The final cuts were made this morning, leaving us with the finalized Team Canada roster for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships.
The roster includes 10 OHL Players. You can find it HERE
What makes the selection camp and team unveiling so exciting, is the unpredictability about it. Three guys I had identified as longshots prior to camp (Wedgewood, Jenner, Harrington), all cracked the final roster.
Congrats to all those that made it and good luck in Edmonton/Calgary. Be sure to tune in on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) when Canada takes on Finland to open the tournament!
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5 comments:
I'm sick and tired of the politics in the decisions made by Hockey Canada. The team was picked b4 the camp even started. What a joke, just like last year. How the hell is Toffoli not on this team. Also Harrington somehow made the team. Bizarre!?!
It's a tough process to understand at times, I do agree.
I'm not sure I get the Harrington inclusion, but he's certainly a guy you don't really have to worry about "screwing up." But if he's the team's 7th defenseman, I won't get it. But if hes playing a regular role, I think it makes sense to have him as a stay at home guy.
As for Toffoli, I watched both the Red/White games and he just wasn't good enough IMO. I love Toffoli as a prospect and he's going to make a great goal scorer in the NHL. But he just didn't perform well enough in the camp. I didn't see the CIS game where he finally hit the score sheet, but in what action I did see, it didn't look like he had great chemistry with anyone, nor did he look incredibly comfortable out there.
Ye i guess you're right there.
What do you think about Oleksiak though?
Oleksiak hasn't been playing very well this year and prolly shouldn't have even been invited. I told my brother, the day he told Hockey Canada he would play for them, that he would be on team Canada no matter how he plays for Saginaw. He must've been garunteed a spot when he said he choose Canada over USA.
Gord Miller said that Strome had a very weak camp and may end up being the 13th forward. Strome hasnt had a very productive season thus far. How does he make the team over a guy like Rattie who is playing the best hockey of his life? Is Rattie a slow skater? I mean he's leading the CHL in goals.
I'm not a WHL expert by any means, but Jon Keen over at WHL From Above (colour commentator for the Saskatoon Blades), had this to say about Rattie in his draft preview.
"His feet are a bit heavy and he doesn’t have very good speed out of the gate. It would be nice to see him work on his overall skating as it will be greatly necessary for him to excel at the next level."
So in essence, he sounds a lot like the WHL's version of Tyler Toffoli. Which could explain his exclusion from this team. But you're right, it's always funny to me when Team Canada continues to cut the league's leading goal scorers. Seems like it happens every year.
As for Oleksiak. He's a solid defenseman. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sure the country commitment had something to do with his inclusion...no doubt politics can play into these things. But I think it's more about his size. If Oleksiak was 6'1 instead of 6'7, he doesn't even get a sniff at this team.
Agree with you there Brock. I'm getting kind of annoyed with TSN constantly reminding its viewers that Stone has been working on his skating. Who cares! He looks great out there playing with Huberdeau. Andrew Brunette is a horrible skater and he has put a decent career in the NHL together lol.
Canada has looked good so far. Will be a good test sat nite. Can't wait.
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