2008 World Hockey Championships - Coaching/Roster Announcements

Hockey Canada has made a couple big announcements over the last 24 hours (or so) regarding coaching and roster decisions for the 2008 World Hockey Championships.

Yesterday they named the teams assistant coaches; Craig MacTavish, Pat Burns and Mike Johnston.

A couple of notes;

I love the MacT 'hiring' (in quotations because I don't think there's any money exchanging hands). I've never made any secret of my admiration for MacTavish and I think he'll be a nice presence on the bench.

Pat Burns is a bit out of left field but nice to see as Burns' health wasn't looking so hot not long ago. As far as I know this is his first foray into coaching since his cancer diagnosis a few years ago, AND it's his first foray into a Team Canada coaching role since 1987 when he assitant coached the World Junior team. I mean, to say I didn't see this coming would be an understatement, I think I would have predicted Mike Keenan ahead of this fellow. That said, Burns is a 3 time Jack Adams winner, a Stanley Cup winner. Given his coaching record, how will he feel taking a backseat to Hitchcock?

Now Mike Johnston has certainly become an interesting case to me. He's an assistant coach to Marc Crawford in Los Angeles and last year he was also named as an assistant. Given the prevalance of NHL assistant coaches named to help out Team Canada I can only assume Hockey Canada has a lot of respect for this guy (although they also loved Marc Habscheid so make of it what you will). In addition to his Gold medal last year's World Championships, Johnston also:

"... led Canada to a fourth-place finish as head coach and general manager at the 1999 IIHF World Championship, and was an assistant coach at the IIHF World Championship from 1994-98, winning a gold medal in 1997. Johnston is also a two-time gold medal winner with the National Junior Team, winning as an assistant coach in 1994 and 1995." (Hockey Canada)

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Now, the roster announcements are VERY exciting and very encouraging for Team Canada. A couple of suprises and some very big coups.

First up, the goaltenders: Cam Ward and Pascal Leclaire. Now, neither of these guys are big suprises, but I would argue they are both Hockey Canada's top choices. Officials knew there was no chance of getting Roberto Luongo, and I would argue they didn't even want him in his current mental state. In post season interviews he sounds absolutely mentally exhausted, and the timing couldn't be worse for him in terms of his private life. I'd say the guy has earned some time off with his family.

Cam Ward won the gold in last year's Worlds, he's won a Stanley Cup, and he's won a Conn Smythe. Still, there is no question Canada's current top two goaltenders are Martin Broduer and Roberto Luongo, and if Cam Ward wants to go to the Olympics two straight World Championship golds would go a long way to convince Hockey Canada.

Pascal Leclaire has just had a stellar year. He finished 24-14-6 on a team that won 34 games total. 9 of those wins were shutouts. If Leclaire had been healthy, the Bluejackets may have actually made the postseason, but his injury list reads like a triage: Hamstring injury, viral infection, neck injury, head injury. Obviously Hockey Canada has made this guy go through a physical, but you have to question his durability.

I belive Garon was a near lock for a place on the roster before his injury, but obviously he is not ready to go. I also thought Dwayne Roloson might take part after last year's success, perhaps he is hurt or perhaps he declined, either way I am a bit disappointed.

On defence we had three players named, one of which I think might be suprise to some people based on my naming criteria, but nonetheless made my shortlist of guys I believed would make the team.

Steve Staios was nothing but an absolute warrior for Edmonton this year, especially over the last three months. Was it in Calgary a couple weekends ago where Staios blocked two high shots in one shift? Every Oiler fan knows what Staios brings to the table but suffice to say he'll be a true leader for this team, he'll play tough and as importantly he brings a wealth of international experince. You heard it right, as Staios played on two gold medal World Championship teams, in 2003 and 2004, (along with a very young Shawn Horcoff, Cory Cross, Anson Carter, Mike Comrie, and last but not least, Ryan Smyth). I felt it was a huge oversight when Staios was not named to the 2005 team, and I felt he would have been a good addition last year. He's an older guy, but what a competitor.

Jay Bouwmeester is another guy who has a chance to star for Canada in 2010. Many of the early predictions of the team (including one by Bob Mckenzie) didn't have Bouwmeester on the team, but the fact is that this smooth skating eagle wingspanned defenceman is an absolute force, and I would suspect he wants to solidify his 2010 position. I remarked many times last year that he should be named to the team, and perhaps the fact that he was skipped over for a single year means he was hurt. He brings an absolute wealth of experince for Team Canada; 3 World Junior tournaments (two bronzes and a silver), two World Hockey Championships (two golds) a World Cup of Hockey 1st place, and the Turin Olympics.

