|
Howdy, folks.
A Twitter account called “Big Head Hockey” (@BigHeadHcky) has been doing something fun this week, making up NHL all-star teams from multiple Canadian provinces based on active professional players.
(Hey, it’s summer, all the big free agents have mostly been signed, general managers have gone to the lake and no trades are happening, so you gotta produce something to keep the clicks coming, right?)
Advertisement
So far, I’ve seen the account post hypothetical rosters — which include four forwards lines, three defensive pairs, three goaltenders and three extra skaters — for Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
Feels like they skipped a pretty important one, doesn’t it?
No worries, I’ll take it from here!
Allow me to present Team Manitoba. The only caveat here is players must already have pro experience, which includes plenty of up-and-coming young talents who could make this lineup look a lot different a few years from now.
I’ve also included a couple players who weren’t technically born here but moved to Manitoba at a young age and claim this province as their home.
FORWARDS:
Max Domi-Seth Jarvis-Mark Stone
Jordan Martinook-Cody Glass-Morgan Geekie
Connor Dewar-Jonathan Toews-Keegan Kolesar
Wade Allison-Brett Howden- Ryan Reaves
Jonathan Toews (Jeffrey T. Barnes / The Associated Press files)
DEFENCE:
Travis Sanheim-Ryan Pulock
Joel Edmundson-Zach Whitecloud
Damon Severson-Travis Hamonic
GOALTENDER:
James Reimer
Joel Hofer
Calvin Pickard
EXTRAS: Calen Addison, Nick Cicek, Byron Froese
How might this compare against other provincial squads? To give you some perspective, here is what the Twitter account has for the top forward line, top defence pair and top goaltender for the ones they’ve done so far.
Alberta: Taylor Hall, Brayden Point, Peyton Krebs, Josh Morrissey, Cale Makar, Stuart Skinner.
British Columbia: Mathew Barzal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Reinhart, Morgan Rielly, Devon Toews, Adin Hill.
Maritimes: Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby, Dawson Mercer, Ryan Graves, Noah Dobson, Jake Allen
Ontario: Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner, MacKenzie Weegar, Brent Burns, Cam Talbot
Quebec: Jonathan Huberdeau, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Marchessault, Thomas Chabot, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury.
No question Manitoba has some nice depth up the middle and on the blue line. Not quite as much when it comes to the wings and goaltending. The Bison Boys definitely wouldn’t get pushed around, with no shortage of toughness.
There’s a nice mix of veteran savvy and youthful exuberance, not to mention a healthy dose of Stanley Cup championship pedigree with Toews leading the way, now joined by Stone, Kolesar, Reaves and Whitecloud as the latest locals to have their names engraved on hockey’s holy grail.
Speaking of which, I’m writing up a story today, for Friday’s print edition, on how Lord Stanley is going to be spending plenty of time in these parts in the coming weeks. I’ll have a detailed itinerary — including where and when — the homegrown members of the Vegas Golden Knights will be celebrating.
There will be no shortage of opportunities to get close to the Cup.
I firmly believe the Free Press covers the Winnipeg Jets, day in and day out, better than anyone. Home and away, from training camp right through to the final buzzer. Morning skates. Practices. Games. Breaking news. Features. Analysis. Opinion.
It’s always been a priority, and that’s not going to change.
(We also, for the record, cover the rest of the Manitoba sports scene like no other. Just look below at the “You Might Also Want To Read” section, where I highlight many of the stories written by my talented colleagues over the past seven days. From Bombers and Goldeyes and Sea Bears and Valour FC to university and amateur sports, local athletes and events and much, much more, it’s stuff you simply won’t find anywhere else.)
I realize that as both an employee of this mighty fine newspaper and the Jets beat writer that I maaaaaaaay have a slight bias. But I believe it’s grounded in fact, in this case.
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Far from it. And so, as we enjoy the lazy, hazy days of summer and the past season becomes a distant memory, it’s never too early to start looking ahead to the coming NHL campaign.
Jets training camp is only a couple months away.
With that in mind, consider this my open call for you fine folks to send me any and all feedback. After all, the customer is always right, and we are nothing without our readers.
What would you like to see more of? Less of? What interests you when you’re reading about your favourite team? What feels like a waste of your time?
I have a few ideas I’m planning to run by the powers that be, things that have been kicking around in my head that I’d like to add to the mix and which I think would be well-received. But your two cents would be extremely valuable as I put together my pitch.
Whether it’s a specific idea or something more general you’d like to see more (or maybe less?) of, please send your thoughts my way. Simply hit reply to this email and fire away,
Much appreciated!
|
