Rosters: 2012 IIHF World Championship

[caseyramone]

Canada's team appears even a bit young i'd say ... E. Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, Skinner and Eberle look pretty but a good team needs some grit too so at least Methot / Bouwmeester should be replaced with Seabrook / Keith , my 2 cents

[Craig2]

Canada's team appears even a bit young i'd say ... E. Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, Skinner and Eberle look pretty but a good team needs some grit too so at least Methot / Bouwmeester should be replaced with Seabrook / Keith , my 2 cents

Keith is going, Seabrook is not, so we get half of that pairing.

Some of those guys are young, but they have experience. Kane, Tavares, Skinner and Eberle have all played for Canada previously at this tournament, as well as playing in the WJC.

I like the young/old mix.

[caseyramone]

it's a hell of a line-up thats for sure . it's just the only thing that struck me that there are many players that havent reached the 23 year mark. all that aside, Canada is the No. 1 contender for the World Champion title in every year, also with there 4th or 5th rank line-up... only that they often find a way of letting it taken away from them, from another team, russian or scandinavian .. my guts say that Finland will again make a grim strong campaign to win the title

PS: one must add of course that with the bigger ice and other refereeing (unofficial no-fight policy) and other circumstances, world championships don't have a lot to do with what NHL players are used with

[TheBoxBreaker]

it's a hell of a line-up thats for sure . it's just the only thing that struck me that there are many players that havent reached the 23 year mark. all that aside, Canada is the No. 1 contender for the World Champion title in every year, also with there 4th or 5th rank line-up... only that they often find a way of letting it taken away from them, from another team, russian or scandinavian .. my guts say that Finland will again make a grim strong campaign to win the title

PS: one must add of course that with the bigger ice and other refereeing (unofficial no-fight policy) and other circumstances, world championships don't have a lot to do with what NHL players are used with

The reason why the Canadians sometimes loose at the World Championships to a team with a weak roster is that although they have a good roster, you have to have a good team. It doesn't matter if you have 20 NHL stars in your lineup if the chemistry isn't good.

The Russians, Finns, Swedes and others also use players from their home leagues (often from the same teams) which means they already know each other, and each other's strenghts and weaknesses.

-Ethan

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

I guess Kulemin is healthy now as he is on Russia's roster. With Malkin on the team they will have a dangerous offensive weapon and should do well.

Not sold on Enroth and Fasth being the goalie tandem for Sweden as Enroth is a good backup in the NHL and I don't know that much about Fasth. They do have a good offense and defense though.

I still think Canada is the team to beat on paper but the games aren't played on paper. Just look at what happened in the 1st round of the NHL playoffs.

[TheBoxBreaker]

All 16 rosters have been added/updated. Check them out and share your opinion!

[iidaemmi]

Finland roster doesn't look so strong on paper, but I know it will be team full of fighting spirit. I'm a confident, we have a good team.

Harri

[Wickabee]

The US still looks weak, but I guess we'll see. Canada looks like a good mix of players that can gel. Hoping for big things from Denmark and Switzerland too.

[Wickabee]

According to the Canucks facebook, Alex Burrows will skate for team Canada.

[TheBoxBreaker]

The US still looks weak, but I guess we'll see. Canada looks like a good mix of players that can gel. Hoping for big things from Denmark and Switzerland too.

Yes, the Americans haven't got a strong team this year. If they can play like a team with good chemistry, who knows... maybe they'll surprise, but I don't see them making it past the semifinals.

I know for a fact that we Danes have high expectations. Interviews with the players suggest that our goal is to make the quarterfinals this year, which means we have to be one of the 8 best countries in the world. I'm a bit nervous about this team, though. We have been able to perform as underdogs many times (beaten USA, Slovakia, Finland, tied Canada) but how will these players react when suddenly they're the ones under pressure? Realistically, we have to beat Italy, Norway, Latvia and Germany to earn a spot of the 4 available (assuming Russia, Sweden and Czech Republic grab the first 3), and they're all pretty much 50-50 games, they can go either way, so hopefully it's going to make for the most entertaining World Championship ever... with Denmark in the quarterfinals!

Finland roster doesn't look so strong on paper, but I know it will be team full of fighting spirit. I'm a confident, we have a good team.

Harri

Certainly, Harri. The Finns have shown that you don't need to have a lineup filled with NHL stars to be successful. Last year they were underdogs in the semifinals against Russia, and before you knew it, they were standing with the gold medals around their necks against Sweden.

According to the Canucks facebook, Alex Burrows will skate for team Canada.

Alexandre Burrows has been added to the Canadian roster. On paper, this team can't look much stronger at this point, except if Toews and Crosby had said yes to represent them at the tournament.

-Ethan