Team USA Roster now Official (Previously "speculation")

[Chadd 916]

TSN reporting that Quick, Miller and Howard are the three goalies for Team USA. Interesting that two of them are coming off injuries that kept them each out for a couple weeks.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=440015

[TeamHonda401 54]

Quite surprised that Ben Bishop didn't get in there. Howard has been quite the let down this year.

[TeamHonda401 54]

Here's the full roster.

http://olympics.usahockey.com/page/show/1067902-roster

Looks pretty good. Should be a tough team to play against.

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

Hmm. Blake Wheeler? I didn't think he would be in contention but he fits whatever role the committee has set.

[chippa13 1844]

Wheeler was on the last Olympic team.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 134]

I'm honestly a bit shocked Andy Greene wasn't in contention. But it looks pretty solid. Is Quick going to be in good enough shape in time?

[Chadd 916]

As a Blackhawks fan, I am a bit disappointed that Leddy and Saad didn't make the team. As they were announcing the names I told my wife that it was certainly going to be a "gritty" team and that scoring would be the question mark with this roster.With Bylsma as the coach, it's not surprising though that he went with that type of roster. He seems to like guys that play on the borderline. It will be interesting to see if the referees maintain the IIHF standards or if the games are called like NHL games.

[TeamHonda401 54]

With the games on the big rinks, Leddy was a big snub. With a guy like Leddy, with that much room to skate, he is his own breakout most of the time. He would have been much more effective than Orpik for this team. Saad would have been a much better option than Wheeler, but I guess they were going for more size when they got to the bottom six forwards.

[Chadd 916]

There is a great article on ESPN.com that shows how the US decisions were made. It's extremely long, but worth the read to see that the guys putting the team together all had biases for and against guys and most of them held those biases to the end.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/hockey/story/_/id/10195703/how-us-hockey-team-bound-sochi-olympics-was-named

Given the way the criticisms of Yandle, I'm not surprised that Leddy was never considered. That said, I think that he would be a fantastic asset on the international ice. The more I look at the roster, the less confident I am with this roster. I really see this team finishing out of the medal count, and I almost hope that happens so that Burke, Poile and Bylsma can't screw up the team in 2018.

[TeamHonda401 54]

I didn't read it word for word, but the more quotes I saw from Burke the more I thought they have no idea what they are doing. Every single criticism about Yandle could be said for Fowler, Faulk and Shattenkirk. This one did it for me though, "If we put Yandle in the top 4 every team we play against is going to be excited." Burke needs to get as far away from Team USA as possible.

I'm with you Chadd, except I do hope we finish out of the medals so that all three of them can get replaced with people who aren't morons. Their reasoning behind not selecting Bobby Ryan was because he can't play a bottom six role? He isn't a bottom six talent, so why chop the guy down for that? They also discredited him because he didn't play first line PP with Anaheim. Seriously?!? He is every bit as dangerous as Kessel, and no one is going to leave Kessel off of the team because he can't play on the third line. Double standards all over the place.

/Rant

[wrangler 157]

I had been hoping that Leddy and Saad would make it, too. They're not one-dimensional players, and can help a team in a lot of ways.

I read the ESPN article, and the point someone made about not having speed apparently didn't impress the group. Obviously, it wasn't because no speed was available. I agree that speed can become more important with the bigger rinks.

[Chadd 916]

I read the ESPN article, and the point someone made about not having speed apparently didn't impress the group. Obviously, it wasn't because no speed was available. I agree that speed can become more important with the bigger rinks.

I hope Lombardi is in charge of the 2018 team.

[Kevin 5]

I hope Lombardi is in charge of the 2018 team.

Agreed. He comes across the best in the article. He is not basing his decisions on dreams and prejudices, but instead looks at the evidence. I quote relvent portions below.

Why is Paul Martin a lock? I don't see him as anything that special. http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/hockeynews/hockey/player.php?2189

"With a little more than a month until the team is to be announced, GM David Poile confesses on the Nov. 25 conference call that he had a dream that defenseman Jack Johnson wasn't named to the squad. Poile was wracked with angst, believing they'd made a horrible mistake.

Later, as a counterpoint, Brian Burke says he'd had a dream the U.S. team lost a medal game because of a mistake made by 19-year-old rookie defenseman Seth Jones."

"Poile reminds those in attendance of a detailed report prepared by Lombardi looking at the bubble defensemen and specifically a case to be made for including Keith Yandle on the 25-man roster."

"He asks for a video of Keith Yandle to run while they discuss Lombardi's appeal for the Phoenix defenseman's inclusion on the team.

"Yandle is clearly the only guy that I would consider for this team. I started this trying to figure out why the kid isn't basically amongst the top six," Lombardi says.

Because the central knock on Yandle is that he's not responsible enough defensively, Lombardi says he focused on situations in which this might be revealed in Yandle's game and how the same assessment might be applied to the other candidates.

There is no question, he says, that Yandle is the superior puck-mover and uses a combination of superior skating and passing ability to move the puck quickly up the rink.

