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Guest blueadams

It's time - to predict 2014 Team USA

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Guest blueadams

The summer orientation camp roster was released Monday. The best 48 American skaters on the planet. Three Red Wings: J. Howard, J. Abdelkader and D. DEKEYSER. Discussion.. begin.

Forwards:

Z. Parise-R. Kesler-P. Kane
B. R
yan-J. Pavelski-P. Kessel
R. Callahan-D. Backes-D. Brown

M. Pacioretty-P. Stastny-T. Oshie
J. Van Riemsdyk, A. Galchenyuk

.....D. Stepan, J. Pominville, B. Wheeler, B. Dubinsky.....J. Abdelkader, B. Saad, N. Bjugstad, C. Smith, B. Bennett, T. Lewis, K. Palmieri, K. Okposo

.....I think that the top nine here is more or less a lock. First two lines have some big-time fire-power while also being at least reasonabl
y solid defensively. That third line will be one for the books and, probably, the real difference between this team doing something or nothing. Beyond that, it gets interesting. Stastny's as good a bet as anyone. Pacioretty should be right there. Oshie, I think, should as well. Galchenyuk, I think, is going to be on this team - - and might make some real noise on it. The last spot I've got JVR pencilled into ~ great size, versatility, skill, youth, etc. ~ but there are obviously a lot of talented players at his heels. Abdelkader, if he makes similar strides next season, has a real deal shot. Okposo I'm always waiting for him to pull it together and explode, not holding my breath though.

Defensemen:

R. Suter-J. Johnson
R. McDonagh-K. Shattenkirk

K. Yandle-P. Martin
B. Orpik, J. Faulk

.....D. Byfuglien, J. Carlson, E. Johnson, M. Carle, Z. Bogosian.....C. Fowler, N. Leddy, J. Gardiner, D. DeKeyser, S. Jones, J. Trouba

.....Here I think the top 2, 3, perhaps 4, perhaps 5 are locked in. Suter, Johnson are there. McDonagh's close to a lock. Shattenkirk's almost as close.
Yandle's almost as close. Not a bad bunch there. Quality skaters, defenders, puck-movers and aggression common among them. The next three are tough. Martin and Orpik are right there, and being Bylsma-coached, have a leg-up on the competition. Martin, meh, I think he probably makes it. Solid all-around, veteran presence, perhaps on the PP. Orpik is so big, and international ice, idk. He's so solid defensively and tough though. Byfuglien's such a beast on the PP, and a really versatile roster asset. It's tough to make a call between those two. Then I left one spot open for a wild-card. I penciled Faulk in for the time being, but who knows. There's such a plethora of great young defensemen competing for this spot. Carlsson, Fowler, Leddy, even guys like Jones and DeKeyser could get into the mix with great seasons. It'll be interesting, for sure. This is going to be a sound group though.

Goalies:

J. Quick
R. Miller
J. Gibson

.....J. Howard
, C. Anderson, C. Schneider

.....Quick is a lock. Gibson, I think, is a lock as the "next generation third goalie getting some experience." The real battle is for the backup spot. R. Miller might be the 4th best candidate for it, but I have a hard time seeing him being left off after last time around.



THOUGHTS!?!

Edited by blueadams

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Guest blueadams

Each country fields the best roster possible. Naturally, this has never included a junior-level goalie. Gibson will not be on the Olympic roster.

Third goalies never play. It's a position for a young player to get experience. He's the only one in orientation who's younger than Quick. We can agree to disagree.

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Guest Crymson

Third goalies never play. It's a position for a young player to get experience. He's the only one in orientation who's younger than Quick. We can agree to disagree.

OK, let's go over the goalies for the USA since NHLers became allowed to participate in the Olympics.

1998: Hebert, Richter, Vanbiesbrouck

2002: Barrasso, Richter, Dunham

2006: Dipietro, Esche, Grahame

2010: Miller, Quick, Thomas

And for kicks, let's look at Canada's goalies:

1998: Joseph, Brodeur, Roy

2002: Belfour, Brodeur, Joseph

2006: Luongo, Brodeur, Turco

2010: Luongo, Brodeur, Fleury

You'll notice a trend: zero of these goalies were picked purely because they're young. You'll also notice a more important trend: every single one of these has played professional hockey in the NHL.

In other words, no, Gibson won't be at the Olympics.

Edited by Crymson

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Guest Crymson

Quick was not experienced 4 seasons ago, brother.

