Comments on: Top Ten Canadians in the Game

By: jtbourne

jtbourne — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:37:37 +0000

Not sure how to respond to that without offending you, Lucic, everyone in Boston and large portions of Canada. For now, I’ll go with:

I’m guessing part of the reason those Russians are so dangerously offensively is because their heads are up.

I’ll give that Lucic guy a full post one of these days.

By: vek

vek — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:58:40 +0000

I know that he sounds out of place considering the names mentioned, but there’s not another country that has a player that can bring the kind of game that Milan Lucic could contribute, even in an international tournament.

That Russian forward line would be a lot less scary if they had to skate with their heads up the whole game.

By: jtbourne

jtbourne — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:21:48 +0000

Nobody’s medalling, Russia is winning all three.

By: smoboy

smoboy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:21:41 +0000

Green and Toews need to do a lot more before they can be considered. A few more similiar years, and I’d have no problem putting them, say, top 20.

Don’t take this as a flame, but the US won’t medal in 2010. Just not deep enough.

By: Officer Koharski

Officer Koharski — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:55:44 +0000

I think if you lined up the forwards and had them try and get down the wing with either Green or Erskine covering them, Erskine would be better at limiting the attack or closing the guy off than Green. He knows he’s not very talented, and so he relies on simple positioning. Again I can’t knock Green because his skills are off the hook but I see him getting turned around and chasing where Erskine will keep the guy to the outside and protect the house better.

Anyway, Finland. True they lack really flashy stars, the Koivus and Jokinen are admittedly pretty boring, but the big names aren’t what makes me like them, it’s the Tuomo Ruutu’s and the Bergenheims. Their style is like if you put a Wolverine in a box, shook the shit out of the box and sprayed some mace in there, and let it go. I love the Berserker Cannonball style. Their country is right between Sweden and Russia and they kind of resisted both styles of play, they emulate physical North American hockey and for that I gotta give them some respect. They have real talent too, I would bet Valteri Filppula will emerge as a top flight center in the next 5 years. They have good Goalies in Kipper and Toskala and Salo is still a good offensive defenseman. He’s no Mike Green but the guy does still have a sneaky cannon. Also, remember Sami Kapanen? I would make a spot on my bottom 6 for that guy 10 out of 10 times.

By: AiH

AiH — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:41:21 +0000

Let’s not overlook Esa Tikkanen and his famous Tiki-Talk. Not even teammante Jari Kurri knew what he was saying sometimes. Tikkanen was The Grate One.

I’d like to see a list of the Bottom 10 Canadians in the Game.

By: jtbourne

jtbourne — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:32:28 +0000

My thoughts: 1) Erskine is not more effective at anything than Mike Green. Anything. 2) Yes, Green is not yet a defensive all-star 3) I do not find myself rooting for Finland. Has any country churned out less interesting stars? Thanks for Selanne, um… Jokinen and… the Koivu brothers. Maybe Kurri was more of a thriller, I dunno.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:10:34 +0000

Great list (your list, that is). I think MAF is one of the most overrated players in the game right now. I know, he’s played in two consecutive finals, and won one of them, but something just rubs me the wrong way about his game. I don’t have “stats” and “Fenwick Number” or anything fancy like that, but when I watch him I just always feel like the dam is about to spring a big leak. He reminds of Chris Osgood. He deserves a ton of credit and in many ways will likely be a HOFer when he hangs ‘em up, but there will always be some shaky performances and Swiss Cheese goals that we just cannot forget.

I really like Shea Weber. I think he’s one of the best players in the game. His game makes Phaneuf and Bouwmeester look mediocre. Weber has the size and finesse, he’s like the defense version of Getzlaf (who is a better all-around player than Crosby, by the way).

By: Officer Koharski

Officer Koharski — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:26:26 +0000

Pretty solid list, hard to argue with. Although I would bring Green down on the list, his defensive play is kind of a dealbreaker for me. Don’t get me wrong, his offense is unbelievable, he’s so effective he deserves a spot on the list, but you still have to hold him accountable and defensively I would put him below most everyone else on his team. Like, John Erskine is more effective at limiting offense as he is, and John Erskine is not in the top 300 active Canadians. Defensemen still have to play defense.

Also, does anyone else have a fondness for Team Finland? I don’t have any particular reason but I’ve always rooted for the Finns after the North Americans. Every product of Finland has a high tempo tenacious style of play, it’s a cool distinct style from a small, talented country. Also they get drunk in the snow and watch Rally Races fly through the woods at high speeds. Hardcore

By: WWPKD

WWPKD — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:52:20 +0000

Johnny T. is definately a lock. He has won gold in 4 of 5 international competitions since 2006 and WILL compete in the upcoming Olympics. I like the Mike Green addition as well. He makes some scary good plays with the puck in both the offensive and defensive zones. Its nice of the Olympic committee to allow all these teams (US, Canada, Sweeden, Finland, Czech, ect.) to come out and play for a silver medal.