Canada vs. Canada

So my good friend and hockey fan Vanessa and I were discussing the Olympics and some of the Canadian players who were left out, when she made the suggestion that Canada should have two teams.

Wouldn't that be interesting?  If Canada sent their "2nd" team to the Olympics, how would they fare?  Could they possibly be just as competitive in the tournament as Canada1? And perhaps the best question, who would be on it?

Well I'm about to tackle that question, and propose the possible lineup for Canada2.  To make it interesting, I'll only name players that were NOT at Canada's evaluation camp.  So the bubble players and outsiders on that roster wont be featured on this team either.  I'll also recap who was on the main evaluation roster as we go.  And I'll name enough players to fill the lineup with one or two bubble players, but not as many as the camp, so this will pretty much be the game-day lineup.

So first, we'll start with the goalies.

Goalies

Canada1 Goalies
Corey Crawford (Chicago)
Braden Holtby (Washington)
Roberto Luongo (Vancouver)
Carey Price (Montreal)
Mike Smith (Phoenix)

Canada2 Goalies

Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) - This one is probably the most obvious.  Despite his age, and downgrading of skill, he has more than earned at least a chance to make the roster.

James Reimer (Toronto) - As I said in my Gold Or Bust post awhile back, I think he would have been a dark horse to make the team, but he deserved at least a chance.  Despite being on some poor Maple Leaf teams before last season, and being plagued by injury, he's posted great numbers for Toronto.  He also played great at the 2011 World's.  I think he could make this team.

Jake Allen (St. Louis) - This is were I'm probably going to lose some people.  There are plenty more experienced goalies, and more dependable.  Allen probably wont be in the NHL at the start of the season, even though he has so far outplayed Elliot and Halak.  But because of his recent international experience and just playing like a skilled vet so far in his NHL career, I think he could be my bubble goalie, much like Holtby for Canada1.

Canada1 Defence
Karl Alzner (Washington)
Jay Bouwmeester (St. Louis)
Dan Boyle (San Jose)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles)
Mike Green (Washington)
Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver)
Travis Hamonic (NY Islanders)
Duncan Keith (Chicago)
Kris Letang (Pittsburgh)
Marc Methot (Ottawa)
Dion Phaneuf (Toronto)
Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis)
Brent Seabrook (Chicago)
Marc Staal (NY Rangers)
P.K. Subban (Montreal)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose)
Shea Weber (Nashville)

Note: I forgot how many D they took to camp.  Judging by how thin the defence is getting by the end of this list, this is probably where Canada2 will suffer.

Canada2 Defence

Cody Franson (Toronto) - 3rd in D-men points last season is probably a good place to start for our defencemen roster.  Young player with lots of upside.

Francois Beauchemin (Anaheim) - He's been a solid member of Anaheim and Toronto the last few years, and does have some international experience.  He has great stats and isn't a defensive liability.

Michael Del Zotto (NY Rangers) - Another young defenceman with lots of upside and international experience.  Had a bit of an off-year last season, but is slowly improving his game and being less of a defensive liability.  

Sheldon Souray (Anaheim) - What this lineup needs now is a veteran player, and Souray is a perfect fit.  He could pair up nicely with Beauchemin.  He was one of the best +/- players last season, which shows that he isn't a defensive liability and a strong defenceman for the team.  In fact, he was tied for 1st in D-men +/-, tied with none other than Francois Beauchemin.

Dougie Hamilton (Boston) - Last season in his rookie year he played great for the Bruins.  Although his defensive game seemed flawed at times, especially during the playoffs, he shows lots of potential for the big club.  He was a major piece in Canada's World Junior teams for the last two seasons, so the international game isn't new to him.  He brings size and physicality to the defence.

Mark Giordano (Calgary) - To find a good, defensive, physical partner to put alongside Hamilton is tough.  Giordano is Calgary's best defenceman, and plays a good physical game.  He also has a little bit of international experience.  He's not a rookie, so he's a bit more reliable and experienced against the best players than Hamilton, and could help keep him out of trouble defensively.

Jason Garrison (Vancouver) - He isn't a name you'd probably think of to put in this spot, but he is a good fit.  He's a vet, even though he doesn't have tons of NHL experience outside the last few years.  Last season in Vancouver he put up very respectable numbers, including one of the best +/- stats for defencemen. He plays a strong defensive game, and makes up for some of the holes created by defensive liabilities of the other defenders.

Canada1 Left Wing
Taylor Hall (Edmonton)
Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh)
Andrew Ladd (Winnipeg)
Milan Lucic (Boston)
Brad Marchand (Boston)
Rick Nash (NY Rangers)
James Neal (Pittsburgh)
Patrick Sharp (Chicago)

Note: In reality, most of these guys wont make the team anyway, as they'll be replaced by centremen.

