Best first line in the Olympics.

[C-J...*]

I´m not sure about all the other teams, who´s injured and whos not, so I´ll just add the best possible line in Sweden.

Alfredsson - Forsberg - Sundin

Lidström - Öhlund

Lundqvist

A case could also be made for Zetterberg taking Sundin´s spot.




Finland

Lehtinen - Koivu - Selänne

Timonen - Salo

Norrena (?)

Click to read more...

 

[TheDamned]

Ovechkin - Malkin - Kovalev

 

[Eradicator]

Gagne - Sakic - Iginla will be dominant
Nash - Thornton - Heatley will be sick
Richards - Lecavalier - St, Louis is the third frickin' line

 

[Zine]

It's either,

Forsberg - Sundin - Alfredsson

or

Kovalchuk - Datsyuk - Ovechkin

 

[shawn_kemp*]

no one knows what the lines will be ...

 

[hossy316]

Marco Sturm - Marcel Goc - Jochen Hecht

 

[psycho_dad*]

Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne

Those guys have insane chemistry and have proved it every time. They have so much history together that everyone else is a challenger.

 

[glue]

tough call...4 lines come to mind..
Nash-Thornton-Heatley, Zetterberg-Forsberg-Alfredsson, Kovalchuk-Datsyuk-Kovalev & of course it will never happen other than on possibly a power play..Elias-Lang-Jagr

If i had to pick one..Zetterberg-Forsberg-Alfredsson

But Nash-Thornton-Heatley following on a close 2nd..

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

I know Forsberg is a hockey god in Sweden, but he hasn't played that well in "Best on Best" tournaments.

96 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 4

98 Olympics
GP 4
G 1
A 4

02 Olympics
Injured, did not play

04 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 2

Total
GP 12
G 3
A 10
P 13

Those numbers aren't bad, but he has hardly dominated.
If he's plays injured again this year, I wouldn't expect him to contribute much.

 

[Canuck21t]

Since we don't know the lines yet, I won't name names on the first lines but I have no doubt that the most dangerous first line will be the Russian first line. Canada on the other hands will have amazing 2nd and 3rd lines.

 

[larsmark]

I know Forsberg is a hockey god in Sweden, but he hasn't played that well in "Best on Best" tournaments.

96 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 4

98 Olympics
GP 4
G 1
A 4

02 Olympics
Injured, did not play

04 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 2

Total
GP 12
G 3
A 10
P 13

Those numbers aren't bad, but he has hardly dominated.
If he's plays injured again this year, I wouldn't expect him to contribute much.

You're stats aren't correct...Here are the correct ones:

1996 WCup -> 4GP 1G 4A 5P
1998 OG -> 4GP 1G 5A 6P
2004 WCup -> 4GP 1G 2A 3P

Total: 12GP, 3G, 11A -> 14P

Not big diff but...It's a quite nice average of 1.17p/game. There are not many weak team games in the bigger tournaments either...

1998 Worlds -> 7GP 6G 5A 11P
2003 Worlds -> 8GP 4G 5A 9P
2004 Worlds -> 2GP 0G 1A 1P (only played the semi and final where he got rammed by Rob Niedermyer)

If you look at the national team efforts Mats Sundin produce more points though...Forsberg does contribute in a lot of other ways too. Won't forget when he ran over Palfy in the semifinals of the 2003 Worlds

 

[TheRedressor]

Rucinsky-Straka-Jagr

 

[Garbs]

I know Forsberg is a hockey god in Sweden, but he hasn't played that well in "Best on Best" tournaments.

96 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 4

98 Olympics
GP 4
G 1
A 4

02 Olympics
Injured, did not play

04 World Cup
GP 4
G 1
A 2

Total
GP 12
G 3
A 10
P 13

Those numbers aren't bad, but he has hardly dominated.
If he's plays injured again this year, I wouldn't expect him to contribute much.

Sundin is king.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Ovechkin - Datsyuk - Kovalev
Ovechkin - Malkin - Afinogenov

Essentially Ovechkin with two great linemates will do the trick.

 

[teme]

Essentially Ovechkin with two great linemates will do the trick.

We'll see, I have quite a few players ranked ahead of him starting with Jagr who thanks to the WC owns the bragging rights to greatest international player right now, what exactly did Alexei do? Many great players tend to be in not so great in these tournaments. Forsberg as already mentioned has been awesome times, but nowhere near as good as he is in NHL. Lidström hasn't been exactly stellar either. Kovalchuk hasn't done anything for team Russia, and if I were to judge say Pronger purely on his international play, I'd call him an average dman.

Some players OTOH tend to play better than normal in these kind of games. Jukka Hentunen from Finland, Straka, Cajanek, heck half of team Czech Republic when they feel like it, Draper and Maltby for Canada, and so on... Or take defencemen, who have to make the biggest adjustments: Based purely on international games, my dream defence would have Niedermayer, Timonen and Zidlisky as number one, two and three respectively.

 

[Platapie]

I hope some of Sweden's elite make the trip, it's the only time of the year that Sundin gets to play with world class linemates and really show just how great of a player he truly is.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

I'd bet my money on Canada's first line.

 

[Ovechkin_mvp]

Kovalchuk - Datsuyk - Kovalev

by far is the most dangerous line in the tournament

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

Sundin is king.

He is the king!
In comparison, Sundin played in the 96 World Cup, 98 Olympics, 02 Olympics and 04 World Cup.
Here are his stats:
16GP, 13G, 11A, 24P

 

[artilector]

Ovechkin-Forsberg-Iginla I think if you add this line to Kazakhstan, they become a solid medal contender... I mean, how would you stop these guys?

Back in the real world, I'll take :
1. Kovalchuk-Datsyuk-Kovalev if Kovalchuk will play to his potential
2. Ovechkin-Malkin-Kovalev if Malkin will hold his own against the big boys
3. Gagne-Sakic-Iginla for consistent dominance

Damn, its too bad Fedorov did not go to CBJ before, Zherdev could have been ready by now... in the next Olympics, Ovechkin-Malkin-Zherdev will be ridiculous if they mesh as a unit.