Team USA Roster announced

[nomorekids]

Changes I would have made to the roster.

Add - Gomez, Parrish and York.

Subtract - Amonte, Halpern and Smolinski

i would leave amonte, but trade halpern and smoke for parrish and york. i think amonte is going to surprise some people at this thing. i still can't forget that breakaway goal to make it 1-0 in the gold medal game at salt lake. he had a great tournement, all around.

 

[nomorekids]

also, i'd sub in keith carney and paul mara instead of hatcher and chelios

 

[Jasper17]

Changes I would have made to the roster.

Add - Gomez, Parrish and York.

Subtract - Amonte, Halpern and Smolinski

I wouldn't argue with that.

I would also rather have Leclair on the team. I know he hasn't been that great as of late but I love his size.

 

[Postman]

Changes I would have made to the roster.

Add - Gomez, Parrish and York.

Subtract - Amonte, Halpern and Smolinski

Halpern is one player I wouldn't remove. Very underrated defensive center, and should center the fourth line. Amonte -- although didn't have a great season, is still one of USA's better talents and always plays well in international tournaments.

The only switch I'd make is Blake for York.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Halpern is one player I wouldn't remove. Very underrated defensive center, and should center the fourth line. Amonte -- although didn't have a great season, is still one of USA's better talents and always plays well in international tournaments.

The only switch I'd make is Blake for York.

I'd have Conroy centering my 4th line.

Amonte and LeClair have both been very hot and cold this year. Amonte scored the World Cup winner last time, and LeClair played on the US's best ling in Salt Lake.

I figured they'd take one of the two, thought they would lean more to LeClair.

Parrish is a better goal scorer than Amonte at this point.

 

[Jasper17]

Halpern is one player I wouldn't remove. Very underrated defensive center, and should center the fourth line. Amonte -- although didn't have a great season, is still one of USA's better talents and always plays well in international tournaments.

The only switch I'd make is Blake for York.

I'm from Maryland, and i'm a Caps fan so i love Halpern. But Rolston is a better player, he should center the 4th line.

I do think Halpern is a good guy to have as your 5th center just in case someone gets hurt.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I'm from Maryland, and i'm a Caps fan so i love Halpern. But Rolston is a better player, he should center the 4th line.

IMO Rolston is better when he plays on the wing

 

[Postman]

I'd have Conroy centering my 4th line.

Amonte and LeClair have both been very hot and cold this year. Amonte scored the World Cup winner last time, and LeClair played on the US's best ling in Salt Lake.

I figured they'd take one of the two, thought they would lean more to LeClair.

Parrish is a better goal scorer than Amonte at this point.

I liked the idea of keeping Roenick on the wing, so I'd probably have Conroy on my third line.

Parrish is a good goal scorer in-close, and although he has a great shot, he usually only scores from more than 10 feet when he's hot. He's too streaky, IMO.

Forgot, I'd probably have Gomez over Smoke, as well.

 

[Jasper17]

These are the forwards i would have liked to see

Guerin Weight Modano
Tkachuk Roenick LeClair
Parrish Gomez York
Hull Conroy Amonte
Kono Rolston Blake

 

[Jasper17]

His shot is far more dangerous at least, more goals from him when on the wing. Plays better defensively too imo.

He may be a better winger then a center.

But I still like him better at center then Halpern.

 

[Jasper17]

Yeah, Halpern is awesome when on wing... Hits everything that moves, opens up the ice well.

Thats not really what i meant.

I meant Rolston may be at his best on wing. But he is still a better center than Halpern. I think Rolston is a better wing than Halpern too.

I really don't think of Halpern as a big hitter at all. He is a very smart player who is always in the right position. He only as average speed, hands, shooting and passing ability. But he gets the most out of that because he works hard and is knows the game and where he needs to be.

Because of his knowledge of the game and his work ethic he has made himself into a good NHL player and i love him for that. But it is to be seen if he can make himself a good international player.

Halpern is a good defensive center but he has a problem defending guys with speed. An Example of this would be the last playoff series against Pittsburgh a couple years ago. He got the asignment of playing against the Mario and Jagr line and did a great job on them, thats really when he made a name for himself. He stopped those two guys from beating the Caps that year (it was the Lang, Kovalev, Straka line that beat us) Then last year when he got the same job to shut down the Bolts top line of Vinny and St. Louis, he really could do much about it because of those players speed, those two basically had there way.