Quick had almost 100 games under his belt when the Olympics rolled around. More, the USA had nowhere near the goalie strength back then that it has now, as Anderson was not yet a solid goalie, Howard was a rookie, and Schneider had barely busted into the league at all. Quick was picked because he was the best option. More to the point, he was an NHL goalie. He was not playing in a junior league.

Edited by Crymson

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Of course this will change based on who is healthy and playing well next winter. As for G's Miller will be 3rd. Quick/Howard will be the starter based on who is playing better at the time.

IIRC Ryan, Backus, and Brown were on a line together and played really well.

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Of course this will change based on who is healthy and playing well next winter. As for G's Miller will be 3rd. Quick/Howard will be the starter based on who is playing better at the time.

IIRC Ryan, Backus, and Brown were on a line together and played really well.

Miller was named Olympic MVP and carried Team USA to the gold medal round. Unless he completely falls apart this season I'd be surprised if he was lower than 2nd.

And a Howard Quick tandem seems very unlikely. The job will probably be Quick's to lose, then Miller, then Howard.

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Miller was named Olympic MVP and carried Team USA to the gold medal round. Unless he completely falls apart this season I'd be surprised if he was lower than 2nd.

And a Howard Quick tandem seems very unlikely. The job will probably be Quick's to lose, then Miller, then Howard.

Four years is a long time in hockey. Miller has been less than stellar since the last Olympics. I don't know if he will pick his game up to Olympic caliber this time around.

A side note: Puck Daddy wrote up his prediction for the US roster and has Howard as number 1, with Quick backing him up. I think the general media is beginning to recognize Howard as an elite goalie, which is interesting because I don't know if LGW is even there yet.

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Agreed about Miller not showing any real substance lately. Don't know if it's cause his team is awful or what but I'd almost take Anderson over Miller as of right now. Having said that Miller probably get's the #3 spot with Howard and Quick as a toss up respectively.

When does the final 25 man roster have to be announced? Anyone know?

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Four years is a long time in hockey. Miller has been less than stellar since the last Olympics. I don't know if he will pick his game up to Olympic caliber this time around.

A side note: Puck Daddy wrote up his prediction for the US roster and has Howard as number 1, with Quick backing him up. I think the general media is beginning to recognize Howard as an elite goalie, which is interesting because I don't know if LGW is even there yet.

For starters, it's Puck Daddy. But he also acknowledges it's a pretty insane idea and defends it by referring to Quick's numbers in a lockout-shortened season where Quick was returning after back surgery.

Quick has a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe, insane playoff numbers the last couple seasons, and was the third goalie in the 2010 Olympics. I think Howard is great and am happy he's the Wings starter, but it would be shocking if he started over Quick. I really think it's Quick's to lose. Unless they go with Miller because of his 2010 performance. There's also the off chance Jimmy doesn't even make the team.

Other guys make it sound like Schneider, Anderson and Howard are in competition for the final spot.

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The summer orientation camp roster was released Monday. The best 48 American skaters on the planet. Three Red Wings: J. Howard, J. Abdelkader and D. DEKEYSER. Discussion.. begin.

Forwards:

Z. Parise-R. Kesler-P. Kane

B. Ryan-J. Pavelski-P. Kessel

R. Callahan-D. Backes-D. Brown

M. Pacioretty-P. Stastny-T. Oshie

J. Van Riemsdyk, A. Galchenyuk

.....D. Stepan, J. Pominville, B. Wheeler, B. Dubinsky.....J. Abdelkader, B. Saad, N. Bjugstad, C. Smith, B. Bennett, T. Lewis, K. Palmieri, K. Okposo

.....I think that the top nine here is more or less a lock. First two lines have some big-time fire-power while also being at least reasonably solid defensively. That third line will be one for the books and, probably, the real difference between this team doing something or nothing. Beyond that, it gets interesting. Stastny's as good a bet as anyone. Pacioretty should be right there. Oshie, I think, should as well. Galchenyuk, I think, is going to be on this team - - and might make some real noise on it. The last spot I've got JVR pencilled into ~ great size, versatility, skill, youth, etc. ~ but there are obviously a lot of talented players at his heels. Abdelkader, if he makes similar strides next season, has a real deal shot. Okposo I'm always waiting for him to pull it together and explode, not holding my breath though.

