1st line: Don’t necessarily want to put Hyman there, but his being the perfect fit beside McDavid and Marner (who he played alongside in Toronto) forces him onto the team. Somewhat along the lines of Chris Kunitz making the team as a product of his play with Crosby back in 2014.
2nd line: Speed. Three guys who can outskate anyone who are also passing and shooting dual threats. Potential to be the hockey version of the harlem globetrotters.
3rd line: No single “vision” for this line. Crosby being 38 (at the time of the tournament) would fare better with fewer responsibilities on the wing. Point is the next best forward who provides a good scoring punch and Verhaeghe who is a very efficient scorer and constantly gets overlooked but is very deserving of having a spot on this team.
4th line: Good luck scoring against those three.
1st d-pair: No explanation needed
2nd & 3rd d-pair: trying for the best balance of offense and defense. Canada actually doesn’t have many olympic level shutdown-style defensemen so they might have to settle with playing high(er) event hockey.
Just missing the team:
Forwards: Travis Konecny, Robert Thomas, Pierre-Luc Dubois
Defensemen: Thomas Chabot, Josh Morrissey, Aaron Ekblad
Players I think will age out of contention for a spot by 2026: Brad Marchand, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Jared Spurgeon, Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo
He currently isn’t eligible for any Hockey Canada team that is run by the IIHF because of the 2018 World Junior incident. The whole u20 team from that year is ineligible until the conclusion of the investigation is over. Unless Hockey Canada chooses to lift the ban, Makar currently isn’t allowed to play for them
He currently isn’t eligible for any Hockey Canada team that is run by the IIHF because of the 2018 World Junior incident. The whole u20 team from that year is ineligible until the conclusion of the investigation is over. Unless Hockey Canada chooses to lift the ban, Makar currently isn’t allowed to play for them
Wait Hockey Canada is banning their own players who played on that team??? All of them?
Wait Hockey Canada is banning their own players who played on that team??? All of them?
Any player who played on the 2018 world junior team is currently ineligible to play for Hockey Canada until the investigation and court decisions are finalized.
All those players can still play at the 4 Nations tournament because that’s hosted by the NHL and not the IIHF. But any international event hosted by the IIHF is run by Hockey Canada and they made the decision in March of 2023 that players from that roster aren’t allowed to play for them.
They may lift the ban after the court has made their ruling, but London’s court system is backed up so much in a logjam that it may be after 2026 when that happens. So unless Hockey Canada removes the ban before then, players like Makar will not be at the Olympics.
Any player who played on the 2018 world junior team is currently ineligible to play for Hockey Canada until the investigation and court decisions are finalized.
All those players can still play at the 4 Nations tournament because that’s hosted by the NHL and not the IIHF. But any international event hosted by the IIHF is run by Hockey Canada and they made the decision in March of 2023 that players from that roster aren’t allowed to play for them.
They may lift the ban after the court has made their ruling, but London’s court system is backed up so much in a logjam that it may be after 2026 when that happens. So unless Hockey Canada removes the ban before then, players like Makar will not be at the Olympics.
Knowing Hockey Canada they'll make an exception for Makar, especially considering he's not involved.
Knowing Hockey Canada they'll make an exception for Makar, especially considering he's not involved.
They didn’t lift it for the 2023 World Championship. The process has been in appeal ever since Hockey Canada finished their own investigation in November 2023 but the ban remains in affect until the entire situation is resolved.
Although only 5 players were charged recently, the initial lawsuit listed 8 players involved so there’s still 3 names that haven’t been released that have some kinda involvement. We don’t know if Makar was involved or not.