View Full Version : Team USA Turin thread
Here's an official USA team thread that's not about Jeremey Roenick (for all 4 of us american members :))
The team is to be named on the 19th.
John Buccigross is the first writer I read who picked the complete team (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2256716) so here it is...
Forwards
Mike Modano - Brian Gionta - Chris Drury
Craig Conroy - Brian Rolston - Dustin Brown
Doug Weight - Keith Tkachuk - Mike Knuble
Scott Gomez - Erik Cole - Jason Blake
Defensemen
Brian Rafalski - Mathieu Schneider
Bret Hedican - John-Michael Liles
Jordan Leopold - Aaron Miller
Goaltenders
Rick DiPietro
John Grahame
Robert Esche
Extra skaters
Ryan Kesler
Paul Mara
A FEW NOTABLES LEFT OUT (this is my list, I know there's more):
Forwards: Parrish, Guerin, Parise, Amonte, RoeDick, York, Malone
Defense: Leetch, Hatcher, Cheliold, Leetch, Leetch, Leetch and Leetch
swflyers25
12-13-05, 1:42 PM
Roenick and Amonte are out along with Leetch. Two guys I think that have a good chance of making the squad are Hatcher and Chelios. Both have done pretty good with the new rules especially Hatcher. Not sure about Hedican making it over Hatcher. Waddel is big on Hatcher if you read the article posted about Hatcher in the Flyers section. USA looks to ice a quick team. Wish we could have Blake or Parrish on the Flyers.
Roenick and Amonte are out along with Leetch.
What you mean "out"? Like you don't want them... or you heard they won't be selected?
Hatcher + Olympic ice = :laughing:
Not a hope.
From that team.. I think that York, Guerin and Leetch have to be on the team. Scratch Rolston, Blake and Miller.
TimmyTabasco
12-13-05, 2:34 PM
Scratch Rolston, Blake and Miller.
Are you kidding? :D
-Rolston
12g 12a 24 p thru 28 games
This guy is having a very good year. He has great speed, and can play on a variety of lines
-Blake
13g 11a 24p thru 29 games
This guy is a spark plug, and can play anywhere. He has great speed
-Miller
3 Points in 31 games. However, he has 8 PIM's.
This guy has been a rock for the Kings. He has been playing very solid hockey, and has really adapted well to the new rules. Andy Murray has sung his praises on more than one occasion
Rolston gets a buttload of PP time in Minnesota. Primo minutes. He has Olli Jokinen syndrome. He's not that good, but if you keep giving him the primo minutes he's going to outscore guys who are just plain bad.
Blake.. not a big fan. Never have been. York is a much smarter player who I'd take over him anyday of the week (yes, I know Blakes numbers are better this year so far.. York had a rough start, it happens)
I like Miller.. I just like Leetch a lot more.
TimmyTabasco
12-13-05, 2:40 PM
Forwards: Parrish
This is surprising. Parrish led the Americans at the 2005 World Championships with 5 goals thru 6 games.
Well, remember this is all the opinion of John Buccigross.... doesn't necessarily make it so.
Iced Tea
12-13-05, 3:07 PM
I was going to make a joke about Team USA needing an agitator like Sean Avery on the team but it turns out Avery is Canadian. I wonder if I can petition a court to strip his citizenship. :D
John Grahame has better numbers than Dipietro in all categories except save precentage so why is Dipietro the number one goalie?
MadDevil
12-13-05, 3:32 PM
Roenick and Amonte are out along with Leetch. Two guys I think that have a good chance of making the squad are Hatcher and Chelios. Both have done pretty good with the new rules especially Hatcher. Not sure about Hedican making it over Hatcher. Waddel is big on Hatcher if you read the article posted about Hatcher in the Flyers section. USA looks to ice a quick team. Wish we could have Blake or Parrish on the Flyers.
I think you just answered your own question as to why they'd take Hedican over Hatcher.:D
Not sure about Weight making the team, but leaving Guerin off. The Tkachuk/Modano/Guerin line was USA's best during the World Cup, and I think they should try to put that line together again.
