What is Kris Draper doing on this team?

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Chileiceman

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Dec 14, 2004
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Why did Gretzky pick Kris Draper for this team?
In 34 games he has 1 goal and 7 points. If he wanted a defensive forward he should of gone with Lapperiere or someone else.
But really, having all the talent that Canada has why even have a defensive line? Staal, Spezza and Crosby are all better choices than Kris Draper for crying out loud.
Sometimes I wonder if Gretzky or whoever made this team, has been following the NHL this year. This team looks almost exactly like the 04 World Cup team. IMO these international tournaments are so short that "international experience" isn't worth all that much.
 

canuckers88

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Draper has been apart of winning teams
Someone needs to cover for bertuzzi who will park himself at the offensive blueline the whole shift
Draper has loads of international experience
 

fastfeet*

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I don't have a beef with draper cause he does wear his heart on his sleeve and isn't a defensive liability, on the other hand in my humble opinion I do believe Crosby is better than almost all of the forwards listed..Todd Bertuzzi should not be on this team, as well as shane doan, what has he done this season? Isn't gagne injured yet again?? Rick Nash, he has been out a couple of mos comes back and then reinjures himself all in the same year he gets a huge raise a coincidence I think not, and he gets named to the olympic squad..Somehow I believe Spezza will be on this team...and what exactly has he won??
 

interminded

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pensadmirer said:
I don't have a beef with draper cause he does wear his heart on his sleeve and isn't a defensive liability, on the other hand in my humble opinion I do believe Crosby is better than almost all of the forwards listed..Todd Bertuzzi should not be on this team, as well as shane doan, what has he done this season? Isn't gagne injured yet again?? Rick Nash, he has been out a couple of mos comes back and then reinjures himself all in the same year he gets a huge raise a coincidence I think not, and he gets named to the olympic squad..Somehow I believe Spezza will be on this team...and what exactly has he won??


Crosby is a kid, these are Olympic Games for adults.
 

Chileiceman

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Dec 14, 2004
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Ok maybe Draper plays with heart and guts and bla bla bla. But why don't understand is having so much talent to choose from, why Draper?
Crosby, Marleau,Spezza,Staal,Shanahan (there's your "experience"),Sullivan,etc,etc are all way better than Draper this season, even when you factor in all the intangibles.
 

fastfeet*

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A talented one at that, all I can see the kid doing is scoring a winning goal, kid or not he helps that team more than half on it IMO
 

fastfeet*

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Chileiceman said:
Ok maybe Draper plays with heart and guts and bla bla bla. But why don't understand is having so much talent to choose from, why Draper?
Crosby, Marleau,Spezza,Staal,Shanahan (there's your "experience"),Sullivan,etc,etc are all way better than Draper this season, even when you factor in all the intangibles.


Those players mentioned aren't want Draper brings to the table...he's unselfish and leads by example
 

God Bless Canada

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And who would you rather have as a checking centre? Draper has been a stalward every time he has played for Canada. The International Grind Line was terrific at the 2003 World Championships. The DDT line was Canada's best at the World Cup.

You need a line to shut down the opponent's top players. Draper, over the last two-plus years in international competition, has been the best in that situation. That's why he's on the team.
 

ToNedOuT

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Apr 22, 2004
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God Bless Canada said:
And who would you rather have as a checking centre? Draper has been a stalward every time he has played for Canada. The International Grind Line was terrific at the 2003 World Championships. The DDT line was Canada's best at the World Cup.

You need a line to shut down the opponent's top players. Draper, over the last two-plus years in international competition, has been the best in that situation. That's why he's on the team.

Well said....he brings a lot to the table and was one of our best players in the World Cup.
 

bure94

Guest
Are you kidding ?


Lap dog: 0 Cup Rings. 0 Internation Experience.
Draper: 3 Cup Rings. 1 Gold Medal.


Draper >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lappy.

(Well not really, but this Draper whining is getting ridiculous).
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
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God Bless Canada said:
And who would you rather have as a checking centre? Draper has been a stalward every time he has played for Canada. The International Grind Line was terrific at the 2003 World Championships. The DDT line was Canada's best at the World Cup.

You need a line to shut down the opponent's top players. Draper, over the last two-plus years in international competition, has been the best in that situation. That's why he's on the team.

He's also nearly 35, has 1 goal, and has been completely invisible in the Detroit games I've seen this year. If he was still the player he was in 2003, I'd be all for having him on the team. But he's not.

Mike Fisher, Ian Laperriere, and others are superior to Draper at this point in time. This is a lazy, 'well, he did OK before' sort of selection.

If he struggles this selection should be heavily criticised. Having Draper-type guys on the team is fine. Having a guy who looks washed-up on the team isn't fine.
 

Roy G Biv*

Guest
I think Fisher would look amazing as the 4th line centre... better than Draper.

Too bad he wasn't even named to the 81 man list.
 

Chileiceman

Registered User
Dec 14, 2004
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bure94 said:
Are you kidding ?


Lap dog: 0 Cup Rings. 0 Internation Experience.
Draper: 3 Cup Rings. 1 Gold Medal.


Draper >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lappy.

(Well not really, but this Draper whining is getting ridiculous).

Whao cares about whatever has happened in the past. As of today Kris Draper is not the Kris Draper he was before the lockout.
Maybe career wise what you say is true but right now Lapperiere>>Draper and that's what matters.
 

God Bless Canada

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Mike Fisher and Ian Laperriere weren't on the 81-man list, so try again.

