 With the NHL season underway everyone has hockey fever and I for one love it. Let's not forget, NHL players are back in the Olympics and Team USA has a real shot at gold. The talent pool for the Americans may honestly be the deepest it's been in forever. With the announcement of Auston Matthews(Toronto), Patrick Kane(Chicago) and Seth Jones(Chicago) as the first three players of team USA we are off to a real fucking good start. But the question still remains, who makes the team and who gets left off the team? Again like I said the choices at each position are so endless that it's incredibly tough to pick who realistically makes this team. But I am one for a challenge, so let's see who I think is going to be suiting up for the stars and stripes in Beijing.
FORWARDS: Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets) Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks) Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames) Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) TJ Oshie (Washington Capitals) Alex DeBrincat(Chicago Blackhawks) Brady Tkachuk(Ottawa Senators) JT Miller(Vancouver Canucks) Jake Guentzel(Pittsburgh Penguins) Jack Hughes(New Jersey Devils) Chris Kreider(New York Rangers) DEFENSEMAN: Seth Jones(Chicago Blackhawks) Zach Werenski(Columbus Blue Jackets) Adam Fox(New York Rangers) John Carlson(Washington Capitals) Quinn Hughes(Vancouver Canucks) Jacob Slavin(Carolina Hurricanes) Charlie McAvoy(Boston Bruins) Torey Krug(St Louis Blues) GOALIES: Connor Hellebuyck(Winnipeg Jets) John Gibson(Anaheim Ducks) Spencer Knight(Florida Panthers) JUST MISSED OUT: A healthy Jack Eichel(Buffalo Sabres for now) Max Pacioretty(Vegas Golden Knights) Thatcher Demko(Vancouver Canucks) Blake Wheeler(Winnipeg Jets) Brett Pesce(Carolina Hurricanes) Phil Kessel(Arizona Coyotes) Ryan Mcdonagh(Tampa Bay Lightning) Team USA has youth and speed on their side, no doubt. I think the top 6 forwards will be incredible, but I think you'll see the bottom 6 really wear down their opponents. The defense is setup incredibly well, you have some really good defensive defenseman and you got some unreal offensive weapons on the back end. Goaltending for me is going to be where it will be make or break. That's not be saying these guys aren't incredible because I think Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies in the NHL. Goalies though can be hot and cold and if they're cold....it could be bad. On the other hand we've seen what happens when team USA rides a hot goalie, like Ryan Miller when he carried them to the gold medal game. All in all I think the stars and stripes, if put together correctly really has a chance at a gold medal this year in China.
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 This one is gonna be....I guess you can say an interesting year for the Buffalo Sabres and us fans. With Sam Reinhart being traded to Florida, Risto traded to Philly and Jack Eichel most definitely never playing in Buffalo again, this roster is going to look very different and very underwhelming. I just don't know honestly, yeah they're professionals, yeah a lot of these guys are on 1 year contracts and probably going to play their asses off for a new deal somewhere else, I just can't see this team being too fun to watch. Well whatever, fuck it.....let's take a look and the dumpster fire that is the Buffalo Sabres.
LINE 1 LW- Jeff Skinner C- Casey Mittelstadt RW- Victor Olofsson LINE 2 LW- Rasmus Asplund C- Dylan Cozens RW- Tage Thompson LINE 3 LW- Anders Bjork C- Zemgus Girgensons RW- Vinnie Hinostroza LINE 4 LW- Drake Caggiula C- Arttu Ruotsalainen RW- Kyle Okposo DEFENSE PAIRING 1 Rasmus Dahlin Henri Jokiharju DEFENSE PAIRING 2 Rober Hagg Colin Miller DEFENSE PAIRING 3 Will Butcher Mark Pysk GOALIES Dustin Tokarski Craig Anderson A BREAKDOWN: Ok, so....Line 1? I know it looks underwhelming but don't forget that all three of those guys played really good hockey under new Head Coach Don Granato. Honestly, Mittelstadt probably played the best hockey he's ever played at the NHL level when ole Donny Meatballs turn the reigns behind the Sabres bench, Skinner looked to play hard every shift and even Olofsson scored even strength goals. Moving to Line 2, we got Asplund and Cozens who I think could be absolute studs. Cozens in my opinion is going to be the next captain of this team, I just think we need to see more out of Tage Thompson.....we've seen moments where he actually is a decent NHL hockey player then we've seen times where he would probably get cut from an ECHL team. Line 3 is where things start to get a little hairy. Girgs hasn't played hockey in over a year. Hinostroza is new and we really don't know too much about the dude and Bjork showed he can play but how good can he really be? No one really fuckin knows. Not the best line for sure but with how shit the Sabres have been it isn't the worst. Kyle Okposo is on the 4th line so it will suck and that's that. Defensively I don't think we're to terrible but I for sure don't think we're anywhere near good. We got better, there is no doubt about that. I think Robert Hagg is a good step better than Risto was, he is better defensively, not terrible offensively and he comes with a smaller cap hit so that's a win. Will Butcher was a really good trade in my opinion he's a good young defensive, which means he'll request a trade any day now. I think it's time Dahlin has to take the next step, this kid could be a fuckin superstar and we've only scratched the surface on how good he could be. Fuck maybe he'll be the captain, fuck'd if I know. The goaltending is more suspect than it's possibly ever been. It looks like out of left field Dustin Tokarski has one the #1 job and will be splitting time between the pips with vet Craig Anderson. Tokarski played really well down the stretch when Granto became the coach, who knows.....maybe he can shock the world and have a mildly decent season. Right now as a Sabres fan, I think the best we can wish for is competitive hockey. We can't watch this team go out every game and just get their dicks smashed in like they did under that shit fuck Ralph Krueger. Granato has been full tempo and he has been working these guys into the fucking ground at practice, which is exactly what this team needs. All I want is a competitive and watchable product but unfortunately that's been a big ask by this organization the last 10 years. |
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