Olympics: US Takes only 9 of Top 20 Scorers

[noobman]

Any country that takes a purely offensive team to the Olympics will get burned by Russia, and possibly Canada too.

 

[Coach Craig]

Its pretty simple, Burke builds his teams with a distinct top 6 and bottom 6.

and proper levels of testosterone, belligerence, truculence, and pugnacity. With Olympic testing you need to make sure you have a good balance.

 

[AmericanDream]

a big game for Ryan Callahan last night, as well as Brandon Dubinsky. If Callahan could just start to put a few more of these together, nobody would be questioning his inclusion on this team. I can't expect a lot of 4 point nights, but if he can notch another 10 goals by the Olympic break, that would be excellent.

Drury had a solid game as well, now if only Chris Higgins could start doing something!!!

 

[Captain Mittens*]

It's about building a team not a collection of all-stars.

 

[cptjeff]

It's about building a team not a collection of all-stars.

Trouble is, in the Olympics, the all star approach has historically worked a lot better. It's not the NHL, they're not playing in an 82 game season where you have to grind it out, deal with injuries and such. The other teams are bringing all star teams that are going to put up goals no matter how gritty your defense is, and you have to be able to score in response.

I don't think this US team can do that. And I think Burke is to blame. One checking line? Okay. Two? Not a good idea in the olympics. The US is in a weak group, so there's a decent chance to advance past that, but I don't see a team that can only roll 2 scoring lines in contrast to the 3 or 4 of other powers doing all that well.

 

[State of Hockey]

I think Burke's top-6/bottom-6 setup will end up being his downfall. That is the right formula for an NHL team, not an Olympic team. NHL teams rarely have the chance to field 3 scoring lines. But when they do, do they scrap it? No way! They roll three lines that can score. Olympic teams should have at least three scoring lines. You have the chance to go with three, so you do it. The 4th line is the checking line, not the 3rd! Canada is setup nicely that way.

Guys like Connolly and Okposo should not have been left off the team, period. The USA severely lacks offensive players, and Connolly provides a lot of it. Both are young guys too.

 

[Dado]

All that I am saying is that I cannot recall the US leaving this many top 20 scorers behind...

Not sure I see the problem. Factor out Kessel's injury, and you're looking at 32 points as the cutoff. Only one player on the "not going" list is clearly above that.

Did I misunderstand something?

I think the US roster is capable of winning it all, in a short tournament (I'm a Canadian).

 

[sourdough]

They still took 8 out of the top 10 and Kessel who would be top 5 if it wasn't for injuries. The op is blowing this out of proportion.

Look at Canada's top 30 in Scoring

1. Thornton - Made It
2. Crosby - Made It
3. Brad Richards - Didn't even make the summer camp
4. St Louis - Didn't make it
5. Marleau - Made it
6. Green - Didn't even though outscoring Boyle by 13 points
7- Stamkos - Didn't make it
8. Perry - Made it
9. Getzlaf - Made it
10. Lecavelier - Didn't make it
11. Horton Didn't make it
12. Nash - Made it
13. Stastny - Didn't make it
14. Keith - Made it
15. Iginla - Made it
16. Weiss - Didn't make it
17. Penner - Didn't make it
18. Cammalleri - Didn't make it
19. Mike Richards - Made it
20. Toews - Made
21-30: Burrows, Carter, Sharp, Bourque, Fisher, Peverley, Vermette, Boyle, Zajac, Brunette. Only one made it.

Canada took 3 of the top 5, 5 of the top 10, 10 of the top 20, 11 of the top 30. Burke did a much better job of takinng his top scorers than Yzerman did.

 

[Fowla10]

Honestly, I really don't mind the team Burke put together. Of course there are some questionable picks, but every team has a few.
Look at Finland in Torino. They were hardly built around an offensive mindset, they did quite well, while Canada went balls out and tried to play run and gun, and we lost to ****ing Switzerland(and good on the swiss too. played team defense, rode a hot goalie, got a win).
Even Canada has focused significantly more on a defensive presence because we look at Russia and think, holy **** that's a lot of offense. We might need someone to check them.
So for the Americans to try and go balls out offense and try to compete would be Pejorative Slured. Get to the medal round, and grind out some wins, and you never know.

 

[RabidBadger]

the 96 World Cup team had Brian Rolston, Shawn McEachern, Joel Otto, Adam Deadmarsh, Scott Young and Brian Smolinski in their bottom 6. None of those guys were big scorers aside from a career year from a few of them. that team did just fine, and they didn't have Roenik, who was the most prolific scorer aside from Hull. Those guys brought a lot of other attributes to the table which I think the guys selected for this team bring.

I'm no fan of Burke, but I'm pretty pleased with this team aside from Drury and Komisarek. If Drury can muster any of his mojo from his Colorado or Buffalo days then I'll take him. Komi has cement hands, cement feet and a cement head....much like Derian Hatcher who played brilliantly on the aformentioned World Cup team.....I'm not counting on the same from Komi, though.

Aside from Backes I think the 3rd and 4th lines have a pretty decent offensive upside. This is the 1st time in US hockey history we could field a second team that could be moderately competitive which makes the selection process even more difficult. I can't see any of the players people are whining about not being on the team making that great an impact over what we have. Connelly is one dimensional, at least Drury is aware of his own zone. All of our centers are more complete players than Connelly.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Since they announced the roster Okposo has been putting up points, consistently (currently on a 6-game point streak). His lack of production was probably enough to keep him off. Here's hoping that if there's an injury he's the first replacement.

