Tuesday, August 28, 2012

2014 Olympics- Team Switzerland


Switzerland has rather quietly been becoming a better country at producing quality hockey players and teams. While their international ranking and play may not reflect that, what does is the number of stars they have currently in the league, and the amount of players they have had get drafted to the NHL over the last few years.

2010 Olympic Roster:

No.Pos.
Name
HeightWeightBirthdateBirthplace2009–10 team
66GRonnie Rüeger186 cm (6 ft 1 in)89 kg (200 lb)26 February 1973BülachKloten Flyers (NLA)
1GJonas Hiller188 cm (6 ft 2 in)86 kg (190 lb)12 February 1982Felben-WellhausenAnaheim Ducks (NHL)
52GTobias Stephan188 cm (6 ft 2 in)82 kg (180 lb)21 January 1984ZurichGenève-Servette (NLA)
5DSeverin Blindenbacher180 cm (5 ft 11 in)88 kg (190 lb)15 March 1983ZurichFärjestad (SEL)
16DRafael Diaz182 cm (6 ft 0 in)88 kg (190 lb)9 January 1986BaarZug (NLA)
54DPhilippe Furrer186 cm (6 ft 1 in)90 kg (200 lb)16 June 1985BernBern (NLA)
72DPatrick von Gunten180 cm (5 ft 11 in)83 kg (180 lb)10 February 1985BielKloten Flyers (NLA)
47DLuca Sbisa185 cm (6 ft 1 in)80 kg (180 lb)30 January 1990OzieriItalyPortland Winterhawks (WHL)
31DMathias Seger – A181 cm (5 ft 11 in)84 kg (190 lb)17 December 1977FlawilZSC Lions (NLA)
7DMark Streit – C183 cm (6 ft 0 in)95 kg (210 lb)11 December 1977EnglisbergNew York Islanders (NHL)
77DYannick Weber178 cm (5 ft 10 in)88 kg (190 lb)23 September 1988MorgesHamilton Bulldogs (AHL)
10FAndres Ambühl176 cm (5 ft 9 in)85 kg (190 lb)14 September 1983DavosHartford Wolf Pack (AHL)
18FThomas Déruns186 cm (6 ft 1 in)86 kg (190 lb)1 March 1982La Chaux-de-FondsGenève-Servette (NLA)
17FHnat Domenichelli183 cm (6 ft 0 in)82 kg (180 lb)16 February 1976EdmontonAlbertaCanadaLugano (NLA)
35FSandy Jeannin – A180 cm (5 ft 11 in)83 kg (180 lb)28 February 1976Les BayardsFribourg-Gottéron (NLA)
67FRomano Lemm182 cm (6 ft 0 in)86 kg (190 lb)25 June 1984DielsdorfLugano (NLA)
25FThibaut Monnet183 cm (6 ft 0 in)83 kg (180 lb)2 February 1982MartignyZSC Lions (NLA)
23FThierry Paterlini184 cm (6 ft 0 in)96 kg (210 lb)27 April 1975ChurRapperswil-Jona Lakers (NLA)
28FMartin Plüss174 cm (5 ft 9 in)80 kg (180 lb)5 April 1977MurgenthalBern (NLA)
32FIvo Rüthemann172 cm (5 ft 8 in)76 kg (170 lb)12 December 1976MosnangBern (NLA)
39FRaffaele Sannitz187 cm (6 ft 2 in)93 kg (210 lb)18 May 1983LuganoLugano (NLA)
86FJulien Sprunger194 cm (6 ft 4 in)87 kg (190 lb)4 January 1986GrolleyFribourg-Gottéron (NLA)
14FRoman Wick187 cm (6 ft 2 in)85 kg (190 lb)30 December 1985ZuzwilKloten Flyers (NLA)

2014 Olympic Group:

Group C-> Czech Republic (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (9), Qualifier 1

2014 Olympic Roster: 

Switzerland's roster starts with their stud in net, Jonas Hiller. The Swiss also have 2009 WJC Best Goaltender Benjamin Conz as a solid backup option as their previous one, Ronnie Rueger, will be over 40 by 2014. Hiller will be 32 by the time the 2014 Olympics start and well he did have a down year (in part because Anaheim on the whole was dreadful), the Swiss are more then likely still going to have one of the premier goaltenders in the league bailing them out.

