Fun Facts - Team Canada's Men's Olympic Hockey Team

Saw the highlights from yesterday's press conference and read a few articles regarding our upcoming Canada's Men's 2014 Olympic Hockey Team.  I compiled some fun facts and key dates below! For fun I also proposed the All Snub Team.  Enjoy!

2010 Gold Medal Olympic Hockey Champions

Team Canada Facts:

• Per Capgeek the Canadian Men's Team NHL payroll fo 2014 is $150.9M, USA is $119.8M and Sweden is $98.2M.
• Ontario accounts for 11 of 25 players, with B.C. 5, Saskatchewan 3, Quebec 3, Alberta 1, Manitoba 1 and Nova Scotia 1.
• At the time of team selection Canadian players were 8 of the top 10 scorers in the NHL.  In order: Sydney Crosby, John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Sharp, Correy Perry and Jonathan Toews.  
• 11 players are returning from the 2010 the Gold Winning Olympic Roster.  In alphabetic order Patrice Bergeron, Sydney Crosby, Drew Doughty, Ryan Getzlaf, Duncan Keith, Roberto Luongo, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Jonathan Toews, and Shea Weber.
• 2 players who will now be in their third consecutive Winter Olympics Roberto Luongo and Rick Nash.
• 6 players are NHL Captains.  In alphabetic order Jamine Benn, Sydney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, and Shea Weber. 

Fast Facts and Key Dates:

• 12 Men's Olympic Hockey Teams in 3 groups of 4.  
• Canada plays in Group B with Austria, Finland and Norway.
• Olympic Hockey games commence February 12, 2014.  Canada plays its first game on Thursday February 14 against Norway.
• A total of 30 Men's Olympic Hockey games played in Sochi.  The minimum number of games a team can play is 4.  The maximum they can play is 7 in 11 days.
• The Quarterfinal games occur on Wednesday, February 19, 2014
• The Semifinal games occur on Friday, February 21, 2014
• The Gold Medal Game occurs on Sunday, February 23, 2014.

For the complete schedule of Olympic Hockey games see the IIHF website.

The All Snub Team:

Lastly for fun I complied the all Snub Team.  Depending on the sport some countries have multiple teams/athletes that qualify to be at the Olympics.  I would think that Canada Team B could actually win because of the chip on their shoulder.  Further, on paper they would easily be better than Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Forward Lines:

James Neal - Joe Thornton - Martin St. Louis  

Milan Lucic - Eric Staal - Jeff Skinner

Andrew Ladd - Mike Richards - Tyler Sequin

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Spares: Joffrey Lupul, Brad Marchand and Logan Couture (Injured)

Defence:

Kris Letang - Dion Phaneuf

Marc Giordanco - Brent Seabrook

Francois Beachemin - Dan Boyle

Braydon Coburn - Mike Green

Spares: Marc Staal (injured), and Brian Campbell

Goalies:

Corey Crawford

Josh Harding

Jonathan Bernier 

Your thoughts?  Someone I'm missing from the the All-Snub Team?  Add your comments below.

Oracle of North York almost predicts Canada's Men Olympic Hockey Team

Earlier this year I wrote an article predicting the outcomes of the NHL season and discussed the folly of prediction.  My point was that making predictions is pretty useless, but we all enjoy making predictions. It makes for good TV (or radio.)  However, key to all predictions is going back and comparing your result to actual.  Were you right?  Were you even close?  Are you better than the average.  Well I bothered to compare my prediction and the prediction of professional hockey analysts to the actual result.

Picture from Hockey Canada Website

Back on Thursday, December 12, I wrote a blog with my prediction for the Men's 2014 Olympic Hockey Roster.  Highlighted in yellow are the players I wrongly predicted.

My Prediction:

Forwards:	Left Winger	Center	Right Winger
Line 1:	Chris Kunitz	Sydney Crosby	Steve Stamkos
Line 2:	Patrick Sharp	Jonathan Toews	Logan Couture
Line 3:	Rick Nash	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Line 4:	Martin St. Louis	John Tavares	Patrice Bergeron
Defencemen:	Left Side	Right Side
Pairing 1:	Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Pairing 2:	Shea Weber	Drew Doughty
Pairing 3:	Jay Bouwmeester	Alex Pietranagelo
Goaltenders:	Roberto Luongo	Spare:	Jamie Benn (F)
	Carey Price	Matt Duchene	PK Subban (D)
	Mike Smith		Kris Letang (D)

I picked a 23 man roster.  At the time that was accurate, but they subsequently announced that the rosters will be 25 players.  So, I was one defencemen and one forward short.  Looking at my notes (chicken scratch on a now crumpled ruled paper) I predicted Kris Letang would be the 8th defencemen and Matt Duchene as next after Jamie Benn for forwards.  

