Tag Archives: 2016 World Cup of Hockey

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, International, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Taylor Hall, The Nuge, and Matty Tkachuk

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A lesser man would tell you he told you so with regards to Hall not making Team Canada but I’ll do no such thing. I got the news in a hungover stupor on vacation that Hall was out for the Canadians and Nugent-Hopkins was in for the U24 North Americans. Interesting….

No Taylor Hall for Team Canada this time around, maybe he’ll pull an Yzerman and be ready in his late 20’s.

My Thoughts on Hall and Team Canada

The following is going to come off as pretty anti-Hall but they’re just observations. I’ll admit Hall hasn’t been my favourite player since he’s come into the league and I’ve let my opinions be known on plenty of occasions. That being said, I am starting to see his game change for the better. So he may very well work his way into my good books and onto at least one Team Canada before it’s all said and done.

  • Taylor Hall wasn’t “snubbed” as some media and fans like to put it. He didn’t have a good NHL season and he doesn’t fit the mold of the players that Mike Babcock and his GMs prefer. Simple as that. Moral of the story: It’s better to slump at the beginning of the year than the end of it.
  • What kind of players does Babcock prefer? Well Subban, Letang, and Perry were all left off as well. Flash and dash can stay home.
  • Some say Hall is being punished by playing on a bad team. If that’s the case, why is Matt Duchene making the team? The Avalanche haven’t been a pillar of success recently.
  • He’s had a good couple of World Championships. Really?
    • The last two WC’s have been played on a larger ice surface thus allowing Hall way more room to use his best assets, his skating and playmaking. So he gets to carry the puck longer and he gets more time to set things up. Of course it looks like he’s playing well.
    • This year all of his points but one were accrued against the likes of France, Slovakia, Germany, and Bulgaria…
    • He only scored 1 point in his final four games which were played against Sweden, Finland (x2), and the USA…
  • A lot of folk on the Twitter machine say that Team Canada is making a mistake not naming Hall to the team but if you haven’t noticed, the men tasked with creating the roster have a bloody good track record when it comes to winning international events, no?
  • So it’s no surprise to me that the team went with Thornton and Marchand (Both whom I said would be better options than Hall back in March), Duchene (Who looked much better than Hall in the Gold Medal Final at the WC vs. Finland), and Giroux (This selection I’m a little perplexed by due to the surgery he’s just undergone that will keep him out for up to 12 weeks).
  • To me it looks like Hockey Canada was going with the hot hands. Marchand was a scoring and shooting beast this year and Joe Thornton had an outstanding season at the age of 36. I can’t speak for Duchene and Giroux though.
  • But I am surprised that Corey Perry didn’t make it. Maybe his dirty ways have caught up to him a bit.
  • Ryan O’Reilly not being named was also a little shocking.
  • Team Canada named 11 centers? There’s a positional shift coming I believe. The days of the “Natural” (fill in the position here) are slowly dying off. In the future players will have to be able to play all positions minus the netminder.
    • You can see it when we talk about Tkachuk vs. Dubois.
      • Some people will pump Dubois’ tires because he can play centre AND wing. It’s not such a bad thing. It’ll force players to be better skaters, better thinkers of the game and better 200ft players.
    • We also see it with defensemen. What happened to the strictly offensive defender or the dman that was specifically a shut-down player.
      • Now it’s “two-way” blueliners that can skate, move the puck, and think the game at a higher level. Physicality is fine but not required as much as it was in the past.

Team North America

  • Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Auston Matthews were the final forwards named to the U24’s.
    • Scheifele I have zero problems with. He was a defensive stud for Canada at the WC’s. Played a very smart game with Ryan O’Reilly, and Mark Stone.
    • Jonathan Drouin’s selection must infuriate a lot of people given he only played during the playoffs. But even so, he was one of the best players in the playoffs and completely filled the hole left by Stamkos’ absence.
    • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ experience and two-way game get him on this team but I reckon it was barely. He’s still rehabbing a hand injury, so here’s to hoping he’s got that sorted out by the beginning of the tourney.
    • Auston Matthews… This is going to be fun. Who else sees him playing with Gaudreau and Eichel?
  • Matt Murray will be the no.1 goalie going into this. He got his NHL team further than John Gibson got the Ducks. That position went from the team’s no.1 question to no question at all.
  • The entire team is going to be a lot of fun and I think that if one were to be a betting person, they’d bet on a Team Canada/Team North America Final. I haven’t checked but is that even possible?