Remember, this is a team that was in Group A during the Olympics, a group that featured the two teams from the Gold Medal game that tournament (Canada, USA). They took Canada to a shootout, won their first elimination game against Belarus and only lost 2-0 to USA in their next game.

This team has some spunk, and some promise heading into 2014.

The defense will still be led by Mark Streit. Well he is aging and will probably be on the downside of his career once 2014 hits (some might argue he already is), the positive is that he'll still be able to run a powerplay regardless of age and he wont be asked to do as much.

In Nashville, the big benefactor of losing Ryan Suter will be Roman Josi. I don't want to write a player profile on Josi, but I'll say this: he's 6'2, nearly 200 pounds, only 22 years old, has shown he can put up points at the pro level (40 point year in 69 AHL games), and he's going to get a huge opportunity now with the Preds.

The defense should be returning their other four players from the 2010 Olympics which can only be a good thing. Rafael Diaz, Yannick Weber and Luca Sbisa are all young, improving players who already have experience on the international stage should bode well for the Swiss. After that, there will be no shortage of players to round out the unit, whether it be the burly veteran Blindenbacher or the younger guys in Phillipe Furrer, Patrick von Gunten or Tobias Stephan.

It's obviously not a lights out unit, but it's a relatively serviceable one if they can get elite goaltending. The unit comes out to something like this:


Streit-Josi
Weber-Diaz
Sbisa- Blindenbacher


The forwards is where things get most interesting though. More then anything the Swiss will be counting on the emergence of two young player who are both first round picks: Sven Baertschi and Nino Niederreiter. Would any of the top countries be counting on two players this young and inexperienced? No. But Switerland isn't a top country.

After their top two prospects (both of which possess first line NHL upside), there are some other players worth noting here. The first guy to note is Damien Brunner. He's 26 years old and he just signed with Detroit this summer after leading the Swiss-league in scoring. Regardless of if he makes his mark in the NHL, Brunner has been a good international hockey player, for example, he had seven points in seven games this year during the IIHF tournament to lead his team in scoring.

The next player to look at is the guy who finished with one point less, and that's Kevin Romy. Not only did he put up some points, but he's a center who won almost 60% of his draws in the tournament. Barring something unforeseen, he will most likely go into the tournament as Switzerland's top center. He actually plays on the same Swiss team as former NHLer and Canadian-turned-Swiss Hnat Domenichelli.

Beyond these four, there is one time AHL-toiling Roman Wick formerly of the Ottawa Senators who has some skill and even put up 42 points in 70 AHL games. The Swiss also have Benjamin Pluss, the younger of the Pluss brothers, should also figure to make the team. His brother Martin Pluss may make it as well. They will be 33 and 35 respectively in 2014.

Many in North America will also remember Julien Sprunger, not because the 6'4 Swiss has some game, but because this hit by David Backes on him. On top of Sprunger, Switzerland will also be looking for centers Morris Trachsler and Thibaut Monnet to contribute down the middle. Plus there are other forwards who have international experience and game in Ivo Ruthemann and Simon Moser.

Baertschi-Romy-Brunner
Niederreiter-Trachsler-Wick
Sprunger-Monnet-Ruthemann
Pluss-Pluss-Moser

2014 Olympic Chances: 

The 2014 Olympics will be all about prepping for the 2018 Olympics (which sounds weird, but that's where Switzerland is in their development). The hope by 2018 is that Baertschi and Niederreiter are both top flight NHL wingers well some Swiss prospects like Gregory Hoffmann, Christoph Bertschy and Tanner Richard develop; well young D-men Josi, Sbisa, Diaz and Weber continue to improve. To have any hope of even coming close to medaling Switzerland will need Jonas Hiller to be superhuman and for Mark Streit to be one of the best players in the tournament. Their forwards lack the scoring talent to cover up mistakes by outscoring problems. But they do have an okay back-end, a great goalie and will be playing on the international ice. The Swiss are always a pesky team to play and surely wont be an easy out, but in a group with Sweden and the Czech Republic, they are already behind the eight ball. That said, the way they took it to Canada and USA in 2010, I wouldn't count them out completely. Especially if Baertschi is the game breaker many think he can be.



