Nash and Crosby on the same line at the World Championships?

[wildboy26]

I would love to see Crosby and Nash play on a line together. If Pittsburg is eliminated from the playoffs at the time of the World Championships Crosby is a lock to be on the team, if Columbus is eliminated from the playoffs at the time of the World Championships Rick Nash has a very outside chance of making the team. In the unlikely event Nash is asked to play for Team Canada at the World Championships it would be interesting to see them play on a line together.

[PDO]

How is Rick Nash a "very outside chance"?

Should be interesting.. looks like that team will have some nice players to put in there between Crosby, MAF, Nash, Aucoin, Roloson, Bergeron and possibly a guy like Joe Thornton (SJ is still pretty far out of hte playoffs).

That team could be loaded with young talent.

[wildboy26]

How is Rick Nash a "very outside chance"?

Should be interesting.. looks like that team will have some nice players to put in there between Crosby, MAF, Nash, Aucoin, Roloson, Bergeron and possibly a guy like Joe Thornton (SJ is still pretty far out of hte playoffs).

That team could be loaded with young talent.

Nahs is an outside chance since he is good enough that it gives him a small chance to make the World Championships team, considering the players who will be still in the playoffs after the 1st round(teams that lose in the 1st round will be eligable for the World Championships).

[charlio lemieux]

Find a nice comfortable spot to bang your head off of PDO.

[PDO]

Nahs is an outside chance since he is good enough that it gives him a small chance to make the World Championships team, considering the players who will be still in the playoffs after the 1st round(teams that lose in the 1st round will be eligable for the World Championships).

So, the same guy that made the Olympic team isn't a lock for the World Chamionship team which is all but guarenteed to be weaker? :conspire:

[wildboy26]

So, the same guy that made the Olympic team isn't a lock for the World Chamionship team which is all but guarenteed to be weaker? :conspire:

Nash is about the only elite Canadian player who has never been on a winning team of any kind. He failed to win anything as a junior, he was on a losing team at the 2002 World juniors as a 17-year old, a losing team at the World Championships last year. He has never won a best player award for any tournament, minor or whatever either. Basically in short he has won nothing in his career, not only every other player on Team Canada has done this, but atleast 8 or 9 who are not(Crosby being one of them of course). If Canada wins the Olympics it will finally prove he is good enough to be on a "winning" team, but so far Nash on a team has been an automatic failure for the team to win. If we dont win the Olympics I project people will start to see this. Also look at his history at Worlds so far:

2003-turned down going apparently, can you think of any other 18-year old that would turn down such an important event, Bergeron did not at 18, and Crosby certainly wont this year at 18. Yet Nash did, an X against him.

2004-missed it due to a throat ailment. Combining this with his other injuries and ailments over the years, showing his inability to stay healthy at key times.

2005-he was awesome here, but we still lost the gold. His production in the quarters, semis, and finals was far below his round robin games; while others-
Thornton, Doan, Smyth, all stepped up their games for these rounds. Some say he was the best player at the tournament, how can he have been the best player when he won neither "best forward" "or tournament MVP" if it went to anothe forward(which it did). Thornton won the MVP, and Kovalev the best forward, so the claim some make that he was the best forward, or even the best players perhaps, at this event is faulty since if he was he would have won atleast 1 of the 2 awards.

So once turning down at an age nobody else would have, one showing his tendency to get ill or injured(remember he has been ill or injured many other times for such a young player, as this year also shows), and once failing to step in the final games and once again failing to be a difference-
maker on a "winning" team.

Also the Worlds dont start until the first round of the playoffs are done, isnt that correct? Well if so, lets assume rankings stay where they are now, teams that are slated to make the playoffs now do, and teams seeded to lose in the 1st round do, for the most part, with only 1 or 2 obvious changes(eg-Los Angles dropping from where they are now, San Jose moving up from where they are now). Of course there will be other reverse of current rankings, and reverse of results accordance to playoff seedings, there always is, but on average they should balance still to make this a good estimate. At this present moment if 1st rounds of playoffs went roughly as expected, the following forwards would be available for Worlds: Bertuzzi, Doan, Crosby, Thornton, LeCavalier, St. Louis, Richards(I fully expect Tampa Bay to lose in the 1st round of playoffs this year), Smyth, Sakic. Some of those might choose not to play, but if they all do, they all are locks. That would leave Marleau, Tanguay, Morrison, Murray, and other to fight for for a remaining spot for Nash. The fact that he has not shown(unless we win in Turin)that he can be part of a winning team might tip the balance to keep him off the team. For the record the teams I am projecting to advance past the 1st round of the playoffs from the East are-Philadelphia, Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal(one or the other), and Carolina, with a shot for N.Y Rangers too. From the other conference Detroit, Nashville, Calgary, and Dallas would be my guesses right now. However in the very likely event some of those are wrong, it would still balance out roughly to the number of people available, for example if San Jose makes it instead of Calgary, that makes Iginla available.