Actual Result:

Forwards:	Left Winger	Center	Right Winger
Line 1:	Chris Kunitz	Sydney Crosby	Steve Stamkos
Line 2:	Patrick Sharp	Jonathan Toews	Patrick Marleau
Line 3:	Rick Nash	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Line 4:	Jeff Carter	John Tavares	Patrice Bergeron
Defencemen:	Left Side	Right Side
Pairing 1:	Duncan Keith	PK Subban
Pairing 2:	Shea Weber	Drew Doughty
Pairing 3:	Jay Bouwmeester	Alex Pietranagelo
Goaltenders:	Roberto Luongo	Spare:	Jamie Benn (F)
	Carey Price	Matt Duchene (F)	Dan Hamhuis (D)
	Mike Smith		M.E. Vlasic (D)

My accuracy as compared to the Professionals:

Kieran - Forwards (12/14), Defencemen (6/8) and Goalies (3/3) - Overall (21/25 or 84% accuracy)

The Globe and Mail Writers:

Eric Duhatshek - Forwards (10/14), Defencemen (6/8) and Goalies (3/3) - Overall (19/25 or 76% accuracy)

James Mirtle - Forwards (10/14), Defencemen( 6/8) and Goalies (2/3) - Overall (19/25 or 76% accuracy)

Sean Gordon - Forwards (10/14), Defencemen (6/8) and Goalies (2/3) - Overall (19/25 or 76% accuracy)

The Hockey News: 

Rory Boylen (THN Editor) -  Forwards (9/14), Defencemen (5/8) and Goalies (2/3) - Overall (16/25 or 64% accuracy)

The Toronto Star:

Damian Cox - Forwards (10/14), Defencemen (7/8) and Goalies (3/3) - Overall (20/25 or 64% accuracy)

Sportsnet:

Nick Kypreos - Forwards (11/14), Defencemen (6/8) and Goalies (3/3) - Overall (20/25 or 80% accuracy)

Doug Maclean - Forwards (12/14), Defencemen (6/8) and Goalies (3/3 Overall or 84% accuracy)

The Sports News (TSN):

Darren Dreger - Forwards (11/14), Defencemen (7/8) and Goalies (3/3 or 80% accuracy)

In Review:

Well I beat the pundits on average by two correct picks. It seemes like the majority of pundits made the same mistakes.  On forwards the majority of pundits predicted Logan Couture (including me) who did not make the team.  He is also going for hand surgery tomorrow (Jan 8, 2014) and it is unknown when he'll return per the Globe and Mail.  Steve Yzerman and company likely knew this and had him out of the the running. Few people predicted Jeff Carter to picked as well as to be a forward.  On defence everyone predicted that Brent Seabrook would be selected because of his strong play this season and him being Duncan Keith's defensive partner.  Dan Hamhuis was not on anyone's final roster from the lists I looked at as well.  Otherwise it was small group of players on the bubble.  What I learned really is that everyone pretty much predicted 75% of the team and it was the same players.   What is more telling is how many of these pundits will publicly compare how accurate they actually were.  Will they own up to being wrong?  Furthermore, almost all of them hedged there bets in their original article.  Giving them some wiggle room.

Closing Comments:

In conclusion... To quote Ralph Wiggum: "I beat the smart kids, I beat the smart kids!"   Well me and Doug Maclean... I gave myself a pat on the back.  Now lets see if Steve Yzerman and his team put together the right guys to get the job done in Sochi. Also props to the Globe and Mail for having the only article published clearly showing their prediction as compared to actual.  

Your thoughts? Did Steve Yzerman and Team make the right choices?

My Christmas Holiday Laziness is over Update

It has been a few eventful weeks and I have gotten lazy from too much egg nog to write.  I have resolved to be more diligent for January and February.  My goal is to write two blogs a week.

I do have my excuses for not writing.  Procrastination is easy as we all know.  Some craziness did creep in like the 2 full days we were without power during the Ice Storm. But, I really prioritized spending times with friends and family, and catching up on movies.

