Pietrangelo has been invited as has Stamkos. This is going to be a very explosive team with a solid defense and very good goaltending from Cann. A definite gold medal contender.
Looks like I was right........but hey, they still brought in a 1990 born D-man in Sauve. Kind of surprises me a bit, as there are a few very capable 1989 born D-man who were available. Would have liked to see Hickey this time.
Overall though, Canada looks to be pretty strong, not their best, but still a very strong team. Forwards look good, although it would have been nice to see Tavares(even though he is an underage) and a few others like MacMillan, Sonne and Cameron. It will be interesting to see how Stamkos performs?
I don't think the '89 age group is as strong as the '85's overall when they won gold at the IIHF U18 a few years back, but they should be gold medal contenders regardless. The 85's were so strong and deep and like this group, had a bunch of returnees from the summer U18 tourney. Canada has a goalie, 5 D-men and 8 forwards back from the gold medal winning team at the August U18 Junior World Cup. Should be fun and I'm looking forward to the tourney!