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Canada-Russia Challenge: Looking at the Canadians


Canada and Russia put on a great show in their four game series over a span of five days. It was a thrilling series with some exciting hockey, especially considering it's August. Yes, Canada did end up winning the series, but that's not what we're here to focus on today.

Instead, now is a good time to look at the game within the game. Some of the intricacies of hockey that was played with an eye toward the upcoming World Junior Championship that will take place, like it always does, in December.

- Canada had some interesting tactics against Russia, to say the least. To me, the most interesting was that coach Steve Spott was trying to establish five man units. Ironically, that's something the Russians have done for decades. Here are some thoughts on both sides of the spectrum:

- More than anything this series should probably be viewed at as another opportunity to evaluate players ahead of time for Team Canada selections (especially with the tournament being in Russia, and Canada not getting the result they desired over the last few years). You would think with that in mind, that players would be tried in as many combinations as possible. There are a few reasons for this line of thinking. First off, not everyone who played this August is going to be available for team Canada come December, so what's the point of building a five man unit that is inevitably going to lose pieces? Secondly, games don't go according to plan. Adjustments are made, injuries happen, guys struggle, others excel. You're constantly changing your roster on the go mid-game as you roll with the punches. With that in mind it serves teams best to have players who are interchangeable and know how to play with everyone on the roster because these situations arise every game. Thirdly, well Canada did take the game to Russia generally speaking, at no point did it really feel as if they were sending out five man unit, after five man unit, that resulted in domination and strong chemistry. Kind of makes it seem like a fruitless exercise in that sense.

- That all said, there are some potential benefits to what Spott and his staff were trying to do. Most notably, five man units breed role's for each player, or rather, unit. Instead of mixing and matching players and simply throwing out lines, it does make some sense to throw players out with specific game plans and unit assignments, then evaluate how they perform based on those parameters. It's not as if Canada didn't change their lines from game-to-game.  They also probably hope to have built some chemistry this way to look forward to come December. Rattie-Huberdeau is one tandem in particular that Spott would most likely love to have for the WJC.

- Was interesting that after Canada's first game the coaching staff was upset with Canada's discipline as they got six penalties. Then the players responded by getting eight penalties in game two. To their credit they did have three and four penalties respectively in the last two games.

- Thought Canada played into Russia's game plan a little bit. The Russians clearly had little respect for Canadian goaltenders (can you blame them?), and they played as if they were content for Canada to cycle them as they simply waited to pounce on the fast-break and Canadian mishaps. When a team is playing like that against you, you usually make sure your D-men play it safe and not giveaway anything cheap but Canada gave up more than a few odd-man rushes throughout each game.

- Conversely, Russia made the biggest error of all by trapping Canada in the third period when they were down 3-2 and only needed a tie to win the series. The Canadians were like sharks smelling blood in the water once that happened. What a slap in the face that is to the goalies by the way. Russia genuinely believed they could just wait on an opportunity and score at random.

- Goaltending will obviously be Canada's weakness yet again. Subban is an upgrade over what they've had the last few years, but he's not exactly a superstar in the making. Really, Canada hasn't had a stud in their net since Carey Price, and that was in the 2006-2007 season. Five years ago. It's not groundbreaking at this time, but at one point do we say Canada's development program as a whole has a current problem producing goalies? This is a topic all on it's own, we'll save it for another time (but if Canada's serious about fixing goaltending, maybe the CHL should stop importing so many goalies...).

- Barring something unforeseen Subban should be starting for the WJC. Who his backup will be remains to be seen though.

- The defense is a whole different animal, though. The main question right off the bat is who will be able to play for Canada, and who will be in the NHL?

- Keeping in mind Griffin Reinhart was not playing, there was a clear top five ahead of the pact, with the others behind. Ryan Murray was the horse, followed closely by the foursome of Harrington, Dumba, Hamilton and Rielly. Harrington was the defensive work horse, well the others were looked on for mobility and puck movement up ice. Murray was kind of the go-between as an offensive and defensive work-horse.  Canada played to its strength on the back end, but they will need to tighten things up defensively when the tournament games start. Was interesting to see Canada constantly matching guys like Dumba-Rielly and Rielly-Hamilton together.

