Sochi 2014 - A glance at each team (Part 1/2)

Sochi 2014 - A glance at each team (Part 1/2)

In just over two weeks from now the elite nations in the world of hockey go at it for the dream of winning Olympic gold. Twelve teams, lowest ranked Slovenia (17th), go into three groups of four and do battle before being seeded for the single game knockout tournament, all available on the BBC through one platform or another. 

In these posts I'll be including previous appearances plus a look at who could be key players for each team, and each nations NHL representatives.

Note: if anyone wants to complain about the focus on the nations such as the US, Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden then I say, what did you expect? I'm not Austrian, Latvian, Norwegian, Slovakian, Slovenian, or Swiss.

So without further ado, let's get started. 

 

AUSTRIA - (Group B) IIHF Rank: 15th

13th appearance at the Olympics. One championship in their history. 1927 European Champions. Best Olympic campaign, 5th in 1928.



Captain Thomas Vanek.

They have eight of their 25 man squad that play outside the Eishockey Liga, Thomas Vanek & Michael Grabner (both New York Islanders) and Michael Raffl (Philadelphia Flyers) in the NHL, plus Stefan Ulmer, Raphael Herburger and Oliver Setzinger in the Swiss League system, Thomas Hundertpfund and Bernhard Starkbaum playing in the lower leagues of Sweden, yet still produce play that ranks them just outside the top nine who gain automatic berths into the tournament. 

Needless to say the danger men for their group B opponents will be the play in the NHL, Grabner, Raffl and Vanek. Grabner's speed, Vanek's hands, and Raffl's speed plus sense of the ice will be things all NHL fans, players and pundits will be aware of. 

One home based player with experience in North America is Thomas Pock, a former New York Ranger and Lake Erie Monster, could never settle and went back to Austria after his contract with Colorado ran out in the summer.

There aren't many more things to say about this team that do them any favours. They're the 3rd worst team in the competition on IIHF rankings and find themselves in a group with the powerhouses Canada and Finland, plus 9th ranked Norway. They'll likely finish in the bottom 4 at best and get knocked out in the first knockout round by a powerhouse nation.

CANADA - (Group B) IIHF Rank: 5th
Eight time gold medallists. 20th appearance. Medallists 14 times.




Sidney Crosby, captain and gold medal winning goal scorer
four years ago in Vancouver.

To hockey what England are to football. Winning it all is the national media's obsession. Coaches and captain constantly under the scrutiny if ever a slip up is made.
After the, UEFA Champions League draw style, long drawn out ceremony to announce the 25 man Olympic roster was made the internet was littered with Canadian rosters filled with 25 who were "snubbed" but their inclusion being as justified as the guys who did make it. One major difference between our nation of origin of football and the home nation of hockey.

Only four of the squad play for Canadian clubs (Luongo and Hamhuis of Vancouver & Price and Subban of Montreal), with the rest spread amongst 14 American clubs. Twelve members are survivors of the gold medal winning 2010 team, and only ten have experienced winning the Stanley Cup (four twice). 

The biggest issue facing Triple Gold Club member coach Mike Babcock is how best to deploy his stars. With Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, the two best centres in the world, Toews more defensive but Crosby, best player in the world but was a passenger in 2010, impossible to find the right line mates. The one thing that seems to sort itself out is that their are three distinct pairs of club mates to be made on the attacking lines with, Crosby & Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh), Toews & Patrick Sharp (Chicago), and Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry (Anaheim). Assuming these pairs, plus an extra winger, make up three of the four attacking lines, Babcock's next challenge would be how to fit others in, and who to leave out. Also assuming Crosby, Toews and Perry are the top three centres, the option for fouth would be a contest between John Tavares, Patrice Bergeron and Matt Duchene. Then that leaves four right wing spots and one left wing spot for the likes of Patrick Marleau, Jamie Benn, Rick Nash, Jeff Carter, and the in-human Steven Stamkos.

Not to mention the possible goalie controversy between Roberto Luongo and Carey Price. Both of which can go from best in the world to absolute worst in a space of 48 hours. Then there's the matter of which six defenseman start out of the eight selected. Though I'd pick Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, P.K. Subban, Shea Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

For Canada gold is the target and the nation will go into national mourning if they come back with silver or less. Realistically, they should be guaranteed a bronze. 

