Team Canada Roster Announcement + Projected Lines + Thoughts/Analysis

Team Canada 2014:

Goalies: Roberto Luongo - Carey Price - Mike Smith

Defenseman: Jay Bouwmeester, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Dan Hamhuis, Alex Pietrangelo, PK Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber.

Forwards: Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Patrick Sharp, Steve Stamkos, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews

My Projected Lines:

Line #1 - Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Steven Stamkos

Line #2 - Matt Duchene - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp

Line #3 - Jamie Benn - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Line #4 - Patrick Marleau - John Tavares - Rick Nash

Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter


D-Pair #1 - Duncan Keith - Shea Weber

D-Pair #2 - Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo

D-Pair #3 - Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Drew Doughty

D-Pair #4 - Dan Hamhuis - PK Subban


Goalies: Roberto Luongo - Carey Price - Mike Smith


Thoughts/Analysis:

-How Does Claude Giroux not make the team? This guy is one of the best players on the planet and they don't take him, definitely a bad decision. As a big Giroux fan I am very disappointed.
-I would have liked to see them take Joe Thornton, him and Marleau have great chemistry.
-Martin St. Louis must be pretty upset again, 2nd Olympics in a row he is left of the team by his GM Steve Yzerman.
-Very happy that Matt Duchene made this team, his hard work paid off.
-Would have liked to see Dan Boyle and Brent Seabrook over Dan Hamhuis and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
-The goalies worked out like I figured it would, with Luongo as the starter but Carey Price waiting to take over should he need to.
-Yzerman stuck to his word and took 4 left-handed D and 4 right-handed D.
-Chris Kunitz rides Crosby all the way to a potential spot on Canada's 1st line with Sid and Stamkos. I'd like to see Tavares in this role, but I believe off the bat Kunitz will be in that spot.
-Jamie Benn played his way onto this team after not being invited to camp in the summer, well deserved for him.
-PK Subban was the player who was most debated the last year, and he finally silenced all the critics by making this team. I am a big Subban supporter and glad to see him on Team Canada.
-Patrice Bergeron could end up in the same spot he was in 2010, as the teams 13th forward and faceoff/penalty kill specialist. Canada is stacked up the middle with Crosby, Getzlaf, Toews and Tavares.
-Patrick Sharp earned a spot on this team with his play this season, he has been lights out for the Hawks especially in the last month or so.
-Marc-Edouard Vlasic is probably the least-known player on this roster, but he is an extremely hard working defenseman and will be a strong penalty-killer for the team.
-It will be interesting to see who plays with Getzlaf and Perry, I put Jamie Benn because I think those 3 players would dominate the cycle game. However it could also be Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Matt Duchene, Patrick Sharp or John Tavares to name a few options.

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff