Tag Archives: Team Canada

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

BLH’s 2022 Team Canada Olympic Roster

I see it’s that time again where hockey media types are posting their 2022 Olympic roster prognostications for Team Canada. I thought I’d jump in as well since the Oilers don’t play until Saturday.

First, let’s look at a few rosters that have already been posted at the Athletic and TSN.

Pierre LeBrun’s Team Canada

Forwards: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Mark Scheifele, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Steven Stamkos, Mark Stone, Mathew Barzal, Patrice Bergeron, Bo Horvat, John Tavares.

Defense: Alex Pietrangelo, Cale Makar, Morgan Rielly, Dougie Hamilton, Shea Theodore, Josh Morrissey, Drew Doughty

Goalies: Carey Price, Jordan Binnington, Carter Hart

Eric Duhatschek’s Team Canada

Left Wing Center Right Wing Left Defense Right Defense Goalie
Brad Marchand Connor McDavid Mitch Marner Shea Theodore Cale Makar Carey Price
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Nathan MacKinnon Mark Stone Morgan Rielly Colton Parayko Carter Hart
Sidney Crosby Brayden Point Mark Scheifele Josh Morrissey Alex Pietrangelo Jordan Binnington
Jonathan Huberdeau Bo Horvat Mathew Barzal Thomas Chabot Drew Doughty
Sean Couturier Ryan O’Reilly

Thomas Drance’s Team Canada

Left Wing Center Right Wing Left Defense Right Defense Goalie
Connor McDavid Nathan MacKinnon Mathew Barzal Shea Theodore Alex Pietrangelo Jordan Binnington
Brad Marchand Sidney Crosby Patrice Bergeron Samuel Girard Cale Makar Carter Hart
John Tavares Brayden Point Mitch  Marner Morgan Rielly Drew Doughty Carey Price
Taylor Hall Ryan O’Reilly Mark Stone Mark Giordano Ryan Ellis
Sean Couturier Steven Stamkos

Craig Button’s Team Canada

Left Wing Center Right Wing Left Defense Right Defense Goalie
Jonathan Huberdeau Connor McDavid Nathan MacKinnon Shea Theodore Cale Makar Carey Price
Brad Marchand Sidney Crosby Patrice Bergeron Morgan Rielly Alex Pietrangelo Carter Hart
Bo Horvat Brayden Point Mitch Marner Thomas Chabot Shea Weber MacKenzie Blackwood
Ryan O’Reilly Mark Scheifele Mark Stone Bowen Byram Colton Parayko
Nick Suzuki Mathew Barzal

BLH’s Team Canada

Left Wing Center Right Wing Left Defense Right Defense Goalie
Steven Stamkos Connor McDavid Mark Stone Thomas Chabot Cale Makar Carey Price
Brad Marchand Sidney Crosby Nathan MacKinnon Shea Theodore Alex Pietrangelo Marc-Andre Fleury
John Tavares Mark Scheifele Mitch Marner Darnell Nurse Drew Doughty Carter Hart
Ryan O’Reilly Sean Couturier Brayden Point Morgan Rielly Jared Spurgeon
Tyler Seguin Jamie Benn

What do you think of my roster? Let me know in the comments below!

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Our tribute to the Team Canada of ’87! Click the pic to get yours!
Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects

Watch BLH’s Hockey Game of the Night: Eberle’s Heroics and OT Heartbreak in 2010 (Jan.6, 2010)

On the evening of January 6th, 2010, Team Canada and Team USA went head-to-head in an epic battle for World Junior supremecy. The Canadians had won five gold medals on the trot and the last team to beat them in the finals of the tournament was the Americans. They were looking to become the first team in World Juniors history to win six golds in a row… At home… In Saskatchewan.

Playing for the home team, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Colton Teubert would go on to become Edmonton Oilers later on in their careers.

Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!Two OT goals have broken my heart since I started watching hockey, David Volek’s against the Penguins in ’93 to prevent Pittsburgh from winning their third Stanley Cup in a row and the one John Carlson scored for Team USA to give the US the gold medal.

This game is so facking good. Just to put it into perspective, the end result was 6-5, we all know this (or at least I hope we all do), but at the end of the first it was 2-2, at the end of the second it was 3-3, and with three minutes left the game was 5-3 for the US… You’ve not seen a barn go up like the one in Saskatoon did when Eberle scored with under two minutes to go to tie this game up.

That said, you’ve probably never heard a more quiet arena in Canada than when John Carlson beat Martin Jones in OT… Utter shock from the fans in the stands.

I hope you enjoy BLH’s Game of the Night!

The following write-up on the game is courtesy of TSN

Canada fell short of capturing their record-setting sixth-straight gold medal at the World Juniors when Team USA defeated them 6-5 in overtime in the Championship game, forcing them to settle for silver.

