World Championships?

Usually Canada can't send it's top team to the World Championships because most guys are still playing in the NHL playoffs. With no NHL this season does that mean Canada will be able to send the same team they sent to the World Cup in the summer?

 

I think less players will participate in the World Championships than in the World Cup. Professional players tend to take the Championships less seriously. The main attraction of the Championships is to have another outlet for playing top-end hockey even after you failed to qualify for the playoffs or after your team's been eliminated.

On top of that, the European teams loaded with NHL talent will likely all be doing well and making the playoffs, so players like Rick Nash, Joe Thornton, Martin St Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards won't be available. I expect the teams to be full of players who stayed at home.

From Vancouver, I'd expect Ed Jovanovski to be on the team rather easily. Bertuzzi may as well make the team if he's reinstated successfully.

But then again, for all we know, there could be an NHL season in place before the World Championships even happen.

 

st. louis won´t make the playoffs with lausanne. thornton and nash would be free to attend at the wc coz the european leagues don´t go as long as the nhl.

However canada won´t send their elite players this year, i guess

 

Actually, from what I herd, the Canadian team at the WC's will be similar to the team which played at the Spengler (spelling?) cup. It is supossed to be a tune up for the National Team (like the old Canadian National Team days) that will most likely play at the 2006 Olympics.

That's because it doesn't look like NHL'ers will be playing the 2006 Olympics. Of course, this is assuming there is a 2006 NHL season. If there isn't, then

 

Exactly. Every european league is scheduled to end long before the Worlds. I wish the NHL could do the same but they just have to draaag it out way into june..

 

That would suck large! I think that as long as they have no committment to their European clubs for playoffs they should be able to represent Canada. And if that Spengler Cup team is what we have to look forward to at the Olympics in Italy, well, I will be cheering, but I won't be watching!

 

But there are some pretty good Canadians playing in Europe right now so even if "only" these guys would play for Canada in the World Championships it'd still be a great team, even if it wouldn't be of World Cup quality. But one of the better teams Canada have provided anyway (considering all the best players currently in Europe do play in this tournament), a team with names such as Thornton, Nash, Lecavalier, Theodore, Souray, Boyle etc would be a pretty decent team.

Although it's possible that it won't be enough to win the gold this year like the last two years, as most of the European stars already play and will most likely play in the World Championships. A team like Slovakia would probably be pretty identical to their World Cup team for example.

 

Nobody will have a club commitment during the WCh, since the playoffs in Europe are over before the WCh start.

 

Yes but the Czechs had all their stars last year and they still didn't make it past the quarter-finals.

They might even have a better team on paper, with Palffy, Handzus and Majesky back in the line-up.

 

If the NHL is locked out still in 2006, will we see the best players at the Olympics?