The Draft

  • Matty Tkachuk was hurt the entire Memorial Cup but still found a way to scored the overtime game-winning goal to win the tournament for London… Gotta love the balls on this guy. Would’ve loved to watch the game… Lucky Zach Laing…
  • Former writer of the blog, Kris Hansen had a good comparison between Matt Tkachuk and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Stylistically, no but situationally, yes.
  • I’m torn on what the Oilers should do with that pick. I’m a draft geek at heart and using it on Tkachuk would not bother me one bit. Trading it outright would piss me off and trading down with it would leave me unsettled given the high probability the pick and/or player acquired could fail.
  • Recently on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, Jim Matheson said, and I’m paraphrasing so don’t quote me, that unless PK Subban was part of a deal; he couldn’t see the Oilers dealing down. Now that doesn’t mean the 4th overall for PK Subban, just a trade involving those pieces.
  • If I’m not mistaken, the Oilers trading down at the draft has not been a story book filled with wonderment and happy endings as it is. I say take Tkachuk and laugh all the way home about it.
  • Here are my top 5 options for the Oilers at no.4 overall
    • Matthew Tkachuk (LW) – grit, smarts, and size.
    • Pierre-Luc Dubois (C/LW) – powerhouse that plays multiple positions.
    • Mikhail Sergachev (RD) – apparently has the highest ceiling and is a lefty but plays right side.
    • Alexander Nylander (LW/RW) – creative mastermind that can play either wing.
    • Olli Juolevi (LD) – cool and calm, very good puck mover.
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Edmonton Oilers, Kosmic Burrito, NHL

Kosmic’s Introduction to BLH/2016 World Cup of Hockey Team Canada Roster Prediction

February 28th, 2016 Somewhere in the Universe (OK, just outside of Toronto)

So here we are…February 28th…NHL Trade Deadline Eve. Many GM’s suffering from what surely feels like cauliflower ear after working the phones for hours. Breath stinking with coffee, a side effect from not sleeping, or “conducting business” as they tell their families…

Whoa hold up dude! I am so sorry! Let me back this up. I was born in Canada, where are my manners?

Hello Beer League Heroes universe, my name is…well…just call me Kosmic Burrito. I’m going to be your bushy bearded, burrito loving blogger, bringing you some spaced out Oilers sports reports. Before I go any further, I want to say a huge thank you to the staff here at Beer League Heroes for giving me the opportunity to connect with their wonderful audience and fans. It is an absolute honour to be working as a part of this team. Might I add, that now being behind the scenes, holy f%8k these guys bust their asses off! Like come on, we all knew how hard they work for us fans, but…. No you didn’t! Trust me! I have a whole new level of appreciation for them, and I am more than stoked to be working with this great team.

3, 2, 1…Blast off…

Could Taylor Hall really make Team Canada for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey this summer?

Welcome aboard ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad to be taking this trip with you…I know, I know…It’s NHL trade deadline eve! But that’s not what I’m going to write about. We have a lot of fantastic authors taking care of all your fiendish trade needs. Do you know what’s going down this summer? It’s the return of the World Cup of Hockey…yes, and it just so happens to be taking place in my neck of the woods, Toronto. Yes that’s right, Kosmic Burrito is digging for Oil in Leafs Nation, haha!

What version of Team Canada do you think we’ll see in September at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey? Will it be an offensive dynamo led by Sidney Crosby and John Tavares? Or will it be just like the defensive juggernaut that we saw in 2014 with Jonathon Toews? Speaking of which, who will be El Capitano? Toews or Crosby? Do you strip 2010’s Golden Boy of the “C” and pass it over to 3 time Stanley Cup champion, Captain Serious? That’s a huge decision, and I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to make it. Also, if Subban makes the team, will he actually see ice this time? Sorry not sorry Habs fans, I had to! And please, for the love of Pete!!! Give us a healthy Stamkos!

Since we already know that Mike Babcock will be returning as head coach, and with the official roster announcement coming on March 2nd, let’s take a look at some players that may be included on the roster. Some will be guaranteed locks (Crosby, Toews, etc), and some will have a potential roster spot (Eberle, Getzlaf, etc).

I’ll start with the goaltenders, since there really isn’t as much debate there.