Despite more late game heroics from Jordan Eberle – the forward scored two goals in the final three minutes to send the game to overtime – USA’s John Carlson put home a wrist shot less than five minutes into the extra frame to give Team USA the win. The victory would give USA their second gold medal at the World Juniors and would end Team Canada’s bid to make history on home ice.

Eberle, who tied for the tournament lead with eight goals, became Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer at the World Juniors with 14. Eberle was also named a First Team All-Star, the tournament’s best forward, and tournament MVP.

The accolades didn’t come as much consolation for Eberle who was disappointed he and his teammates failed to make history by winning a sixth-straight gold.

“It’s not easy sitting on that blue-line and not hearing your anthem,” said Eberle. “It’s a tournament you watch growing up and it’s sad to have it end like this, but I can go out with my head up high.”

Joining Eberle as an all-star was Canada’s Alex Pietrangelo, who was also named the tournament’s top defenceman.

Americans Carlson and Derek Stepan, who led the tournament with 14 points, were also named all-stars.

If you’re enjoying the series, check out this week’s previous games below!

The Punch-up in Piestany
16yr old Wayne Gretzky Destroys Czechs in ’78
The 2005 Canadian Juggernaut That Took Out the Russians for Gold
McDavid and Nurse Bring Home Gold at 2015 World Juniors (Jan.5, 2015)

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

(12/15/2020) – BLH’s NHL Rumor Roundup AM Edition: “It’s Not Often a Player of His Calibre Becomes Available in This Manner”

BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Jonathan Marchessault, Jack Quinn, Mike Hoffman, Cale Makar, and more!

Woodguy on the 2020-21 Edmonton Oilers. 

Watch 16yr Old Wayne Gretzky Destroy the Czechs at the ’78 World Juniors!

Watch Connor McDavid help Team Canada end a five-year WJHC gold medal drought right here!

Evan Bouchard has been recalled from his loan in Sweden, now he’s got to make the Oilers or his future could be cloudy. Read about that here.

Read what TSN’s Craig Button had to say about Carter Savoie, Dylan Holloway, and the 20201 World Juniors right here!

Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!

NHL Rumors and Speculation

  • Travis Yost (TSN): Reckons the Sens or Red Wings are in a good position to capitalize on an excellent opportunity to improve their depth on the wing for cheap if they were to trade for Jonathan Marchessault (VGK).
    • “A player like Marchessault would immediately move into the top six (and stay there for years) for both of these franchises, and, quite frankly, it’s not often a player of his caliber becomes available in this manner. This is where being opportunistic with cap space – and knowing how to mitigate the risks associated with putting all of your eggs in the prospect basket – can really put rebuilding organizations in a position of strength.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Yost takes things down an analytical route in that article, but aside from that, picking up a player as good as Jonathan Marchessault for pennies on the dollar when you’re a club chalked full of young impressionable hockey players is nothing but good GM-ing in my opinion. 

Here’s the rub with Marchessault though. His production has declined at a rapid rate since he was picked up by the Golden Knights three seasons ago. In year one he had 75pts in 77 games, in year two that eroded to 59pts in 82 games, and in year three he couldn’t even breka the 50pt barrier in 66 games…

So, while on one side of the coin, you look at what he’s done in the past and the kind of player he is and you think that’s a really decent player there. But on the other side of it, there’s a rapidly diminishing asset and Vegas might be the real winner if they can move Marchessault.

  • Mark Masters (TSN): Jack Quinn having never been invited to a Hockey Canada event before is starting to find his feet this year but he’s not just satisfied with making the team.

BLH’s Thoughts: Quinn is going to surprise a lot of people who’ve never seen him play I think. He plays old-school Canadian hockey and he’s a sniper to boot. I hope the d-men on the other squads are ready for him because he’s going to be a handful for them. 

BLH’s Thoughts: Any reason why Philly would be serious players for Hoffman? They’ve only got a shade over $2M in cap space and the Flyers depth at forward is quite deep. I don’t see it personally. 

  • Adam Gretz (NBC): Has made a list 25 players deep of the best second-year players for this upcoming 2020-21 NHL season. The top-ten are as follows,
    • 1. Cale Makar (COL) 2. Quinn Hughes (VAN) 3. Adam Fox (NYR) 4. Ilya Samsonov (WAS) 5. Nick Suzuki (MTL) 6. Elvis Merzlikins (CBJ) 7. John Marino (PIT) 8. Dominik Kubalik (CHI) 9. Victor Olofsson (BUF) 10. Denis Gurianov (DAL)
    • For Oilers fans, Ethan Bear was #18 but no Kailer Yamamoto.
  • The Score: Check out this minimalist list of the remaining UFAs available sorted by position.
  •  Pierre LeBrun (The Athletic): “What I see here is the (Florida) Panthers trying to deploy the kind of time and resources into goaltending that Major League Baseball teams do for pitching.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Speaking of diminishing talents. The Panthers have $10M Goalie Bob on their books for another six years and there’s no way he’s getting bought out or traded, so they’re doing the next best thing, attempting to find a way to get him back into form in addition to developing what the have coming up so that when it is time to transition to the next guy (Spencer Knight), it will be seamless. 

