Team USA Preliminary WJC Roster Reaction

USA Hockey just announced the preliminary roster for the upcoming WJC in Buffalo. Here it is:

forwards

Nick Bjugstad, 18, Minnesota

Ryan Bourque, 19, Quebec

Connor Brickley, 18, Vermont

Chris Brown, 19, Michigan

Mitchell Callahan, 19, Kelowna

Charlie Coyle, 18, BU

Jerry D'Amigo, 19, Toronto Marlies

Emerson Etem, 18, Medicine Hat

Rocco Grimaldi, 17, US Under-18 Team

Chris Kreider, 19, BC

Jeremy Morin, 19, Rockford/Chicago

Brock Nelson, 19, North Dakota

Matt Nieto, 18, BU

Kyle Palmieri, 19, Syracuse, Anaheim

Brandon Saad, 18, Saginaw

Drew Shore, 19, Denver

Jason Zucker, 18, Denver

dmen

Adam Clendening, 18, BU

Brian Dumoulin, 19, BC

Justin Faulk, 18, Minnesota-Duluth

Derek Forbort, 18, North Dakota

Nick Leddy, 19, Rockford/Chicago

Jon Merrill, 18, Michigan

Jamie Oleksiak, 18, Northeastern

John Ramage, 19, Wisconsin

Philip Samuelsson, 19, BC

Patrick Wey, 19, BC

goalies

Jack Campbell, 18, Windsor

Andy Iles, 18, Cornell

Right off the bat, I have to point out the annual absurd snub, which of course is always a CHL player. Shane Prince, who admittedly I hadn't heard of until I began my WJC prep a month or two ago, is a kid who just turned 18 and is leading the OHL in scoring playing for Ottawa. He's in his third year in the league and is rated to be a top two round pick this year. Now, I didn't even put Prince on my team a month ago, but a kid leading the OHL in scoring has to be at this camp. I can't say I'm surprised though. I'm assuming they pretty much know who they want for the top two, maybe even three lines and want players who will provide certain elements for the smaller roles. And that is fine, but just for appearances, how can a such an obviously talented player not even get a token invite over, say, Connor Brickley?

Austin Watson was another CHL snub but he has had a slow start this year.

I'm thrilled that D'Amigo, Palmieri, Morin, and Leddy are there. Just the fact that they're on this roster tells me they all have the blessing from their NHL teams to play in the tournament. So, basically I expect them to all be on the team, which I was not expecting to happen. This is awesome news.

As for the blueline, the biggest omission in London's Jarred Tinordi. I'm very surprised by this omission. That said, I have no idea how he's played this year and we have plenty of other talent.

I'm pretty sure we do this every year, but I'm still a little surprised that we only invited two goalies. Way to ramp up the competition. I don't think I would have gone with Iles as the backup but hopefully it doesn't even matter.

Of the players I thought should be on this team, only three were left off. They are Watson, Tinordi, Cam Fowler (not really an omission as he's playing 20 minutes a night in the NHL), and Michael Houser, who I selected as the backup goalie. So, all in all, it's not as bad as it's been in the past and we do have a lot of talent.

Hopefully, I'm taking off of work on January the 5th to drive up to Buffalo for the gold medal game. Back to back.

Team USA 2011 WJC Preview

I've been bitching and moaning for years about how USA Hockey constructs their WJC entries and last year was no exception. I was particularly upset that Emerson Etem wasn't on the team. Then John Carlson happened and all was right with the world.

