Auld faded down the stretch. Seemed to be tired. Hopefully a Fernandez or a Luongo will commit to this team. I like Auld, I like Denis. But they aren't the types who will win you a World title.
A good start up front. Crosby is coming off one of the best rookie seasons in NHL history and wants to prove he can shine at this level of international play. He might lead the tournament in scoring. Bergeron has a WJC gold medal and a World Championship gold medal. He and Crosby have shone together before at the WJCs. Calder's a strong addition for the third or fourth line. He has won before. I have concerns about Boyes' skating on the big ice surface, but he boasts elite puck sense. Hopefully Comrie decides to play to his potential. One player who I really want to see added is Anson Carter. Three gold medals for his country. (1994 WJC, 1997 and 2003 WCs). He was, for my money, our best player in our surprise win at the 1997 Worlds, and he scored the tournament-winning goal in 2003. He's a completely different player whenever he plays for his country.
Nash and Bouwmeester would make excellent additions. J-Bouw has really got his game on track since the Olympics, and not many players were named top defenceman at the Worlds before their 20th birthday. Nash was a tournament all-star at last year's Worlds. Schultz and Stuart would both be good additions to the blue line. Schultz, in particular, has always elevated his play for Canada. Any word on Eric Brewer?
There's no bloody way Rick Nash is behind Mike Comrie on our depth chart. Period. Think about it for two seconds. There's a very common sense reason for this. Nash played for Canada at the Olympics. Very few players who played at the Olympics will play at the Worlds, because of the rigours of the long NHL season and the Olys. Very, very few players played at both the Olys and the Worlds in 1998 and 2002. Nash was not impressive at the Olys, but he was an all-star at the Worlds last year. He's battled injuries all year, too. Canada probably didn't think he'd be made available for this tournament. If he's available, he'll be there, and he'll be Crosby's first line left winger. Could it be that the Columbus paper had their facts wrong? The story also doesn't mention how many players were in the first round of invites.
Some posters need to learn to give credit where it is due.