I love Fisher. He's a great skater, and he has some great moves, but he wasn't on the list. (Bad move by the IIHF for even coming up with that concept). Fisher and Mike Richards could be two thirds of our checking line in the future.

At the start of the year, nobody thought Laperriere would be this effective in Colorado. He's been great. But he wasn't on the list, and two months ago, nobody complained when he was excluded.

Canada's choices were Peca, Primeau, Walz, Draper and Madden. (And Mike Richards if you want to include the kiddie corps). Canada made the right move. Draper has gotten the job done in the past, and based on how he has always elevated his play for Canada (from his days as a WJC leader to the 2005 Worlds), I'm confident he'll do it again.
 

gb701

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Half the fun of these boards is the disagreement, so I won't take away anybody's right to criticize. But having said that, give the boys running the team some credit for having an idea of what they are looking for.

As was reported in the analysis of the team posted on the Canoe site:

"Kris Draper has struggled this season and some didn't think he should make the team. By the time the Olympics will be around, he'll be fine. He's the best penalty killer in the NHL and showed his worth at the World Cup as well as shutting down Peter Forsberg at the 2003 IIHF world championship en route to helping Canada win gold.

He also played wing instead of his natural centre at the Olympic camp in Kelowna, B.C., last August, and looked good doing it. That kind of versatility is huge."

Couldn't say it better myself...
 

Chaos Giraffe

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Dec 1, 2004
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canuckers88 said:
Draper has been apart of winning teams
Someone needs to cover for bertuzzi who will park himself at the offensive blueline the whole shift
Draper has loads of international experience

I've noticed that all 24 of your posts have something negative to say about the Canucks and their players.

You're doing an amazing job. Keep up the great work :clap:
 

MS

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Mar 18, 2002
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God Bless Canada said:
Mike Fisher and Ian Laperriere weren't on the 81-man list, so try again.

I love Fisher. He's a great skater, and he has some great moves, but he wasn't on the list. (Bad move by the IIHF for even coming up with that concept). Fisher and Mike Richards could be two thirds of our checking line in the future.

At the start of the year, nobody thought Laperriere would be this effective in Colorado. He's been great. But he wasn't on the list, and two months ago, nobody complained when he was excluded.

Canada's choices were Peca, Primeau, Walz, Draper and Madden. (And Mike Richards if you want to include the kiddie corps). Canada made the right move. Draper has gotten the job done in the past, and based on how he has always elevated his play for Canada (from his days as a WJC leader to the 2005 Worlds), I'm confident he'll do it again.

A guy like Fisher not making the 81-man list is inexcusable, given some of the lumps who were included. I assumed he was.

Of the guys you list, I'd take Madden over Draper at this point, quite easily.
 

Nihilism

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May 2, 2003
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Alot of the players on Team Canada are sound defensivley, so Draper's presence wasn't overly needed. Persoonally, I would have gone with Brendan Morrow.

And if you want to talk about people who shouldn't be on the team, talk about Shane Doan. With the season he is having, he has no business on this team espically when you consider Eric Staal didn't make it.
 

God Bless Canada

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MS said:
A guy like Fisher not making the 81-man list is inexcusable, given some of the lumps who were included. I assumed he was.

Of the guys you list, I'd take Madden over Draper at this point, quite easily.
He was not included on the 81-man list. I believe he was injured at the start of the season, which may have factored in the omission.

There's far more to choosing a team than their performance in the first two months. We learned our lesson about taking guys "at this point" after selecting Shayne Corson for the 1998 Olys. (Corson was a top 10 scorer at that point in the season, and his contributions steadily diminsed after the selection).
 

boredmale

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I guess the team feels they need 1 defensive forward. Personally i would have went with John Madden, he is amazing on faceoffs and just as good defensively as Draper, but i guess they feel Draper has "experience"
 
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Heat McManus

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Nov 27, 2003
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If Draper wasn't picked I would have expected Peca, Madden, or Morrow in his place. I don't think this decision will come back to haunt them. If they have a problem putting the puck in the net with this group of fowards it shouldn't be the fault of the checking line center.

Draper brings experience, hard work, speed (not as much as he used to ahve, but still some) and defensive skill. For the role that he fills he is MUCH more qualified than Crosby, Spezza, or Staal.
 

bearcat11

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I personally don't care if Draper "leads by examples, wears his heart on his sleeve, has international experience" who cares! He has one goal this year! There's other players out there who aren't defensive liabilities, lead by example etc etc and can actually do something in the offensive end. I'm pretty sure Shanahan, Marleau and Crosby aren't devastating defensive liabilities. Young guys have to be given a chance. Lecavalier and Richards were both given a chance a few years back, and that turned out pretty well!
 

Higgy4

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Will everybody forget about stats? Draper isnt on this team to score goals. The team is STOCKED with guys who can score. Draper is one of the best 2-3 penalty killers in the National Hockey League. Last time I checked, they were still calling penalites in the Olympics.

It really is that simple. Draper is the on the team to kill penalties and shut down the other teams forwards. He is TERRIFIC at that job. Who gives a rats *** if he even gets a point?

Some of you need to relax. All of you HF armchair quarterbacks think you are better at this job than Wayne Gretzky? :shakehead
 

God Bless Canada

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They were given a chance in offensive roles. That's the difference. Crosby isn't ready to play in this tournament, let alone in a defensive role. Canada needs a strong, defensive centre, and unless you want Joe Sakic to fill that role, then someone like Draper (my choice among those eligible) or Madden is going to be on the team.

I also don't care how many goals Draper has this year. I care about what he does in his own zone come February. That's it. If he gets the job done in February, and stymies the opposition's top line, that's all that matters.
 
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