Nice articles by Dobber and Angus earlier this week heaping praise on Zach Parise. It made me think about the future of Team USA. Parise’s not the only young American who is starting to dominate in the NHL. There’s Paul Stastny in Colorado and Chicago’s Pat Kane is already an offensive force to be reckoned with.

Hockey is at its best when national pride is at stake. For Canadians, there’s nothing better than watching a Canada/Russia or Canada/USA game at any level.

A Canada/Russia game was a clash of styles. The Russians were perceived to have more skill and played a puck possession, perimeter game, whereas Canada would try to out-hustle, out-muscle and shoot from every angle.

The Canada/USA games were different. The Americans played the same hard-working physical style as the Canadians. I’ve always enjoyed how hard the two teams battle.

The real problem for the Americans was their lack of depth, especially between the pipes. Then along came the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. That was some of the best hockey I’ve ever watched, even if the end result wasn’t quite what the majority of Canadians were expecting.

The Canadian side was stacked with such players as Gretzky, Brodeur, Lindros, Sakic, Niedermayer, Scott Stevens, Messier, Coffey and Yzerman. Why even bother playing, right? Dead wrong. The Americans came in motivated and well-prepared to win.

The tournament MVP was Mike Richter. Canada couldn’t get much past this guy. He stood on his head in all three final games, shutting the door when he had to. Brett Hull and John Leclair were the leading point getters in the tournament. Defenders Chris Chelios and Brian Leetch were excellent as well. Adam Deadmarsh and Keith Tkachuk were physical forces and Tony Amonte provided the clutch scoring. An article afterwards called Amonte the American Paul Henderson!

That was the top of the mountain for USA Hockey. With all due respect to the 1980 Miracle on Ice squad, this version of Team USA had to face a stacked Canadian team in Canada (for the final two games). When all is said and done, there might have been nine or ten Hall of fame players on that Canadian squad, who were more or less in their prime for this series. In the round robin, the Americans beat Canada, Russia and Slovakia. In the semi-final, they beat Russia again. Then they defeated Canada in the best of three final, two games to one.

That brings me to the whole point of this diatribe. What we are witnessing in the NHL is a changing of the guard for both the American and Canadian sides. For Canada it’s a little less dramatic, there seems to be a never ending supply of top end talent from Gretzky to Lemieux to Lindros to Crosby. The only real debate for Canada is usually about whom gets left off the team.

The Americans urgently needed their young stars to step up and replace the old guard in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which is only a little over two years away. Hull, Leclair, Leetch and Amonte are gone. Weight (36), Tkachuk (35), Modano (37) and Guerin (36) are on their last legs. USA Hockey was desperate for a youth movement.

Today the future looks very bright indeed for the American side. Here’s a list of potential Team USA players for the 2010 Olympic Games (and their current ages):

Forwards

Zach Parise (23), Paul Stastny (21), Phil Kessel (19), Pat Kane (18), Erik Cole (28), Scott Gomez (26), Chris Drury (31), David Legwand (27), Brian Gionta (28), Tim Connolly (27), Dustin Brown (22), Christopher Higgins (24), Lee Stempniak (24), Patrick O’Sullivan (22), Peter Mueller (19), Bobby Ryan (20), James van Riemsdyk (18)

Defensemen

Erik Johnson (19), Jack Johnson (20), Ryan Whitney (24), Keith Ballard (24), Matt Carle (23), Brian Rafalski (34), Ryan Suter (22), John-Michael Liles (26), Paul Martin (26) and who could forget the U.S. version of Gordie Howe, Chris Chelios (45)

Goaltenders

Rick DiPietro (25), Ryan Miller (27)

Of course I’m kidding about Chelios going to the 2010 Olympics (or am I?). There may be others that step up in the next two years and the powers that be may choose to go with a more balanced roster (defensively responsible players). That’s quite an impressive list of young American talent. Can they challenge for hockey supremacy in 2010? I wouldn’t bet against them being in the top four. International hockey just got more exciting. It is much better when more teams have a shot at winning. Rivalries make for great hockey. Thanks America!