So, I promise to add more of my thoughts to the world wide web and I hope enjoy them. So stay tuned.

Hummus the Dip Everybody Loves

A friend of mine asked me why make home made hummus?  It is pretty cheap and easily available.  He's half right, but home made tastes better and does not have any food additives or preservatives.  It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and this recipe makes enough for two dipping bowls.  The bowl on the left is Roasted Red Pepper hummus and on the right Classic Hummus.  I have made two batches in the last week to share with friends and both bowls came back empty.

Two kinds of Fresh Humms

Classic Hummus
Combine ingredients in a blender or medium bowl:
	1 can (19oz/540ml) Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
	1/3 Cup (80ml) Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
	1/3 Cup (80ml) Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
	2 TBSP (30ml) Tahini
	2 Garlic Cloves
	1/2 TSP Ground Cumin
	1/2 TSP Salt
	1/2 TSP Pepper
Steps:
	1) Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.  If using an immersion blender I would add the chick peas in batches.
	2) Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve with toasted pita pieces, baguette, crackers or veggies.

Additions and Variations:

• My wife's favorite variation is to add 1/2 marinated roasted Red Pepper drained and diced and 1 green onion sliced to the hummus.  This also looks festive with the red and green colours.
• My favorite variations is to add 1/4 TSP ground cumin (instead of 1/2 TSP ground cumin) and a 1/4 cup fresh dill.  Thus, you have Lemon-Dill hummus.
• Another variations is to add a 1/4 cup of drained finely chopped Sun-dried tomatoes and again I would add 1 green onion sliced.
• Lastly, if you are looking for a simple garnish than add chopped fresh Italian parsley on top of the hummus before serving.  

Ingredients for Making Hummus

Ingredients Combined prior to adding Chickpeas

Blending in the Chick Peas in Batches with an Immersion Blender

What I learned making this recipe:

• Tahini is a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds.  It is often used in North African, Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern cooking and is found in baba ghanoush and halva as well.  You can find it in a jar at most grocery stores typically next to almond butter and other nut butters. 

Thought? Comments? Suggestions?  Do you have a preferred variation of hummus?

My Prediction for the Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team

Once again I will make a consequence free prediction of something that I have no control over.  Frankly you have to think of something while on the throne and multiple neurological studies have demonstrated that the best decisions bubble up from the subconscious to the conscious while in the bathroom.  Apparently, when are brains are distracted with pre-programmed functions it lets are other faculties have time to compute.  Per one podcast I listened to said that one should hold off on making a decision for an hour.  Consume a couple glasses of water and go to the bathroom minutes before you are expected to give your decision.  You are most likely in this circumstance to come up with the best/right decision.

2010 Olympic Gold

My prediction of the 2014 Men's Olympic Hockey Roster:

Canadians make up approximately 60% of NHL rosters and it is often said that we have enough talent/depth to have two Olympic rosters.  However, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic and the USA all have enough elite talent to challenge for Gold.  In fact Canada has only one twice the Olympic Gold (Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010) since they allowed professional hockey players in the 1998 Nagano Olympics.  The Czech Republic won in Nagano and in 2006 Turin Olympics Sweden won.  For the Canadian team it really is a matter of coming together as a team and adjusting to the Olmypic ice hockey surface.

My 2014 Prediction:

Forwards:	Left Winger	Center	Right Winger
Line 1:	Chris Kunitz	Sydney Crosby	Steve Stamkos
Line 2:	Patrick Sharp	Jonathan Toews	Logan Couture
Line 3:	Rick Nash	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Line 4:	Martin St. Louis	John Tavares	Patrice Bergeron
Defencemen:	Left Side	Right Side
Pairing 1:	Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Pairing 2:	Shea Weber	Drew Doughty
Pairing 3:	Jay Bouwmeester	Alex Pietranagelo
Goaltenders:	Roberto Luongo
	Carey Price
	Mike Smith

Per the IIHF they are allowed to have a 23 man roster that consists of 3 goalies and a minimum of 12 forwards and 6 defencemen.   So, I'm predicting that they take 1 spare forward and 1 spare defencemen.  My prediction is that they will take Jamie Benn (LW) and P.K. Subban (D).  