I think Halpern can be a good asset to have if he is played in the right situations, and I am sure Wilson knows this and will use him accordingly.

 

[Jasper17]

On wing he doesn't make big hits, but lots of them.

I disagree again.

I watch him a lot and he really doesn't rack up a bunch of hits. He is much more of a play the angles type of player. He limits time and space and always seems to make the smart play. But I really don't think of him as a physical force on the ice at all.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

For everyone commenting on how ancient the U.S. roster is, here are the average ages of both U.S. and Canada:

U.S. is 30.54
Canada is 28.03


That can be misleading I suppose, but I just don't see 2 1/2 years being that much of a differance, especially in a tournament like this.

 

[Missionhockey]

I think there are more talented players that can fill Halpern's role. A person I'd love to see on the Devils, but expendable as far as team USA is concerned.

 

[SaveByHexy]

First time in a while John Leclair hasn't been on the team, eh?

Deservedly so...

 

[King Fish]

Chelios, Hatcher, Klee???? Don't like 'em. Over the hill IMO.

Amonte, Hull??? Hull was worthless all playoffs. Amonte has been ok at best.

Sounds like a lot of big names past their prime. Where's the youth??? York?

 

[Chelios]

Really? Who could have been on the team that would have made that much of a differance? I don't mind constructive criticism, but much of the talk here is worthless. Just empty potshots with no reason behind it. By the way, nice handle and avatar.....

I think someone needs to calm down and stop trying so hard to defend this team. It seems that you are one of the very few people happy with this team, do you think that perhaps the tons of other people might be on to something?

 

[nomorekids]

I think someone needs to calm down and stop trying so hard to defend this team. It seems that you are one of the very few people happy with this team, do you think that perhaps the tons of other people might be on to something?

i wouldn't say he's one of a few. most of the americans on the board seem to like it. the only ones that don't...are bitter because player x from their team wasn't named. would i have liked to have seen legwand on the team, rather than smolinski? sure...but i'm not going to cry about it. the other half that doesn't like the team...are canadians...and like i said, of course they're going to leap like vultures all over something they can perceive as a weakness in their archrival. as another poster pointed out...this is inherently the same roster that came VERY close to winning a gold medal in salt lake city...with what i think will be a more mobile defense and better checking forwards.

 

[jcpenny]

Add Bertuzzi and Primeau on the canadian squad and they are unstoppable...

 

[Blackjack]

I don't think Devils fans should be too upset over the exclusion of Scott Gomez. Yeah, he put up 70 points, but as far as 1st line scorers go, that's a relatively modest number. Weight, who plays a very similar style, scored 5 fewer points in 5 fewer games, I don't think the U.S. loses that much by going with Weight.

Gomez will be an extremely important part of Team USA in the near future as guys like Guerin, Hull, Modano, Weight, Roenick, and Tkchuck get older. Gomez is one of the very few young American Forwards that is a proven scorer.

I agree with the consensus on Mike York, he should've been there.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think someone needs to calm down and stop trying so hard to defend this team. It seems that you are one of the very few people happy with this team, do you think that perhaps the tons of other people might be on to something?

Oh, you mean the tons of Canadians slagging on the team? I tend to take their criticism with a grain of salt. I don't care if I'm in the minority on this board. This is a good team, and will play as such.

 

[Herby]

Oh, you mean the tons of Canadians slagging on the team? I tend to take their criticism with a grain of salt. I don't care if I'm in the minority on this board. This is a good team, and will play as such.

Agreed.

The age argument is also pretty lame, it doesn't matter if the average age is 45 years old, its a 2 week tournament.

I still think it will be a USA v. Canada final and its anyones game.

 

[leafaholix*]

Chelios, Hatcher, Klee???? Don't like 'em. Over the hill IMO.

Amonte, Hull??? Hull was worthless all playoffs. Amonte has been ok at best.

Sounds like a lot of big names past their prime. Where's the youth??? York?

Ken Klee is not over the hill.

Trust me.

 

[iAvs]

USA's roster is a little older than I would have liked, but I think we've got a solid team. Big question mark is goaltending, but any of those guys can rise to the occassion.

 

[joe_shannon_1983*]

Here are the changes I would have liked to have seen made (my changes are to the right and in bold):

Halpern ----> Gomez
Blake ----> LeClair
Smolinski ----> Marchant
Leopold ----> Carney

Other than that, I think Team U.S.A. did the best they could have did.