They'll Stand On Guard For Thee

by SamFels on Dec 30, 2009 11:56 AM CST

We knew this was coming, but Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and in a bit of a surprise, Brent Seabrook will don the Maple Leaf in Vancouver. First off, a hearty congrats to them, there is no higher calling is sports than to represent your country, and the chance to do so in your country only comes around once a generation.

We've all panicked over what the Olympics will do to our Cup chances, but maybe we've overdone it. It's only 6-8 more games, and none of these guys are over 26. One would think they could handle it. Marlboro 72 would look to be the 2nd pairing for Canada behind Niedermayer and Pronger. Unlikely either will see any power play time, though, so that might keep their minutes down. And in the early rounds, it's hard to imagine Canada spending too much time on the kill.

Same goes for Toews. He looks to be no more than a 3rd line center here, or maybe he shifts to wing with Bergeron at center. The top two lines will take care of the PP, though Toews will assuredly see some PK time. Looking at the forwards, I would think Richards is your extra taxi-man, but it remains to be seen.

I fully expect both Buff and Kane to be announced for the US on Friday, but looking around at other teams, the Hawks won't have that many more Olympians. Detroit has 8 or 9, and they're older. Vancouver is around six to eight. Calgary is only going to have about four, so if you're afraid of any team because of that, there's one. The Sharks have seven Olympians. I just don't see where this will make it any harder to get out of the West.

But in the other conference, the Caps have four,and one is Varlymov who probably won't play. The Pens have four or five. But if you've gotten to the Finals, you're probably good enough to win them too.

Update: I think this thing is even more overblown looking at the format for the tournament. You can find the official page here. But, to sum up, the 12 teams are in three groups of four, and you play everyone in your group once. The top four teams after group play get a bye into the quarters. So Canada, unless the US jumps up and bites them (and wouldn't that be hilarious) in group play is going to play a max of six games. Two of those are against Switzerland and Norway. Not exactly blue suede shoe shaking. They could very well catch a quarterfinal against Belarus or Germany. So we could be talking about as little as two high-pressure, intensity to the max games, or basically one week. Sure, the pressure of playing for Canada in Canada could be overbearing, and lead to mental fatigue. But the physical? I'm not convinced.

As for Buff and Kane, it's not unreasonable to think they could nab the last bye seed if Ryan Miller keeps up his style of play. Canada, Russia, and Sweden are almost locks for the top 3, but it's not totally out of the question that the US could jump past Finland or the Czechs for that last spot. But we'll go over this more when the tourney rolls around.

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Its weird to think that Detroit is sending that many guys given the year they’ve had.

Varlymov was sent down to Hershey yesterday anyways. There was no mention of it being a conditioning stint either.

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by Original Six on Dec 30, 2009 12:04 PM CST reply actions

He's coming back from an injury

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by El Duque's Raft on Dec 30, 2009 12:15 PM CST up reply actions

I'm with you, Sam. I think it's overstated.

Also, I believe Washington has five Olympians (Ovi, Varlamov, Semin, Backstrom, Fleischmann).

by Dr. Ice on Dec 30, 2009 12:09 PM CST reply actions

Kinda surprised to find Seabrook there

considering most considered him on the bubble, but apparently Yzerman admitted to building the defense around Keith/Seabrook, so whaddaya know, being attached at the hip for god knows how long has its perks after all.

Really happy for Toews too, though I’ve heard he may be the 13th forward. We’ll see.

I will laugh and laugh and laugh if Buff makes it to the USA team. But I expect nothing less from Burke.

So, a question: the opening ceremonies will apparently be on February 13— are our boys missing the Feb 13&14 games to be at the opening ceremonies or can we expect them to play?

