PedroSpecialK said:
IMO with H. Sedin out for Sweden and the addition of St. Louis for Canada, Canada becomes the favorites for the gold, even with the bigger ice. It could realistically go to any of Sweden/Finland/Canada/US/Russia though.
It's impossible to write off a team that has Rask/Lehtonen/Niemi in net, but I am just not convinced that Finland is a serious threat for gold. I know it's a short tournament and they may have the best goaltending in the Olympics, but I am a huge skeptic of their skaters. They're without Mikko Koivu, Valtteri Filppula, and Saku Koivu. That was quite possibly their top 3 centers (certainly top-2), and it's not like they have a super deep corps of forwards.
Their top line has an 18-year-old (Barkov) centering a 21-year-old (Granlund) and a 43-year-old (Selanne). Does a second line of Lauri Korpikoski, Olli Jokinen, and Tuomo Ruutu scream scoring against elite teams? Aside from their goalies, I think their main talent is either too old (Selanne, Timonen, Jokinen, Salo) or too young (Barkov, Granlund, Maatta).
I think the tournament is just a four horse race for gold: Canada, Sweden, US, and Russia.
cshea said:
Bylsma's lines
JVR - Pavelski - Kessel
Parise - Backes - Oshie
Brown - Kesler - Kane
Callahan - Stastny - Pacioretty
Not loving having Kane skate with two grinders. Would prefer him in a top 6 spot.
It's hard to find reliable sources from four years ago, but I want to say that I recall Kane playing with Kesler (at least some) in Vancouver. I don't recall how much, which games, and how they produced, but it's possible there's some previous chemistry between the two. I view Bylsma's lines mostly as an indication that he's planning on really rolling three top lines to start the tournament. Didn't Pittsburgh ease Crosby back from injury by putting him as the "3rd line center" with Cooke and somebody? I'd imagine that really forces defenses to pick their poison. Do you want to match up with Kessel, Parise, or Kane? I also like keeping JVR/Kessel and Backes/Oshie together. If those pairs are set in the top-2, there isn't room in the "top-6" for both Parise and Kane. I view it as a "top-9" as of now though, and I'm not too worried about the lines. The the number of skill players having to play special teams roles and the superior ability of depth players, I'm sure there will be a greater emphasis on spreading minutes.