Team Canada’s sweet 16 named for World Cup

Team Canada’s sweet 16 named for World Cup

An injury has kept Carey Price sidelined since November.

But Team Canada’s management team had no doubt the Montreal Canadiens star goaltender should be named to the initial 16-man roster for the World Cup of Hockey.

Price, 28, Chicago’s Corey Crawford, 31, and Washington’s Braden Holtby, 26, were named Wednesday as Canada’s three goalies when the eight nations named their preliminary list of 16 World Cup players.

The 23-man roster will be filled out in early June for the best-on-best tournament that kicks off in Toronto Sept. 17.

Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong said he talked to Price at the beginning of February about whether he wanted to be named; Price said yes.

“When healthy, he’s the No. 1 goalie on the planet,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the decision.”

Armstrong added Price’s condition will be evaluated as the NHL season goes on.

“I don’t want to get the cart in front of the horse,” Armstrong said. “There is a lot of time left in the season.”

The goaltending is strong, with Crawford having won two Stanley Cups and Holtby closing in on 50 wins this season.

Heading Canada’s roster are two superstars who have struggled at various points this season: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews. The pair nonetheless were locks because of their proven track record of international success.

The rest of the names were no-brainers, too.

The selection of Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos had the element of redemption after an injury resulted in him being left off the 2014 gold-medal winning Olympic team in Sochi.

And the defence has the look of that Sochi lineup, and that was by design.

“We looked at that Sochi group and that might have best defensive group for an international competition,” Team Canada’s GM said. “They played as a group.”

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When picking the initial 16 players, Armstrong knew what Canada head coach Mike Babcock likes when it comes to short international competitions.

“Mike likes predictability,” Armstrong said. “He wants it so he can play a player in any situation. You can’t hide anyone and there are no good matchups when you are playing the Russians.”

Crosby had a slow start to his season but he’s caught fire lately. “I never really had a question that he would find his game,” Armstrong said.

He added that former Montreal star Bob Gainey, who had a long career, once told him every player, regardless of who it is, will have bad stretches.

“Don’t let one small portion overlook the rest,” Armstrong said. “Sidney is a great player. He’s not only going to be on the team, he’s going to be a huge part of the team.”

The experienced backline consists of San Jose’s Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 28, Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty, 26, Chicago’s Duncan Keith, 32, and Nashville’s Shea Weber, 30.

Team Canada went for balance on the back end with two right-handed shots in Doughty and Weber; the others all are left-handed shots.

The forwards include Crosby, 28, Toews, 27, Stamkos, 26, Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn, 26, and Tyler Seguin, 24, the New York Islanders’ John Tavares, 25, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, 30, L.A.’s Jeff Carter, 31, and Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf, 30.

Armstrong was questioned why Anaheim star Corey Perry was left off the preliminary list. He said this list was finalized about a week ago, just before Perry got hot again.

“We couldn’t change the fine print,” Armstrong said with a laugh.

The decision on Carter was based on his play on a nightly basis, Armstrong said.

“It was based on his skating . . . based on Sochi,” he said.

The World Cup of Hockey is different from the Olympics in two important areas: the NHL-sized rink at the Air Canada Centre is smaller than the international ice surface, and players in the World Cup will have more prep time than was permitted in the compressed schedule of the Olympics.


Team Canada’s sweet 16 named for World Cup

http://isthattrue.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kbworldcup003jpg.jpg.size_.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg

Team Canada’s sweet 16 named for World Cup

Team Canada’s sweet 16 named for World Cup

An injury has kept Carey Price sidelined since November.

But Team Canada’s management team had no doubt the Montreal Canadiens star goaltender should be named to the initial 16-man roster for the World Cup of Hockey.

Price, 28, Chicago’s Corey Crawford, 31, and Washington’s Braden Holtby, 26, were named Wednesday as Canada’s three goalies when the eight nations named their preliminary list of 16 World Cup players.

The 23-man roster will be filled out in early June for the best-on-best tournament that kicks off in Toronto Sept. 17.

Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong said he talked to Price at the beginning of February about whether he wanted to be named; Price said yes.

“When healthy, he’s the No. 1 goalie on the planet,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the decision.”

Armstrong added Price’s condition will be evaluated as the NHL season goes on.

“I don’t want to get the cart in front of the horse,” Armstrong said. “There is a lot of time left in the season.”

The goaltending is strong, with Crawford having won two Stanley Cups and Holtby closing in on 50 wins this season.

Heading Canada’s roster are two superstars who have struggled at various points this season: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews. The pair nonetheless were locks because of their proven track record of international success.

The rest of the names were no-brainers, too.

The selection of Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos had the element of redemption after an injury resulted in him being left off the 2014 gold-medal winning Olympic team in Sochi.

And the defence has the look of that Sochi lineup, and that was by design.

“We looked at that Sochi group and that might have best defensive group for an international competition,” Team Canada’s GM said. “They played as a group.”

No Subban? Reaction on Twitter

When picking the initial 16 players, Armstrong knew what Canada head coach Mike Babcock likes when it comes to short international competitions.

“Mike likes predictability,” Armstrong said. “He wants it so he can play a player in any situation. You can’t hide anyone and there are no good matchups when you are playing the Russians.”

Crosby had a slow start to his season but he’s caught fire lately. “I never really had a question that he would find his game,” Armstrong said.

He added that former Montreal star Bob Gainey, who had a long career, once told him every player, regardless of who it is, will have bad stretches.

“Don’t let one small portion overlook the rest,” Armstrong said. “Sidney is a great player. He’s not only going to be on the team, he’s going to be a huge part of the team.”

The experienced backline consists of San Jose’s Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 28, Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty, 26, Chicago’s Duncan Keith, 32, and Nashville’s Shea Weber, 30.

Team Canada went for balance on the back end with two right-handed shots in Doughty and Weber; the others all are left-handed shots.

The forwards include Crosby, 28, Toews, 27, Stamkos, 26, Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn, 26, and Tyler Seguin, 24, the New York Islanders’ John Tavares, 25, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, 30, L.A.’s Jeff Carter, 31, and Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf, 30.

Armstrong was questioned why Anaheim star Corey Perry was left off the preliminary list. He said this list was finalized about a week ago, just before Perry got hot again.

“We couldn’t change the fine print,” Armstrong said with a laugh.

The decision on Carter was based on his play on a nightly basis, Armstrong said.

“It was based on his skating . . . based on Sochi,” he said.

The World Cup of Hockey is different from the Olympics in two important areas: the NHL-sized rink at the Air Canada Centre is smaller than the international ice surface, and players in the World Cup will have more prep time than was permitted in the compressed schedule of the Olympics.




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