Team Canada U20 Roster Finalized

Cheer up, final cuts.  There could always be an injury in the pre-tournament games to come, and you could be the next Evander Kane as a result.  

Here's Team Canada's (at least initial) final roster of 22, including 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders:

Since Canadians like to debate these kinds of things, here are the breakdowns.  By league, it is WHL (9), OHL (7), QMJHL (4), WCHA/NCAA (2).  That's somewhat notable given that the head coach, Dave Cameron, is from the OHL.  Cameron picked one of his own players, Casey Cizikas, and went with a goalie he plays against a lot (Visentin) over his own goalie (J.P. Anderson).  Calvin Pickard, the WHL goalie at camp and my pick to back up Roy, admitted to TSN that he had a bad camp. 

By province, Ontario leads the way with seven players, followed by British Columbia and Saskatchewan (4 each), Quebec (3), Manitoba (2), and one each for Alberta and New Brunswick.  That's actually pretty shocking to see only one Albertan on the team, especially since Manitoba beat them in representaiton.  Manitoba never beats Alberta, unless it's in women's curling.

Sean Couturier is the lone draft eligible player to be picked on this team, so like Taylor Hall last year, he gets an extra opporutnity to show himself in a high stakes situation.  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan Murphy do not, just like Tyler Seguin last year. 

Another notable late cut was Brandon Pirri, who was released by the Chicago Blackhawks to play at the camp.  It's not often a player already playing professional hockey, and one who played in the NHL already, does not make the team. 

I'll have more on Team Canada in the lead up to the tournament, as we get a better handle on the line combinations and roles become defined.  Some natural centres (like Leblanc) will have to play the wing, but that's common at these events.   It's definitely a big team, and when you can boast five top ten draft picks, and have four players returning from the previous year, you're in very good position to win the tournament.  At the very least, they should definitely be in line for a medal.