__________________
12 Team "Experts" Roto representing Dobberhockey 2nd
G,A,PPP,+/-,SOG,Hits,Blocks,Wins,GAA,SV% - Keep 4
4C-Kopitar,M.Koivu,Stepan,Matthias,Prospal
4L-Marleau,Steen,M.Foligno,N.Foligno,Morrow,Umberger
4R-Hossa,Hornqvist,Little,Alfredsson,Oshie
6D-Byfuglien,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Burns,Wideman, Kostka,Methot
2G-M.Smith,Backstrom,Reimer

12 Team Salary Cap Roto Dynasty 3rd (G,A,Pts,FPts,DPts,Pim,SOG,H,BS,W+OTL+SO,GAA,SV%)
12F-Ovechkin,Kopitar,P&E Kane,Kessel,Ryan,M&N Foligno,Ennis,Hodgson,Killorn,Horton,Wolski,Morrow ,Bonino
6D-Subban,J.Johnson,Carle,Wizniewski,Franson,Spurgeon ,Kostka,M.Fraser
2G-Rask,Anderson,Emery
Farm-Markstrom,Scrivens,Brunner,Nyquist,G.Bourque,B.Con nolly,T.Barrie,Brennan,Barberio,Orlov

Tremendous article and a well taken point I hadn\'t thought of. Big karma here. :cheer:

__________________
WISCONSIN YAHOO! 1 yr, 12 teams, H2H
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SO
Daily starts: 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G, 4BN, 2 IR
Used 23/25 moves
--------
C) Giroux(RW), Datsyuk(LW), Bergeron, Peverley
LW) Ovechkin(RW), Pacioretty, Stalberg
RW) Perry, Iginla, Okposo
D) Pietrangelo, Subban, Phaneuf, Karlsson
G) Rask, Khudobin
IR) Spezza

why isn\'t this on the front page, where it should be?

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. I wanted to do something when Modano broke the career points record for American born players and then I received my hockey news issues (late as usual) and realized it had already been done.

I want to see the best play each other every two years. The Canada/World Cup were great series. The World Championships suck, as the best of the NHL\'s non-playoff guys have a chance to shine? Hit and miss for talent, although it\'s the same for every country.

__________________
12 Team "Experts" Roto representing Dobberhockey 2nd
G,A,PPP,+/-,SOG,Hits,Blocks,Wins,GAA,SV% - Keep 4
4C-Kopitar,M.Koivu,Stepan,Matthias,Prospal
4L-Marleau,Steen,M.Foligno,N.Foligno,Morrow,Umberger
4R-Hossa,Hornqvist,Little,Alfredsson,Oshie
6D-Byfuglien,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Burns,Wideman, Kostka,Methot
2G-M.Smith,Backstrom,Reimer

12 Team Salary Cap Roto Dynasty 3rd (G,A,Pts,FPts,DPts,Pim,SOG,H,BS,W+OTL+SO,GAA,SV%)
12F-Ovechkin,Kopitar,P&E Kane,Kessel,Ryan,M&N Foligno,Ennis,Hodgson,Killorn,Horton,Wolski,Morrow ,Bonino
6D-Subban,J.Johnson,Carle,Wizniewski,Franson,Spurgeon ,Kostka,M.Fraser
2G-Rask,Anderson,Emery
Farm-Markstrom,Scrivens,Brunner,Nyquist,G.Bourque,B.Con nolly,T.Barrie,Brennan,Barberio,Orlov

repenttokyo wrote:
It\'s not a fantasy article so it\'s more of a blog that belongs here, but it is a good one. I plugged it in the ramblings and if I do that for two days he should get a good 1000 reads.
B)

__________________
DobberHockey Rules
14 Team Keeper, points only, best 12 skaters 2 dman 2 G count. Playoffs count.
F - Crosby, C.Smith, Wheeler, Parenteau, Hudler, Clowe, Grabovski, Atkinson, Frolik, S. Kostitsyn, Marchand, Peverley, Tavares, Read, Brouwer, Bickell, Gionta, Setoguchi
G - Anderson, Hiller, Markstrom, Brodeur
D - Letang, Del Zotto, I. White, Kronwall, Brodin, Nikitin

Is stastny ONLY eligible to play for the STATES? i thought that he was born in Quebec City?

great article, comish!

personally, i think chelios WILL be there, but not as a member of the hockey team, but a member of the bobsled team. and as you were, i\'m only half-joking cause i could see it happening.

