Team Canada 2014

So with 3 more years to go, and with great anticipation. Smith and I will be naming our 2014 Men's Team Canada Hockey teams. In all seriousness, it is hard to actually try and get the team exactly how it will be, as draft picks and player performances are completely random. Thing is, Smith and I might be guilty of being the best speculator's known to hockey. So without further adieu, here is the Sporer 2014 Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team:

#87  Center - Sidney Crosby

I don't think anyone in their right mind would argue who will lead this team. Before getting injured, Crosby was on pace to destroy the rest of the NHL this year. He is the best player in the world.

#61 Right Wing - Rick Nash

He is the epitome of what a power forward is, and he doesn't look bad in the red and white. He's pretty much another guarantee to be lining up next to Crosby.

#12 Center - Eric Staal

I know that he is technically a center, but when it comes to playing with Sid the Kid, you line up wherever you can, and I think Staal would be great on a line with Crosby, and did I mention he is huge?

#15 Center - Ryan Getzlaf

The Great Getzy, he and teammate Corey Perry are a formidable scoring force, and they will carry this forward onto the international show just how they did in the past. Oh and they don't mind mucking it up a bit...

#10 Right Wing - Corey Perry

Perry has a mean streak, and when he's mean, he also seems to score alot. With his fellow duck Getzlaf centering him  he should feel right at home, even in Russia.

#19 Center - Jonathan Toews

Again another center playing the wing, but that's no problem for this young captain. He will play wherever he needs to play for the team to win, and he will play his heart out for the team....

#17 Center - Jeff Carter

He will play on Mike Richards wing, and they will dominate the ice with size and skill. Just another one of Canada's great power forwards, look for Carter to land a few big hits and score a couple nice goals.

#18 Center - Mike Richards

Richards is the epitome of hard work. He will be Canada's top penalty killer, he's a leader in the dressing room, and as David Booth knows, you better keep your head up around him.

#91 Right wing - Steven Stamkos

OK I know, he should be lining up next to Crosby, and you know what? He probably will, Stamkos will be Canada's goal machine. You can guarantee when they beat Norway 10-1, this guy will have 5 of the goals...

#17 Left Wing - Milan Lucic

I know I'm going to get heat for this pick, but Lucic has the pedigree to be playing on international terms. He captained his junior team to a memorial cup, he might be the meanest player available, and he can score. Whats the problem?

#9 Center - Matt Duchene

Whatever I said about Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews you can package together and that pretty much sums up Matt Duchene, just a bunch younger. He is the second coming of Joe Sakic.

#4 Left Wing - Taylor Hall

By 2014 Hall is going to be one of the NHL's elite forwards. 22 goals so far in his rookie season, one just knows that by 2014 it could be 50. Not only that but he has blazing speed, and is still yet to fill out.

#10 Left Wing - Patrick Sharp

A pure goal scorer, and some leadership qualities will earn Sharp his first trip to the international stage. Surprising that he hasn't been there yet, considering he hasn't dipped below 25 goals in the last 4 seasons.

 #2 Defense - Duncan Keith

In the same year he won a gold medal, he was the stalwart on the Stanley cup champions and won a Norris trophy. No big deal. Keith will anchor the blue line for team Canada, noo doot aboot it.

#8 Defense - Drew Doughty

Probably the equivalent to what ray Bourque was to Canada. Except he might even be better. Doughty can log huge minutes, make timely plays, and score big goals. This kid has it all.

#7 Defense - Brent Seabrook

Made his impact felt last Olympics, and this big guy isn't going away. He is probably the NHL's best shutdown defender. He has size, a great stick, and he can punish you.

#6 - Shea Weber

He will be the booming shot on Canada's powerplay, oh and not only that, but he is probably one of the most reliable guys on the back end. He is a punishing force and knows where the puck needs to go. 

#20 Defense - Chris Pronger

He will be 39 years old for Sochi. But that wont stop Pronger from making his presence felt. He might have slowed down, but he's still mean, and he's still one of the NHL's best minute crunchers. It takes a lot of skill to know how to rest on the ice.

#27 Defense - Alex Pietrangelo

When St Louis dished away Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson, it marked the time has come for Alex Pietrangelo. He along with Jordan Eberle helped lead the Canadian Junior squad to within one goal of a championship.

#57 Defense - Tyler Myers

He is 6'8". What else do you need to know? He is the Canadian Zdeno Chara. Winning the Calder last year was just a stepping stone as to what this young man will accomplish. He can hit, shoot, skate, and pass. and did I mention, he's 6'8"!!!

 

#1 Goaltender - Roberto Luongo

The torch was officially passed in 2010. Now its Roberto's chance to run with it. No doubt he could, should, and will. Should be Canada's rock in the net all tournament.

#29 Goaltender - Marc Andre Fleury

Has made huge strides since entering the NHL. He now has 2 cup finals under his belt, along with one Championship, and he was the 3rd stringer in Vancouver 2010. If Luongo falters, Canada should feel good knowing this guy is coming in.

#31 Goaltender - Carey Price

Being a 3rd string goalie is nothing special, but being a part of a gold medal team? Just ask Marc Fleury. Price will watch and learn, and hopefully when the next winter Olympics roll around, he will be there to backstop team Canada.

There will also be a whole whack of players on the bubble, for multiple reasons. Some are young and have yet to prove themselves. Others are ageing, some just aren't made out for the international stage. Anyways, here are my bubble players, and long shots:

 Forwards:                                 

Jordan Eberle  

Jeff Skinner

Patrick Marleau

Joe Thoornton

Dany Heatley

John Tavares

Claude Giroux

Patrice Bergeron

Brad Richards

Jarome Iginla

Martin St Louis

Logan Couture

Defense:

Kris Letang

PK Subban

Brent Burns

Dan Boyle

Mike Green

Goalie:

Cam Ward

Cory Crawford

Thanks for reading, and here's looking forward to Sochi 2014.