 

[Sykie]

The "9 of the top 20" stat is a little misleading since they're taking 7 of the top 8. Connolly (6th) is the only guy who is really an outlier here, and his omission is simply a product of the fact that he is not the kind of center Burke is looking for as a 3rd/4th liner, and Kessler and Statsny (the top 2 centers) are ranked higher on the list than Connolly is.

Exactly. The top scorers will be there, and the team is completed by complete players for the more defensive lines. There is no shock here, really.

 

[BigFatCat999]

This is a Burke/Poile team. They don't want scorers put on a grind line. Stopping the opposing team's top lines is just as good as scoring yourself. They have players who can play the role. You can't outscore Russia and Canada but if you can play a 1-0 game the USA has a better chance of winning. Note: this game is being played on NHL ice. If this was on the international surface the team would look differently.

 

[mbrlzboy]

Since they announced the roster Okposo has been putting up points, consistently (currently on a 6-game point streak). His lack of production was probably enough to keep him off. Here's hoping that if there's an injury he's the first replacement.

Yea, unfortunately they already announced the Alternates [Gionta, Oshie, Pominville, and Craig Andersen]

And yea Okposo has been putting up more points since he was snubbed but anyone who has watched him play can tell hes not playing any different, and Burke's "Committee" decided he didn't have enough experience

 

[mcphllp]

I dont know what all the Bi**** and complaining is for, I think the Americans have a pretty solid team. I understand the frustration over not picking Connolly, but you have to see that going into the Xmas break he had 2 points in 15 games. Who would he have replaced?

 

[William H Bonney]

Yea, unfortunately they already announced the Alternates [Gionta, Oshie, Pominville, and Craig Andersen]

And yea Okposo has been putting up more points since he was snubbed but anyone who has watched him play can tell hes not playing any different, and Burke's "Committee" decided he didn't have enough experience

USA Hockey announced nothing in regards to alternates as far as I know. It was the Blues blogger who mentioned those names and frankly, I don't trust his sources based on the names thrown out there.

 

[mbrlzboy]

USA Hockey announced nothing in regards to alternates as far as I know. It was the Blues blogger who mentioned those names and frankly, I don't trust his sources based on the names thrown out there.

Sorry, thats a good thing maybe Okposo/Conolly are the first 2 alternates if there is an injury

 

[William H Bonney]

Sorry, thats a good thing maybe Okposo/Conolly are the first 2 alternates if there is an injury

Everyone in the drug testing program that sticks with it would still be in the running.

Realistically, it just depends on who would potentially need to be replaced. If Phil Kessel or Pat Kane goes down, we're not going to see TJ Oshie replace them for example. Burke and co. built this team with a specific plan. They'd treat replacement players the same.

In my mind, Okposo would certainly be one of the first choices.

 

[lifeisruff]

Any country that takes a purely offensive team to the Olympics will get burned by Russia, and possibly Canada too.

Seriously, bringing a Connolly or Gomez is like bringing a sword to a gun fight. Burke thought it might be better to bring a bunker.

 

[mattihp]

Teams Canada and Sweden are also employing this tactic because they have deep enough talent pools to leave out the non-elite scorers.

Sweden has Weinhandl there. Remember him from his NA stint? Probably not, and for a reason.

 

[Cermi]

just look at the Leafs...Burkie knows what he is doing...

Problems is that Leafs have bottom 6 and deep bottom 6...

 

[Darius Dangleaitis]

They'd be stupid not to play Parise with Langenbrunner.

Parise-Stastny-Langenbrunner would be solid, and that would give them another capable line with Kessel and Kane.

 

[Stealth JD]

the 96 World Cup team had Brian Rolston, Shawn McEachern, Joel Otto, Adam Deadmarsh, Scott Young and Brian Smolinski in their bottom 6. None of those guys were big scorers aside from a career year from a few of them. that team did just fine, and they didn't have Roenik, who was the most prolific scorer aside from Hull. Those guys brought a lot of other attributes to the table which I think the guys selected for this team bring.

I'm no fan of Burke, but I'm pretty pleased with this team aside from Drury and Komisarek. If Drury can muster any of his mojo from his Colorado or Buffalo days then I'll take him. Komi has cement hands, cement feet and a cement head....much like Derian Hatcher who played brilliantly on the aformentioned World Cup team.....I'm not counting on the same from Komi, though.

Aside from Backes I think the 3rd and 4th lines have a pretty decent offensive upside. This is the 1st time in US hockey history we could field a second team that could be moderately competitive which makes the selection process even more difficult. I can't see any of the players people are whining about not being on the team making that great an impact over what we have. Connelly is one dimensional, at least Drury is aware of his own zone. All of our centers are more complete players than Connelly.

When did David Backes get considered a defensive specialist? Dude scored 31 goals last year, and will probably hit 20 again this year. He's been snake-bitten to this point, but to say he has less than "decent offensive upside" is beyond ridiculous.

 

[glovesave_35]

Remember when Gretzky employed the same tactic for Canada as Burke is for the U.S?
Draper was great!

What if one of your scoring lines doesn't produce? Players slump. Do you really want all offensive responsibilities to fall on the shoulders of 3 guys?

Given that defense is supposedly our weakest link, wouldn't it make sense to stock your roster with solid two-way players, and the bottom with truly defensive players? There aren't too many names on that list that were left off that I think would help this team win more than the ones they did choose.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Problems is that Leafs have bottom 6 and deep bottom 6...

more like they have Kessell, then bottom six, then unmentionables