He is the highest-scoring American defenseman over the past four years, Lombardi points out.

"Why are we discounting this kid?" he asks. If they use the theory espoused by some that inclusion should be based on current level of play and body of work, "This kid's right up there with Duncan Keith in terms of points over the past four years."

Lombardi's team played Yandle and the Coyotes in the Western Conference finals two years ago and has also played St. Louis the past two playoff years.

"If you ask our coaches," Lombardi says, "Yandle scares us more than Shattenkirk."

"He's not great defensively but he's not soft," Lombardi continues. "

"If this kid was playing in New York, would we be embarrassed not to take him?" Lombardi asks rhetorically, a query he will repeat several times during the meeting.

"You guys I totally respect," Lombardi adds, finishing his presentation. "There are some holes in his game, but can we afford to pass on the highest-scoring American in the last four years?"

There is some good-natured joshing of Lombardi for the report.

"I thought it was 'Gone With The Wind,'" Burke says.

But Burke remains skeptical about Yandle's place on the team.

"I always assume a disaster's going to happen," he says.

What happens if Paul Martin goes down on the first shift of the first game?

"Who plays those minutes?" Burke asks.

"If Keith Yandle goes in our top four, I think everyone we play is excited," Burke says.

[chippa13 1844]

I think the assessment on Bobby Ryan was spot on and I don't have a problem with him not being included. I am concerned about the lack of size on the blueline if it comes down to a US/Canada matchup at some point. That group will have a hard time playing one on one down low with some of the big Canadian forwards. I think they definitely took the big sheet into account when selecting the blueline. They put a premium on puck handlers which was a departure from what they put together for the Vancouver games on the NHL sheet.

[Chadd 916]

I think the assessment on Bobby Ryan was spot on and I don't have a problem with him not being included. I am concerned about the lack of size on the blueline if it comes down to a US/Canada matchup at some point. That group will have a hard time playing one on one down low with some of the big Canadian forwards. I think they definitely took the big sheet into account when selecting the blueline. They put a premium on puck handlers which was a departure from what they put together for the Vancouver games on the NHL sheet.

Yet they didn't take a guy that is the best American defenseman at moving the puck?

[chippa13 1844]

True, but outside of Orpik there isn't another shutdown guy on that blueline.

[Crossen463 8]

I had been hoping that Leddy and Saad would make it, too. They're not one-dimensional players, and can help a team in a lot of ways.

I read the ESPN article, and the point someone made about not having speed apparently didn't impress the group. Obviously, it wasn't because no speed was available. I agree that speed can become more important with the bigger rinks.

Saad should have made it over Ryan Callahan in my mind. He's been an all around animal this year.

[TeamHonda401 54]

Saad is every bit as good as Callahan defensively and along the boards, plus he is about twice as fast and has a better shot.

[deathb4dismount 11]

********

WTF we got owned that game. Is too much to ask to win a face off? Remember how everyone was worried about the defense? Yah well those worries shouldnt have gone away because we beat up on weaker teams. I bet the guys wish Okposo and Ryan were on the Bench now. What a terrible game

[psh 25]

That was bad news. I'm not sure we would have won even if Canada played a man short the whole 60 minutes. And the score is deceiving. Without Quick, that could have been a humiliation. To my eyes, the U.S. women put up a better effort than the U.S. men.

I wasn't hopeful coming into the Olympics, but the way the U.S. team played in the prelims, I developed hope over time, so this one hurts more than I expected. Kane was a huge disappointment. I thought the extra space would be a playground for him. On the other hand, Kessel and Pavelski looked really, really good. Parise was nowhere to be seen (despite firing the puck every chance he got--and I can't blame him for that) and, after a great series of games, Backes also had a quiet game.

Just like the women's team, the Canadian men might be coming together at just the right time. That said, I still think Sweden can give them a game. The Sedin, Backstrom, Ericsson line looked brilliant this morning. And, Kronwall had a tremendous game, as well. Still, one has to assume that Canada's depth will get the better of Sweden in the end.

On paper, both remaining games are ripe for blowouts. I hope we get close games that highlight the astonishing talent that will be gathered on the ice.

[Chadd 916]

The more I look at the roster, the less confident I am with this roster. I really see this team finishing out of the medal count, and I almost hope that happens so that Burke, Poile and Bylsma can't screw up the team in 2018.

Well, it looks like the first part is coming true. Hopefully the second part does as well.

[chippa13 1844]

The guys who failed this team weren't the bubble guys or the unpopular choices. Coaching and stars let them down.

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

That was embarrassing. I get the whole 'gold or bust' mentality but you have to get over that and play the game at hand. The Fins played a fantastic game.

[Chadd 916]

The guys who failed this team weren't the bubble guys or the unpopular choices. Coaching and stars let them down.

Kane didn't score on the penalty shots but he played a pretty strong game other than that. Coaching and roster selection were a huge, huge factor in this.

[chippa13 1844]

I disagree. Kane constantly was painting himself into corners with the puck. Other stars were completely invisible.