I'm liking the speed of that lineup though (Modano, Rolston, Gionta, Blake, Rafalski, Hedican, Liles, and Leopold are all good skaters). Another guy I think should be considered is Jeff Halpern. He's put up respectable numbers on a horrible Washington team over the last few years (although he's struggled to score this year), he's a good skater, and he's responsible defensively.
charlio lemieux
12-13-05, 3:55 PM
Not a bad line-up. I still think the US will have trouble reaching the medal round.
swflyers25
12-13-05, 4:36 PM
What you mean "out"? Like you don't want them... or you heard they won't be selected?
They won't be selected.
Hatcher + Olympic ice =
Not a hope.
First, Hatcher has adjusted more easily to the new offense-friendly rules than many had anticipated. He's plus-7 on a Flyers team that has shown itself to be one of the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Second, although the game is changing, toughness is still an issue in international competition, particularly in a USA vs. Canada matchup. Hatcher remains one of America's most physical players, capable of handling the bulk and strength of Canada's Joe Thornton or the Czech Republic's Jaromir Jagr.
Also, Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell is Team USA's general manager and he is known to appreciate Hatcher's abilities as a leader and his passion for wearing the U.S. jersey. After Hatcher was snubbed by Team USA in 2002, he signed on to play for the American national team in Sweden. USA officials haven't forgotten that.
It's still not a lock that Hatcher will make the team, but he's definitely a favorite for one of the eight spots on defense. The presumption is that Detroit's Mathieu Schneider, New Jersey's Brian Rafalski, Los Angeles Kings' Aaron Miller, Colorado's John-Michael Liles and Calgary's Jordan Leopold have spots assured. If Boston's Brian Leetch is healthy, it's difficult to imagine he won't be on the team. That leaves Hatcher in the hunt with Boston's Hal Gill, Carolina's Bret Hedican, Phoenix's Paul Mara, New Jersey's Paul Martin, Detroit's Chris Chelios and others competing for the final two spots.
USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/columnist/allen/2005-12-04-allen-rinkrap_x.htm)
Scratch Rolston, Blake and Miller.
Maybe Miller but not Rolston and Blake. I also see Jeff Halpern making it. Hedican is an average defender, I don't see him on the team but who knows. All I know is Hatcher has a good shot to make it.
Just 2 days ago... Leetch played 25 minutes and scored Boston's only goal of a 2-1 loss, so he's definitely over that knee problem. If I was king... he'd be a definite.
Time for Cheliold to stay home however.
John Grahame has better numbers than Dipietro in all categories except save precentage so why is Dipietro the number one goalie?
Because Save % says more about a goalie than every other single goaltender statistic combined?
Newfie John
12-13-05, 5:07 PM
No Klee this year eh? Can't say I disagree with it.
Iced Tea
12-13-05, 5:50 PM
Because Save % says more about a goalie than every other single goaltender statistic combined?Says you.
Player GP W L OT SA GA GAA Svs Sv% SO
Grahame 24 14 8 1 589 63 2.72 526 .893 1
Dipietro 24 11 9 2 735 72 3.11 663 .902 0
The save percentages are 0.9% different, Grahame has a better record and a better GAA; I'd go with Grahame. It's not his fault he has a better team in front of him.
Says you.
Says logic.
A goaltender is supposed to do what?
Stop as many pucks as he possibly can.
Save percent measures what?
The percentage of shots stopped by a 'tender.
Player GP W L OT SA GA GAA Svs Sv% SO
Grahame 24 14 8 1 589 63 2.72 526 .893 1
Dipietro 24 11 9 2 735 72 3.11 663 .902 0
The save percentages are 0.7% different, Grahame has a better record and a better GAA; I'd go with Grahame. It's not his fault he has a better team in front of him.
So.. it's Dipietro's fault he has a worse team in front of him?