Canada2 Left Wing

Evander Kane (Winnipeg) - Although he isn't always dependable, and is still improving, he has potential to be one of the biggest offensive threats on this team.  He has a ton of international experience to help his case too.

Mason Raymond (Toronto) - Maybe this is a surprise pick for some, but his speed will be a huge asset on an international ice surface.  He's a hard grinding guy who will give much needed character and grit to this team.  He also has some World Jrs. experience.

Dany Heatley (Minnesota) - He's fallen off the radar hard from his glory days, but he has a very impressive international resume, and is still one of the most skilled shooters in the game.

Ray Whitney (Dallas) - Why not?  He's 41, but the last two seasons he's gotten almost a point per game, in Dallas and Phoenix, so with not much help.  He has lots of World Championship experience, and could provide a good veteran presence to a primarily young team.

Canada1 Right Wing
Jeff Carter (Los Angeles)(C/RW)
Jordan Eberle (Edmonton)(RW)
Claude Giroux (Philadelphia)(RW)
Corey Perry (Anaheim)(RW)
Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay)(RW)

Canada2 Right Wing

Jerome Iginla (Boston) - This is where I'll cheat a little bit.  Even though he wasn't named to the evaluation camp, I named him on my Olympic team in my Gold Or Bust post.  Since he's not on the main roster, I'll steal him away for mine, and he'd probably be captain too.  Line him up with some skilled playmakers, and you'll have an endless supply of pucks in the net.  He's also a great leader with plenty of international experience.

PA Parenteau (Colorado) - Although he's only had 3 years as a full-time NHLer, he's spent lots of time in the AHL, and is anything but a rookie.  Once he cracked the NHL full time, he's put up some very impressive numbers for the Islanders and Avalanche.  He's had to work hard to find his place in the NHL, and I'm sure he'd be one of Canada's hardest workers on the team.  Oh, and he was 3rd in Canadian RW points last season, ahead of Eberle and Perry, just throwing that out there.

Shane Doan (Phoenix) - Like Iginla (and maybe even more-so), he is a great leader with lots of international experience.  He's not as prolific of a scorer as he used to, but he can still be a great asset to this team.

Brendan Gallagher (Montreal) - Unlike the other RW's here, he's young.  Last season he had a great rookie season with Montreal.  He does have some international junior experience, and he has a high talent level.

Canada1 Center
Patrice Bergeron (Boston) (C)
Logan Couture (San Jose)(C)
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)(C)
Matt Duchene (Colorado)(C)
Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim)(C)
Mike Richards (Los Angeles)(C)
Eric Staal (Carolina)(C)
Jordan Staal (Carolina)(C)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay)(C)
John Tavares (NY Islanders)(C)
Joe Thornton (San Jose)(C)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago)(C)

Note: Are there any left?  Theres enough centermen here for 3 teams! This will be difficult.

Canada2 Center

Nazem Kadri (Toronto) - So like Don Cherry, I might have a bit of a bias towards him.  I love how hard he plays, and he could really be a benefit to this team.  He has tons of skill, World Jr. experience, and could play a few different rolls for this team.

Jamie Benn (Dallas) - A young vet in Dallas, he has plenty of upside and experience.  He could be one of Canada's most dependable scorers.

Sam Gagner (Edmonton) - With lots of international experience even for a younger player, he has lots of things needed to be an important player on this team.  He isn't always consistent, but has flares of greatness when he's on his game.  

Mike Cammalleri (Calgary) - A very speedy player, with lots of experience.  Sometimes a bit of a defensive liability, but could give Canada some grit and extra options in the offensive zone.

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Canada2 Projected Line-up

Whitney - Benn - Iginla

Kane - Cammalleri - Doan

Raymond - Kadri - Gallagher

Heatley - Gagner - Parenteau

Beauchemin - Souray

Franson - Del Zotto

Hamilton - Giordano

Garrison

Brodeur/Reimer

Allen

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So what do you think of Canada2?  Would they be competitive?  I think they would have troubles on defence, but offensively they would have a shot to compete against the faster, more skilled teams.

Alright, so it has to be done.  Later in the week, look for this post to come back, and I'll document what happens when these two teams go against each other, via NHL14.

And if you have any line-up changes you'd like to make before I do the simulation, leave me a comment and I'll work it in.  

Once again, thanks for reading.

Welcome BNG, and Some Ivan Hlinka Talk

Hey everyone, so today I'm going to keep this short and sweet, as I have a few things to take care of.

