2026 Olympic Hockey Preview: Medal Picks, MVP Predictions & Future Blackhawks | CHGO Blackhawks

Now you can welcome into the CHGO Blackhawks podcast for our Olympics preview.

We do so few remote shows that my brain just turns off when I'm in my basement.

All the things that I have is like my, okay, we got to do the cold open, bet three, six,

five.

And when I'm here, I'm just completely distracted, because like I can hear my wife upstairs,

I hear the dog barking.

The same.

It's yeah, so it's anyway, sorry about the bad cold open, but we are still presented

by bet three, six, five as long as they don't cancel based on that cold open.

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And yes, indeed, we are doing a full Olympic preview today.

We're going to go over some rosters, some predictions, and a little bit of a look ahead

to 2030 when there might be a few more Blackhawks playing in the tournament.

Yeah, let's hope.

Yeah, that would be good.

I'm here for that.

That would mean things are going better.

Yeah, you would think so.

You would think so.

So how do we want to start this?

We want to start doing predictions, start going over rosters, schedules, everything starts

tomorrow.

You got your first set of games tomorrow starting at, let's see, this is 940, and I believe

that is central time, Slovakia in Finland, and then Sweden and Italy play at 210 tomorrow.

And then the first US game is Thursday at 210, and then Canada starts on Friday at 210

against Switzerland.

So it's here, buddy.

It's here.

We've been waiting for it for a long time, been waiting for the NHL participation to come

back for a long time, and 20, it been 12 years since we've seen the technical best on

best in the men's tournaments, and, you know, we talked about it before the show started

before that beautiful cold open.

But the idea of best on best is a little bit of an asterisk without the inclusion of Russia

to the tournament, as far as you're talking about across the globe, the best men's hockey

players in the world and all that stuff.

So, you know, this isn't the show for global politics, I'll say, but there is a, from

a hockey standpoint, there is a little bit of something missing from this tournament

with, with Russia not being involved, but what are you going to do?

I wonder if there's a way, again, not to get political, we're not getting political,

but I wonder if there's a way around it.

If you could just do like the, well, they did the Asian nation team.

Well, they did the, the, what was it, the ROC, the, the Russian Olympic Committee or something,

whatever it was, like, it was like athletes from Russia, but they weren't under the, like,

Russian flag.

I don't know, it was something like that.

But that team won the men's gold, gold medal when, what was that 2018 Olympics?

So, I mean, and so that was an interesting situation, but yeah, they, they haven't gone

back to that.

And I don't know, it's, it's, it's from a hockey standpoint, not having guys like Kutcharov

and Panerin and Ovechkin and all that, not part of it is, there's still something a little

bit missing, but we're going to focus mainly on the guys that are going to be there.

Yeah, 100%.

So the groups are important because that's how the, you know, the, the playoff, the playoff

round are determined.

Group A is Canada, Switzerland, Czechia and France.

Group B is Finland, Sweden, Slovakia and Italy and Group C is the US, Germany, Latvia

and Denmark.

And for those that don't know, Italy gets an automatic bid because they are the host

nation.

So Italy is not a team that would typically be in a tournament like this, but they are

in.

How dare you, how dare you, you know, the Italian ice hockey federation, you never know.

What's such great players as Tony D'Angelo, he's the on the team, no, I'm just, no, it's

like, maybe they treat it like the world baseball classic where it's like, you've been to Italy

on vacation.

No, wait, I have zero Italian blood on me.

It's okay.

You had pizza for lunch.

You're on.

You're on the Italian team.

Oh, man.

That would be awesome.

They, I'm sure someone did a Italian adjacent hockey team of guys that didn't go the Olympics.

That would be great.

Yeah.

Monjipani could be on there.

Yes.

Yeah.

It's Mac Coronado.

Coronado would be, right?

Sure.

That sounds Italian.

Ethan Del Mastro.

Del Mastro 100%.

Yeah.

Drew Kamezzo.

Let's go.

Get all those Italian sounding hockey players on that team.

So as we look at the group stages here.

I have a little bit of concern for the US team because their path is very, very easy.

And look, Germany is always tough and Latvia always puts up a fight.

Denmark, thanks for coming.

I don't want them to coast.

I want them to have a little bit of a, of a, you know, early in the tournament, scare.

And maybe Latvia gives them that or Germany gives them that and they have to say, okay,

wait a minute.