Possible Goaltenders: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Corey Crawford, and Marc Andre-Fleury

Personally, I see them going with: Price, Holtby, and Luongo (in that order). With the year that Holtby is having, he almost deserves the shot over Price. Honestly though, congrats Braden, you’re having a helluva season! I added Luongo in there for some mentorship, and veteran presence. But really, this is Price’s job too lose. Especially with his 2014 Olympic performance still freshly lingering.

Moving on to the Defense, we’ll start with the left side. Because let’s face it, you know Babcock loves a balanced “lefty/righty” lineup. You can’t knock the job his defense did in 2014, it was historic. So he’ll definitely run the same type of game plan, I am sure.

Possible LHD: Duncan Keith, T.J. Brodie, Marc-Eduard Vlasic, Dan Hamhuis, Mark Giordano and Jay Bouwmeester

Possible RHD: Drew Doughty, P.K. Subban, Brent Seabrook, Shea Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Burns, and Kris Letang

The Defense always seems to drum up just as much debate among Canadians, as which forwards were omitted. So take my prediction with a grain of salt haha! I think that the pairings could look something like this:

Keith – Weber
Giordano – Doughty
Vlasic – Burns
Extra Skater: Letang

Now the forwards…..the forwards….WE HAVE SO MANY AWESOME FORWARDS!!!!!! I remember growing up, my Dad would always tell me:

“Son, Canada is so good, we could dress 3 teams and win all 3 medals!!” – Papa Burrito

I’d like to think that the rest of the world is catching up though. But on with the forwards!!! I’m not going to break it down by positional possibilities, because there will most definitely be a few guys playing out of their natural position. But I will make my predictions for possible line combinations.

Possible Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Taylor Hall, Ryan Johansen, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, John Tavares, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Matt Duchene, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Ryan O’Reilly, Jordan Eberle, Joe Thornton, and Logan Couture

Again, just like my defensive prediction, take this with a grain of salt as. But here is what I think the forward lines just might look like:

Hall – Crosby – Stamkos
Benn – Seguin – Johansen
Carter – Toews – Bergeron
Duchene – Tavares – Giroux
Extra Skater: O’Reilly

I’d like to think that this possible roster boasts a combination of size, speed, grit, and skill. It does have the Babcock trademark balance of left and right shot defensemen, and I’m not sure if you could find a better trio of goalies. All in all, I don’t know about you, but I am really excited to see the return of the World Cup.

Again, the great thing about being fans, is that we can debate the rosters all day. But it’s anyone’s guess until they make the announcement on March 2nd. I do know one thing though…it sure would have been nice to see McDavid’s name on there, possibly lining up with Sid and Serious…

Speaking of which, stay tuned for my 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team North America Under 23 team report.

Thanks for tripping with me, I’m going to look forward to your feedback!

Follow me on the Twitter @kosmicburrito

Beer League Hero, NHL

2016 World Cup of Hockey: Team North America

I love the idea of having a team comprised of U-23s to compete against the older players. Putting together the greatest emerging hockey players in North America is so appealing to me and I imagine to countless others because I’m a huge fan of the younger players in the NHL these days. They bring so much creativity and athleticism to the game that has been lacking for some time.

I seen that TSN’s Craig Button has taken a stab at Team North America’s roster for the upcoming World Cup in 2016. If you’d like to check that out it is here.

I’d like to throw my projections out there too! So here goes nothing!

Goaltending:

This was the hardest to pick and most likely will be the team’s achilles heel due to a lack of experience and the fact that there are no Carey Prices out there right now. The closest thing we have to a sure bet between the pipes is probably playing in Lethbridge right now for the Hurricanes. A guy named Stuart Skinner.

Anyways, I went with the following trio: John Gibson (ANH), Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), and Laurent Brossoit (EDM).

I tossed around the idea of adding Malcolm Subban (BOS), Matt Murray/Tristan Jarry (PIT), and there’s also Thatcher Demko (VAN) to consider but I felt in the end that what little performances I’ve witnessed at the NHL level were what I had to go on and reputation of course.