Dipietro has a worse team in front of him, in a harder division, and still has a better SV%. Not to pick on your math, but it's .09, not .07 ;)
I don't think save percent, or any other one stat is definitive to a goalie's worth. It really depends a lot on the quality of the shots he saves. A whole lot of easy routine saves could easily pad that number.
As with team power play stats... the numbers can be real decieving...
I'd really like to see formulas created to accurately measure some of these things in the NHL.... like Football does (QB rating)... or baseball which has about 20 of them, WHIP and OPS come to mind.
There's no reason the NHL cannot unveil some new and better ways to track team and individual performance.
Anyway back on topic - I don't think either DiPietro or Graham stands head and shoulders above the other.... They'll both make the team and it will probably rely on who's hotter come crunch time.
Iced Tea
12-13-05, 6:14 PM
Not to pick on your math, but it's .09, not .07 ;)The ladies like me for my looks not by brains. :D I fixed it.
So we agree that Grahame should start and the debate is over. :talkhand:
I think Mel is right, wait until February and see who is doing better.
Madferret
12-13-05, 6:20 PM
I'd start Ryan Miller if he's healthy by then and it was up to me.
:shrug:
The ladies like me for my cash not my brains.
Fixed more gooder.
Jason Blake left the Islanders game.... feet first.
Bad spill into the boards.
He's been carted off to the hospital. Latest word I heard on MSG network just now is that he has feeling in all his extremities... great news.
:(
Iced Tea
12-13-05, 10:04 PM
Jason Blake left the Islanders game.... feet first.
Bad spill into the boards.
He's been carted off to the hospital. Latest word I heard on MSG network just now is that he has feeling in all his extremities... great news.
:(Ouch, you never like to see a player go feet first into the boards. Hope he's 100% healthy.
Ouch, you never like to see a player go feet first into the boards. Hope he's 100% healthy.
What I meant was, he left the game feet first - on a stretcher.
He went into the boards head-first on an awkward accidental collision with Kurtis Foster. He was laying motionless for a while with his eyes closed.
It sounds like he's going to be OK, but it's always upsetting to see things like that.
http://www.nhl.com/news/2005/12/247752.html
Luckily not as serious as first thought.
Well after a short stint as the NHL's hottest player, Tkachuk is out again - this time with broken knuckles - for 4-6 weeks.
He still can probably go to to the olympics.... but I had him on ALL of my fantasy teams. (4 in all)
:curse: :curse: :curse:
Well here it is
Rick DiPietro
Robert Esche
John Grahame
Chris Chelios
Derian Hatcher
Jordan Leopold
John-Michael Liles
Aaron Miller
Brian Rafalski
Mathieu Schneider
Jason Blake
Erik Cole
Craig Conroy
Chris Drury
Brian Gionta
Scott Gomez
Bill Guerin
Mike Knuble
Mike Modano
Mark Parrish
Brian Rolston
Keith Tkachuk
Doug Weight
My thoughts:
Roenick's asinine threats that the team will be a "travesty" without him really worked in his favor huh? :rolleyes:
Looking down the Defense list... leaving Leetch off is just plain stupid. Chelios will become the 3rd oldest player in Olympic history.
- Leopold has 4 assists and zero goals in 32 games this season.
- Chelios has 1 goal and 2 assists in 34 games this season.
Leetch (on a bad team) has 4 goals and 10 assists in only 23 games, he can still run the PP as good as anyone in the NHL. I'm just at a loss on that decision.
Maybe Leetch can get on the taxi squad, in the event that Chelios' walker malfunctions and he falls down the stairs, and then he hits the button and says "Help I've fallen... and I can't get up".
EDIT: The OLN guys (and not John Davidson) are also pretty much at a loss as to why Leetch was omitted. Many think he is the best American born d-man ever, and although past his prime, he's still only 37, 6 years younger than Cheliold.
It does seem strange, perhaps he wasn't interested?
It does seem strange, perhaps he wasn't interested?
I did hear a murmur that he wasn't interested in playing. If that's the case I take back every bad thing I said.
To be honest... it had to be something like that... otherwise it just makes no sense.