First of all, I just want to say thank you to Ricky Mazella of Buffalo Nickel Graphics for featuring this blog on his "Friends of BNG" page.  Ricky is a weekly writer for HockeyJerseyConcepts.com, and runs his own blog featuring his own concepts and concepts from other artists.  He has already reviewed my work on HJC once, and I look forward to seeing him review my work in the future.

I've also included a link to his blog on my "Links" page.  Or, for those time-efficient folk, you click the link here to go to http://rmconcepts.blogspot.ca right now.  He has some really cool designs, so it's worth a look.

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So I've been following the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament for the past few days, and wondering why I haven't been as excited for the tournament before as I am now.

This is the stepping stone for all of the world's best young hockey players.  Essentially, its the Under-18 World Championships.  The difficulty in large, hockey-mad countries like Canada and Russia are that the talent pool is so spread out, its hard to pick out the best players available.  Hockey Canada scouts are searching the country constantly just trying to find the best players.  The ones who eventually make it are often the stars of tomorrow.  In last year's tournament, the Canadian team had MacKinnon, Drouin, Domi, Fucale, Nurse, and Horvat, just to name a few of the top draft picks from last years draft.  Some of this year's team is expected to be first round picks in next year's draft.

Historically, this is a tournament that Canada has dominated, winning the tournament 17 times in it's 22 year history, including winning the last 5 tournaments.  The tournament is held in the summer, meaning many junior players who are busy on their junior teams during the official World Championship events are available for this tournament, so Canada usually sends a better team to this tournament than the IIHF World U18 Tournament.

The tournament started in 1991, being hosted by Japan for 4 out of its first 5 years (and Mexico the other year).  The tournament only contained 3 or 4 teams (Canada, USA, Russia and Japan), until 1997 when the tournament grew to 8 countries, the amount competing today.  In 1997, the tournament was hosted in Nelson/Castlegar, B.C.  After 1997, the tournament was hosted in Czech Republic and Slovakia every year.

This year, parity between the 8 top nations in hockey has never been more clear.  After the group stage, Canada, Czech Republic, and Switzerland are all tied in their group, with Switzerland being relegated due to goal differential, along with last place Sweden.  Yes, Sweden came in last, even after beating Canada in the round robin.  In the other group, USA, Russia, and Finland all finished within 2 points of each other, with Finland being relegated alongside winless Slovakia.

The semi-finals pit Canada against Russia, and the Czechs against the USA.  The Czechs are coming off a huge 5-2 win over Sweden in a must-win game to advance, while USA is coming off 2 straight wins while losing the tournament opener to Finland in OT.  Canada won the group despite losing to Sweden and being forced to OT by Switzerland, and take on Russia who's only loss so far has been against USA.

Should be interesting to see who comes out on top after the semis, but irregardless it should make for some exciting hockey.  At least there is something to watch this summer.

My 10 Favourite Hockey Moments

Alright, so I technically made a post yesterday.  But it was in the wee-hours of the night, and was more of an update to the blog site than anything else.  So thats 2 days where I've left my blog behind, and I'm not about to make it a 3rd.

However, I've been really hitting a creative block today, and I've been feeling a little nostalgic as of late, so this is going to be slightly more personal than usual, but hopefully still relevant.

I am a hockey fan, and have been one for a long time it seems.  There have been some times when I'm not sure why I love hockey so much, but there are moments that I see, hear, or be a part of that make me lose all doubt.  Some of these moments are personal, some I've seen on TV, some made me cheer, some made me tear up a bit, some are recent, some are before I was born.  But whatever the moment is, these are the moments that, for myself, are why I love the game of hockey.



10.  The Birthday Party

The first moment on my list is a personal one, so many readers probably have no idea of what all went down.  Basically, at around 10 years old or so, I invited my entire hockey team and other close friends for my birthday party.  The plan for the day was a massive road hockey game, cooking hotdogs over the fire outside (in March, in 3 feet of snow), then all going down to watch the local Jr. A team's playoff game, then have a sleepover.

We had 20 kids over, so we filled the block with people playing road hockey.  The campfire outside in the snow was a really cool moment, and the sleepover with 20 kids packed in my basement was incredibly fun.

But my favourite part of that was at the Ghostriders game that evening, after it to be exact.  We were missing one of the kids, couldn't find him anywhere. We looked around, and he eventually appeared, with a hockey stick in his hand, with a long strand of stick tape on the side of it, with every signature of the team players.  I've never used the stick (its a righty), but I kept it around to this very day.  That was probably the coolest gift I've ever received.