Duncan Keith is a bit of a suprise to me. If asked about Chicago defenceman I would have said Brent Seabrooke. Keith hasn't served Team Canada in any former capacity that I know of, but his roster selection has an obvious reason: look at that ungodly plus minus!! Keith finished the season with 12 goals and 20 assists but he had a +30!! Nick Lidstrom beats him out with a +40, but to put it in perspective, Chicago has a +4 goal differential on the year, while Detroit has a +73 goal differential. Do the math.

Certainly at this point I think there's one obvious disappointment; Where is Eric Brewer? Since the World Junior Championship he has done nothing but win for team Canada. 2002, Olympic gold, 2003, 2004 World Championship Gold, 2004, World Cup 1st place, 2007, World Championship Gold. What am I missing here? He's a guy with a bit of an up and down career but he's always brought his 'A' game to the international stage. Here's hoping he is just undergoing a physical or something like that and is only yet to be named.

Now Hockey Canada also named a smattering of forwards; Nash, Doan, Toews, Roy, and Staal are all explained in my previous Team Canada column, so is St. Louis, a fantastic suprise. Chimera and Meyers are holdovers from last year, and given the job they did I can certainly understand their inclusion. The fact that McClement was not named to the team says to me he's hurt, as he shared an instrumental role on that team as well, however, with his not being named there's one spot left open on the third 'shutdown' line.

I peersonally felt that probably only two of the three of last year's guys would be named, but I thought the third member would be Fernando Pisani. He's had a short year so I felt he would still have some energy, and he's played so well I thought he earned the inclusion. Whether he wasn't asked, is hurt, or declined I don't know, but I think he would have made a great addition to the team.

I also missed the target on a couple of other Oilers. I felt Penner as well as Cogliano and Gagner would be named to the team in some capacity. It seems as if I've missed on all three. I think Ray Whitney is a suprise; not a lot of team Canada experience etc. His 25 goals and Stanley Cup obviously made him an attractive inclusion but I think he perhaps took Penner's spot. Given the inclusion of both Staal, Roy and Toews, Gagner has lost his energy line position, and Cogliano really doesn't fit anywhere either. As I mentioned before though, this could be a side effect of the tournament being held in Canada this year; more veterans are willing to participate so the really young guys lose a spot.

I also missed the mark with Boyes and McDonald. If they haven't been named yet, they probably won't be. A Team Canada edition with no recent Stanley Cup winner suprises me, but that looks like what we have, barring an early exit by the Ducks.

Patrick Sharp is another suprise to me, simply because of his lack of international experience, but like Duncan Keith he has an impressive plus minus. 20 goals with a +20, no question Sharp can play a line on at least two and probably three of the forward lines.

We're still 3 weeks away from the opening game (May 2nd) but now we're starting to see the team take shape.

Doan- Staal- Nash
Whitney - Roy - ???
Meyers - ??? - McClement
Sharp - Toews - ???

Bouwmeester - ???
Keith - ???
Staios - ???

Ward
Leclaire
???

2008 World Championships - Ken Hitchcock Named Head Coach

With the beginning of the NHL playoffs fast approaching, another lower profile tournament is also beginning, and for the first time since its inception, it’s being hosted by Canada.

Yes, it’s time once again to begin prepare for Team Canada’s chance to defend the Gold Medal at the upcoming World Hockey Championships, being jointly hosted by Quebec City and Halifax.

Being a short tournament, the coaching key is getting players to buy into a system and run it efficiently in only a handful of games, a task that is suited to some coaches more than others. He also has to be a coach that is used to mentoring young players, as veterans tend to avoid this tournament. I think getting a veteran coach that has had past success (whether in the NHL or internationally) allows for instant credibility in the dressing room and therefore the best chance of success.

I think a good predictor for coach for Team Canada is ‘don’t mess with success.’ When Pat Quinn won in 2002, they brought him back for 2004. When he won in 2004, they brought him back in 2006 where he lost. He will not be back for 2010 Olympics, although he has served a number of less significant roles for Team Canada, coaching Canada’s Spengler Cup effort a year and a half ago and is now coaching Team Canada U-18.

The fact that Andy Murray was not named head coach says to me that he turned the role down. In my opinon he was Team Canada’s first option due to his past success, and I think he has to at least be considered for a position in 2010; make no mistake, Canada is taking the roles in these World Championships as auditions for that 2010 team.

That said, I think Hitchcock has a pretty impressive resume himself. Taken from Team Canada’s official website:

The Edmonton, AB native served as an associate coach at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and in the same role at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, winning the championship, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, winning the gold medal, and the 2002 IIHF World Championship. He was also an assistant coach with Canada’s gold medal-winning National Junior Team at the 1988 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Maybe one thing that Hitchcock has over Murray is his Stanley Cup win with the Dallas Stars in 1999.

