An Olympic Juggernaut

 Simon B

    Since the start of the pandemic, most people have been talking about getting back to "normal", whatever normal may be. Well, there is one non-pandemic-related thing coming back to normal, and that's NHL players in the Olympics. Back in 2018, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman decided to not allow NHL players to represent their countries because he didn't want to have a 3-week break in the middle of the season. Well, this rule was reversed on Wednesday and there will be NHLers in Beijing in 2022!

Why The Players Love it

    It seems obvious, right? Of course, any player would want to represent their country in the Olympics. It's the highest international competition in Hockey. For guys like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Alex Ovechkin, (who are all locks to make their respective national teams), it's awesome to be able to go compete. Most NHL players don't go to the Olympics because they're simply not good enough to make their national team. However, I'm sure they enjoy three weeks off from the day-to-day grind of the regular season and spend time with their family.

    In every international hockey competition, anything short of a gold medal for Canadians is a disappointment. In 2022, we might see Canada put the most talented team in the history of the game onto the ice. Let's take a look at what the Canadian squad may look like, and boy is it a good one! I've mentioned before how having too much talent is a really good problem to have for any team, but this year’s potential Team Canada takes it to another level.

Who Should be on Team Canada

    Goaltending: Well, arguably the best goalie in the world, Carey Price, is Canadian. When Price is at his best, he’s almost unstoppable. With the defensive talent that would be in front of him on the national team, good luck scoring on him. He's a lock for the starting job. Olympic teams have 3 goalies though. I’d give the backup spot to Carter Hart. This Flyers goalie is still young so having him as a backup can get him the experience he needs to become Canada's full-time starter for 2026. For the third goalie, this team has many options. Matt Murray or Jordan Binnington would be reasonable picks, but they've both been pretty inconsistent of late, especially Murray who's struggled in Ottawa early on. But the Olympics are a year away so we'll have to wait it out. If I were picking the team today, I'd take Jordan Binnington because he's had a recent Stanley Cup Final experience. Murray does too, but Binnington’s is more recent, and he's a bit younger so the team can get him some Olympic experience early in his career like Carter Hart. I don't see the third goalie getting a game so I can't see the choice at that spot being too important. 

Choice: Carey Price - Carter Hart - Jordan Binnington

Defense: Again, I'm picking the teams based on performance in 2020-21 so who knows what will happen in a year. I can see Alex Pietrangelo being their clear number once defenseman. But after that, it's a question of who should play with who. Cale Makar, last year's rookie of the year, will most likely be on the team. Morgan Rielly is definitely going to be there as well. Habs’ captain Shea Weber should bring some good leadership to the locker room. Drew Doughty is a possible candidate for a lower pairing, the same for Brent Burns or PK Subban. There are so many talented Candian defensemen that it's a shame that they can't all be on the team. Thomas Chabot is a young defenseman who could make his international debut in 2022, and Kris Letang is also a really good option with some Olympic experience, so there's a good chance we’ll see both in the Canadian lineup.

Choice: Pietrangelo - Makar     Weber - Rielly    Letang - Chabot     Subban - Doughty

Forwards: Here’s where things get really fun! This is where Canada separates itself from every other nation in the world. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby are 100% going to be on the team no matter who you ask. Brayden Point is a really good winger option who could also play center on the fourth line. Bruins’ Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron will most likely be on the team as well -- Marchand for his physical play and Bergeron for his faceoff ability. Mitch Marner can bring his “waterbug” style of play (because he moves around the ice like a water bug, and Mark Schifele is a really creative player who’d look great with Marner on a line together. If he's healthy, Steven Stamkos can be incredibly lethal on a third or fourth line. John Tavares or Johnathan Toews are both good depth options (it's crazy that I'm talking about two of the best centers in the world as backup options!) who can bring leadership and experience to the team. Ryan O'Reilly (with whom I have a pretty cool connection -- more about that later) is also a really good fourth line choice for Canada. Overall, this team will be stacked; the big suspense is all about how that happens.

Picks: MacKinnon - McDavid - Point     Marner - Stamkos -  Schifele

           Bergeron - Crosby - Marchand   O'Reilly - Toews - Tavares

The Wrap

    This team should win gold. There's no doubt about it. But there's a chance a lot of things will change in the next year. I thought it would be fun to go over this now, because who doesn't like speculating about how a Canadian dream team should look!

    My Ryan O'Reilly story: My 7th-grade gym teacher -- Mr. Blais -- had a signed picture of O'Reilly on his office door. I asked him how he got it and it turns out O'Reilly was his nephew! Mr. Blais was an Olympian himself on the Candian National Handball team. So I'm rooting for O'Reilly to make this team to keep his family tradition going. 

        Thanks for reading! I'd love your comments and questions.

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