Here's a look at the talent available to the red, white, and navy blue this year as they defend their title on home ice. Players with an asterisk were on last year's squad. Listed are age, team, and draft status.

forwards

*Chris Kreider, 19, Boston College, 1st round (19th overall) by NY Rangers in 2009

*Kyle Palmieri, 19, Syracuse Crunch, 1st round (26th overall) by Anaheim in 2009

Chris Brown, 19, U. of Michigan, 2nd round (36th overall) by Phoenix in 2009

Zach Budish, 19, U. of Minnesota, 2nd round (41st overall) by Nashville in 2009

Drew Shore, 19, U. of Denver, 2nd round (44th overall) by Florida in 2009

*Jeremy Morin, 19, Rockford IceHogs, 2nd round (45th overall) by Atlanta in 2009

Kenny Ryan, 19, Windsor Spitfires, 2nd round (50th overall) by Toronto in 2009

*Ryan Bourque, 19, Quebec Remparts, 3rd round (80th overall) by NY Rangers in 2009

Marcus Foligno, 19, Sudbury Wolves, 4th round (104th overall) by Buffalo in 2009

*Jerry D'Amigo, 19, Toronto Marlies, 6th round (158th overall) by Toronto in 2009

Mitchell Callahan, 19, Kelowna Rockets, 6th round (180th overall) by Detroit in 2009

Jonathan Parker, 19, Prince Albert Raiders, undrafted

Tyler Maxwell, 19, Everett Silvertips, undrafted

Austin Watson, 18, Peterborough Petes, 1st round (18th overall) by Nashville in 2010

Nick Bjugstad, 18, U. of Minnesota, 1st round (19th overall) by Florida in 2010

Beau Bennett, 19, U. of Denver, 1st round (20th overall) by Pittsburgh in 2010

Kevin Hayes, 18, Boston College, 1st round (24th overall) by Chicago in 2010

Charlie Coyle, 18, Boston U., 1st round (28th overall) by San Jose in 2010

Emerston Etem, 18, Medicine Hat Tigers, 1st round (29th overall) by Anaheim in 2010

Brock Nelson, 19, U. of North Dakota, 1st round (30th overall) by NY Islanders in 2010

Tyler Pitlick, 19, Medicine Hat Tigers, 2nd round (31st overall) by Edmonton in 2010

Jared Knight, 19, London Knights, 2nd round (32nd overall) by Boston in 2010

Connor Brickley, 18, U. of Vermont, 2nd round (50th overall) by Florida in 2010

Phil Lane, 18, Brampton Battalion, 2nd round (52nd overall) by Phoenix in 2010

*Jason Zucker, 18, U. of Denver, 3rd round (59th overall) by Minnesota in 2010

Bryan Rust, 18, U. of Notre Dame, 3rd round (80th overall) by Pittsburgh in 2010

Max Gaede, 18, Sioux City Musketeers, 3rd round (88th overall) by San Jose in 2010

Andrew Yogan, 19, Erie Otters, 4th round (100th overall) by NY Rangers in 2010

Chris Wagner, 19, Colgate U., 5th round (122nd overall) by Anaheim in 2010

Kenny Agostino, 18, Yale U., 5th round (140th overall) by Pittsburgh in 2010

Shane McColgan, 17, Kelowna Rockets, 2011 eligible

Rocco Grimaldi, 17, USA Under-18 Team, 2011 eligible

Shane Prince, 18, Ottawa 67's, 2011 eligible

Brandon Saad, 18, Saginaw Spirit, 2011 eligible

Stefan Noesen, 17, Plymouth Whalers, 2011 eligible

Vincent Trocheck, 17, Saginaw Spirit, 2011 eligible

Nick Shore, 18, U. of Denver, 2011 eligible

Matt Nieto, 18, Boston U., 2011 eligible

Seth Ambroz, 17, Omaha Lancers, 2011 eligible

defensemen

Nick Leddy, 19, Rockford IceHogs, 1st round (16th overall) by Minnesota in 2009

William Wrenn, 19, U. of Denver, 2nd round (43rd overall) by San Jose in 2009

Brian Dumoulin, 19, Boston College, 2nd round (51st overall) by Carolina in 2009

Philip Samuelsson, 19, Boston College, 2nd round (61st overall) by Pittsburgh in 2009

Patrick Wey, 19, Boston College, 4th round (115th overall) by Washington in 2009

*Cam Fowler, 18, Anaheim Ducks, 1st round (12th overall) by Anaheim in 2010

Derek Forbort, 18, U. of North Dakota, 1st round (15th overall) by Los Angeles in 2010

