That's a weakness compared to the other nations IMO. Svech is a winger. Kuzy is banned but they may not apply.
Kuznetsov is not banned anymore. It expired this year. They are strong on the wings, but they are weak down the middle. They should’ve went in 2018 in hindsight.
If not 100% over, hopefully tensions will be escalated enough to reinstate them. It is horseshit that the athletes have to pay for what their governments are doing.
Your thinking of Andrei Svechnikov instead of Fedor Svechkov.
That Top 6 is just stacked even with a 38 year old Crosby. Only change I would make would be Fantilli > Suzuki. Although we don't know how well Bedard, Celebrini or Fantilli will develop yet, but that's the problem with predicting rosters for a tournament that is 3 yrs. away.
really???
I don't think so. The Geo-political climate won't allow it at this point. I think it is more likely the Olympics are cancelled all together due to WW3 then Russia is invited to the Olympics.
Russia has the best goalies bar none, give the D a few years and that is going to be a nasty unit to contend with should Russia be allowed re-entry, lack of RD does hurt tho. Wingers are still loaded, guys like Michkov, Demidov coming and maybe a few others panning out like But, Yurov, Miroschnichenko will only add more options. That C core and depth is…not very good.
I’m Canadian and I’m glad there was no best on best olympics in 2022 as team USA would have won gold. Team USA talent are all in their prime. Also, i think J.Guantzel will be on team USA.
The US probably wouldn't have beat Canada in 2022 because guys like Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson and Jrob didn't emerge as top 20 players until 2023 and Canada still retained many of their elite two-way forwards like ROR and Couturier, Bergeon was still the best two-way forward in the world, Marchand was still an elite offensive threat and Huberdeau was at his peak. Years of weak Canadian drafting and the emergence of elite American talent has caught up to Canada although recent drafts and the next couple of years show a strong Canadian presence.
Don’t get me wrong I stand with Ukraine, but allow the athletes to compete under a different name (see 2018 and 2022 for example). Any way of criticizing Putin’s judgements could get them and their families compromised.
It’s because the players Canada relied on in 2010, 2014 and World cup in 2017 have aged. Just like Nagano, where our best players were Gretzky, shanahan, fleury, Lindros, bourque who were all past their prime.
Malkin would be the fifth but he is not the player he used to be. Crosby isn’t as dominant as he used to be either but he is still pretty good.
Very True. If Bedard, Fantilli, Celebrini and Power actually develop into what they are supposed to become then Canada looks very scary, imagine:
Even if things turn out well for a team Canada roster for 2026 I like the states roster for 2 reasons. 1) goaltending and 2) In a one game take all elimination as opposed to a bo7, I prefer the bevy of American snipers at the states disposal. Team Canada has a few elite scorers, but the states have like 9-10 40+ goal guys. should Be interesting, bedard will be much needed.
I’d have to imagine Tuch would make it on the roster over a guy like Keller, Caufield, or Zegras just to balance out the roster.Not that he’s the better player, but just offers them some size and a PK option.
Seriously considered Tuch over someone like Zegras or Caufield because of his PK ability, two-way play and chemistry with Thompson. I just went with skill. In reality, I also think Tuch would make the roster in 2026.
Whom would they represent when they can't be associated with the Russian hockey federation and its sanctioned leadership? How should they qualify as a formally new and independent team? In the past it was first and foremost about punishing systematic doping without real organizational changes, so this kind of issues didn't emerge.
They would just take the place of where the “normal Russia” was when the ban was imposed. They represent Anti-War Russians. Like I said before, they don’t want to make that public because the m or their families could get into trouble since it is communist.