- Hamilton is a good bet to be in the NHL during the WJC, but the rest of the core could conceivably be there. Murphy (Carolina) and Murray (Columbus) could also both be in the NHL, but they both have to crack some pretty set D-cores. Considering Murphy was their prime offensive defenseman and Murray is their number one (in my eyes), that could change the look of their defense considerably come December.

- My best guess at this point when it comes to what their top six will look like when the tourny starts is this:
Harrington-Murray
Rielly-Dumba
Reinhart-Ceci

- One thing about the Canadian defense is when it comes to the power play they have some deadly options when it comes to walking the blue line and creating space. Whatever forward gets to hang around the top of the circle is going to look great because the defensemen are all fantastic at skating across the blue line, sucking in penalty killers, and then dishing it off. Almost every Canadian goal on the power play started with some variation of that happening.

- Speaking of being at the top of the circle on the PP, it was nice to see Ty Rattie hanging around the net and cashing in on some rebounds. Whenever I've seen him play with Portland he is usually at the top of the circle shooting and Brad Ross is the guy at the net screening the goalie and banking in rebounds. The best goal scorers are the ones who can score in a variety of ways, and Rattie is showing he can do that.

- On that note, the Rattie hype needs to settle down a little bit. A winger with some skill is one of the easiest things to acquire in the NHL. Don't believe me? Look at this years extremely weak UFA crop and some of the names on it: Wolski, Sullivan, Semin, Parenteau, Hudler, etc. All wingers with some skill. Yeah Rattie is a pretty good player, but unless we're talking about dominating wingers (Kovalchuk, Kessel, Ovechkin, etc.), let's not go crazy over a winger with some skill who puts up good numbers but is still relatively small and not terribly faster.

- Maybe you could have that conversation when it comes to Huberdeau, but the Rattie love needs to settle down a bit. NHL future aside though, Rattie will be very good for team Canada.

- Another prospect that praise needs to be stopped for? Dougie Hamilton. Good player, and maybe I hear more hype about him because I'm from Toronto, but you would think he's the second coming of Zdeno Chara in Boston. The truth is though, he's much more comparable to Brent Burns. Big, has some skill, can play both ways, and probably doesn't use his frame as much as he could. Is Burns a good defenseman and should Boston be happy if he turns out to be a similar player to Burns? Yes. But he's not a superstar in the making.

- One player to get excited about though, is Mark Scheifele. Yes, he didn't score in the tournament, but he was creating chances, using his size, and even had a few rushes where he dangled some D-men (one play in the third period of game 4 was particularly electric, where he somewhat split the D and lost the handle). If the WJC started tomorrow, Canada's top two lines would probably look something like: Rattie-Scheifele-Huberdeau, Monahan-Strome-Lessio (the wingers on this line would rotate, there's a lot of candidates to play here). Nathan MacKinnon will have something to say about this roster before it's all set and done, too.

- My inclusion of Lessio in that top six might surprise some, but he really showed some of that promise many of us have always known he's had over the series. At 6'1 and nearly 200 pounds, he's a load to handle. On top of that though, he has silky smooth hands. What was most impressive about Lessio in this series, though, was how he was going in the dirty areas, battling in front of the net, and driving D-men hard and wide. When a player with his length, weight, and skill drives hard around you to get to the net, that is very tough to handle. He doesn't do it consistently, and that's generally been the knock against him, but if he's giving it like that then he's going to play a lot for Canada this year.

- Two other players to lookout for to potentially make Canada that weren't in this series: Brendan Gaunce and Scott Laughton.

- Tom Wilson was the big body that the team definitely wanted him to be, but he didn't do a great job toeing the proverbial line as he took some undisciplined penalties. People watch players like him all the time and write him off for being a "goon," type and it's such a big mistake. People said the same thing about Ryan Getzlaf way back when.