__________________
11 team roto league keep 17/25
G,A,P,PPP,PIM,SHP,SOG,FW,W,GAA,SV%,SHO

c-stastny,gomez,o'reilly,gaustad
lw-kovalchuk,heatley,mcdonald(c),o'sullivan,tkachuk,t .ruutu
rw-alfredsson,dumont,ju.williams,mueller(c),langenbru nner
d-boyle,streit,zidlicky,enstrom,yandle,carkner
g-fleury,hiller,c.mason,schneider
ir-savard,bouchard,letang
farm-tavares,turris,colborne,MSP,pacioretty,markstrom

typo88 wrote:
I had to search through the IIHF Statutues and Bylaws to find it, but here\'s the answer:

\"When once a player has represented a country in any IIHF championship, or in the Olympic competition or in the qualification to these competitions he will not be eligible to represent another country...\"

It does go on about representing another country, but the paperwork must be done at least four years in advance during which the player can\'t represent his \"old\" country.

Since Paul Stastny represented USA at the last World Championships, there is no way he is going to play for anyone else.

I think it\'s great that he can play for the Americans, he\'d have trouble cracking the Canadian squad anyway and it makes the US team stronger - which I\'m all for.

__________________
12 Team "Experts" Roto representing Dobberhockey 2nd
G,A,PPP,+/-,SOG,Hits,Blocks,Wins,GAA,SV% - Keep 4
4C-Kopitar,M.Koivu,Stepan,Matthias,Prospal
4L-Marleau,Steen,M.Foligno,N.Foligno,Morrow,Umberger
4R-Hossa,Hornqvist,Little,Alfredsson,Oshie
6D-Byfuglien,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Burns,Wideman, Kostka,Methot
2G-M.Smith,Backstrom,Reimer

12 Team Salary Cap Roto Dynasty 3rd (G,A,Pts,FPts,DPts,Pim,SOG,H,BS,W+OTL+SO,GAA,SV%)
12F-Ovechkin,Kopitar,P&E Kane,Kessel,Ryan,M&N Foligno,Ennis,Hodgson,Killorn,Horton,Wolski,Morrow ,Bonino
6D-Subban,J.Johnson,Carle,Wizniewski,Franson,Spurgeon ,Kostka,M.Fraser
2G-Rask,Anderson,Emery
Farm-Markstrom,Scrivens,Brunner,Nyquist,G.Bourque,B.Con nolly,T.Barrie,Brennan,Barberio,Orlov

Did you overlook Mike Komisarek, or deliberately not mention him?
Here\'s a guy I\'d pick over at least 6 of the D listed.

rattus wrote:
Truth be told, I overlooked him. I was only looking for the \"name\" guys and that tends to be the offensive types.

I don\'t know if he makes it in the top 8. He\'s one of those guys that could be there for his defensive play. For that to happen, he would have to continue improving over the next couple of years and the guys who pick the team would have to appreciate what he brings to the table.

__________________
12 Team "Experts" Roto representing Dobberhockey 2nd
G,A,PPP,+/-,SOG,Hits,Blocks,Wins,GAA,SV% - Keep 4
4C-Kopitar,M.Koivu,Stepan,Matthias,Prospal
4L-Marleau,Steen,M.Foligno,N.Foligno,Morrow,Umberger
4R-Hossa,Hornqvist,Little,Alfredsson,Oshie
6D-Byfuglien,Phaneuf,Doughty,J.Johnson,Burns,Wideman, Kostka,Methot
2G-M.Smith,Backstrom,Reimer

12 Team Salary Cap Roto Dynasty 3rd (G,A,Pts,FPts,DPts,Pim,SOG,H,BS,W+OTL+SO,GAA,SV%)
12F-Ovechkin,Kopitar,P&E Kane,Kessel,Ryan,M&N Foligno,Ennis,Hodgson,Killorn,Horton,Wolski,Morrow ,Bonino
6D-Subban,J.Johnson,Carle,Wizniewski,Franson,Spurgeon ,Kostka,M.Fraser
2G-Rask,Anderson,Emery
Farm-Markstrom,Scrivens,Brunner,Nyquist,G.Bourque,B.Con nolly,T.Barrie,Brennan,Barberio,Orlov