@ChiBlackhawks

by chiblackhawks on Dec 30, 2009 12:10 PM CST reply actions

I recall that some olympians whose events were in the second week stayed home to train and missed the opening ceremony so I would assume pro players with regular season games going on would skip the ceremony.

by ChargingMajor on Dec 30, 2009 12:49 PM CST up reply actions

The NHL is already suspending the season for two weeks to allow players to participate. I’d estimate a 0.0000% chance they’d allow players to skip games for the Opening Ceremonies.

by Dr. Ice on Dec 30, 2009 1:06 PM CST up reply actions

thanks

that’s kind of what I thought too, but just wanted to be sure. Playing those two games against Atlanta and Columbus would be pretty tough if we were that shorthanded.

@ChiBlackhawks

by chiblackhawks on Dec 30, 2009 1:22 PM CST up reply actions

The one thing

That surprises me a bit is they picked Patrice Bergeron over Brad Richards. Other than that, with all the discussion over the Canadian roster, the team was pretty much set in stone in October.

by HawksFTW on Dec 30, 2009 12:22 PM CST reply actions

They made the last decisions at 6:30 this morning. The last 3 days were spent voting from the final field of 15 forwards and 9 defensemen.

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by Original Six on Dec 30, 2009 12:25 PM CST up reply actions

Forgot to say: No reason to worry about Olympic fatigue

Behind the Net covered this a week ago.

@ChiBlackhawks

by chiblackhawks on Dec 30, 2009 1:25 PM CST reply actions

3's are wild for the Canadian 'Hawks

Well, this is tremendous news and it’s also bad news as well. With Yzerman suggesting that Canada built their defence around Keith and Seabrook it’s apparent that they’re going to recieve a tremendous amount of responsibility and ice-time in the process, therefore the ’Hawks have a dilemma on their hands. What do they do?

Do they play Keith and Seabrook their regular ice-time or do they scale them back a little bit before and after the Olympic tournament? If they do it means more ice-time for the likes of Barker and Sopel, which is precisely what I’d like NOT to see. Less is more when it comes to those two.

Do they get a few days rest with one if not both not suiting up for back-to-back games? This also brings up more problems as Q has shown to frighten us with Sopel being paired with Keith during Seabrook’s absence.

This is one of the most puzzling pieces that the ‘Hawks brass is going to have to shuffle as the NHL’s top defensive pairing is expected to get the bulk of the defensive ice-time especially against the powerhouses like the U.S., Russia, Sweden, Czech. Republic, and the darkhorse Slovakia.

It's never about the eventual destination, but rather the long journey and its challenging obstacles that are presented and what it takes to overcome them, that makes the taste of success all the more worthwhile!!!

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 1:30 PM CST reply actions

Maybe we should just hope that Canada gets knocked out early?

SHOOOOOOOT!!!! Anon

by burpchelischili on Dec 30, 2009 1:46 PM CST up reply actions

It’s been known to happen especially at the Olympics.

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 2:17 PM CST up reply actions

i hope this happens too...

not that i’m so much concerned about our guys’ fatigue but fuck don cherry

by SLoop on Dec 30, 2009 2:22 PM CST up reply actions

Fuck Don Cherry? At least he isn’t Pierre McGuire a guy from New Jersey that acts like he’s from Montreal. He is, by far, the worst when it comes to homerism and he’s not even Canadian.

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 2:35 PM CST up reply actions

sorry hawks61...

i forgot you were a friend from the great north.

Actually i don’t hate cherry that much, everytime i hear him talk, though, i feel like rodney dangerfield in sam kinison’s history class. Just warming up to a little international trash talking.

Yes, though, pierre mcguire looks a bit like a penis.

by SLoop on Dec 30, 2009 2:48 PM CST up reply actions

Don Cherry is fabulous!

Announcers here in the US get fired if they actually have any opinions – “Grapes” lets lose on any old topic. Gotta love that!

by krome on Dec 30, 2009 3:19 PM CST up reply actions

It’s going to be fun seeing toews on a checking line trying to shut down kane. If buff makes it I hope he doesn’t smash any fellow blackhawks.