Jarred Tinordi, 18, London Knights, 1st round (22nd overall) by Montreal in 2010

Justin Faulk, 18, U. of Minnesota-Duluth, 2nd round (37th overall) by Carolina in 2010

Jon Merrill, 18, U. of Michigan, 2nd round (38th overall) by New Jersey in 2010

Mark Alt, 19, U. of Minnesota, 2nd round (53rd overall) by Carolina in 2010

Justin Holl, 18, U. of Minnesota, 2nd round (54th overall) by Chicago in 2010

Stephen Johns, 18, U. of Notre Dame, 2nd round (60th overall) by Chicago in 2010

Taylor Aronson, 19, Portland Winterhawks, 3rd round (78th overall) by Nashville in 2010

Austin Levi, 18, Plymouth Whalers, 3rd round (85th overall) by Chicago in 2010

Brandon Archibald, 18, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 4th round (94th overall) by Columbus in 2010

*John Ramage, 19, U. of Wisonsin, 4th round (103rd overall) by Calgary in 2010

Kevin Gravel, 18, St. Cloud State, 5th round (148th overall) by Los Angeles in 2010

Joe Rogalski, 19, Sarnia Sting, 6th round (152nd overall) by Pittsburgh in 2010

Kevin Lind, 18, U. of Notre Dame, 6th round (177th overall) by Anaheim in 2010

Adam Clendening, 18, Boston U., 2011 eligible

goalies

Brandon Maxwell, 19, Kitchener Rangers, 6th round (154th overall) by Colorado in 2009

*Jack Campbell, 18, Windsor Spitfires, 1st round (11th overall) by Dallas in 2010

Mac Carruth, 18, Portland Winterhawks, 7th round (191st overall) by Chicago in 2010

Michael Houser, 18, London Knights, 2011 eligible

I have to say that I'm thrilled with the depth of talent available. A hell of a lot of Americans have been drafted in the last few years. Cam Fowler will probably not be available for the tournament and we can't complain about that. Canada is without five or more guys every year that make the NHL as teenagers. What would suck would be to lose Kyle Palmieri, Jerry D'Amigo, Jeremy Morin, and Nick Leddy to the AHL. All but the latter were on last year's winner. Hopefully at least one or two of them will be made available by their clubs. Maybe we'll even get lucky and have Fowler. We'll see.

Anyway, here are my picks.

*D'Amigo-*Palmieri-Watson

*Morin-Shore-Brown

*Kreider-Coyle-Saad

Etem-Bjugstad-Grimaldi

*Zucker

*Fowler-Leddy

Forbort-Faulk

Merrill-*Ramage

Tinordi

*Campbell

Houser

If the three AHL forwards are unavailable my next choices would be Shane McColgan, Zach Budish, and Shane Prince. Tyler Maxwell is very interesting too. The only player I cut from last year is Ryan Bourque. He was solid last year but I think there are just too many players who bring more to the equation than he can.

If Fowler and Leddy are out of the mix I'm not sure who I'd go with. Honestly, I don't know enough about our other defensemen to really judge, but I think we'll get by just fine.

Gotta go with Campbell despite his ugly numbers in Windsor this year. He seems like a better-than-his-stats big game goalie anyway. The kid has last year's gold along with golds in the past two Under-18 tournaments. The backup shouldn't be very relevant but I'm going with the highly touted Houser, who is fourth in the O in save percentage.

Coming into this piece my biggest concern was that Shane McColgan would be left off the team after not even being invited to the summer camp in Lake Placid. A kid rated to be a high first round pick who scored a point per game as a true rookie in the WHL absolutely needs to be at that camp. But when writing this post, I had trouble finding a spot for him on the team. There is a lot of talent at USA Hockey's disposal. I'd love to see him in Buffalo but I won't be outraged if he's not there.

Just win.

