Colorado Avalanche: Winter Olympics Update
By Andrew Dill
Feb 11, 2014; Sochi, RUSSIA; USA forward Paul Stastny (26) talks with forward Dustin Brown (23) during an ice hockey training session for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Training Rink. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Avalanche Olympic Update
Team USA:
From what I have seen so far, it looks like Paul Stastny will be on the fourth-line with Montreal Canadiens winger Max Pacioretty and New York Rangers winger Ryan Callahan. If you would like to read more about the recap of Team USA’s line pairings along with Team Canada’s, make sure to follow the link.
Team Canada:
There has been little rumblings of the line pairings for Team Canada but there is a possibility that Matt Duchene will be listed as a potential 13th forward. Here is more from ProHockeyTalk.
"This could put Colorado’s Matt Duchene and Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis — named as an injury replacement for Steve Stamkos — as the potential 13th and 14th forwards. It should be noted it’s still very early in the process and difficult to read too much into these lines (for example, Tavares was playing wing on a line with Getzlaf and Perry at one point,"
Team Sweden:
Gabriel Landeskog who is just 21-years-old, was named the alternative captain for Sweden due to the injury of Vancouver Canucks forward Henrik Sedin. Here is more from Mike Chambers of The Denver Post.
"Landeskog is also currently practicing on a line with Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings and Alex Steen of the St. Louis Blues."
Team Russia:
There has been some debate on whether who should start in the net between Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov or Columbus’s Sergei Bobrovsky. Here is more on the debate from DefendingBigD.com.
Feb 11, 2014; Sochi, RUSSIA; Russia goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov (1) during an ice hockey training session for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
"The goalies could easily be a strength or a weakness – it all depends on which versions ofSergei Bobrovsky and Semyon Varlamov show up. Varlamov has been spectacular at times this season for the Colorado Avalanche but was very pedestrian last year. Bobrovsky was brilliant last year, the well-deserved Vezina winner with a 2.00 goals against average in 38 games, but he’s been more along the lines of “pretty good” this time around."
Schedule:
Paul Stastny and Team USA open up against Slovakia on Thursday.
Matt Duchene and Team Canada open up with Norway on Thursday.
Gabriel Landeskog and Team Sweden open up with Team Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Semyon Varlamov and Team Russia open up with Team Slovakia on Thursday.