Would a "Rest of the World" All-Star Team be competitive in the Olympics?

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 1:40 PM EST in Zzz...2010 Olympics

It should be clear that there are seven countries in the world that are competitive at the highest levels of international hockey tournaments: Canada, the US, Russia, the Czechs, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden. Each of these countries can field a team that is well above the NHL average, and most of them would likely be odds-on favorites to beat the Stanley Cup champion. Imagine if you took the Sharks and added a 1st line of Crosby, Nash and Iginla, plus gave them Niedermayer, Shea Weber and Duncan Keith on defense. That's still a substantially weaker team than the one Canada is fielding in the 2010 Olympics.

But after those seven countries, the drop-off in talent is massive. Germany can almost field a team where half the players have NHL experience, and they are 0-13 against the top seven teams since 2002. Switzerland has two good NHL players and has beaten several of the top seven teams, but almost lost to Italy in the 2006 Olympics. In fact, I was wondering if we could even make an 8th competitive team if we took the best players from every other country in the world. Here's a stab at the roster:

Pos	Player	Nationality	Junior	GP	G	A	P
G	Hiller	SUI	Swiss
G	Greiss	GER	Germany
G	Huet	FRA	France
D	Streit	SUI	Swiss	62	8	23	31
D	Skrastins	LAT	Latvia	59	2	9	11
D	Bartulis	LAT	Latvia/Canada	46	0	8	8
D	Salei	BLR	Belarus	2	0	0	0
D	Ehrhoff	GER	Germany	61	11	20	31
D	Seidenberg	GER	Germany	61	2	20	22
D	Schubert	GER	Germany	44	2	5	7
D	Tollefsen	NOR	Norway/Canada	18	0	2	2
F	A. Kostitsyn	BLR	Belarus/Russia	40	12	13	25
F	S. Kostitsyn	BLR	Belarus/Canada	30	2	8	10
F	Grabovski	BLR	Belarus/Russia	42	7	18	25
F	Goc	GER	Germany	52	10	11	21
F	Sturm	GER	Germany	54	18	10	28
F	Hecht	GER	Germany	60	13	16	29
F	Thoresen	NOR	Norway/Canada
F	Vanek	AUS	USA	55	18	21	39
F	Kopitar	SLO	Slovenia/Sweden	61	28	36	64
F	Boedker	DEN	Denmark/Sweden/Canada	14	1	2	3
F	Nielsen	DEN	Denmark/Sweden	56	9	18	27
F	Park	KOR	Canada	62	6	13	19
F	Wolski	POL	Canada	61	17	30	47

There are probably some other dual citizens we could convince to play for this team - Robin Regehr? - and a few KHL players I don't know about. But I think the defense is a little thin and there are too many Islanders on the roster to make this team's most likely finish higher than 8th.

At any rate, "Team Unified" won't be allowed to play in the Olympics. But when the next World Cup of Hockey rolls around, the powers that be should seriously consider this option - it would be much more entertaining than watching Germany and Switzerland try to eke out a tie.

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Vanek – Kopitar – Wolski is a pretty darn good top line. It’s better than the average NHL top line, that’s for sure. Follow it up with Sturm – Grabovski – A. Kostitsyn… and you’re getting somewhere. The checking line of Hecht – Goc – S. Kostitsyn could handle some decent minutes, too (or Thorsen could be on that line, also).

The Swiss are starting to produce some good defenders and I’d probably find a spot for Sbisa on that team, but it’s an interesting group.

Park doesn’t actually have South Korean citizenship, does he?

Switzerland, Belarus, and Denmark could all supplant Slovakia in the next 10 years as the 7th best nation at these things. Slovakia’s top players are getting old, and they aren’t getting many juniors drafted anymore. Gaborik is the last high end skater they’ve produced, with Mezaros essentially being the best in the years since Gaborik was drafted in 2000. It’s odd, because they finally have legit NHL goalies to backup their offensive talent… just as that is drying up. This is probably the last Olympics they can realistically compete with the big 6 for a medal.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 2:07 PM EST reply actions

Of course, Wolski has already played for Canada internationally, and probably won’t be allowed to switch to a Unified or Polish team in the future.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions

For this event, I’d assume anybody who didn’t stand a shot of making their own country’s team could play for “Team Unified.” Slovakia is a bit old, but they would still be pretty good in a 2012 World Cup. They couldn’t be much worse than Canada’s 2006 Olympic team!