Jagr still bringing it

At the age of 38, Jaromir Jagr is still bringing it, having scored 2 goals and 3 assists in his first two games for the Czech Republic at this month's World Championships. Jagr has had a long and storied career in hockey. He's a member of the triple gold club, having won a Stanley Cup (two, actually), an Olympic gold medal, and a World Championship. He's won all sorts of NHL records and led the NHL in scoring five times. He won one Hart trophy for MVP of the league. He has 1,599 points in 1,273 regular season NHL games, and 181 points in 169 games. Prolific numbers. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.

But Jagr's decision to play for his home country during the World Championships wasn't one that all of his fellow top Czechs emulated. As a result, the Czechs were recently upset by NORWAY. Not exactly an international powerhouse.

Recently Jagr challenged the younger players to start showing up:

"It's the national team. We didn't really have a lot of success lately and a lot of guys said no in our country," he said. "I understand the guys are injured or they feel tired after the season, but look at guys like Ovechkin or Kovalchuk [playing for Team Russia]." He concluded: "I think you've got to be a little more proud of your country."

Jaromir Jagr has demonstrated his national pride time and again, playing internationally more often than not, even after his regular team has been eliminated from the playoffs. If 38-year old Jaromir Jagr can play an extra 5+ games at the end of his regular season, and bring his best game, so can players half his age.

Team USA, clearly, is not alone in having some of its best players decide to stay home. But unlike the Czechs, Team USA may have had more to lose. We saw what they did at the Olympics with a full roster, coming within one overtime goal of defeating Team Canada, the heavily favored host country, in the Gold Medal game. With a full roster Team USA could have used that Olympics momentum to challenge for gold at this year's World Championships. Which would have been nice, because the last time they finished higher than third was in 1960 (!). Now they're in danger of being relegated after only three games.

It's time guys like Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan, Phil Kessel, and Erik Johnson started listening to old Jaromir Jagr. Not that he's slowed down and has an increasingly grey beard, Jagr is becoming something of a soothsayer.

You Get What You Pay For

One can't be surprised by the slow start suffered by Team USA at the 2010 World Championsip in Germany. The squad is made up of NHL third liners and fifth or sixth defensemen. The goalies are frightening. After Florida backup Scott Clemmensen, we've got Ben Bishop (6 career games in the NHL) and David Leggio (2 career games in the AHL). The rag tag group has dropped overtime games to Germany and Denmark.

This group could easily end up in the relegation round if they don't beat Finland on Wednesday. I hope all the American players who turned down the invite to play in Germany feel real good after seeing this.

The NHL's Best Uniforms

I'm bored so I decided to rank the best uniforms in the NHL. As is well documented, the league's aesthetics took a turn for the worse in 2007-08 when Reebok instituted their Edge uniform system. Prior to the summer of 2007, who knew there was such a thing as a uniform system? I've somewhat come to grips with the changes but scars remain. The worst change is the curved hemline of the jerseys, which I still consider an outrage and an eyesore. The worst casualties of the changes were the Oilers, Blues, and Panthers and these rankings reflect that.

The AHL and ECHL have followed the NHL in this endeavor and unfortunately, the CHL has too after sitting it out for two seasons.. Let's hope the NCAA isn't next.

Anyway, I considered uniforms worn during the 2009-10 NHL season. The entire uniform (logo, pants, socks, fonts, colors, alternate uniforms, etc.) was taken into account. I decided against using a points system because I feel like it would have been too scientific and that it could have ended up putting certain teams higher or lower than I think they should be.

1. Montreal Canadiens

You can't go wrong with the Habs. Classic logo. Awesome pants. Not much explanation needed here.

2. Chicago Blackhawks

The Hawks combine great colors, a great logo, and great striping (especially on the pants). They also have the best shoulder patch in hockey. Too many teams have unnecessary shoulder patches, but the "C" with the tomahawks is the best.

3. Detroit Red Wings

Another classic. The winged wheel will always be one of the better logos in sports. The epitome of a crisp uniform.

4. New York Rangers

The Rangers have at least two innovative elements to their uniforms: the diagonal lettering instead of a logo and the drop shadow numbers. Both are excellent and oft-imitated by teams at all levels of the game. Great colors, and snazzy pants.

5. Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers made a wise choice by swapping their orange third jersey of recent years with the home black. That they ever minimized the orange was incredible. In hockey, the Flyers define orange. The dumb Reebok striping on the road white jersey and third black is neutralized by the classic, 1970's orange jersey. Classic, simple logo.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs

Classic two color uniform. I'm one of the few people that prefer the simpler Leaf logo over the more detailed, older one that the they currently wear on their third jersey. The numbers would look better if they were single tone but I can't rank this iconic uni much lower than this.

7. Phoenix Coyotes

The Dogs have some of the most crisp uniforms in the league. They might have the best pants outside of the Original 6. The fonts are single tone and easy on the eyes. Those thirds though...there's a reason that no one else, to my knowledge, has ever worn black socks and jerseys with red everything else. That's because it looks like hell.

8. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks may finally be at the end of the identity crisis that has been their uniform over their 40 years of existence. At least they should be because they look great right now. They're the only team in the league currently rocking blue with green, so that right there sets them apart. Points for awesome pants and one tone name and number fonts. Even the logo is good. You can argue, "what the hell does a killer whale have to do with a Canuck?" But then what are your options when you're called the Canucks? The "C" out of the Pacific Northwest icon killer whale works for me. I don't even mind the bearded Canuck shoulder patch guy on the alternate. One knock: the third jersey is too similar to the primary.

9. Boston Bruins

Boston's spoked B logo is a classic and template for a many a logo elsewhere. Also unique is the yellow socks with black everything else look on the home uniforms. I'm not a fan of the alternate, which is a poor attempt at a throwback.

10. New Jersey Devils

The Devils combine super simple uniforms with an awesome, awesome logo for a good look. The Devils logo is underrated. I think it's brilliant. They switched to their current unis in 1992-93 and haven't tweaked them one iota since and there's something to be said for that. They've never had third jerseys and they probably never will with Lou Lamoriello at the helm,

11. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins uniforms are fine save for two things: the light gold where bright yellow used to be and the stupid rib cage pattern. Take the unis the Pens had prior to the Reebook "system" and replace the light gold with bright yellow and you've got a great look. The fonts are fine. The logo is good, although I don't hold the skating Penguin in the same high regard that most hockey fans seem to.

12. San Jose Sharks

I hated the Sharks current uniforms after the Reebok revolution but they've grown on me. I still don't love the orange highlights, but everything else is pretty solid. The now classic Sharks logo is mostly intact from the 1991 original. I don't love the nearly all black third uniform but it is fairly original in its blackness.

13. Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has worn many different variations of basically the same uniforms over their 18 years in the NHL, some better than others. The current ones have some positives and negatives. The positives: the pants, the fonts, the "O" shoulder patch, and switching the socks back to normal horizontal stripes after wearing Reebok-ized vertical stripes for a few years. The negatives: the "SENS" on the third jersey ruins an otherwise nice uni, the dumb rib cage stripes, and the outward facing Roman centurion logo, which I think is trumped by the profiled Roman logo. Overall, a good uniform though.

14. New York Islanders

The Isles have a great logo and great colors. The current unis are a little busy with lots of striping and useless shoulder numbers but once the current third (a take on their early existence uniforms) becomes the primary they'll have an even higher ranking. Another positive that will come from that switch will be a return to the lighter and brighter blue that the Isles once wore before committing a foul that too many North American pro sports teams did in the late 1990's: darkening their colors. The four stripe shoulder patch for the team's four Stanley Cups is cheesy.

15. Nashville Predators

Another team that may start wearing their current thirds full time, which isn't a terrible idea but not all that necessary either. The thirds are very nice, but not terribly Preds. When I think Preds I think navy blue, silver, and yellow. They should stick with what got them here. The current primary jersey's biggest setback is the Reebok-influenced simplicity. Mainly, the lack of a bottom stripe that tends to make a jersey look like a practice jersey.