I like this idea of having a specialized department for positions. It’s a step in the right directions for Florida and you can’t really argue with who they have running it in Roberto Luongo, his brother, the legendary Francois Allaire, and former NHL goalie Rob Tallas. That’s shit ton of knowledge to tap into. 

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

(12/12/2020) – BLH’s NHL Rumor Roundup AM Edition: “Do They Want to Burn a Substantial Amount on a 30-Something Forward”

BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Carter Savoie, Team Canada, a new Might Ducks TV Series, Mikael Backlund, Rasmus Sandin, and more!

Would you make this blockbuster trade? Read This!

Watch the “Punch-up in Piestany” in its entirety right here!

Woodguy on the 2020-21 Edmonton Oilers.
Watch 16yr Old Wayne Gretzky Destroy the Czechs at the ’78 World Juniors!

Watch Connor McDavid help Team Canada end a five year JHC gold medal drought right here!

Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!

NHL Rumors and Speculation

BLH’s Thoughts: I watched the first couple games of Savoie’s season with Denver and I was really underwhelmed. Since then he’s simply continued scoring goals. I’m probably just nitpicking, but I believe most of those ginos were scored with the man advantage. I could be wrong, but what’s his plan when he makes it to the next level and he’s not getting that cherry PP TOI? He can’t choose to bring the intangibles every five or six games like he is now. His shooting % is otherworldly right now too, right? I think I heard Bob Stauffer say he has only 16 shots but 6 goals?…

That said, he’s doing a fine impression of Brett Hull at the moment and I’m very happy to watch him continue that.

  • Mark Spector (Sportsnet): Darnell Nurse on shutdown defensemen in today’s NHL,
    • “Shutdown guys are different now. Everyone thinks of the stereotypical shutdown guy from the ‘90s, early 20000’s. They didn’t cross the red-line. I’ve watched every game — the games I am most effective is when I am moving my feet. It’s not just sitting back. It’s closing on things quick and taking away time and space.”

BLH’s Thoughts: In that article Nurse also says that the Oilers’ M.O. has been to work on getting the goals-against down for a while now, my question is, how’s that been working out for you?

The way I see it, we’re at the “Jeff Petry before getting traded to Montreal” stage of this team’s defence. It’s decent, but not great, yet… If the club gives up on it, we could be in for more bumpy roads. As it is though, Nurse will have his work cut out for him and I’m rooting for him for at least another year until I have to get back on his case because he’ll be looking for more money than he’s worth.

  • Sportsnet: Twenty years on and The Mighty Ducks ARE BACK! Disney is bringing back Gordon Bombay’s boys in a new series entitled “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers”.

  • Eric Duhatschek (The Athletic): Reckons the Flames are set to lose core forward Mikael Backlund to Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft. He says that Backlund’s age and salary are the main reasons that the long-time Flame will be left exposed for the Kraken.
    • “His contract and the number on his birth certificate (he’ll be 32 by the expansion draft). Seattle will have a lot of cap flexibility. But do they want to burn a substantial amount on a 30-something forward, earning over $5 million per season for three more years? Maybe not.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Man. Backlund would be a fantastic pick-up for Seattle. He’s got that same competitive edge that Peter Forsberg had in his prime. Too bad for Calgary he doesn’t have Foppa’s skill either. Even at $5M/yr, that’s a cheap top-6 center in today’s game and as I’ve always said, you have to build from the middle out with a franchise. Your top-two centers, top-three defenders, and your starting goalie need to be the priority from the get-go if you’re planning to succeed.

  • Hailey Salvian (The Athletic): Says that the Senators might look to dump defenceman Mike Reilly at the NHL trade deadline this year.
    • If I was putting money on it, I’d say Reilly is the first to be moved, which would potentially allow the Senators to give Erik Brannstrom a run in the latter half of the season after some time in the AHL.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sure. Every year there’s a bottom-pairing puck mover who gets traded to a contender for a pick. You can’t have enough good NHL blueliners in the post-season.

  • Adam Gretz (NBC): On how the teams stack up in the Canadian Division,
    • “Toronto is the best team on paper, but that has not meant much in recent seasons. Ottawa is the one team clearly rebuilding and at the bottom of the pack, but there is not much separating the rest of these teams.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t agree that Toronto is the best on paper. They simply have the most popular players. I think Edmonton and Montreal are right up there and it wouldn’t shock me if Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Ottawa battled it out for the lottery spots this season.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sandin is soooo good. The Leafs are lucky to have this guy. Dermott could go, Holl could go too. But how much will Toronto really do before the expansion draft?