9.  Skate in the Crease

So this was a moment that I watched on TV, and I didn't remember it fondly, but somehow it sparked my interest into hockey and the rules of the game further.

It was 1999, and I was a huge Sabres fan at the time.  I loved the look of Buffalo's jersey and logo, loved Dominic Hasek, huge Mike Peca fan, liked Zhitnik, Wooley, Barnes, etc etc.  I started hockey liking Vancouver, then later on switched to Calgary, but Buffalo was the first team I really knew all about and became a real fan of.

I spent late nights watching the playoffs, because they were my first real experience with playoff hockey.  They beat the Maple Leafs in the East Final (and I still saw them as a godly team, so that meant a lot), so I was excited to see my team win the Stanley Cup.  But after 6 games against Dallas, it didn't happen, all because of a goal that really shouldn't have counted.  I've seen the replay hundreds of times, but only needed to see it once, as I have the replay planted in my brain.  That was my first real attachment to an NHL team, and I felt just as lost as most of the fans were.  Its sad, and maybe I was over-reacting, but I felt emotion never drawn by much of anything else up to that point, so it was a powerful moment for me.

8.  The '72 Summit Series

Of course, this happened 20 years before I was born, so I never really felt the direct effects of the series on my life.  Still, I was completely fascinated by it, and still am today.  It loses so much meaning when you look at just the hockey aspect of it, and even then, it was one hell of a series.  Hollywood couldn't script a better hockey story than what happened in 1972.  But it meant so much more than just hockey.  It was the Cold War atmosphere, the Soviets showing the world that Canada isn't the superpower it was thought to be, Canadians giving up on our own players, and those players winning back the crowd the way they did, the brutal conditions in Russia at the time, I could go on and on.  This is one moment in hockey history that to this day still gives me a pulse for the game.

7.  The Sea of Red

My next brush with playoff hockey didn't come until 2004, then a Flames fan.  I happened to be in Calgary during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Tampa Bay.  I fondly listened to the car radio with my dad, as they broadcasted the game.  All of a sudden, Calgary scores in OT to win the game, and the cars all over McLeod Trail in Calgary starting honking and going bezerk, and we joined in.  It was so much fun to be part of that for even just a few seconds.

A week or so later, I remember being at my grandma's house watching Game 7.  I'll admit that I ended up in tears watching Calgary lose it's chance at the Stanley Cup, and seeing the look on Iginla's (my hockey idol, then and still) face as he watched Tampa take the Cup.  The rash of emotions from being a fan of the team, riding their wins and feeling their loses, was really moving to me.

6.  Rocky Mountain Hockey School

This is a little different because it was more than one moment, it was actually a yearly thing.  My first hockey camp growing up was in my hometown of Fernie, called Rocky Mountain Hockey School.  It was a week-long bootcamp of hockey skills, outdoor training, and quite a bit of fun.  I was around 5 when I joined, just learning to skate, and being taught by hometown hero, Jason Krog.

I went there almost every year since, until I was too old to go.  I started as a little kid not knowing how to skate, never mind shoot, pass, or anything.  My last year I was older than anyone else there, and although I wasn't the best there, I got to act like a mentor to some of the younger players, and that really meant the world to me.  I made a ton of friends, played hockey with some of the local hockey stars, and did some really cool things, but being able to go full circle like that was the best part.

5.  Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2003 Cup Run

And speaking of Jason Krog, he became more of a hero to me in 2003.  He wasn't a full time NHLer until this point, and really wasn't after this year either, but he was a prominent figure in the Mighty Ducks' cup run in 2003.  I spent many late nights watching the many OTs during that playoff, including an extremely long 5OT game against Dallas.  I became a big fan of Karyia, Giguere, Ruchin, Sykora, and coach Mike Babcock during that run.  Although they lost, it was really cool to see Krog and Karyia, 2 of my big hockey heroes that brought me into the game, play together and go as far as they did.

4.  NHL 99

The computer game, yes.  This was my first real video game I spent lots of time playing, without the aid  and influence of my big brother.  We didn't get to indulge in too many video games when we were young, but this was one that I got to play many times, and still (try) to boot it up for old-times sake.  This was one of the coolest video games I ever played, and helped me further open the door to video games and the world of hockey.

3.  The World Juniors

I'll cheat again on this one too, as there are more than one year that really got me excited to be a hockey fan, but I thought I'd throw them together.

2004 was a cool year because hometown goalie, David Leneveu, was on the Canadian roster as a goalie.  Unfortunately, he lost most of the spotlight to little-known goalie named Marc-Andre Fleury.  Although I understand that he was the better goalie, and the next "big star" in the NHL, I'm still upset how he got dummied against the USA in the gold medal game.