My one concern about Hitchcock is whether he’ll be able to work with a really young team, as historically he seems to be a coach that favours older more experienced players. The other question surrounding Hitchcock revolves around offence generation. It’s hard enough to score goals without having to deal with a short time to develop chemistry and a coach that doesn’t focus on scoring. One famous from Andy Strickland at hockeybuzz.com:

One day during the 1999-00 season when Hull, Jere Lehtinen and Modano were playing on a line together. The coach at the time, Ken Hitchcock, kept saying at practice how scoring wasn't important. During the next drill, a two-on-one drill, Brett dumped the puck in the corner and skated out of the zone. Hitch went crazy and asked him what his problem was. Modano remembered Brett saying, "I thought you said scoring goals isn't important." Hitch proceeded to kick the entire line off the ice. Brett and Modano were getting showered and dressed and were ready to leave when the rest of the team came off the ice. Meanwhile, Jere was still sitting in his stall in full gear, skates laced, not knowing what to do because he had never been kicked out of practice before. (Hockeybuzz)

That said, Hull has also remarked that Hitchcock was one of his favorite coaches. (from Wikipedia) Winning always makes forgiving a lot easier.

Now, I believe most years Team Canada selects a couple NHL head coaches to help with Team Canada. Last year it was Andy Murray and Gerald Gallant, in 2004 Joel Quennville was head coach but has hospitalized just before the tournament began. Associate coach Mike Babcock stepped up (while Tom Renney remained the assistant) and won the Gold. So I think we can safely guess that at least one more NHL head coach will be named to help guide this team.

Here are the candidates as I see it:

Wayne Gretzky

Why he’s likely to be named: Gretzky has found a way to be involved with Team Canada so much in his career it’s hard to believe he’s not going to try be involved in a coach at any point in time. MacT remarked about the Oilers 06’ run that having a great goalie will make you look like a great coach, and since the Coyotes acquired Bryzgalov the Coyotes have been very respectable. He doesn’t have a lot to work with in terms of defence either, so I think competing for a playoff spot with this young team will give him at least some credibility. His name should provide the rest. Plus I have a conspiracy theory that Gretzky is being groomed by Team Canada to have a coaching position in 2010.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Well, his record, despite his improvements this year, Gretz doesn’t have a stellar history as a coach. Plus he has absolutely no experience coaching on the international level, even if he has lots of experience playing at the international level.

Denis Savard

Why he’s likely to be named: Savard is only in his second season as an NHL coach, he hasn’t seen a lot of success, but he’s in a position similar to Gretzky: a lot of young players, and not bad mileage.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Savard isn’t exactly what I would call a team Canada golden boy like Gretzky or Murray. His inexperience will hurt his chances, and he’s probably the least likely of my shortlist to get a call.

Ted Nolan

Why he’s likely to be named: Ted isn’t exactly known for being a systems coach but I think he’s been successful at the junior level and at the NHL level on a number of levels. I think given his junior history he’s shown he’s good with younger players and I think he’d get really good mileage out of what he’s given in a tournament like this.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Another guy with not a lot of experience in the international game, and generally hasn’t been called upon by team Canada in any capacity.

Craig MacTavish

Why he’s likely to be named: MacT kind of reminds me of Hitchcock in that he doesn’t strike me as an offence first type of guy. He has had a few roles for Team Canada, most recently at the 2005 Worlds where he associate coached the lockout dream team to a silver medal (with Tom Renney and Marc Habscheid). I’ve always felt that MacT is a good mentoring coach and his attention to details (such as faceoffs and shot blocking) make me feel as if he’d be a good fit.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: First and foremost I think his biggest issue will be his lack of high end success. I think he’s done pretty well given the players he usually has, and the one year he got a great team he took it very very far, but without a Stanley Cup or a Gold medal he’ll be in tough.

Alain Vigneault

Why he’s likely to be named: Another defensive first coach, although it’s potentially more out of necessity than choice. Either way, I believe he’d be a sober second thought guy for Hitchcock, and stylistically I think they mesh. It’s also hard to ignore a two time nominee and one time winner of the Jack Adams trophy. According to the Canucks official website, he was assistant in the World Juniors in 1989 and 1991, winning the Gold in 1991.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: I think lack of true NHL success will hurt him; he hasn’t won a cup, if he’s asked to go it means he won’t have made the playoffs this year. He’s got a great goalie, is his strength his coaching or his goaltending?