From The Hockey News, the US Olympic Hockey Team for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Make the jump for the roster and some thoughts.
Goaltenders:
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
Defensemen:
Erik Johnson, St. Louis Blues
Jack Johnson, Los Angeles Kings
Mike Komisarek, Toronto Maple Leafs
Paul Martin, New Jersey Devils
Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh Penguins
Brian Rafalski, Detroit Red Wings
Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators
Forwards:
David Backes, St. Louis Blues
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers
Chris Drury, New York Rangers
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks
Phil Kessel, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey Devils
Ryan Malone, Tampa Bay Lightning
Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils
Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche
Looking at the roster a bit, I turn to Dan Myers over at This is the WCHA:
In all, 10 of the 23 members of the U.S. Olympic team played college hockey at a WCHA school.
The 10 selections for the WCHA was far more than any other conference. The CCHA is second with four players, Hockey East has three and the ECAC has one. Overall, 18 of the 23 players on Team USA's roster played college hockey at some point.
Location wise, Minnesota, Michigan and New York all have five natives playing for Team USA. Wisconsin has three players, Connecticut has two and Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania each has one.
So there are five guys on the roster from Minnesota, giving us at Hockey Wilderness at least some reason to stay interested.
As for Nathan's picks yesterday?
Two out of three goalies isn't too bad, and he did say it would likely be Quick over Howard, so I'll give him credit for 2 1/2.
Three out of seven on the defensemen is a bit painful. Nathan did mention that leaving Rafalski off of his list, and he did so for Goligoski, so no half credit here.
Nathan named six of thirteen forwards correctly, if I have my math correct. If we give him credit for later changing his mind on Stastny, he got 7 of 13. He did say this however:
I don't want Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin anywhere near Vancouver.
Well, Drury is on the team. Sorry, Nathan.
All total, Nathan named 11 correct players, and gained half credit for saying that Burke would choose Quick over Howard. 11 1/2 out of 23 is exactly 50%. Not bad in a guessing game, especially when Nathan looked to be trying to change things up, while Burke went with the safe choices. While 50% is still an F on most grading scales, I am going to give him and A for effort and creativity, balancing out the overall grade at about a C+, B-.
Besides, he guessed 11 more players that would make the roster than I did. So he has that.
Personally, I don't feel the US of A has much of a shot this year. Canada and Russia and loaded, as are the Finns. Unless Eruzione is coming out of retirement and Herbie is coming back from beyond to coach, I think they make the medal round, but no way they actually go much further than that.
What say you Wilderness? Like the team? Hate it? Who did they miss on? Biggest surprise? Biggest snub?
-Buddha