16. Carolina Hurricanes

The Canes' uniforms were better before they added the ridiculous Reebok shoulder piping. Their logo is very different but also appropriate and cool. I also approve of the hurricane flag checkers. They lose points for the all-black third uniforms. No team should have to wear different helmets, gloves, and pants for their alternate uni.

17. Washington Capitals

Washington's uniforms are better than what they recently replaced but that's not saying much. The black and copper era was rough on many levels, but the replacements tried to make the franchise's not terribly classic original uniforms cool in a retro way that doesn't work for me. At the very least they needed to bring back the stars on the sides of the pants, but they didn't. I hate the rib cage striping and piping. The number font is simple enough but there's something about it that I just don't like. Also, they should have gone to the original blue, not the darker blue they wear now if for no other reason than to try to match the hue that's on the American flag. You know, because they're the Capitals and all. All this said, this league has plenty of crappy uniforms that the Caps trump.

18. Dallas Stars

The Stars logo is very solid, if not classic. The recent switch to the somewhat football look has largely worked in my opinion. The "DALLAS" over a large number on the chest is a different and clean look. The third jersey, just trading the "DALLAS" for the Stars logo, is too similar to the white road jersey. My biggest gripes with what Dallas wears is that the home black has almost no green and that overall, the look is kind of plain.

19. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings seem to be in a little uniform identity crisis. Are they heading toward the current thirds becoming their primary uniforms? I don't know that they're better than what they've been wearing. Many people seem to like the thirds because they're modeled after the Gretzky era uniforms, but the originals were better. The primary black, purple, and silver isn't terrible. The logo is simple enough (and better than the shield with the sunglasses wearing lion). The "LOS ANGELES" along the bottom of the jerseys is terrible.

20. Minnesota Wild

Three different jerseys with three different templates is unacceptable. Two of the three are not bad looking but you need some consistency. The red home jersey is fantastic, actually. If they based all of their uniforms like that one they'd fly up this list. The third jersey makes me think they're trying to get away from red, which is a bad choice. I despise the alternate. The Minnesota Wild are red and green. Maybe not the most awesome combo but it's them and they should embrace that.

21. Columbus Blue Jackets

I have trouble rating the Columbus uniforms. They have good colors. I guess using the Ohio flag is cool. I don't like the name and number fonts. I can't decide whether the Union hat shoulder patch is cool or stupid. A mediocre uniform all around.

22. Colorado Avalanche

Colorado colors are weird but they work. I think the logo is excellent. The Bigfoot footprint shoulder patch is dumb and ridiculous. The fonts are overly funky, not surprising given their 1995 birthdate. The new third jersey was poorly received, but I actually like it. Which is odd, because I wasn't a fan of the similar maroon third a few years ago.

23. Calgary Flames

Another team that will rocket up this list if they switch to their original uniforms, which were used as alternates this year. The good: classic logo. The bad: the use of black, particularly on the home red jersey, is too much. The socks are awful. Only St. Louis can rival the hideous piping that extends from jersey to pants. The Canadian and Albertan flags on the shoulders are absolutely miserable.

24. Edmonton Oilers

If Edmonton returns full time to their 1980's uniforms that they have been wearing as thirds they'll be in the top ten. I will keep them buried on this list as long as they wear their current garbage uniforms in games. The sins include dark colors where there used to be lighter ones, piping, and a lack of striping that brings out the practice jersey look. The classic logo and the awesome alternates are all they've got going for them.

25. Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay took a good thing before the Reebok switch and messed it up big time. Their uniforms were fine and now they're not. The socks are terrible. The numbers on the front of the jerseys are unnecessary. The scarcity of stripes invokes practice jerseys. Like their 1992-93 expansion brethren in Ottawa, they wear their nickname across their third jerseys, which is brutal. Bolts is a cool nickname, just don't have it on actual game apparel. Can you imagine Montreal taking the ice with "HABS" across their chests? Me neither.

26. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres' regular uniforms and logo are among the most derided in hockey and for good reason. The logo is a streak of a Buffalo, which is unusual in that they make their logo not something sword inspired, as in Sabres, but of the animal their city is named after. The striping is godawful, maybe the worst in the league. Unlike the Flames, Oilers, and Islanders the Sabres cannot overly impress me if they make their current retro-themed alternate uniform their primary. That's because their third uses a way darker shade of blue than the original that inspired it. The shoulder numbers copied from the regular jerseys further sullies the jersey.

27. Florida Panthers

Similarly to the Blues, the Cats took perfectly fine uniforms and ruined them with piping and vertical stripes. Their new third jerseys are awful. Many teams make light blue and dark blue work (University of Maine, Chicoutimi Sagueneens) but besides that these just flat out aren't Florida Panthers colors, they just look like crap. The "FLA" shoulder patch/pants patch with a shining sun also works to take down this uniform.

28. St. Louis Blues

St. Louis was the worst casualty of the league's major uniform overhaul a few years ago. They had excellent uniforms, top ten in my opinion and they let Reebok butcher them. They added horrific piping from shoulders to pants and enlarged the shoulder stripes in a weird, terrible way. The piping on the pants is scary ugly. The third jersey is more bad than good. Incorporating the St. Louis Arch seems like a good idea but it just doesn't work.

29. Atlanta Thrashers

This franchise is a mess on many levels and the uniforms are no different. The Thrashers are another team with three completely different uniforms, which is brutal. The worst is not the red football-ish third jersey. I don't even mind that one. The worst is the baby blue home jersey that says "ATLANTA" down the left sleeve, leaving that arm numberless. Stupid, gimmicky, and very 1990's IHL. The fonts are quite ugly. For some reason, the baby blue on the home jerseys is almost nowhere to be found on the other two uniforms. Pick a color guys.

30. Anaheim Ducks

I hate these uniforms. Can you even call that a logo? It's a word. (Yes, the Caps logo is too but it's a little more creative than this.) Black, gold, and a tiny hint of orange? Yuck. Then the gloves have way more orange in them than the rest of the uniforms. The numbers are too big. Bland in every way and terrible all around.

Another USA Hockey Rant

Well, here I am with another bitchy post about USA Hockey. The first 12 players for our 2010 Worlds team have been announced and it doesn't look good. Here's a breakdown. The forwards are:

Ryan Carter
Brandon Dubinsky
Christian Hanson
David Moss
Eric Nystrom
Kyle Okposo
Ryan Potulny

Frankly, I'm horrified by this group. Right off the bat, I see four fourth liners in Carter, Hanson, Moss, and Nystrom. I'm a little biased about Dubinsky being a Rangers fan. The guy looks great regularly, but he's developing very slowly. At the very least he's deserving of a fourth line spot on this team. I know Ryan Potulny had a decent little season in Edmonton but can we make sure other guys aren't available first before signing him up? Okposo is the only slam dunk of the group.

Now for who is missing. From the Olympic team, Bobby Ryan, Chris Drury, David Backes, Phil Kessel, and Ryan Malone all played for teams that missed the playoffs. Ryan Callahan did too but he's nursing a late season knee injury. There are plenty of options among players from teams eliminated in the first round including Olympians Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner, Dustin Brown, and Paul Stastny. These guys can't all be hurt. Anyone who isn't should be on the team.

The four defensemen selected are:

Taylor Chorney
Matt Gilroy
Jack Hillen
Mike Lundin

This is an absurdly inexperieced and not overly talented group. Why on Earth the USA Hockey brass jumped to name four blueliners so quickly is beyond me. I don't think a single one of them warrants a roster spot.

Olympians Tim Gleason, Ryan Whitney, and Erik Johnson were all sitting out the first round of the playoffs. Why weren't they named? All three of them were unavailable? Really? First round losers Ryan Suter and Jack Johnson played in Vancouver. Hopefully, they'll heed the call.

Among other defensemen way more capable than those named are James Wisniewski, Zach Bogosian, Matt Niskanen, Tom Gilbert, and Keith Ballard. And those are only guys from non-playoff teams. Is Mike Lundin considered better than any of those guys by anyone in the hockey world? Come on.

