Posts Tagged ‘Team Canada’

Olympic Hockey Day Two

February 17th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

So it is now day two for men’s hockey in the Winter Games. There were a few games yesterday, but none were upsets. The US squeaked by an underrated Swiss team 3-1 with Jonas Hiller in net – Patrick Kane was held off the scoresheet. Jonathan Toews was the only Blackhawk to tally a point (one assist) in Canada’s 8-0 defeat over Norway, and the Russian handed Latvia a 8-2 loss.

There are three games on the docket today – the most interesting being the Czech Republic vs. Slovakia. Marian Hossa will play tonight, but the Slovaks will miss Marian Gaborik tonight. Finland should easily handle Belarus, and the Germans will do their best to give the Swedes a hard time.

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Olympic Hockey Day One, And Two Sent To Purgatory

February 16th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Of the only teams that matter to Blackhawk fans (USA, Canada and Slovakia) on the first day of competition Team USA and Team Canada are in actions. The Americans will play Switzerland and the Canadians will play Norway. Patrick Kane will lineup with Zach Parise and Paul Stastny for Team USA. Jonathan Toews will lineup at center between Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla for Team Canada – that should be interesting. The internet connection at the hotel blows. It’s taking to long to find anything definitive regarding Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, but I can’t see them not suiting up for any game.

Back to Purgatory They Go –

Bryan Bickell and Jake Dowell were reassigned to Rockford after Sunday’s game in Columbus. Both Bickell and Dowell got on the scoresheet in that game. Bickell scored a goal, and Dowell had one goal and one assist in the 5-4 shootout victory. Subsequently, Adam Hobson was reassigned to the Toledo Walleye today.

Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.

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Olympic Profile: Duncan Keith (Canada)

February 12th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Duncs

This is the final installment of player profiles for the six Blackhawks that will represent their nation at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Last up, Duncan Keith. Feel free to comment below. Previous Olympic Profiles: Tomas Kopecky, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Birthplace – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

International Experience – 2008 World Championships

A lot of the same things said about Brent Seabrook can be said about Duncan Keith – the two come as a pair these days. The difference between the two when it comes to their selection to the Canadian national team is that Keith made the roster on his own laurels. Of course there was always the chance a slow start could keep him from partaking in the Winter Games, but Keith was a lock. He also fits Steve Yzerman’s movement for new blood on Team Canada.

Anyway, the rapport between the dynamic duo of Keith and Seabrook should bode well for the Canadians. I would expect head coach, Mike Babcock, to keep the two paired on the blue – as well as the Sharks’ first line of Dany Healtey, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Keith and Seabrook should either be the second or third defensive paring on Team Canada. Keith can play in any on-ice situation, and could see a lot of playing time in the two weeks of Olympic play.

Barring a major upset, Team Canada should go deep on home ice. Around this time last season, Keith’s energy and ability level declined. The number of defensive lapses seems to have increased over the last month from Keith. He leads the Blackhawks in time-on-ice with an average of 26:39. Combine the number of games played in the Winter Games with the eighty-two game schedule of the regular NHL season – there is valid concern more so with Keith then any other Blackhawk participating in the Olympics due to his value to the team.

For the majority of his career, Keith was always overlooked. His international career doesn’t even compare to that of Patrick Kane. His only selection to his national team came in 2008 for the World Championships. Watching the way Keith plays the game, we know that he leaves it all out there on the ice. This season is already proving to be his best. Keith’s fifty-one points and plus/minus rating of +23 this season is best among the blue-liners selected to the Canadian Olympic squad.

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Olympic Profile: Jonathan Toews (Canada)

February 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Smile for the camera

This is the fourth installment of player profiles for the six Blackhawks that will represent their nation at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. It’s now Jonathan Toews’ turn. Stay tuned for future installments, and feel free to comment below. Previous Olympic Profiles: Tomas Kopecky, Brent Seabrook and Marian Hossa.