CZECH REPUBLIC - (Group C) IIHF Rank: 4th
6th appearance as an independent nation. Two time medallists, gold in 98, bronze in 06.



Old man Jagr.

The Czechs boast the third highest number of NHLers on their roster with 17 spread amongst 13 teams. The two of the three oldest players the games in 42-year-old Petr Nedved and 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr. With Jagr being the only member of the only gold winning Czech team still playing. Of the 17 NHL players, six have won the Stanley Cup a combined eight times. Jagr and Patrik Elias the multiple winners. So for a team 4th in the world they don't have a lot of winning experience, but the 16 NHL skaters have accounted for a combined 399 points, or 24.9 per man, with David Krejci and Jagr leading the way, on 45 and 44 respectively.
The team has a terrific balance of young and old. The age gap between Nedved and the youngest member, Ondrej Palat, is 20 years. They'll to count on the youthful invention of players like Krejci, Palat, Radko Gudas, Jakub Voracek, and Michael Frolik. Mixed in with the experienced play of Nedved, Jagr, Elias, Marek Zidlicky, Thomas Plekanec, Michael Rozsival, Ales Hemsky, and Milan Michalek.

The of group of Sweden, Switzerland, and Latvia shouldn't be much of a concern. The winners of the Czechs and Sweden should win the group. It'll be very comfortable for them against the Swiss and Latvians.

FINLAND - (Group B) IIHF Rank: 2nd
14th appearance. Medal winners in five of the last seven tournaments. World champions in 1995 and 2011.

Tuukka Rask, on form best goalie in the world.

Along with Sweden and the USA, Finland have a group of three of the worlds elite goaltenders (Tuukka Rask, Kari Lehtonen, and Antti Niemi), and one left out due to injury in Pekka Rinne. 43-year-old Teemu Selanne is in the squad in what is the Anaheim Ducks man last go around as a professional.

Of the top six nations they have the joint most, with Russia, European based players. This will help as the ice in Europe is 15 feet wider than North American ice rinks.

The NHL contingent consists of Mikko Koivu, Jussi & Olli Jokinen, Tuomo Ruutu, Lauri Korpikoski, Valtteri Filppula, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, plus the young talent group of Olli Maatta, Alex Barkov, Mikael Granlund, and Sami Vatanen.

Filppula leads the Finnish NHL players in scoring, putting up 40 points in an impressive debut season in Tampa since leaving Detroit as a UFA in 2013. 18-year-old rookie Alex Barkov has put up 24 points for the Florida Panthers, arguably one of the 3-4 worst teams in the league.

Like the Czech team it's a mix of experience and youth but on paper this team is a whole lot better. I'd be surprised if this team isn't in the gold medal game.

LATVIA - (Group C) IIHF Rank: 11th
5th appearance. Never finished higher than 9th (2002).

Buffalo Sabre, Zemgus Girgensens.

Conquerors of Team GB in the final qualifying tournament, Latvia head to Sochi with two NHL based players, Zemgus Girgensons and Kristers Gudlevskis of Buffalo and Tampa Bay respectively.

The goal for Latvia is to finish ahead of Austria and Slovenia, the only other teams that had to play qualifiers and the only two teams ranked lower than the Latvians.

There isn't much to say about this team.

NORWAY - (Group B) IIHF Rank: 9th
10th appearance. Finished 10th last time in Vancouver.

Mats Zuccarelo.

The lowest ranked of the nine automatic qualifiers, Norway have the bad luck of being lumped in with Canada and Finland. Mats Zuccarello completes the entire NHL representation on this team. Signed to the New York Rangers in 2010, Mats broke into the Rangers team last season and is having a fantastic 2013-14 season with 15 goals and 22 assists putting him 2nd in total points for the New York team.

The league most represented in the roster is the Swedish Hockey League including former NHLer Ole-Kristian Tollefsen who currently plays for 2011 SHL champs, Farjestad BK, and his club team mates Anders Bastiansen, Marius Holtet, and Martin Roymark. They also have two players for 2nd ranked Frolunda HC, Mathis Olimb and Mats Rosseli Olsen. One danger point for Group B defences to watch out for is Patrick Thoresen of the KHL's SKA St Petersburg who is a good hard checker and has averaged just under a point a game in the last three seasons including this season.

For me this team definitely makes the last 8. Then take your pick of which power house knocks them out.



The concludes part 1. Part 2 featuring Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA coming next week.