weak looking squad compared to other teams. Strong goaltending but thats it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wings_Dynasty 267 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 No Lebda = No Gold Medal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InKennyWeTrust 126 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 I actually like the look of the Americans team. The top 6 can score pretty good, and the bottom 6 is all hard work. Goaltending is fantastic too. They could be a good team. Parise - Stastny - Kane Ryan - Pavelski/Kesler - Kessel Datsyuk feeding Ovie and Kovalchuk? Any permutation of the Canadian roster's top 3- my favorite's got to be Crosby with Iginla and Heatley. I'd rather have Canada's 2nd line over our first line... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reds4Life 51 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 Komisarek and Captn Clutch aka Chris Drury that's just sad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TSD 10 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 (edited) The first thing I thought when I saw this team, is could we please have access to any canadian leftovers that have dual citizenship. Seriously, you could probably put together a better team out of players left off the canadian roster. But you never know, there may be some unseen chemistry that just clicks for this team that doesnt with our competition. All that matters is clicking when it counts, bad teams beat good teams on the NHL landscape in single meetings all the time. If our goaltending is hot I think thats all it will take. i really dont see this team having a big problem producing offense, the problem I see is will our offense be able to keep pace with our opponents. if Miller is insane in this tourney, I can see us competing. Edited January 2, 2010 by TSD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marty Barry 230 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 Lebda, Modano, Gomez, we'll see what the final roster looks like after injury/flu replacements are added. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haroldsnepsts 4,826 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 I'd like to think that Burke has some master plan here, where the U.S. team use's speed, grit and goaltending to steal games from the more talented Canadian and Russian squads. I just don't have that much faith in Burke. Still, go USA!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tommy_Like_Wingy 25 Report post Posted January 2, 2010 Am I the only one who doesn't think Russia looks that good either? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest blueadams Report post Posted January 3, 2010 Am I the only one who doesn't think Russia looks that good either? Hard to say. They've got a lot of young players from the KHL. It will be interesting to see how well they stand up to the NHL players of CAN, SWE, and USA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest blueadams Report post Posted January 4, 2010 (edited) Here's how I see the lines turning out...and here's a nice article supporting MOST of this - http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olyhockey/ne...tory?id=4790711 Parise-Stastny-Langenbrunner Ryan-Pavelski-Kane Malone-Kesler-Backes Brown-Drury-Callahan Kessel ...The top three lines appear to be more or less set in stone (check out that article). Kessel might be the seventh most talented forward on this team, but Brian Burke has made it clear that the bottom six will be reserved for penalty-killing/checking-line type players...which Callahan is, and Kessel is not. Martin-E. Johnson Suter-Orpik Komisarek-Rafalski J. Johnson ...The defensive pairings are less clear. I've tried to pair the puck movers with the body crushers here. Martin, if healthy, is clearly our top all-around defenseman. J. Johnson is probably too much of a defensive liability to put out there, considering how hard its going to be for us to score goals. Miller Thomas Quick Edited January 4, 2010 by blueadams Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmubronco420 25 Report post Posted January 4, 2010 Here's how I see the lines turning out...and here's a nice article supporting MOST of this - http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olyhockey/ne...tory?id=4790711 Parise-Stastny-Langenbrunner Ryan-Pavelski-Kane Malone-Kesler-Backes Brown-Drury-Callahan Kessel ...The top three lines appear to be more or less set in stone (check out that article). Kessel might be the seventh most talented forward on this team, but Brian Burke has made it clear that the bottom six will be reserved for penalty-killing/checking-line type players...which Callahan is, and Kessel is not. Martin-Rafalski Suter-E. Johnson Orpik-Komisarek J. Johnson ...The defensive pairings are less clear. If Martin is healthy, he's clearly our top defenseman. Suter, E. Johnson, and Rafalski probably round out the top four, in some order. Komisarek is probably less talented than J. Johnson, but it's just such a risk to have an idiot like him out there! Miller Thomas Quick kessel is probably the most offensively talented player on the roster, i really dont see him being the odd man out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Lidstromboli Report post Posted January 4, 2010 lol @ kessel as 13th forward Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest blueadams Report post Posted January 4, 2010 kessel is probably the most offensively talented player on the roster, i really dont see him being the odd man out. well...he's not going to be a bottom six player (see scott gomez not making the squad because he couldn't beat out pavelski as our second line center). it sounds like we're going to pair parise and langenbrunner together to get some early chemistry going. so, he'll have to beat out kane (not likely) or ryan (maybe?). do you think he'd beat out ryan? how do you guys see it playing out!