Madferret
12-19-05, 9:43 PM
So no J.R.?
Should make for some interesting dialogue out in L.A...
That defense is going to get lit up.. ouch. Chelios AND Hatcher?
I love that they left the mouthpiece off the team, especially after his ridiculous comments.
I love that they left the mouthpiece off the team, especially after his ridiculous comments.
Me too.
The icing on the cake will be when he doesn't get offered that TV job he thinks he's entitled to if he doesn't make the team.
JD and Emerick will be the normal tandem.
He's just such a dick.
Well there was no way Knuble was going to get a shot at Team Canada. Good Luck ;)
Might have been a mistake to leave Klee off the team. He is starting to find the groove after missing the first part of the season.
MadDevil
12-20-05, 12:28 AM
For the most part, that's pretty much the roster I expected. The one thing I don't understand is how Leopold gets on ahead of Leetch, or Chelios for that matter. I'd put Leetch in Chelios' spot, and Martin in Leopold's spot. Leetch/Martin have a combined 5G-21A-26PTS this year, while Leopold/Chelios combined have 1G-6A-7PTS. Unless they think the +/- rating is that much of a difference.:conspire:
They're going to need one of Esche, DiPietro, or Grahame to be very sharp the whole tournament to have a chance at medaling IMO. The forward group is very solid (good mix of speed, grit, and skill) I think, but the defense is going to have trouble handling the bigger, skilled forwards of teams like Canada. Hatcher, Miller, and Chelios will be counted on to be very solid in their own end.
The one thing I like about the defense is that they can pair a speedier offensive defenseman with a slower, defensively minded player. Something like this maybe:
Hatcher/Rafalski
Liles/Chelios
Schneider/Miller
Max Power
12-20-05, 9:00 AM
Well no surprise by the small man
Roenick accuses USA Hockey
Jeremy Roenick
Canadian Press
12/20/2005 2:48:38 AM
VANCOUVER (CP) - Veteran Jeremy Roenick said he wasn't surprised he was left off the United States Olympic hockey team announced on Monday, but not because he's lost a step after 17 NHL seasons.
Roenick sounded off against USA Hockey Monday after his Los Angeles Kings earned a 4-3 shootout victory over Vancouver Canucks, saying he was left off the team ''because (USA Hockey has) been blackballing me since September.''
The 36-year-old centre called American hockey officials ''disrespectful'' and was clearly bitter with their decision. He clearly seemed fired up in Monday's game, scoring and adding an assist in the first period.
''I think they were holding the fact I haven't played in the last two World Cups against me. I'm a lot better player than my points indicate,'' said Roenick, who has six goals and seven assists in 32 games this season. ''I'm one of the guys that have gotten the USA to where it is today.''
Roenick was on the American team that finished second to Canada at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and was also on the 1998 team that finished out of the medals in Nagano, Japan.
He thought American officials would choose him for the Turin Games out of respect for his previous tenures with the team.
''To not have the opportunity to go back one more time and try and win the gold is obviously, in my opinion, very disrespectful,'' said Roenick, who has 1,133 points in 1,156 career regular season games. ''They can beat me down and say I'm over the hill or say that I don't have it anymore, but to me I know that I do.''
Los Angeles teammate Craig Conroy, who did make the USA team, said he's disappointed Roenick wasn't selected.
''He's been a big part of USA hockey for a long time,'' said Conroy, 34. ''It's surprising. He's kind of synonymous with USA hockey.''
Conroy's selection is the first time he's made the U.S. Olympic team, although he did play in the 2004 World Cup.
''I thought maybe I had a chance last time so I didn't want to get too excited, but I was pretty happy when I heard my name,'' said Conroy, who's from Potsdam, N.Y.
Roenick was pleased Conroy made the team, but couldn't resist a parting shot at the U.S. officials, saying he had nothing to prove to the American hockey brass.