They brought their fuckin' TOYS with 'em!

by ZootSuitZombie on Dec 30, 2009 1:46 PM CST reply actions

If Byfuglien makes it that will be precisely his job. No doubt Wilson will have him out there to bang around Keith and Seabrook early and often.

Toews will rarely ever hit the ice until Babcock realizes that Marleau and Thornton have once again gone into their usual hibernation when it involves games and situations of importance.

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 2:21 PM CST up reply actions

uhh yeah

what about that? would buff rock keith given the chance? toews rock kane? this scares me more than the fatigue issue

by illinikc33 on Dec 30, 2009 10:35 PM CST up reply actions

So will 72 be matched up against Kane? Whats that they say about the immovable object and unstoppable force?

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by Original Six on Dec 30, 2009 2:20 PM CST reply actions

I don't know why but this fascinates me...

I have no idea how you would pick an olympic team from a professional league like hockey. In most other sports (basketball, football) you would just pick the best players at each position. Hockey, however, has role players built into the game. For example when chosing your 3rd or 4th line center, do you choose the best 3rd or 4th line center or do you choose simple the next best center available. Or like if you were to put together an olympic baseball team, do you choose simply the best pitchers and ignore what their roles actually are or do you chose the best starters, best relievers, best closer?

I’d love to see how different these teams would look if the olympics were actually a season and not just a short tournament.

by SLoop on Dec 30, 2009 2:20 PM CST reply actions

I'm glad Seabrook made it

He deserves it.

He is as tough as they come.

Makes Keith look even better than he is with what he does.

"Stay thirsty my friend"

by laaarmer on Dec 30, 2009 2:27 PM CST reply actions

The Olympic tournament

Canada, Russia, and Sweden are almost locks for the top 3, but it’s not totally out of the question that the US could jump past Finland or the Czechs for that last spot.

Canada has never risen to the occasion at the Olympics to date so suggesting them as lock is quite foolish to say the least, especially when the U.S. has Miller tending the cotton meshes for them.

Although I do agree that the Russians (the favourites), Swedes, and Czech’s look formidable look out for the Slovaks who have a tremendous defence corps with a suddenly hot Jaroslav Halak in goal for them. Offence shouldn’t be a problem with the likes of Gaborik, Marian Hossa, and Palffy (remember him?). This is going to be a tremendous tournament with a lot of suprises with some teams turning out to be a total clusterfuck.

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 2:30 PM CST reply actions

Don't forget

That Hossa gets to bring his favorite Slovak teammate with him, with the depth that Kopecky brings expect the Slovaks to make a veeeeery deep run in the tourney.

wait what?

by pepe126 on Dec 30, 2009 2:33 PM CST up reply actions

Unfortunately Kopecky won’t be his favourite as his brother Marcel will be on the Slovakian squad. May we hope there is an amicable split between the two, thus, resulting in trading of Kopecky’s ass out of town.

by hawks61 on Dec 30, 2009 2:39 PM CST up reply actions

oh you Canadians...

Spelling words with C’s instead of S’s and adding U’s to words that don’t need them… So cute!

by Sportsgal on Dec 31, 2009 8:15 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

WOOAAHH

To say that we don’t rise to the occasion at the Olympics is a bunch of hodge-podge. This will only be the fourth time NHL players have participated in the Olympics, so if you look at it we have done alright (you can only really count these years). Turin was a disaster for the men’s team, because the management simply selected the best players for each position, which is the WORST way to build a team. Canada pretty much is a lock for one the top spots, the team Yzerman selected is built from the ground up, he was worried about chemistry (see Keith/Seabrook, Neidermayer/Pronger and Heatley/Thornton/Marleau) and Brodeur is playing just as hot as Miller is. Miller hasn’t proven himself in high-intensity situations, and Brodeur is arguably the greatest goalie of all-time, playing like he was 27 I might add as well. Not to mention home ice advantage (it’s ice hockey… IN CANADA for christ-sake. We might be a bit loud).