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 3:20 PM EST up reply actions

You mean the Canadians and Americans who didn’t make the cut would be eligible? This could certainly be an excellent team.

by not_Chemmy on Feb 21, 2010 10:15 PM EST up reply actions

Only if they have dual citizenship

by Hawerchuk on Feb 21, 2010 10:27 PM EST up reply actions

aren’t evgeni nabokov and nik antropov Kazakhstani? you might be able to switch them

Bettman's Nightmare: A Blog Where Hockey Aficionados Dismantle That Mighty Empire, One Balsillie at a Time

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by Bettman's Nightmare on Feb 20, 2010 2:58 PM EST reply actions

Antropov and Ponikarovsky should both be on this team. Antropov is a Kazakh, and plays for them internationally. Ponikarovsky is Ukrainian and also plays for them internationally.

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by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 4:58 PM EST up reply actions

Ruslan Fedotenko is also Ukrainian. This idea is more interesting all the time. We’ve just added another scoring line!

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by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

Clearly this team should play in the next World Cup.

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 5:05 PM EST up reply actions

Zubrus is Lithuanian. They’ve got a really deep group of forwards, even if they are a little lacking on D. Craig Adams (Brunei) is another one of those possibilities (though I’d prefer actual nationals). Heck, throw Owen Nolan in there as well.

Too bad Tomas Pock of Austria didn’t cut it.

More Danish forwards: Hansen (Vancouver), Regin (Ottawa) and Lars Eller coming up the pipeline.

Ukraine offers some hope for D, but all of them have played for Russia in the past, unlike Fedotenko and Ponikarovsky: Babchuk, Tverdovsky, Zhitnik, Vishnevski were all from Ukraine. Actually, so was Nikolai Zherdev. Bastards. Team Ukraine could have been quite good if the Ukrainian-Russians liked Kiev more than Moscow.

I’m of Danish, Ukrainian, and German descent, so I could really get behind this team.

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by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 7:58 PM EST up reply actions

I’m reminded of the Croatian-Australian soccer players (who grew up in Australia) and decided to play for Croatia. Then Australia makes the semi-finals in the World Cup, while Croatia gets knocked out in the quarters.

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 8:54 PM EST up reply actions

Nabokov is Russia’s starting goalie, so that’d be a tough sell to make him go back to playing for a worse team.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Feb 20, 2010 4:59 PM EST up reply actions

in the end, it won’t be so much worse of a team (especially if the Russians have trouble with Slovakia!)

Bettman's Nightmare: A Blog Where Hockey Aficionados Dismantle That Mighty Empire, One Balsillie at a Time

http://bettmansnightmare.blogspot.com/

by Bettman's Nightmare on Feb 20, 2010 6:10 PM EST up reply actions

Islanders.....

Hey, as an Islander fan I resent that…..also that’s kind of insulting to Mark Streit, who would make one of the top 7 Olympic Teams if he was one of those nationalities.

by garik16 on Feb 20, 2010 3:57 PM EST reply actions

Them’s the breaks when you finish dead last. Nobody gives you any respect.

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 5:04 PM EST up reply actions

eh....

Sort of a Deliberate finishing last IMO….they fired the coach who played older players in a system that constantly kept them in it and managed to get them 9th or 10th in conference (and the playoffs) to hire a coach with a new system that he wanted to play youngsters in.

Whereas, this year will not have been a deliberate finishing so low….sigh.

Still, it was only one year of being last…..if we always finished last, then i’d be fine…but we’re not the KC Royals of the NHL.

by garik16 on Feb 20, 2010 9:03 PM EST up reply actions

it was just so spectacular!

by Hawerchuk on Feb 20, 2010 9:17 PM EST up reply actions

Bad idea

A unified team might provide more entertaining hockey in the short term, but it sounds like a terrible idea if you want the national team programs of any of the eligible players to actually develop and become competitive over time.

by Peter Lynn on Feb 21, 2010 10:50 AM EST reply actions

They’d still have the Olympics and annual World Championships to do so. The World Cup is the NHL’s vanity showcase, and really doesn’t involve the IIHF at all. Really, the NHL and NHLPA could set up the tournament however they wanted.

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by saskhab on Feb 21, 2010 10:58 AM EST up reply actions

And the U-18 and the WJC and their own and other professional leagues. This is a pure gimmick designed to bring a team into the tournament that wouldn’t spend its entire time trapping.

by Hawerchuk on Feb 21, 2010 11:11 AM EST up reply actions

Now do a Team Quebec! Where would it rank?

by Rob Vollman on Feb 22, 2010 10:17 AM EST reply actions

Very low. It would have Brodeur in goal.

by Hawerchuk on Feb 22, 2010 10:22 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

All three Team Canada goalies are from Quebec, maybe they’d have started Luongo or Fleury. Meanwhile Team Canada would have … Mason? :(

by Rob Vollman on Feb 22, 2010 4:23 PM EST up reply actions

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