Scott Clemmensen was named in net. I hope he's only needed as a third goalie. Craig Anderson, Ryan Miller, and Jon Quick are recently available. Hopefully at least one of them will don the red, white, and blue.

I have no idea why so many good players never make their way onto Team USA's World roster every spring. Were they not asked? Did they turn the invite down? Are they injured? I understand a guy sitting out because of an injury or a family related issue but otherwise I call out Americans for not caring enough about this event.

A probable excuse for a player to turn down an invite is that he just played a long season and wants to spend time with his family. I can see where they're coming from but Canadians and Europeans could drop the same excuse but they don't. Why? Because they take way more pride in representing their nations in hockey tournaments. Like winning anything, a little sacrifice is required. By sacrifice I mean a millionaire taking his family to Europe for two weeks and staying in first class accomodations for free.

Here's my favorite example. Take an American who is more than talented enough to be on Team USA. His team missed the playoffs. He's tired from a long season, he's been in the NHL for a number of years. He wants to see his kids more than he can during the season. He's asked to play in the worlds. So is a Canadian teammate of his asked to play for Team Canada. He's also got young kids and even has some minor injuries. The Canadian jumps at the chance to play for his country. How can the American look at this and not play for his country? It blows me away. His Canadian teammates have bragging rights from Vancouver and he's given a chance to change that in this latest tournament (albeit on a smaller scale). How can he not take that opportunity?

If I'm working for USA Hockey I'm emailing the list of world championship medalists to every relevant American player so he can see just how emabarrassing that list is for Americans. They'd see that the USA hasn't won the world championship since 1960. That was when in Olympic years the worlds weren't played and the Olympic champion doubled as the world champion. They'd see that we haven't won the worlds outright since 1933. That is abominable. They'd see that we haven't even won a silver since 1956. 1956! Does this not piss anyone else off?

Oh really, ______? You can't make it over to Germany this year? Ok, well just do me a favor and look at this attachment. Have a nice offseason.

Maddening.

Post Olympic Thoughts

- Many in the Canadian media were lauding Scott Niedermayer's gold medal game performance. I thought it was better than he was earlier in the tournament, but that he was generally shaky. I don't remember him playing so recklessly at any point in his career as he did in these Games. And I don't mean good reckless. He was always up in the play, deep in the offensive zone, and not with great results. The guy is a giveaway machine. I hate ragging on Nieder because he's always been a fave of mine, but his game, his defensive game, has been deteriorating badly lately.

- Crosby was largely invisible in the gold medal game until the moment that mattered most. Damn him.

- Chris Pronger played his best game of the tournament in the finale. He was an absolute force defensively.

- I like Mike Babcock a lot but I have to call him out for the way he had his team playing with a lead in the gold medal game. The Canadians totally went into a shell and stopped forechecking. They were playing to not give up their lead, instead of going for the kill. There's a reason the Germans and the Swiss play that way. They have vastly inferior talent compared to the top six or seven hockey nations. They need to do that to keep it close. A team with the talent that Canada has should never play that way. They had success playing a more attacking style to build their 2-0 lead. Why change? Very odd, Mike.

- Phil Kessel was invisible and wasn't really battling. Maybe he's banged up because his face looked as crushed as anyone's after the game.

- Needless to say, Mike Milbury is trash.

- I haven't been as nervous or rattled watching a hockey game since the Rangers Cup run sixteen years ago. I was thirteen then. I've never been as rattled as an adult. The elation after Parise's tying goal was gone in about 20 seconds and I went right back to being a nervous wreck.

- As tough as the loss was for USA Hockey on Sunday, this loss is much easier to take than the Salt Lake loss. We left it all out there. We shouldn't have done anything differently. We just lost to an immenesly talented team on their home ice in overtime, with a future Hall of Famer, and maybe even top ten player of all time when it's all said and done, scoring the OT winner. What are you gonna do? At least Mike Richards didn't score the winner.

- In the lingering pain of Vancouver we must remember Saskatoon. We still have John Carlson. We'll be back.