There is less than 2 months until the year 2012. Believe it or not, 21 months have passed since the Vancouver Olympics. and there are less than 27 months to the next Olympic Games in Sochi. My how time flies by.
We've already heard some rumbling about Steve Yzerman going to be hired back as Team Canada's GM, and a potential tug of war by Canada and the United States over coach Dan Bylsma. Of course, it still has to be determined if the NHL is going back to the Olympics. Assuming that happens, watch the roster speculation begin.
Of course, the NHL is going to stage the on again/off again World Cup of Hockey next August/September. I know that does not get the same hype as the Olympics, but the tournament, as mishandled as it has always been, is near and dear to my heart.
So with that in mind, here is a look back at the 2010 gold medal winning Olympic roster, compared to a speculative 2012 roster, assuming they are healthy and disregarding contractual status.
That is quite a change-over in just 21 months! The players in bold-face are returning players, and there are just 10 of them. If this was an Olympic team rather than the summer tournament I would fully expect Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla, and Chris Pronger to be back.
Others who will ultimately be in the conversation:
Goaltending: Carey Price, Roberto Luongo
Defense: Marc Staal, Dion Phaneuf, Mike Green, Stephane Robidas.
Forwards: Jeff Carter, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Mike Richards, Brad Richards, Jeff Skinner, Milan Lucic, Alexandre Burrows, Martin St. Louis.
It is way too early in his career to include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins name here, but judging by what I have seen so far, I would fully expect this kid to be a big part of the 2014 Olympic team.
1 comment:
With the preliminary roster released we were surprised that Jamie Benn, Patrick Marleau and Dan Girardi were not even given the chance to tryout. With less than 200 days until the Olympics we will have to wait and see who makes the final cut.
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