The 2007 Semi-Final against the USA is probably in my top 3 games of all time.  The excitement was through the roof, as it hit the shootout, before Toews and Price led the way to Canada's win.

2009, semi-finals, against Russia, when Eberle scored with 5 seconds left to force the OT which Canada ended up winning.  If you're a hockey fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  I still hear Gord Miller's call of the goal in my head to this day, absolutely unbelievable comeback.

And then in 2012, again in the semi-finals, Canada down 6-1 to Russia in the 3rd, climbing all the way back to 6-5, then hitting the post with seconds left, losing the game. That emotional rollercoaster of a game had me from sad, to pissed, to optimistic, to on my feet cheering, to devastated.

This is why I love the winter break so much.  Christmas is nice, World Juniors are awesome.

2.  Lethbridge Hockey Tournament, 2006

This was around the time I finally started blooming into a better hockey player.  I had the legs and power, I was just missing the confidence.  I was benched so often prior to that year, I felt bad anytime I touched the ice, as weird as that sounds.  2006 was going to be my final year for hockey, as I was finished with the dilemma of being benched 90% of the time for the better of the team, and lacking the time and means to be "committed" to the team.  2006 "WAS" going to be my final year.

The one weekend in Lethbridge in 2006 changed that.  I found my stride, was used very often on the ice, and it turned out to be one hell of a weekend.  I scored the first and only goal in our first game, and against scored the game winner in the 2nd game.  The parents of the team really rallied behind me, and I quickly became a bit of a mini star.  I don't know where it came from, but that made all my years troubling through hockey worth it, and the weekend was only halfway done.

Unfortunately, I fell just as fast as I zoomed up, literally.  I was checked from behind in the 3rd game, about to be put on a stretcher when I refused, got back up and tried to play on.  It was nobel, if not stupid.  I still have back problems from that hit to this day, and I shouldn't have gotten back up, never mind played, but I did.  I had something to prove.  I was much ineffective for the rest of that game, but we made it to the Finals against a very good team from Brooks.  We lost, and I struggled to skate, or stand for that matter.  But all in all, when I was on the verge of losing hope for hockey, that weekend got me back on my feet.

1.  There could have been lots of other moments to be my favourite.  Any of the NHL games I witnessed, meeting Scott and Rob Neidermayer, or Dion Phaneuf, or Wade Redden, or Andy Moog, or all of the different places I've been to for the sake of hockey, or all of the different big moments that happened in my lifetime or beyond.  There could have been my first goal, my first 2 goal game, my first game all-together, my first championship, my first time playing goalie, etc etc.

But something else comes to mind, it was my first real memory of hockey.

I used to ski, until I got into hockey and changed that.  I always wondered where that interest came from, to take away something I grew up and shared with my dad in skiing.  But it was one Sunday when I was very young, I got to watch my first couple of hockey games.

My mother was volunteering at the Midget Provincials held in Fernie, when I was 3 or 4.  She was selling the 50/50 for the games, and the one day that my dad worked and couldn't watch me, she brought me along.  I got to watch the 11/12th placement game (so basically, last place) against Port Moody and Burnaby.  I could have just walked around and followed my mother around, as was the plan.  But when I got there, I was mesmerized. I sat on the fairly empty bleachers and watched.  I had no clue what was happening, but it looked awesome! A man came up to me, he was a scout for the Port Moody team, or a trainer, or something like that.  He talked to my mother and sat by me, asked if I ever watched hockey before.  I told him no, and he watched it with me, explaining the rules as the game went on.  The score was something nasty, like 14-2 for the other team, but he didn't seem to mind.  I loved it, and wanted more.

Well I was in luck, when my dad got home from work, he surprised me by taking me to the Finals, which featured the hometown Elk Valley team vs. Trail.  The arena was totally different from before, not a seat was left empty, and it was so loud I could barely hear my dad explain the rules to me (as it took me more than one game to understand).  When our home team won in OT, it created a furor in the arena never matched by anything I've ever seen or imagined.  My little eyes twinkled with the sight of people in sheer joy.  I didn't exactly understand how OT worked, but I could tell it was good.  My memory goes blurry after that, but I can safely say that that one particular Sunday, my first instance of hockey, was my favourite moment of all time.



This was quite the read, and I know I went fairly crazy long-winded on this post.  It probably isn't interesting to most of you, since many of these are personal memories.  But to anyone who does read this, thank you for letting me vent out my nostalgia at you.  It really does mean something when someone takes the time to read my stories.  If any of you readers have any fond moments or memories you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it, please feel free to post.

Thank you again for reading.