Canadian Olympic men's hockey power rankings: Forwards an embarrassment of riches
CBC
Now that we know NHLers will be heading to Beijing to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics, sports talk in this country will centre around picking Team Canada.
Keeping in mind the NHL season is active, players are essentially auditioning for a spot, and the predicted rosters will essentially change on a regular basis.
Between now and the team announcement, I will be providing you with his ongoing versions of Team Canada, as well as some players who are doing their best to get GM Doug Armstrong's attention.
Although there is plenty of hockey left to play before the team announcement is officially made, we figure ... why wait!
Teams can dress 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goalies (plus an extra player at each position).
Most teams are right around the 10-game mark of the season, and some players are definitely starting to get the attention of hockey fans.
This week we are going to be focusing on the area where Team Canada has an embarrassment of riches: the forwards.
However, to do that, we need to first go look back.
WATCH | Rob Pizzo breaks down his updated Team Canada rankings:
When we found out that the NHL will be heading back to the Olympics, I had a chat with Justin Bourne from Sportsnet, and Dom Luszczyszyn from The Athletic.
I asked for a "dark horse" pick for Team Canada, and Dom said this:
"Here's what might happen, if they think about chemistry. Zach Hyman, playing on Connor McDavid's wing, putting this Chris Kunitz-like season together, and they just decide to bring him to be McDavid's winger. Got built-in chemistry."
That's interesting.
Back in 2014 when Team Canada was announced for the Games in Sochi, Russia, Sidney Crosby was the undisputed best player on planet earth. He was the lock-of-all locks. But when Kunitz was also named to the team (even though he was sitting seventh in the league in scoring), the hockey world raised their collective eyebrows.
