Olympics: IF Canada sent a B team, what would you like to see?

[glucker]

Would you like to see the A team take all the top guys, and the B team take the left-overs, or would you like to see two balanced teams?

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[TOGuy14]

With the quality of some top contenders I think we would dilute too much if we sent two balanced teams. As it stands right now we have only a slight advantage over a team like Sweden.

I would rather send one dominant team and then send a "B" team to see if they could compete for a bronze medal on their own.

Hall - Giroux - Seguin
Neal - Thornton -Eberle
J.Skinner - Couture - E.Staal
Lucic - Richards - Marchand
Ladd

Phaneuf -Seabrrok
Giordano - Boyle
M. Staal - Letang

Bernier
MAF
Holtby?

Just spitballing off the top of my head really.

 

[JeremyTB]

Would you like to see the A team take all the top guys, and the B team take the left-overs, or would you like to see two balanced teams?

I Think you can build a 2nd Canada team that would be stronger than every other team but team Canada #1.

 

[NewFang]

I think the whole idea sending two teams from one country is a bad idea. I know that it's allowed in other events but what if you end up with a Canada vs Canada medal game? It would be pretty lame.

 

[JeremyTB]

With the quality of some top contenders I think we would dilute too much if we sent two balanced teams. As it stands right now we have only a slight advantage over a team like Sweden.

I would rather send one dominant team and then send a "B" team to see if they could compete for a bronze medal on their own.

Hall - Giroux - Seguin
Neal - Thornton -Eberle
J.Skinner - Couture - E.Staal
Lucic - Richards - Marchand
Ladd

Phaneuf -Seabrrok
Giordano - Boyle
M. Staal - Letang

Bernier
MAF
Holtby?

Just spitballing off the top of my head really.

Should be able to use Stamkos for the B team since he wasn't on the A team. Subban should be able to use also since he was scratched every game.

 

[Radiohead]

Should be able to use Stamkos for the B team since he wasn't on the A team. Subban should be able to use also since he was scratched every game.

This is a redo situation. Stamkos gets put on Team A.

 

[JeremyTB]

This is a redo situation. Stamkos gets put on Team A.

Yeah but team A won without him, so they don't need him. And if Team A gets Stamkos they have take someone off their team. So I guess St Louis who was his replacement goes to team B?

 

[Quares27]

I'd definitely take the leftovers rather than balancing... you want the best shot at the gold

It would be cool if they did that... the majority of sports allow more than 1 competitor per country. You see a bunch of skiiers or snowboarders from one country that can win multiple medals and you can have Canada 1, Canada 2 and Canada 3 in sports like Bobsleigh.

They wouldn't do it because the tournament doesn't have enough competitors but it would be cool. Sure it might be beneficial to countries like Canada and USA but then again I didn't see people complaining when Russia won gold, silver and bronze in the Men's 50k on the last day of the Olympics.

 

[Back in Black]

Do like some Team did, and take Gretzky & Lemieux out of retirement!

 

[here come the]

It'd be awesome, but there'd be so much more pressure on Canada #1. And there are tons of Olympic sports where you compete against your own country, so it's not like its outside of the spirit of the Olympics.

 

[leafsfuture]

If Canada could send a legit 2nd team to Sochi, this is what I would do (not an all-star team):

James Neal -- Claude Giroux -- Wayne Simmonds
Taylor Hall -- Ryan Johansen -- Tyler Seguin
Logan Couture -- Joe Thornton -- Nathan Mackinnon
Brad Marchand -- Eric Staal -- Jarome Iginla
Jordan Eberle
Ryan O'Rielly

Dion Phaneuf -- Brent Seabrook
Mark Giordano -- Dan Boyle
Andrew Macdonald -- Travis Hamonic
Mike Green
Jason Demers

Jonathan Bernier
Marc-Andrew Fleury

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

This would be my lineup for a second Team Canada entry (assuming those injured at the start of the Olympics weren't available, such as E. Kane and Letang):

Taylor Hall - Claude Giroux - Tyler Seguin
Logan Couture - Joe Thornton - James Neal
Milan Lucic - Eric Staal - Andrew Ladd
Ryan O'Reilly - Jason Spezza - Jordan Eberle
Extras: Jordan Staal - Mike Richards

Defense:
Dion Phaneuf - Dan Boyle
Mark Giordano - Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell - Dan Girardi
Extras: Francois Beauchemin - Marc Staal

Goalies:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Corey Crawford
Extra: Cam Ward

Not too sure about the defense. I think the forwards look good and can compete with most countries, but that defense looks a little weak.