-Sporer

Post Deadline Outlook

Been awhile since last post, my bad. I feel really sorry for the many readers on here who have become complacent due to the lack of quality reading material. Don't worry though, because deadline day has passed and there is some blogging to be done!! I am sure Smith will have some of his own input on how the day/month has gone, and what the future holds for our beloved Oilers. If today were to signify anything, I think it would be that the Oilers are now about 2-3 years away from being a serious contender. Most likely in the last year of the big three's contracts...



Who Will Miss Penner the Most?

That answer is easy. Joey Moss. Pen's bought him probably the sickest pair of runners and I think they spent some real quality time together. Yes, it wont be the Oilers or their fans. Penner was that awkward misbehaving middle child that some days you just wanted to praise to no end, and other days you wanted to disown him altogether. Truly though, in the end, Penner did justify his contract and all the pain that went into bringing him here. He is a proven 30 goal scorer, quality teammate, and a massive force on the puck. Of course all of this is when he feels like being that way, which is usually, if your lucky, for 60% of the season. The Oilers will miss having the big body and the magic that would happen coming out of the corner, but the future is arrived, and big Pen's was sadly not a part of it. On a side note, Go Kings! Love to see that 3rd turn into a 2nd!



The Sporer Crystal Ball

Let me look into my crystal ball and try to see what the future looks like for the Edmonton Oilers. First off, I do not see them finishing dead last. Bryan Murray has done a good job gearing his team to take that spot. So the Oil will most likely end up picking 2 or 3. Which is fine as the top 3-4 players are all mostly interchangeable, according to scouts. The question will be; what do they do with their second 1st round pick. The second pick for the Oilers all depends on where the LA kings finish or what round they are ousted from the playoffs. So the pick would most likely range anywhere from 18-30. Many sports analysts are saying that the Oilers might look at packaging that pick with a roster player (Brule, Cogliano...etc), and move up some spots. Personally I like the move as long as they can select someone of some pedigree.

On the free agency front, I think that priority number one would be signing our RFA's and any UFA's that need to stick around. Here is a list of the Oilers upcoming UFA's and RFA's:

RFA's
Andrew Cogliano
JF Jacques
Liam Reddox
Ladislav Smid
Theo Peckham
Taylor Chorney
Zach Stortini
Ryan O'Marra

UFA's
Ryan Jones
Steve MacIntyre
Jim Vandermeer
Jason Strudwick
Richard Petiot
Martin Gerber
Jeff Deslauriers
Alex Giroux

As far as the RFA's go, Smid, Peckham, Chorney, and O'Marra are the obvious ones to get qualified. As for Reddox, Jacques, and Stortini, I think the Oilers sign them all on two way deals just to keep the farm competitive, but at the same time maybe some bodies need to move out so some of the Oilers draft picks can start moving in. Andrew Cogliano will be a very interesting story this summer. After giving the kid a 1 year $1 million contract, he did okay, made some progress in the compete level of his game, but still hasn't proven himself as a top tier forward. The reality is, Cogliano is going to be a bottom 6 forward, and he isn't a bad one either. So if Cogliano cannot accept that, and the pay that goes with it, then he and the Oilers may have to part ways.

On the UFA side of things, Ryan Jones is the must sign. with 13 goals so far, he has proven himself to be a great 3rd-4th line banger/scorer. He might not be a part of the long term plan, but keeping him around for another couple years doesn't hurt. One of Jim Vandermeer or Jason Strudwick will be resigned as a 6-7 defenseman. Obviously with Strudwick's most likely retirement, signing Vandermeer should be pretty straight forward. As for Steve MacIntyre, in my personal opinion, the Oilers need to move on and find someone who can actually skate. Petiot and Giroux have been great for the farm, but I don't know how many bodies the Oilers need to move to make room for some of their prospects. Deslauriers will probably go elsewhere for greater opportunity. Marty Gerber would surprise me if he didn't as well.

Concerning the open market of free agents, there has been talk amongst some local sports analysts that the Oilers are gearing up to take a run at signing Shea Weber. If so, the Oilers will be signing their franchise defenseman and probably the cornerstone of where this franchise is going. Other potential UFA targets for the Oilers (as far as needs, and what Ive heard) are; Eric Brewer, Kevin Bieksa, Ville Leino, Cam Janssen, Eric Godard, Vernon Fiddler, Zenon Konopka, Joel Ward, Marty Reasoner, Scottie Upshall, and Curtis Glencross. The Oilers needs going into next season are; grit, size, toughness, face-off specialty, and maybe a decent defender. The fact of the matter is, the Oilers more or less have their top six guys set for the next few years.
So far this is what next years lineup looks like (with holes).

Hall           Horcoff       Hemsky
Paajarvi     Gagner        Eberle
(           )      Brule         (        )          *Cogliano
Omark        Fraser        (        )          *Jones

          Gilbert      Whitney
           Foster      (         )                    *Smid
          Petry         (          )                   *Vandermeer

              Khabiboulin
                 Dubnyk


The Oilers have a few holes to fill, but their future looks set, especially with some other prospects moving ahead in their development as well. Anton Lander, Teemu Hartikainen, and Ryan O'Marra could all make strong pushes to make the team out of camp. The farm team will get stronger as well, as Colten Teubert has joined the fold, Curtis Hamilton will probably make the move to the AHL along with goalies Olivier Roy and Tyler Bunz. Other hopefuls for the farm include; Ryan Martindale, Cameron Abney, Toni Rajala, and Jeremie Blain.

Anyways, that's your Oilers future outlook...

-Sporer