But, I have no doubt the US team will be able to beat out the Finns or the Czechs, being a solid team. They will surprise alot of people, and I don’t think people are giving them the credit they deserve

by ByDivineRight on Jan 1, 2010 2:33 AM CST up reply actions

I think its great - playing and practicing

Against the best players in the world where every game is a must win can only help young players looking to win a Cup. The pressure of a medal round game for a Canadian playing in Vancouver is greater than a Cup elimination game.

by Duck99 on Dec 30, 2009 2:31 PM CST via mobile reply actions

do we have any predictions on who Toews will be line-mates with?

by wchuk29 on Dec 30, 2009 4:04 PM CST reply actions

According to nhl power play on xm the lines are

Bergeron Crosby Getzlaf
Heatley Iginla Marleau
Morrow Nash Perry
Richards Staal Thornton

They brought their fuckin' TOYS with 'em!

by ZootSuitZombie on Dec 30, 2009 4:48 PM CST up reply actions

where's toews?

by heyrocky on Dec 30, 2009 4:54 PM CST up reply actions

Those aren't the lines

That’s the order in which the forwards were revealed. Notice how it’s in alphabetical order from left to right.

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by El Duque's Raft on Dec 30, 2009 5:00 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

rec'd

Zing!

by cliffkoroll on Dec 30, 2009 9:18 PM CST up reply actions

These will most likely be the lines

Nash-Crosby-Iginla (they practiced during camp in this line, and world cup ice time too)
Heatley-Thornton-Marleau (Yzerman will not split up the best line in the NHL)
Morrow-Getzlaf-Perry (Chemistry a concern, and Morrow for grit)
Toews-Richards-Staal (argument over who is the best center here, this line could easily be shuffled around, but talk about a shut-down line eh? There is no way these guys don’t come out of the boards with the puck)

by ByDivineRight on Jan 1, 2010 2:42 AM CST up reply actions

Congrats to them

Given a choice, I’d rather they get a break, but I’m not worried about the extra games. Just keeping my fingers crossed that there are no freaky injuries.

by the wolf on Dec 30, 2009 4:31 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

Rec'd

and an AMEN!

SHOOOOOOOT!!!! Anon

by burpchelischili on Dec 30, 2009 4:38 PM CST up reply actions

I actually pumped my fist

when I found out Seabrook made the team. I’m really happy for him, the guy’s a beast and is one of the people I most enjoy watching each night. Plus he gets to freak out the whole Canadian team with all his weird pregame shit, so that should be fun. He should get voted into the All Star game for the same reason, he could freak the shit out of half the league’s stars.

by Scott13 on Dec 30, 2009 7:56 PM CST reply actions

Hell ya!

This is awesome for the guy. Representing his country at the Olympics on home ice, in his home town. What a thrill for a very deserving hockey player. Go Seabs!

"Call Detroit, tell dem... BULLSHIT!"

by Hungryhawk on Dec 30, 2009 9:40 PM CST up reply actions

Hopefully

Babcock will let Keith and Biscuit in on how the scum prepped for them last spring. They are my favorite pair of D to watch from any team, but they aren’t without exploitable weaknesses. I think it’s a good thing those three will be spending some time with someone who will be trying to get the best out of them after trying to coach against them.

by NKLHD on Dec 30, 2009 9:53 PM CST up reply actions

That's a very good point

by Scott13 on Dec 30, 2009 10:37 PM CST up reply actions

He still gets to talk to Toews about getting a good drip going.

by ChicoMaki on Dec 31, 2009 8:32 AM CST up reply actions

I pumped my fist too. I was watching jersey shore, though.

by Hi, I'm Bob LeDonne on Dec 30, 2009 9:24 PM CST reply actions 5 recs

positives

I heard jon madden on the score say that keith and seabrook playing with neidemayer and pronger will make the experience more than worthwhile for the hawks.

Then he left to go eat a six legged turkey….

by ChewyLemonHeadsAndFriends on Dec 31, 2009 8:50 AM CST via mobile reply actions