Defensemen:

R. Suter-J. Johnson

R. McDonagh-K. Shattenkirk

K. Yandle-P. Martin

B. Orpik, J. Faulk

.....D. Byfuglien, J. Carlson, E. Johnson, M. Carle, Z. Bogosian.....C. Fowler, N. Leddy, J. Gardiner, D. DeKeyser, S. Jones, J. Trouba

.....Here I think the top 2, 3, perhaps 4, perhaps 5 are locked in. Suter, Johnson are there. McDonagh's close to a lock. Shattenkirk's almost as close. Yandle's almost as close. Not a bad bunch there. Quality skaters, defenders, puck-movers and aggression common among them. The next three are tough. Martin and Orpik are right there, and being Bylsma-coached, have a leg-up on the competition. Martin, meh, I think he probably makes it. Solid all-around, veteran presence, perhaps on the PP. Orpik is so big, and international ice, idk. He's so solid defensively and tough though. Byfuglien's such a beast on the PP, and a really versatile roster asset. It's tough to make a call between those two. Then I left one spot open for a wild-card. I penciled Faulk in for the time being, but who knows. There's such a plethora of great young defensemen competing for this spot. Carlsson, Fowler, Leddy, even guys like Jones and DeKeyser could get into the mix with great seasons. It'll be interesting, for sure. This is going to be a sound group though.

Goalies:

J. Quick

R. Miller

J. Gibson

.....J. Howard, C. Anderson, C. Schneider

.....Quick is a lock. Gibson, I think, is a lock as the "next generation third goalie getting some experience." The real battle is for the backup spot. R. Miller might be the 4th best candidate for it, but I have a hard time seeing him being left off after last time around.

THOUGHTS!?!

I'd replace Stastny with Dubinsky, Pacioretty with Van Riemsdyk, and put Brown in Oshie's spot and Wheeler in Brown's.

Parise-Kesler-Kane

Ryan-Pavelski-Kessel

Callahan-Backes-Wheeler

Van Riemsdyk-Dubinsky-Brown

Lots of scoring on top, and lean and mean on the bottom. Also, I'd want my defense to be noticeably bigger than the one you've got because Canada is going to have a GIANT team. So Orpik and Bogosian would definitely be in for me in place of any two of Martin, Yandle, Shattenkirk.

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Guest blueadams

Didn't you predict team USA's 2014 roster the day after they lost the Gold Medal game in 2010?

:lol:

Wasn't very far off, at all. Look it up lol.

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Guest The Axe

Wasn't very far off, at all. Look it up lol.

Youre good at line combos, blue.

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For some reason, I see Schneider tearing it up in the regular season and eventually getting the nod for the 3rd spot, with Quick and Howard as 1 and 2, respectively. Miller was great in 2010, but just isn't happy in Buffalo and his play shows it IMO.

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Guest The Axe

For some reason, I see Schneider tearing it up in the regular season and eventually getting the nod for the 3rd spot, with Quick and Howard as 1 and 2, respectively. Miller was great in 2010, but just isn't happy in Buffalo and his play shows it IMO.

Miller will rebound.

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I can't confirm this anywhere online, but my parents told me yesterday they read in the newspaper that Bylsma wants Fleury to play for Team USA. Their argument was "He has a dual citizenship" and he could play for either country. First of all, he can't play for the US. Tons of players with dual citizenship don't play for the US. Patrick Roy wanted to and wasn't allowed, I don't see how this would be any different. Second, that would be a slap in the face to US hockey to pick Fleury, a goalie that's played many times for Canada in international competition, over the talented goaltenders we have. I'll take Quick, Miller, Anderson, or Howard over Fleury any day.

Honestly, I think Bylsma is just trying to pump up his goalie because not even getting an invite to camp after yet another playoff disaster, his confidence has to be rock bottom.

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I can't confirm this anywhere online, but my parents told me yesterday they read in the newspaper that Bylsma wants Fleury to play for Team USA. Their argument was "He has a dual citizenship" and he could play for either country. First of all, he can't play for the US. Tons of players with dual citizenship don't play for the US. Patrick Roy wanted to and wasn't allowed, I don't see how this would be any different. Second, that would be a slap in the face to US hockey to pick Fleury, a goalie that's played many times for Canada in international competition, over the talented goaltenders we have. I'll take Quick, Miller, Anderson, or Howard over Fleury any day.

Honestly, I think Bylsma is just trying to pump up his goalie because not even getting an invite to camp after yet another playoff disaster, his confidence has to be rock bottom.

Even if Fleury was born in the US, it'd be ridiculous if they took him over Quick, Miller, Anderson, Howard, and probably at least 5 other goalies.

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