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204 Report post Posted January 4, 2010 well...he's not going to be a bottom six player (see scott gomez not making the squad because he couldn't beat out pavelski as our second line center). it sounds like we're going to pair parise and langenbrunner together to get some early chemistry going. so, he'll have to beat out kane (not likely) or ryan (maybe?). do you think he'd beat out ryan? how do you guys see it playing out!? Langenbrunner wont play over Kessel... not only is he not as good, but Buke and Wilson are calling the shots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doggy 130 Report post Posted January 4, 2010 Langenbrunner wont play over Kessel... not only is he not as good, but Buke and Wilson are calling the shots. Hence, Komisarek being picked over Hainsey. I hate Komisarek. I haven't seen an inanimate object get this much attention since the Berlin Wall. At least Ferguson wasn't in charge. No doubt he would've picked Jeff Finger. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest blueadams Report post Posted January 4, 2010 Langenbrunners going to get a shot to click with parise on that 1st line, guarantee it. If he doesn't work out, then maybe they pull Kane up to the 1st line and insert Kessel into the 2nd. what do you guys think about the defensive pairings?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Four Report post Posted January 4, 2010 Hence, Komisarek being picked over Hainsey. I hate Komisarek. I haven't seen an inanimate object get this much attention since the Berlin Wall. At least Ferguson wasn't in charge. No doubt he would've picked Jeff Finger. Better than Komisarek Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest blueadams Report post Posted January 4, 2010 THERE ARE TWO QUESTIONS WITH THIS ROSTER: #1) Who is the odd man out between: Langbrunner, Ryan, and Kessel. #2) What are the defensive pairings going to look like: If Martin is healthy, he is clearly our number one guy, but nothing else is certain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Louisville 112 Report post Posted January 4, 2010 So I guess Parise, Kane, and Kessel are scoring every goal for us eh? I like all those players on there except for Kane. They will have to play some stingy defense to win though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeeRYCE 2 Report post Posted January 4, 2010 Very good looking roster... I like it a lot, and I've been loving American players these days. They come out the gate with speed, skill, strength, and charisma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest GordieSid&Ted Report post Posted January 4, 2010 I love the roster. All of my lock picks to make the team from the thread a few weeks ago made the team, including Ryan and Callahan. I did miss Ryan Whitney though. I guess he's still in the mix if Martin can't go. Wasn't sure if Pavelski, Kessel and Komisarek would return from injury in time but they did and Pavelski has really looked good. We knew age and speed wouldn't be a problem since the invitees to camp pretty much skewed towards those attributes. My biggest concern was for size, especially down low in both ends and especially on D for dealing with the Thornton's and Getzlaf's of Canada. Pleasantly surprised that both Erik and Jack Johnson made the team. Let's be real with Orpik and Komisarek, they aren't there to dictate the pace of play and pick up power play points. They are there to battle and make life hard. All 4 of those guys are big guys and they play with some bite so I'm thrilled to death with that. They hemmed and hawed about Bobby Ryan but I knew he'd make it b/d of his size and hands and was pretty sure they would give long looks to Backes and Byfuglien. Glad to see Backes get in because he's a big boy and he hits hard. Nice to see another big body in Ryan Malone. I totally missed the boat on Jamie Langenbrunner though and wasn't sure that Drury would get a shot but I guess he brings lots of experience in big games but not at the cost of vastly degenerated skills. Did they name him Captain? We've got some nice finishers in Kane and Parise. Good setup guys with Stastny and Pavelski. Good Pkers in Callahan and Kesler. Power forwards who can hit in Backes, Ryan and Dustin Brown. And I think our goaltending is as good as anybody's, if not the best. My only concern is for a lack of offensive production from the blueline. Rafs and Suter is a good start. Martin is iffy still and the rest of the crew aren't really huge point producers. But if Erik Johnson gets good minutes and contributes that would be huge. Ryan Whitney would be a big addition offensively if Martin can't go. I'm stoked. Locked, cocked and ready to rock out the Red, White & Blue! GO USA! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pockets 9 Report post Posted January 5, 2010 I like this team if Burke gets what he wants our physical play will be able to get into the other teams heads the only team that can really match the level of grit and physicality we can bring would be Canada Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheDetroitRedWings 286 Report post Posted January 5, 2010 I'm stoked. Locked, cocked and ready to rock out the Red, White & Blue! GO USA! Hell yeah! USA USA USA!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Datsasuk 2 Report post Posted January 6, 2010 I can't say that this surprises me, but I would have liked to see Bill Guerin make the team. I think his leadership and finishing touch would be a nice addition. He's been playing relatively well in Pittsburgh. But I guess he wouldn't have Crosby and Malkin feeding him in the Olympics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cusimano_brothers 1,655 Report post Posted January 10, 2010 From ctvolympics.ca : New Jersey Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner will wear the 'C' for Team USA at the 2010 Olympic Games, according to the New Jersey-based Record. The official announcement is set for Monday afternoon, and will also see teammate Zach Parise named one of the team's alternate captains, the report says. Langenbrunner is one of only three players on the young American team with Olympic experience, along with New York Rangers captain Chris Drury and Detroit's Brian Rafalski. Drury is also expected to be named an alternate captain. ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