 

[Megahab]

It'd be awesome, but there'd be so much more pressure on Canada #1. And there are tons of Olympic sports where you compete against your own country, so it's not like its outside of the spirit of the Olympics.

I don't believe there are any team sports that have more than one team from the same country, are there? Maybe curling or something that I'm not aware of.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I don't believe there are any team sports that have more than one team from the same country, are there? Maybe curling or something that I'm not aware of.

Is 4-man bobsled considered a team sport? Countries send up to 3 teams for that event.

Curling, on the other hand, only sends one team.

 

[Samcanadian]

As I read through these lineups, I realize now that a competitive "Canada B" isn't as realistic as I thought. James Neal, Milan Lucic and Ryan O'Reilly on a gold medal winning team? I doubt it.

 

[Samcanadian]

Is 4-man bobsled considered a team sport? Countries send up to 3 teams for that event.

Curling, on the other hand, only sends one team.

There's a lot of regional qualifying that takes place for the Olympics that we never see here in Canada and the USA with things like hockey, curling etc. If you were to have two Canadian teams, they'd need to both be ranked in the top 9 IIHF rankings to qualify automatically (Which wouldn't happen) or else qualify through play-ins against the other 9 teams.

IIHF only recognizes one team per country, so a Canada B team isn't even a possibility.

 

[Classicnamesup]

I think the whole idea sending two teams from one country is a bad idea. I know that it's allowed in other events but what if you end up with a Canada vs Canada medal game? It would be pretty lame.

Maybe for you, I am going for Team Jacob

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

There's a lot of regional qualifying that takes place for the Olympics that we never see here in Canada and the USA with things like hockey, curling etc. If you were to have two Canadian teams, they'd need to both be ranked in the top 9 IIHF rankings to qualify automatically (Which wouldn't happen) or else qualify through play-ins against the other 9 teams.

IIHF only recognizes one team per country, so a Canada B team isn't even a possibility.

Obviously if the IIHF only allows one team per country, this discussion is moot. However, just for fun in a hypothetical situation where you can have more than one team per country, you don't think "Canada B" could qualify ahead of teams like Slovenia, Germany, Norway, etc.?

Even if Canada B had to play and defeat some of those lesser teams to qualify (instead of an automatic berth), you don't think they can do it?

 

[likid]

Obviously if the IIHF only allows one team per country, this discussion is moot. However, just for fun in a hypothetical situation where you can have more than one team per country, you don't think "Canada B" could qualify ahead of teams like Slovenia, Germany, Norway, etc.?

Even if Canada B had to play and defeat some of those lesser teams to qualify (instead of an automatic berth), you don't think they can do it?

Canada have almost 500 players that played at least 1 game in NHL this season. Slovenia have 150 senior players TOTAL.

Why would be even debatable if Canada B team is better than our NT team?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Canada have almost 500 players that played at least 1 game in NHL this season. Slovenia have 150 senior players TOTAL.

Why would be even debatable if Canada B team is better than our NT team?

...That's what I was asking the guy I quoted.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

I'd definitely take the leftovers rather than balancing... you want the best shot at the gold

It would be cool if they did that... the majority of sports allow more than 1 competitor per country. You see a bunch of skiiers or snowboarders from one country that can win multiple medals and you can have Canada 1, Canada 2 and Canada 3 in sports like Bobsleigh.

They wouldn't do it because the tournament doesn't have enough competitors but it would be cool. Sure it might be beneficial to countries like Canada and USA but then again I didn't see people complaining when Russia won gold, silver and bronze in the Men's 50k on the last day of the Olympics.

There are no direct competition sports that I'm aware of wherein countries send multiple teams to the Olympics. Bobsleigh, skiing, etc. etc. are sports wherein you're competing indirectly for the medals - that is, you're trying to perform best out of the group, but you're not trying to prevent your opponents from a good result, nor are they trying to prevent you from a good result.

With sports like hockey, curling, soccer, tennis, etc. not only are you in direct competition (attempting to outperform your opponent while preventing them from a good result e.g. limiting goals against, etc) but it's also single competition, be it one person vs another, or a single country's team vs another country's team. In the sports where a country may have multiple entries, there's always a field of 4+ teams competing in a given heat. It prevents the patent ridiculousness of potentially having a country compete directly with itself for a medal spot, which is something that could potentially happen if a second Canadian team were introduced into hockey.