- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
We’re one step closer to the latest iteration of the World Cup of Hockey – to be held in September in Toronto – with the release of initial 16-man rosters for each team.
The sides are USA, Canada, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Europe, and the North America under-20s, ahead of final additions by June 1.
Of course, selection in these sorts of teams is hotly-debated, and these squads will be debated and dissected, especially up in Canada, for days and weeks to come. Here are my five biggest roster shocks.
1. No Phil Kessel on Team USA
For mine, the biggest shock of them all. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward is not only one of the most prolific scorers in the history of United States hockey, but he scored his twentieth goal of the 2015-16 season on Thursday night against the New York Rangers. That makes it twenty goals and twenty two assists for forty points with almost a quarter of the regular season left.
On current pace, Kessel is going to easily surpass the fifty-point mark, which will mark the eighth straight season that he’s done that, dating back to 2008-09 with the Boston Bruins, so it’s not like you can make the case that Kessel is slowing down. Far from it. How the Team USA powers-that-be can consider leaving that sort of scoring potency in America during this tournament is beyond me.
Yes, I know they’re trying to bring through the next generation of American stars, but it shouldn’t happen at the expense of a guy who still has plenty left in the tank.
This story will get a lot bigger if Kessel isn’t among the additions on June 1.
2. No P.K. Subban for Team Canada
If we were playing a name recognition game, and I asked you to name a Canadian defenceman, you’re probably going to think of Subban in one of your first three or four goes. As polarising as he is talented, P.K. has made a great home for himself with the Montreal Canadiens, and despite what you may think of him, it’s hard to deny he has prodigious talent – and a heck of a cannon for a shot, too.
Yes, Canada is blessed with all sorts of riches in terms of defencemen, with the likes of Keith, Weber and Doughty pretty much automatic inclusions. That makes things tight, but leaving Subban out of the initial roster is an interesting move.
It’s probably a good one if you’re playing on or supporting any other team at the tournament than the home one.
Considering Subban leads the Canadiens with fifty points (six goals and forty-four assists) scored so far, it’s an even more shocking roster snub. Forty-four assists is good for fifth-best in the entire National Hockey League, and the second-best among defencemen. Erik Karlsson, of Ottawa, has fifty-seven. Given that Karlsson is Swedish – and going to Toronto as basically an automatic selection – it means that Subban has significantly more points than the Canadian defencemen who were named: Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
3. Justin Abdelkader’s inclusion on Team USA
Basically, you can make a case that Abdelkader, a gritty, serviceable player with the Detroit Red Wings for a long time, occupies the Team USA roster spot that should’ve gone to one Phil Kessel. The supposition here is that head coach John Tortorella, a no-nonsense guy who loves shot-blocking warriors, hand-picked Abdelkader for the team because Abdelkader is, by definition, a warrior.
Look, I’m not saying that Abdelkader flat-out doesn’t deserve his selection. He’s had a good season in Detroit. I’m merely suggesting that, perhaps, Tortorella should have looked at Kessel’s innate goal-scoring ability and included him first, ahead of a guy with fifteen goals and eighteen assists for thirty-three points on the season.
4. No Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Team North America
Team North America’s general manager is Peter Chiarelli, who performs the same duty for the Edmonton Oilers, where, of course, RNH plays. Cue all sorts of awkwardness. “Difficult,” was how Chiarelli described leaving Nugent-Hopkins out of the initial roster. “Madness,” is another word I might use.
There’s only one way for these superstar kids to really take over the league, and that’s with big-game experience. Given Edmonton isn’t exactly a postseason regular, getting RNH into a tournament like this seems a no-brainer. Besides, the kid is ridiculously talented, and the World Cup could very well prove
5. Finland’s young defence
The Finnish defensive unit features some impressive talent (and will doubtless be made better by having Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask between the pipes behind them) but they’re also incredibly short on experience.
In fact, Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen, aged twenty-four, is the oldest guy on the roster. The other three are twenty-one years old, and one of them, Esa Lindell, isn’t even an NHL regular.
You can almost guarantee that the Finnish brains trust will add at least one experienced blue-liner by the June 1 deadline. You don’t want to go into a tournament featuring a cabal of the best offensive talent in the world with a defensive corps that don’t have a lot of time in the big leagues.
It could be a recipe for disaster, even with the goaltending ability the Fins boast.
Why not build your own fantasy team? Take on other players for a chance to win cash prizes on your favourite sports. Try out Draftstars and PlayUp to put your money where your mouth is! What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.