I'm not Steve Yzerman the General Manager of the 2014 team, but my logic is rather simple.  For the defencemen take the two best pairs of Canadian defencemen you can find.  Chicago's top pairing is obvious from there recent Stanley cups.  St. Louis pair of Bouwmeester and Pietranagelo arguably the best pair in the NHL at the moment.  That leaves 3 positions for defencemen and I would take the 3 other Canadian players who have been nominated (or won) the Norris Trophy.  

Forwards is incredibly difficult to pick and I imagine my top 9 of my 12 are right.  The players that I'm most unsure of is Kunitz, Nash, St. Louis and Couture.  I'm picking Kunitz because he has great chemistry with Crosby and is playing incredibly well this season.  Similarly, I'm picking St. Louis who has incredible chemistry with Stamkos (who looks on track to return before the Olympics with his broken leg) and St. Louis plays for Yzerman and has played at an elite level for years.  Nash when healthy is one of Canada's elite goal scoring wingers and has missed 14 games due to concussion this season.  He has a strong international playing resume as compared to younger elite wingers such as Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Jamie Benn, Tyler Sequin, and Milan Lucic.  Also, a better commitment to team defense.

Lastly, Couture who has having a great season with San Jose and is now playing better than Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.  Thornton who is tied for 9th in league scoring and Marleau who is tied  for 13th. There are still many other notable centers such as Mike Richards, Eric Staal, Jason Spezza, Claude Giroux, RNH, and Matt Duchene that are elite Canadian players.  

2010 Men's Olympic Roster:

Forwards:	Left Winger	Center	Right Winger
Line 1:	Rick Nash	Sydney Crosby	Jarome Iglina
Line 2:	Brendan Morrow	Jonathan Toews	Eric Staal
Line 3:	Mike Richards	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Line 4:	Danny Heatley	Joe Thornton	Patrick Marleau
Spare:	Patrice Bergeron
Defencemen:	Left Side	Right Side
Pairing 1:	Scott Neidermayer	Chris Pronger
Pairing 2:	Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Pairing 3:	Dan Boyle	Shea Weber
Spare:	Drew Doughty
Goaltenders:	Roberto Luongo
	Martin Brodeur
	Marc-Andre Fleury

Please note that I'am making an educated guess of the forward line combinations from 2010 and the ranking of lines.  I do know that San Jose threesome were a line and that Jarome lined up next to Sydney most of the time.  The defencemen pairings are accurate.

Per my prediction 11 of the 23 players will not be returning from the 2010 roster.  With 2 players who have retired (Neidermayer and Pronger) and with 4 players who's level of play has substantially declined Morrow, Heatley, Iglina, and Fleury.  Thornton and Marleau continue to be elite players at age 34.  Boyle is still offensively dependable at 37.  Richards and Staal continue to be top Centers, but they are pushed down the depth chart behind more elite players.

The scary Truth's of Olympic Hockey:

I'm so looking forward to watching Olympic hockey and I know that Canada winning is not a sure thing.  

• How do you defend a line consisting of Ovechkin and Kovalchuk being centered by either Malkin or Datsyuk? On home ice and Putin is waiving millions of dollars in bonuses at you.  
• Chara!
• The US rightside will consist of Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel and Bobby Ryan.  That is 3 of the top 10 goal scorers in the last 5 seasons.
• A hot goaltender such as Lundqvist, Rask or Miller could carry any team to gold.  It could just take one odd goal to win like Crosby on Miller in 2010.  

Fun Facts:

Scott Neidermayer and a Very Special Boy

• In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics only 2 players actually played on a Canadian team Jarome Iglina and Roberto Luongo the rest of the 23 man roster played on American teams.
• Teemu Selanne is the all-time scoring leader in points at the Olympics with 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points.  He also has participated in 5 Olympics and most likely a 6th coming 
• Scott Neidermayer who was the Captain of 2010 Olympic Men's hockey team is only player in history to have won a Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold, World Cup, World Jr. Championship and Memorial Cup.  
• The only NHL Player to test positive for a banned substance was Mattias Ohlund (Swedish Defensemen) in 2002 for Acetazolamide a drug he took after getting eye surgery.   He was not suspended for this infraction.  I don't understand how a diuretic is performance enhancing for a hockey player.  I could see someone at the top edge of their weight-class using this to reduced retained water. 

Your thoughts?  Am I more 'Mad' than Mike Milbury?  Please add your comments below.