Gibson and Hellebucyk are locks leaving Brossoit as the third man in. Its probably a bit of a homer pick because I’m exposed to him more than the other players and I’m well aware of what Matt Murray did in Wilkes-Barre this past season and it was hard not to pick him but where’s the fun in copying Button’s team player for player? Brossoit is a stellar netminder and we seen a flash of that last season when he stonewalled the San Jose Sharks stopping 52 shots in a loss. That’s a hell of a lot better than Subban’s introduction to the pros…

Defense:

On defence I’ve got Aaron Ekblad (FLA), Darnell Nurse (EDM), Seth Jones (NSH), Doug Hamilton (CGY), Morgan Reilly (TOR), and Jacob Trouba (WPG) as the starting 6 with Noah Hanifin (CAR) and Cody Ceci (OTT) on the taxi squad.

Pairing these guys up was a bit of a chore but I like them as such:

Reilly/Ekblad
Jones/Hamilton
Nurse/Trouba

With these pairings we’ve got skill, we’ve got meat and potatoes, and we’ve got down guys who’ll lay the smack down on some candy asses. These are the new era of defencemen. The blueliner that can skate and think the game like a forward but are big and strong enough to handle to toughest assignments. They move the puck well and are or will be top pairing defenders on their respective NHL clubs.

I struggled with Darnell Nurse being on this squad. He hasn’t played even a half season of professional hockey to date but he’s teeming with talent and in my opinion has a ceiling that would match the other 4 players above him. Remember the WWF tag team “Demolition” or “The Road Warriors”? That’s what I think about when I think about a Nurse/Trouba pairing… They’ve got an… Appetite for Destruction.

The Forwards:

As it always is with these teams, there are far too many talented forwards and some notable names will be left off. Here are my forwards for Team North America:

Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM), Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), Brandon Saad, Boone Jenner (CLB), Mark Scheifele (WPG), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), Jack Eichel (BUF), Curtis Lazar (OTT), and Auston Matthews (USA).

On the taxi squad I’ve got Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA), Sean Couturier (PHI), and Alex Galchenyuk (MTL).

I like the bigger forwards to go on the smaller ice surface and the NHL officiating. Also a number of the players are actually natural centers giving the team more options on the faceoff dot when going up against some of the best in the game.

I really couldn’t see Sam Reinhart on the team. I think he’ll play in the NHL this year but he’s a couple years from becoming what everyone is expecting of him. The Strome brothers were on my mind as well and surprisingly it was Dylan who I was considering more than Ryan. I rate the younger Strome’s size and faceoff ability over the elder. Mitch Marner was also bugging me a bit. I think he’s going to be an amazing hockey player for Canada/North America someday but not at this World Cup. There was Jonathan Drouin but he’s got a ways to go before any GMs give him a look at an international roster spot. Bo Horvat and Warren Rychel were also on my short list. Did I miss anyone?

Oh and you’re probably wondering about Auston Matthews. Look, this guy was only a few days from being drafted this year and the pundits had him giving Eichel and McDavid a run for no.1. That tells us something. It tells us he’s ready to go now and by the time next summer roles round and he’s got a year of professional hockey under his belt, that he’ll fit right in with the rest of these guys.

I’ve re-written the lines over and over and it’s been hard to come to a conclusion but I’ll let you in on my final lineup.

Saad – Nugent-Hopkins – MacKinnon
Gaudreau – Monahan – Matthews
Bennett – McDavid – Scheifele
Jenner – Eichel – Lazar

I reckon the offense is pretty spread out here and as I said earlier there are multiple centers on each line. I tried to include a two-way player and a bigger body on each line. Slotting Matthews above McDavid and Eichel is probably something I’d consider changing. Perhaps swapping him with Bennett or Jenner. I don’t want to take him out because I think he’s that good. A pure sniper in every sense of the word. Maybe the American Stamkos would be a good way to describe him.

I don’t know if this squad could come out of the group stages but I can see them giving the other teams in Group B (Finland, Sweden, and Russia) a helluva time and if there’s one team that could surprise anyone, it’d be this band of rowdies.

I found some jersey mock-ups online courtesy of HockeyJerseyConcepts.com and Icethetics.com. Check ’em out below.


I’m thinking the ones that are actually used will be better and possibly influenced by a major sponsor of the tournament. Think back to the All-Star game last year which was sponsored by Draft Kings… The color scheme of the sponsor’s website and the jerseys looked awfully similar…

If you’re heading out to the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto next summer you should do it in style. The Beer League Heroes Merch Shop has all your favorite players in 16-bit and on a t-shirt. But not only that, they come in a plethora of color and sizes! Men’s, women’s, and kid’s styles are all available!

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the piece. Let me know in the comments section who you’d put on your U23 Team North America!

Take Care!

BLH