Team Canada Adds Matt Duchene; Team Canada's Pool

by Scott Reynolds on Apr 30, 2010 1:41 PM MDT

Apparently I missed one in last night's update as Matt Duchene has also been added to Team Canada's roster. In my last update I talked about why Tyler Myers should win the Calder trophy. Matt Duchene is another one of the nominees and he had a good season with the Avalanche. The numbers aren't nearly as dominant as those of the Sabres' defender but it Avalanche fans do have reason to be excited. Duchene led the rookie scoring race with 55 points and finished in a tie for second with teammate T.J. Galiardi in even-strength points with 33. The NHL's rookie leader was Jamie Benn who hasn't been named to the team so far.

The preliminary round schedule for the World Championships has also been announed. Here are each of the four preliminary round groups:

Group A - Russia, Slovakia, Belarus, Kazakhstan
Group B - Canada, Switzerland, Latvia, Italy
Group C - Sweden, Czech Republic, Norway, France
Group D - Finland, United States, Germany, Denmark

I'll talk more about the tournament structure and how I think things will play out as we get closer to the tournament.

Back to Team Canada, with the addition of Duchene, Mark Messier's roster now sports twenty players (and Jordan Eberle) Here's the list (age in brackets):

LW Rene Bourque (28) - Calgary Flames
LW Evander Kane (18) - Atlanta Thrashers
LW Steve Ott (27) - Dallas Stars
LW Ray Whitney (37) - UFA (Carolina Hurricanes)
LW Ryan Smyth (33) - Los Angeles Kings
LW Brooks Laich (26) - Washington Capitals

RW Steve Downie (23) - Tampa Bay Lightning
RW Corey Perry (24) - Anaheim Ducks

C Rich Peverley (27) - Atlanta Thrashers
C Steven Stamkos (20) - Tampa Bay Lightning
C John Tavares (19) - New York Islanders
C Matt Duchene (19) - Colorado Avalanche

LD Francois Beauchemin (29) - Toronto Maple Leafs
LD Mark Giordano (26) - Calgary Flames
LD Kris Russell (22) - Columbus Blue Jackets
LD Marc Staal (23) - New York Rangers
LD Michael Del Zotto (19) - New York Rangers

RD Brent Burns (25) - Minnesota Wild
RD Tyler Myers (20) - Buffalo Sabres

G Chris Mason (33) - UFA (St. Louis Blues)

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Comments

so the 4 centers are
Stamkos
Tavares
Duchene
Mike Richards part 2
There is soooooooooooo much promise.
Also did we need a new post for matt duchene addition. I think an update would have sufficed

by SumOil on Apr 30, 2010 1:47 PM MDT reply actions

I wanted to write an update! Just try to stop me!

by Scott Reynolds on Apr 30, 2010 1:55 PM MDT up reply actions

Just a few points on the positional breakdown:

- Beauchemin is a lefty but he plays RD.
- Kane plays RW I believe, even though he’s listed in some places as a LW (I’ve seen him listed as a C before too).
- Steve Ott plays a lot more center than anything the last few years. He might end up being used as a winger just because he can play the wing too.

by ykmisfit on Apr 30, 2010 6:29 PM MDT reply actions

Thanks for the notes. For Kane, I went with the LW listing they had at nhl.com. I’ve only seen him listed as LW or C and I know he played quite a bit with Colby Armstrong in Atlanta and that guy’s a RW so I’m pretty sure that Kane was on LW with the Thrashers. With Ott, I again went with the listing on nhl.com and judging by the faceoffs, he has been playing at least as much wing as he has center over the last three seasons. And with Beauchemin, I never really know what to do with the defenders. I had thought that on the Niedermayer-Beauchemin pairing in Anaheim it was Nieds who shot left but played RD. So I assumed that Beauchemin was a true lefty, but maybe that isn’t the case.

by Scott Reynolds on Apr 30, 2010 8:57 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, I think you’re right about Kane. I might’ve mixed that one up. Ott really does play all over the place. I know he was originally a LW, but I thought he was moved to center a few years back. With Richards, Modano, and Ribeiro down the middle, it makes sense that he’s probably been on the wing more often than not.

by ykmisfit on May 1, 2010 12:48 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, I’m not disagreeing on Ott. He’s everywhere. He has too many faceoffs to not be playing some at center but he’s also not in the top four. I think he probably fills in at center when they have someone go down with injury long-term but when everyone is healthy, he plays wing.

by Scott Reynolds on May 1, 2010 1:04 PM MDT up reply actions

Ott took the fifth most faceoffs on Dallas, suggesting that he’s not a centre per se, but ranked third on each special team. Mr. Versatility in other words.

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by Bruce McCurdy on May 3, 2010 8:03 AM MDT up reply actions

I remember the days when brent burns was supposed to become a great defenseman in the league. That concussion screwed him up pretty bad. Hope he does well in the worlds and has a resurrection of sorts

by SumOil on Apr 30, 2010 9:46 PM MDT reply actions

LW will be a real strength on this team, and I assume RW too since some of those fuckers (Whitney for instance) will probably shift over.

But C is an unmitigated disaster (relative to real NHL competition, anyway). The three rookie/sophomore C’s aren’t worth two shits at even strength right now, though Peverley is useful. Still, doubt he’ll see 1C time, hype being what hype is (for Stamkos). Shame they haven’t/couldn’t convince Brad Richards to play.

by R O on May 3, 2010 9:42 AM MDT reply actions

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