Birthplace – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

International Experience – 2006 World Junior Championships, 2007 World Junior Championships, 2007 World Championships and 2008 World Championships

Jonathan Toews is the present and future of Team Canada. His selection to the national team was almost a lock. There was always a real threat of getting beat out or losing a spot on the roster if he slumped early in the season. The twenty-one year old – the second youngest player on the roster after defenseman Drew Doughty – was a beneficiary of the Canadian team’s search for new blood after finishing in seventh place in the 2006 Winter Games.

Toews already has just as much international experience as Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith combined. Not only does Toews bring rare combination of experience and youth to Team Canada, but also his level of maturity and leadership was likely regarded as an asset.

It doesn’t hurt either when the Canadian general manager, Steve Yzerman, and head coach, Mike Babcock, have a hard on for Mr. Toews. Yzerman said this of Toews:

“He’s a great competitor, he’s physically strong, he’s really responsible in all areas of the game – like everything about him. He’s a tremendous young player so I don’t see any shortcomings in his game and he’s just going to get better and better every year.”

There are seven players on the Canadian Olympic team that regularly line up at center – Bergeron, Crosby, Getzlaf, Richards, Staal, Thornton and Toews – so there is not telling how he will be used on the center-rich roster. I don’t see Babcock moving Toews over the wing. Toews is only second on the team behind Patrice Bergeron (57.9%) in face-off wins at 57.4% – Sidney Crosby is right behind at 57.2%.

Toews can be use on the power play and penalty kill units – like he is in Chicago. He a great two-way forward, he creates his own scoring chances and he boasts a plus/minus of +19 – that is fifth highest on Team Canada.

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Olympic Profile: Brent Seabrook (Canada)

January 26th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Team Canada's Seabrook

This is the second installment of player profiles for the six Blackhawks that will represent their nation at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. It’s now Brent Seabrook’s turn. Stay tuned for future installments, and feel free to comment below. Previous Olympic Profile: Tomas Kopecky

Birthplace – Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

International Experience – 2004 World Junior Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships and 2006 World Championships

After finishing seventh in Torino, Team Canada general manager, Steve Yzerman, knows that anything less then gold is unacceptable in front of the hometown crowd. Of the twenty-three players named to the Canadian roster fifteen are going to their first Olympics. Five of which are on defense (Dan Boyle was a reserve in 2006). Five of the blue-liners are twenty-six or younger. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook fit the mold and represent Team Canada’s youth movement.

Seabrook was a dark horse to make the Canadian Olympic roster, but when Yzerman and his cohorts selected the Richmond native to the national team it came as a surprise. The lack of production from the trio of Calgary defensemen, the need for a hard hitting defensive defenseman, the desire for new blood and his rapport with ‘lock’ Keith solidified his roster spot.

The twenty-four year old will have to cut down on some of the sloppy play that has plagued him this season. Seabrook has been a frequent contributor to turnovers and lapses in the neutral- and defensive-zone. Still, he is has a better defensive presence then his competition and has a plus/minus of +22, which makes him tied for eighth in the league.

Taking off my Blackhawk-colored glasses, Seabrook doesn’t make the team if it weren’t for the on-ice chemistry he has with Keith. I like the decision of Team Canada’s brass to keep Seabrook and Keith together. They go up against the opposing team’s best line every night, and are on the ice for over twenty minutes each game. The duo will be a second or third defensive paring.

With the firepower on Canada’s blue line, I wouldn’t expect Seabrook to see anytime on the power play. He should be used on the penalty kill though.

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2010 WJC Over, 2010 Winter Games Next

January 6th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Team USA wins gold

Well, Canada lost to the United States 6-5 in the gold medal game of the World Junior Championships in a barnburner. Edmonton Oiler’s prospect Jordan Eberle scored two goals in the final minutes of the game to tie it at 5-5 and take it to overtime. Sadly, the Canadians let this one get away from them when Washington Capital’s prospect John Carlson scored 4:31 into overtime. Team USA’s victory snapped the Team Canada’s gold medal streak at five.

The Swedes won bronze beating Switzerland 11-4 in their match-up. Blackhawks prospect Marcus Kruger had two assists and a plus/minus of +2 for the game. In Team Sweden’s six games, Kruger tallied six assists, two penalty minutes and had a plus/minus of +7.

Can’t wait till the 2010 Winter Games start, and my obsession with international hockey starts all over again.