- Canada will have to go through some really tough and mean teams in USA and even Sweden, plus a jacked up Russia team playing in front of their home crowd. In a short tournament especially, Canada will need guys like Wilson to shift momentum, create space for teammates, and set the tone.

- Conversely, the listed 5'10, 171 pounds, Charles Hudon definitely made a good impression over the course of the series. He finished with a goal and two assists overall, but he was consistently dangerous especially in one-on-one situations. Hudon is a player that has a knack for getting shots off no matter where he is and he's the type of guy who people like to describe as "slippery." Opportunities like this series allow players who are on the bubble to either sink or swim, and Hudon swam.

- Didn't think Ryan Strome had a very good series. He's going to get a lot of love for his goal, but he has a lot more to give then what he showed. Strome is at his best when he's a little more on the selfish side and takes the initiative himself. When that happens he's skilled enough to recognize that he's sucking in more than one defender and when that happens he dishes it off and creates for his linemates beautifully. Strome seemed a little pass happy to me though as he was trying to get everybody involved. There's nothing wrong with that, but when you're the most talented guy on the ice, people need to follow you and work with you, instead of you trying to mesh with them. His series winner was a glimpse into how he has the ability to make the big play himself and take charge. Players like Strome are called "game-breakers," for a reason -- even if they aren't playing their best, in mere seconds they are capable of making a game changing play.

Overall though, let's not lose sight of what this was: A reminder of a great series 40 years ago, a tribute to a tragic accident from a year ago, and some damn good hockey. Canada and Russia should both be very proud of the efforts they put into these four games, and we would all be so lucky to see them meet yet again in only a few months time.



Thursday, August 9, 2012

2014 Olympics- Germany


Coming in ranked number 10, Germany is the only roster we will look at that is not already in the Olympics. In the previous Olympics Germany went 0-4 losing all three of their round robin games (to Sweden, Finland and Belarus) then they lost to Canada in the qualifying game. They finished 11th within the tournament.

2010 Olympic Roster:
No.Pos.
Name
HeightWeightBirthdateBirthplace2009–10 team
44GDennis Endras182 cm (6 ft 0 in)72 kg (160 lb)14 July 1985ImmenstadtAugsburger Panther (DEL)
1GThomas Greiss185 cm (6 ft 1 in)86 kg (190 lb)26 January 1986FüssenSan Jose Sharks (NHL)
32GDimitri Pätzold193 cm (6 ft 4 in)99 kg (220 lb)3 February 1983Ust-KamenogorskKazakh SSRERC Ingolstadt (DEL)
22DMichael Bakos190 cm (6 ft 3 in)90 kg (200 lb)2 March 1979AugsburgERC Ingolstadt (DEL)
6DSven Butenschön192 cm (6 ft 4 in)96 kg (210 lb)22 March 1976ItzehoeAdler Mannheim (DEL)
10DChristian Ehrhoff188 cm (6 ft 2 in)90 kg (200 lb)6 July 1982MoersVancouver Canucks (NHL)
38DJakub Ficenec179 cm (5 ft 10 in)89 kg (200 lb)11 February 1977Hradec KrálovéCzechoslovakiaERC Ingolstadt (DEL)
5DKorbinian Holzer190 cm (6 ft 3 in)93 kg (210 lb)16 February 1988MunichDEG Metro Stars (DEL)
7DChris Schmidt189 cm (6 ft 2 in)91 kg (200 lb)1 March 1976Beaverlodge, AlbertaCanadaAdler Mannheim (DEL)
84DDennis Seidenberg – A193 cm (6 ft 4 in)95 kg (210 lb)18 July 1981Villingen-SchwenningenFlorida Panthers (NHL)
52DAlexander Sulzer185 cm (6 ft 1 in)94 kg (210 lb)30 May 1984KaufbeurenNashville Predators (NHL)
11FSven Felski – A180 cm (5 ft 11 in)76 kg (170 lb)18 November 1974BerlinEisbären Berlin (DEL)
57FMarcel Goc185 cm (6 ft 1 in)92 kg (200 lb)24 August 1983CalwNashville Predators (NHL)
39FThomas Greilinger180 cm (5 ft 11 in)110 kg (240 lb)6 August 1981DeggendorfERC Ingolstadt (DEL)
17FJochen Hecht185 cm (6 ft 1 in)90 kg (200 lb)21 June 1977MannheimBuffalo Sabres (NHL)
18FKai Hospelt185 cm (6 ft 1 in)85 kg (190 lb)23 August 1985CologneGrizzly Adams Wolfsburg (DEL)
9FManuel Klinge180 cm (5 ft 11 in)80 kg (180 lb)5 September 1984KasselKassel Huskies (DEL)
25FMarcel Müller193 cm (6 ft 4 in)104 kg (230 lb)10 July 1988BerlinKölner Haie (DEL)
15FT. J. Mulock183 cm (6 ft 0 in)88 kg (190 lb)26 February 1985Langley, British ColumbiaCanadaEisbären Berlin (DEL)
24FAndré Rankel186 cm (6 ft 1 in)89 kg (200 lb)27 August 1985BerlinEisbären Berlin (DEL)
19FMarco Sturm – C181 cm (5 ft 11 in)88 kg (190 lb)8 September 1978DingolfingBoston Bruins (NHL)
21FJohn Tripp191 cm (6 ft 3 in)104 kg (230 lb)4 May 1977Kingston, OntarioCanadaHamburg Freezers (DEL)
16FMichael Wolf178 cm (5 ft 10 in)75 kg (170 lb)24 January 1981EhenbichlAustriaIserlohn Roosters (DEL)
2014 Olympic Roster:

Players who are still in the NHL and will most likely be by the time 2014 rolls around include: Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Sulzer, Dennis Seidenberg, Korbinian Holzer and Marcel Goc.

They also have Thomas Greiss to look forward to in net.

The only other two NHLers from 2010, Marco Sturm and Jochen Hecht, are both without contracts at the moment and are getting up there in age. Thus, its reasonable to believe neither player will be available for the 2014 Olympics.

There is also former NHL D-man Christoph Schubert. He represented Germany in the 2012 World Championships this year and played the most of any defender on the team. After him Nikolai Goc, Christopher Fischer, and Denis Reul were two, three and four in ice time and our best bets as to who will round out that top six. Goc is the brother of NHLer Marcel Goc, and brings some bite to the backend, plus he's only 26 right now so he's a good bet at the moment.

At forward from the NHL there is Marcel Goc, and that's it. Marcel Mueller did play pro hockey in Toronto's farm system for a few years but has moved back over to Europe for the upcoming season. Regardless, he has represented Germany more than a few times and should be another lock for the 2014 tournament.

The next forward to look at that is young and upcoming is Phillip Gogulla. He was drafted by the Sabres in the second round way back in 2005 so he does have some pedigree. He's 6'2, nearly 200 pounds, and just put up nine points in seven games for the Germans at the World Championships. He's 25 at the moment.

Some of Germany's other top scorers include: Christoph Ullmann, Patrick Reimer, and Kai Hospelt. Some of their younger players who participated in the 2010 Olympics and should be expected to return include: Andre Rankel, TJ Mulock, and Manuel Klinge.

Some other players to keep an eye from the German league who have been doing well include Daniel Pietta, Darin Olver and Thomas Grielinger (whose a veteran).  There's also Alexander Barta.

Germany could end up looking something like this:

Gogulla-Goc-Mueller
Reimer-Ullmann-Hospelt
Pietta-Grielinger-Rankel
Mulock-Barta-Klinge
Olver

Ehrhoff-Seidenberg
Schubert-Holzer
Sulzer-Goc
Fischer

Greiss
Endras

Obviously, there isn't a lot of name value here. This looks more like a solid Euro league team then a National one. 

2014 Olympic Chances:

Germany will once again be climbing a really steep uphill battle. They have some NHL talent and ability, and their defense doesn't look dreadful on paper but they just don't have the horses to compete with the big boys. Unless Greiss emerges into at the very least a true number one starting NHL goalie they will have trouble winning even one game yet again. Back in the day Germany used to have Olaf Kolzig as that guy and he was able to carry them for stretches, but as of right now they don't really have star players except maybe Ehrhoff and some could even argue Seidenberg. Even with that, that won't be enough to compete against the best players in the world who are all on other teams.