Bleed Teal's 2010 USA Olympic Team Picks

Everyone and their grandmother it seems has an opinion on what the 2010 USA Olympic Men's Team should look like, and now it's Bleed Teal's turn to provide ours. With much of the American old guard that won the '96 World Cup and medaled at Salt Lake in '02 closing in on retirement, the likes of Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano, Bill Guerin and Chris Chelios give way to Zach Parise, Paul Stastny, Dustin Brown and Ryan Suter on what looks to be a surprisingly solid squad for the Americans as the countdown begins to the 2010 Vancouver Games.

LW Zach Parise - C Paul Stastny - RW Jamie Langenbrunner
The quintessential scoring line: a through-the-roof collective hockey IQ, a decent amount of grit and a truckload of skill. The two speedy Devils wingers flanking the Avs' star center seems to be the consensus top line for USA, and with good reason.

LW Dustin Brown - C Phil Kessel - RW Patrick Kane
While Kessel has largely been slotted on the wing during his tenure with the Bruins, he's a natural centerman and would likely thrive as the pivot on this highly-skilled unit. Kane brings the superior vision and passing ability, Kessel lends his sniping prowess and Brown completes the trio with his unique power forward combination of imposing physicality and impressive scoring ability.

LW David Booth - C Joe Pavelski - RW Jason Pominville
Although Ryan Kesler has been the popular pick for third-line USA center, I'll defer to Mike Chen here and gladly hop on the Joe Pavelski bandwagon. The Sharks center has had a fantastic second-half to the season and brings almost unparalleled hockey sense, a great wrist shot and strong two-way play to the table. Booth and Pominville are both speedsters as well as streaky scorers who can contribute on the penalty kill.

LW Ryan Kesler - C Scott Gomez - C Chris Drury
Calling this unit a "spare parts" line is probably a bit unfair, especially since they're all pretty damn good spare parts. But with the underwhelming seasons Gomez and Drury are having in the Big Apple, their inclusions on the team, which would have been marquee just one season ago, feel like afterthoughts. Still, with Kesler providing defensive conscience, this has the potential to be one of the most dangerous fourth lines in the tournament.


LD Ryan Suter - RD Brian Rafalski
Rafalski is in all likelihood the top American defenseman, while Suter is decidedly the poster boy for the next generation of Team USA blueliners, making for a very solid top pairing.

LD Paul Martin - RD Keith Ballard
You won't get too much offense out of this pairing, but the speed of both blueliners ensures for a versatile unit that will likely be given the assignment of shutting down opposing top lines.

LD Matt Carle - RD Brooks Orpik
Carle is having an impressive season with the Flyers and deserves to be on the team if for no other reason than that USA is in desperate need of a puck-moving blueliner outside of Rafalski. Orpik perfectly complements Carle's offensive punch by bringing his trademark take-no-prisoners physical game to the table.

G Tim Thomas
Arguably the top Vezina Trophy candidate at the moment, Thomas has backstopped an unlikely Bruins team to the NHL's top record and deserves to be Team USA's No. 1 guy.

G Ryan Miller
Of course, Miller will undoubtedly have a say in the matter of deciding the team's starting goalie, as the Sabres netminder is enjoying an excellent comeback year after having been rewarded with a lucrative five-year deal in the offseason.

G Rick DiPietro
Third goalies are usually irrelevant anyway, but a healthy DiPietro remains one of the top goalies in the game.

Team USA is a lot deeper than most pundits would like to think and, although medaling seems to be a difficult proposition with the likes of Russia, Canada and Sweden bringing what look to be top-flight teams to Vancouver, the Americans have the talent and the work ethic to pull of a Lake Placid-caliber upset.

Avalanche 6, Sharks 2

As Sharks commentator Randy Hahn astutely noted on the telecast, not since the Coyotes drubbed the Sharks 8-0 last December has a Sharks loss been this embarassing. San Jose was able to use that rout as motivation to turn their season around, and it paid off in a big way last year as the team posted a great record down the stretch. Hopefully they can put the same positive spin on this 6-2 loss to the Avs.

There's definitely not much I liked about the Sharks this game. Their power play was atrocious as the team simply refused to shoot the puck with the man advantage. The defense persistently turned the puck over, with Craig Rivet in particular having a lackluster game on the back end. Up front, the Clowe--Pavelski--Bernier unit was the only Sharks line with any semblance of offensive pressure, an issue Ron Wilson certainly seemed to notice when he swapped Jonathan Cheechoo with Torrey Mitchell on the top line.

Everyone knew it would be a tough road stretch to open the season for the Sharks, but for a team many have pegged to win the Stanley Cup, they sure haven't been dealing with adversity very well. They'll have a bit of a break after playing three games in three different states in two different countries in four nights, with their next contest Wednesday against the Blackhawks, which should help the team focus. Wednesday also marks the first day training camp tryout Sandis Ozolinsh will be eligible for signing. The offensive-minded defenseman traveled with the Sharks to Denver and with the recent power-play issues, it's entirely plausible that Doug Wilson inks him to a bare-bones contract similar to the one Jeremy Roenick signed in September.

Overall, a brutal game for the Sharks, but kudos to the Avs who can more than mask their mediocre goaltending and defense with contributions like this from Paul Stastny, who is quickly making a case to be considered alongside Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin as the league's next breed of stars. Hopefully, the Sharks can learn from this early-season experience that talent doesn't immediately translate into wins and play a more well-rounded game from here on out.

Three Stars:
1. Paul Stastny: 1G, 4A, +3
2. Milan Hejduk: 2G, 1A, +3
3. Ryan Smyth: 1G, 1A, +3