Lastly, Team Canada’s roster for the 2021 World Juniors is set! Check it out below and let me know what you think? It’s pretty stacked (as it should be)… I can’t wait to watch Edmonton Oilers 2020 first rounder Dylan Holloway crush it!

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Watch BLH’s Hockey Game of the Night: McDavid and Nurse Bring Home Gold at 2015 World Juniors (Jan.5, 2015)

In 2015, future Edmonton Oilers Darnell Nurse and Connor McDavid guided a star-studded Team Canada to the Gold Medal Final in Toronto where they faced Ivan Provorov, Pavel Buchnevich, and the rest of Team Russia.

The last time the Canadians had won the Gold was back in 2009…

Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!

It’s funny. You don’t really notice how influential the fans are to a hockey game until you watch a gold medal final from a Canadian-based city that features Team Canada and one of Team Russia or Team USA. Speaking from experience, my best friend Nick and I went to the 2012 tournament but could only afford to watch one Canadian game, the opening game of the tournament where they played Finland. When Canada scored the first goal… F*ck me…  I thought I was going to go deaf. The bloody roof nearly lifted off that place! And that was against the Finns! I can only imagine what it would sound like in Montreal or Toronto during a gold medal final…

Not having fans in the seats at these home games will be very interesting to see how that plays out for Team Canada…

I hope you enjoy BLH’s Game of the Night!

The following write-up on the game is courtesy of CHL.ca,

After a wild game of momentum swings and intense competition, Canada clinched gold for the first time since 2009, defeating Russia 5-4 at the Air Canada Centre. The Canadians posted a quick 2-0 lead and were up 5-1 at one point on the relentless Russians, who battled back to make for a tense finish in a sold out building.

Russian goaltender Igor Shesterkin’s night lasted just 2:32 as he was beaten on two of the three shots he faced out of the gate. Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers/Quebec Remparts) snapped a high wrister under the crossbar 23 seconds into play as he and Max Domi (London Knights) combined to register a quick chance off the forecheck. A shift later, Nick Paul (North Bay Battalion) used his long reach to get a stick on a centering pass from Brayden Point (Moose Jaw Warriors) to deflect the puck past Shesterkin and make it 2-0.

Russian coach Valeri Bragin made a move that has worked for him in the past, swapping goaltenders as he did in Buffalo during the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game as his squad overcame a 3-0 deficit to claim gold over Canada. Hopeful for a similar result, Ilya Sorokin took over in the crease and the Russians quickly turned things around. Defenceman Dmitri Yudin found the back of the net at 9:20 from Anatoli Golyshev and Alexander Dergachev, stepping into a slapshot that beat goaltender Zachary Fucale (Quebec Remparts) through a screen inside the far post.

Canada came out of the gate fast in the second, with Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) making the score 3-1 5:08 into the period on an assist from Josh Morrissey (Kelowna Rockets). Morrissey caught the Russian defence making a line change to find McDavid busting through the middle, sending him in alone to beat Sorokin through the legs.

Max Domi would snap a wrister under the arm of Sorokin at 7:22 before setting up linemate Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) for a tip on a long shot from inside the point that snuck through the legs of the Russian netminder at 12:30. Canada led 5-1 and was in full control just beyond the midway point of the second.

A Bragin timeout seemed to get the attention of his players following Reinhart’s goal to make it 5-1 for Canada. Three of his top shooters, Ivan Barbashev (Moncton Wildcats), Sergey Tolchinsky (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) and former Sarnia Sting forward Nikolay Goldobin would respond by scoring three goals in a span of 3:16, shocking the capacity crowd at the Air Canada Centre to bring Russia within a goal down 5-4. Russia outshot Canada 10-5 in the second and would embark on the third period with a powerplay.

Head Coach Benoit Groulx and his club came out for the third and calmly killed off Russia’s early powerplay, wrestling back some momentum before effectively neutralizing their dangerous offensive attack. Darnell Nurse (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) and the Canadian defensive corps played a sound third period game to limit Russian opportunities and hold on for a 5-4 victory as the ACC erupted.

Nurse was named Canada’s Player of the Game, being credited for his rugged play inside the defensive zone as he and defensive partner Shea Theodore (Seattle Thunderbirds) played the entire tournament without surrendering an even strength goal against.

Canada’s 16th gold medal in tournament history was certainly one to remember, overcoming a worthy Russian adversary that didn’t back down until the final buzzer sounded.

If you’re enjoying the series, check out this week’s previous games below!

Monday: The Punch-up in Piestany
Tuesday: 16yr old Wayne Gretzky Destroys Czechs in ’78
Wednesday: The 2005 Canadian Juggernaut That Took Out the Russians for Gold

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Get your “Stanley” today!