''There's nobody on the Olympic team that's scored more points than I have, who's had a career like I've had in terms of physicality and putting points on the board and being a leader,'' said the Boston native.
butterfly_style
12-20-05, 10:18 AM
Maybe Roenick can make the Special Olympic hockey team.
Maybe Roenick thinks he was left off because he lacks self-confidence.
So nice I posted it twice.
charlio lemieux
12-20-05, 1:45 PM
I want to see Roenick in his Hudson's Bay Team Canada gear as he cheers us on, like he said he would. :D
I feel sorry for Conroy, even though he made the team. Now he has to play with the dink, and listen to his new reason for b!tching.
The Score will pick JR up as an commentator. :D
MadDevil
12-21-05, 1:57 AM
Would somebody please give this jackass another concussion so he shuts his big mouth? Too bad Hatcher didn't play in the West, he could break Roenick's jaw again.:laughing:
I want to see Roenick in his Hudson's Bay Team Canada gear as he cheers us on, like he said he would. :D
I feel sorry for Conroy, even though he made the team. Now he has to play with the dink, and listen to his new reason for b!tching.
The Score will pick JR up as an commentator. :DNot for the next 4 to 6 weeks he doesn't ;) :laughing:
What a contrast between what the mouthpiece had to say and the thoughts of a class act like Brendan Shanahan:
"The last two Olympics were great experiences for me," he said. "It was a great experience winning it the last Olympics but I also thought it was a valuable experience being in that situation in Nagano where we didn't have success. That was such a learning experience going into 2002.
"Obviously if I was selected I'd be thrilled and honoured to go but Canada has such a wealth of players that if I didn't get picked I would still be supportive and cheer for the team."
And the irony is that while the mouthpiece doesn't even deserve to be there, Shanahan definitely does.
http://www.nhl.com/news/2005/12/248856.html
Very odd, Schneider and Rafalski are about the only guys I might take ahead of Leetch on that roster.
What were they thinking???
wildboy26
12-28-05, 4:49 PM
I know I am in the minority here, but I really like Jeremy Roenick. In no way is he a class act like Shanahan, but he provides a much needed does of refreshing honesty and candidness. I enjoy somebody speaking their mind, so we know how they really feel, rather than just sticking with the status quo and wondering what they feel.
The only honesty and candidness the mouthpiece provides is evidence of his own massive ego and total classlessness.
LiAmTrAnSdEmOn
12-29-05, 1:15 AM
And most people find him to be dumb and say that there is something wrong with him because he speaks his mind. I'm with wildboy and I like Roenick. I respect him for speaking his mind when so many people will bite their tongue because it isn't "the right thing to say". Just because he says something and can back it up most of the time people don't like him. But that's what I find great about him. Are there people that have more class than JR, sure, but there aren't many like him that will ask the questions that need to be asked and put out the challenges to teammates or whoever that other people are scared to do.
Back it up?
Have you really taken a look at some of the BS this idiot has spewed lately???
I agree he speaks his mind, and it proves just what a tiny little one he has every time he does.
LiAmTrAnSdEmOn
12-29-05, 2:12 PM
That is why I said most of the time. MOST OF THE TIME he backs it up. Not so much recently because I think he has just been pissed off entirely and trying to talk out of his *ss.
slapshot™
12-29-05, 2:21 PM
Have you really taken a look at some of the BS this idiot has spewed lately???
Google "Roenick quotes" and be prepared to laugh.
wildboy26
1-09-06, 11:23 AM
Does anybody think the U.S has even a slim chance to repeat their silver medal performance from Salt Lake City? I would be shocked if they did, I see them somewhere around 5th or 6th, but they could surprise and be as high as 4th. They look like they are going through a rebuilding phase, although it was surprising that the great Chris Chelios made the team on defence, so perhaps they do feel they need some veteran leaderhip, even the kind that is rapidly diminishing with age. It will be interesting to see how they do, but I expect they will struggle, their forward corps does not even come close to the Canadians, Czches or Swedes, and their top goalies-DiPietro and Esche-dont seem to be even playing up to their 03-04(and even then they were not really among the very elite of the league).
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