WILL HALL OR EBERLE MAKE OLYMPIC TEAM?
By Jason Gregor
10 years ago
Hockey Canada announced the invitees to their Olympic orientation summer camp today. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle were on that list, but will they make the final roster on December 31st?
I had an article ready to post about who I thought would be on the list, but before I could Hockey Canada sent out the official list.
I had an article ready to post about who I thought would be on the list, but before I could Hockey Canada sent out the official list.
Here is who I thought they would invite, and the names in bold are who I think will make the team, followed by the actual roster.
GOALIES:
Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Corey Crawford, Mike Smith and Cam Ward. John Shannon reported that Braden Holtby was the 5th and not Cam Ward.
D-MEN:
Shea Weber-Drew Doughty
Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook
P.K Subban- Alex Pietrangelo
Kris Letang-Marc Staal
Jay Bouwmeester- Bryan Campbell
Mike Green- Tyler Myers
Dion Phaneuf-Francois Beauchemin
Dan Hamhuis-Marc Methot
Hockey Canada likes to extend invites to veterans who have played well in the past, so Dan Boyle could get an invite. I think the top four pairings are the favourites to make the team, but if any of those guys get hurt of struggle in the first half of the season, one of the bottom eight guys could easily take their spot.
FORWARDS:
Eric Staal-Sidney Crosby-Steven Stamkos
Rick Nash-Jonathan Toews- Claude Giroux
John Tavares-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Logan Couture–Patrice Bergeron-Milan Lucic
Taylor Hall-Jordan Staal-Andrew Ladd
James Neal-Patrick Sharp-Jordan Eberle
Chris Kunitz-Matt Duchene-Brad Marchand
Jamie Benn-Mike Richards-Marty St.Louis
Joe Thornton
Some forwards like Patrick Marleau and Jarome Iginla could get an invite based on past contributions, but I don’t see them having a realistic shot to make the team.
Mike Babcock and his coaching staff will have some extremely difficult decisions amongst the forwards. You will notice I only picked 12 forwards, because I believe Hall, Eberle, Jordan Stall, James Neal, Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp and all have a great shot of making the team.
If I had to pick one of them, I believe the coaches might lean towards Ladd due to age, size and his ability to kill penalties.
Here is the actual list of who was invited
GOALIES
Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Corey Crawford, Mike Smith and Braden Holtby.
Shannon was correct that Holtby got the nod over Cam Ward, and Luongo is the only goalie who was invited to the 2010 camp.
D-MEN
Shea Weber-Drew Doughty
Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook
P.K Subban- Alex Pietrangelo
Kris Letang-Marc Staal
Jay Bouwmeester- Dan Boyle
Mike Green- Karl Alzner
Dan Hamhuis-Marc Methot
Dion Phaneuf-Travis Hamonic
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
No major surprises here, although it is interesting to note that Tyler Myers isn’t on the list. I had 13 of the 17, but it is nice to see they wanted to give some younger guys a shot. Alzner, Hamonic and Vlasic are all solid, but I suspect the seven D-men who make the roster will come from the top-four pairings above.
FORWARDS:
Eric Staal-Sidney Crosby-Steven Stamkos
Rick Nash-Jonathan Toews- Claude Giroux
John Tavares-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Logan Couture-Patrice Bergeron-Milan Lucic
Taylor Hall-Jordan Staal-Andrew Ladd
James Neal-Patrick Sharp-Jordan Eberle
Chris Kunitz-Matt Duchene-Brad Marchand
Jeff Carter-Mike Richards-Marty St.Louis
Joe Thornton
I got 24 of 25, but I had Jamie Benn making the camp and not Jeff Carter. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when they get down to deciding on the 13 forwards.
If Hall continues to perform like he did last season, and Dallas Eakins asks him to be more defensively aware he’ll have a great chance of making the final roster. His speed on the big ice would be a huge bonus for Canada.
Lindy Ruff liked Eberle at the World Championships, and if Eakins uses Eberle on the PK this year, that will increase Eberle’s chances of making the team. He’ll have to produce like he did in 2011/2012 to get serious consideration.
I believe this crop of forwards has more depth than the 2010 team, and that will should make for some great debates when people submit their final 23 players.
PARTING SHOTS…
- Here is the list of the 46 players who were invited to the summer camp for the 2010 Olympics. Steve Mason was one of five goalies invited. It’s crazy how quickly things can change.
- One more note regarding arbitration. Even though Gagner and the Oilers didn’t go through the arbitration process, Gagner still got to see what the Oilers think about him. The player and the team are required to submit their case to the other side 48 hours before arbitration. The notion that teams and players avoid arbitration because they don’t want to rip the player, isn’t completely accurate, because in the case of Gagner, the past two summers he reached a deal only hours before his case, thus he was able to see how the Oilers valued him.
- Based on current lineups, if the Oilers are still trying to move Ales Hemsky, Ottawa seems like the decent fit. They need another top-six forward and they have enough cap space to absorb Hemsky’s $5 million cap hit. This is just me speculating. New Jersey might be a fit, but they just signed Jaromir Jagr, but the best fit based on need is Nashville. The Preds desperately need a skilled forward.
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