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Toews, Keith and Seabrook On Team Canada

December 30th, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Team Canada announced their Olympic roster this morning, and Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook will represent their country in Vancouver at the Winter Games. Being selected over so many other capable players to represent their nation is easily a highlight in their young careers.

Steve Yzerman and the Canadian brass had a deep talent pool to choose from. Keith was a lock to make Team Canada. Seabrook could have made the team all his own, but his on-ice relationship with Keith solidified his spot on the roster. Toews was on the bubble regarding his selection to the team, but as I wrote last week his leadership and past international experience would make him as asset. I neglected to mention his plus/minus rating and his success in the face-off circle.

Team Finland –

No surprise here, Antti Niemi was left off the Finnish team’s roster. The Fins are pretty deep at the position when it comes to NHL talent.

WJC Update –

In Sweden’s 4-1 victory over Russia, Blackhawks prospect Marcus Kruger came away with just a plus/minus of +1. In three games Kruger has two assists, two penalty-minutes and a plus/minus of +5 in the tournament.

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Hossa And Kopecky Named To Slovakian Olympic Team

December 29th, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

A couple Blackhawks got some good news today. Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky were selected to the Slovakian Olympic hockey team. They are the first Blackhawks chosen to represent their country at the Winter Games in Vancouver.

No one will question Hossa’s addition to the roster. The choice of picking Kopecky to the team might surprise many since he hasn’t done anything of value with Chicago, but he is one of the few Slovakian players in the NHL. Only two Slovakian NHL players didn’t make the team – Marek Svatos and Boris Valabik. When Czechoslovakia split in 1993, most of the hockey talent resided in the Czech Republic.

Team Canada will announce their Olympic squad tomorrow morning, and Team USA will announce theirs New Years Day during the Winter Classic broadcast.

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Blackhawks 3, Red Wings 0

December 21st, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Even with seven players on the shelf I thought the Red Wings would show up and make this game difficult for the Blackhawks to win. That was not the case as Cristobal Huet and the Blackhawks’ defense were able to keep the Red Wings scoreless on the nightt. The defense limited Detroit to twenty shots on goal, and clear the zone of any problematic rebounds Huet gave up. This is the ‘Hawks third shutout in four games, sixth of the season and second in a row for the man from France.

The Blackhawks’ defense has been very strong this season, but that shouldn’t take anything away from the play of Huet and Antti Niemi. Shutouts aren’t anything to scoff at. The Blackhawks’ goaltending has been very affective, and so has the penalty kill. In the last ten games the ‘Hawks are 24 of 25 when shorthanded. They rank second in the league behind the Bruins with a percentage of 85.6. Only if this level of success could carry over to the power play, all would be right with the world.

Duncan Keith had another great night scoring a goal and an assist. Dustin Byfuglien scored his tenth goal of the season by just putting the puck on the net to beat Chris Osgood down low. Overall, the whole team played well.

Brian Campbell scored his second goal in as many games, and is finally playing like the seven-million-dollar-man. Something has changed in the last two games for the redhead. Campbell has been carrying the puck deep into the offensive zone, joining the rush and has just been more aggressive. I doubt it is the new batch of sticks, but possibly has something to do with playing in front of brass of Team Canada’s Olympic team. I hope Campbell can keep it up.

It always warms the heart when we beat the Red Wings, but this version of the team was not the real thing. The Blackhawks play the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday, and I would expect a tougher game.

A bit of news – Bryan Bickell was reassigned to Rockford. Depending on the health of Ben Eager he could be back with the team tomorrow night with the Blackhawks host San Jose.

Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.

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World Juniors – Two Hosers And A Swede

December 2nd, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

- Hockey Canada announced their 36-player selection camp roster this morning for the World Junior Hockey Championships. Two defensive prospects, Shawn Lalonde and Dylan Olsen have been invited to the camp that begins December 12. The roster will be trimmed down to a 22-man roster before the tournament starts December 26.

- Swedish prospect Marcus Kruger has been selected to play on Sweden’s World Junior Team. The fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft keeps making waves in homeland. Kruger was nominated for rookie of the year in the Swedish Elite League last month.

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