We got to wake up.

We got to play our game.

But to start waking up when the game start counting.

Yeah.

That's going to be tough for this group.

But I mean, you look at the, the leadership group of this team from their management to

the players on it.

Like, I think that they get the message of being ready to go right away.

And I think that what we saw at the four nations, like the mentality from not only Team

USA, but, you know, the other, the other three countries that were there and how that's

going to translate to this tournament is going to be a big factor.

I mean, you, you, you look at how each one of those players in that tournament for, for

all those nations, how serious they took it.

But especially from the US side, like, you know, you need to get the check brothers going

through a text chat and say, and we're going to fight every Canadian at every chance.

Like they're going to take that mentality into this tournament.

So I'd, I'd imagine I'd hope that even though they have favorable matchups for each of

the prelim games, I would think that they're not going to take it lightly.

And if they do, they're going to get, you know, surprised by Latvia or Denmark or something

and drop points or, or even lose when they shouldn't.

Yeah.

Oh, let's get into the rules.

Prior, I know Stephen Ellis, our buddy, put something on, I know you've got it at the

ready here.

So I'll let you go ahead and knock.

Yeah.

Speaking of four nations, first rule, fighting, not allowed at the Olympics.

It's an automatic game suspension and ejection from the game for the Olympic tournament.

Also, Stephen adds here an additional suspension can be imposed for any players that fight at

the games at the double IHF's discretion.

The point system, they do the three to one point system from the group stage in the

Olympics.

So three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one point for

an overtime shootout loss, no points awarded for a regulation loss overtime and shootouts.

The, in the preliminary rounds, overtime is three on three for five minutes and then

a shootout starts then in the quarter finals and semifinals.

The Olympics are going to do a 10 minute three on three followed by a shootout if necessary.

In the medal games, gold and I believe bronze as well, the Olympics will have an unlimited

20 minute three on three, well, a 20 minute three on three period until someone scores.

So it'll, you know, first overtime, second overtime, if it goes that far, like they do

in the Stanley Cup finals, that'll be for the medal games.

There will be no medals given out via a shootout, which is how it should be, and then what

else here?

Just to be clear, so even the metal rounds are three on three overtime.

The metal, yeah, the metal rounds overtime will be a 20 minute three on three period.

I mean, sure, but also like they're, they're kind of melding the NHL rules into the

the Olympic rules for regular season.

All right.

I'm interested to see if we get a three on three overtime, the 10 minute one.

That's in the, yeah, if it's going to, and I guess it'd be hard to say like, well, how

will it translate to the NHL?

So if it's one of the top teams, so Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, one of them, Czechia,

you'd probably throw in there too.

If they, it's to see like, did it, did it solve, did it, did the game get one?

I, you know, because I, I think that that's three on three for five feels a little short.

It feels a little unsatisfactory at the NHL level.

It does.

I always think if you give it 10 minutes, you almost completely eliminate the shoot.

If you went to 10 minutes in the NHL.

So, yeah, I mean, I, I, I'll be interested to see if any of those quarter finals,

some of my final matchups go into the overtime.

And if they do, if they go beyond five minutes and see how it looks, I, I know it's not

the most pure form of hockey.

But man, could you imagine watching 20 full minutes of three on three sudden death

over time or a gold medal?

Like, I know every, like you say, like, oh, I don't, I don't like batting people in the

chat. Like, just, just play hockey.

Man, can you imagine the drama of going back and forth, chance, chance, and you're just,

you got your best hockey players in the world playing that style.

Like, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, yeah, we might say you hate it.

You will love it.

McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney, McKinney,

is your first guys over the boards for three on three overtime.

You might not need 10 minutes.

That's crazy.

I'm sure you know, probably that's crazy, though.

Yeah.

So then let's see, uh, other rules checks to the head, which is a big thing with the

double IHF referee can make a judgment on the play, but a major penalty and an automatic

game misconduct will often be the result for hits to the head.

So Tom Wilson, be on alert for that.

Um, for icing, it is a hybrid icing, but Steven Ellis notes that double IHF officials

tend to whistle plays dead faster if there isn't a clear race for the puck.

In the Olympics for the goal crease, if an attacking player is in the crease,

even without touching the goalie, the whistle is often blown and the face off

is moved outside of the zone.

So foot in the crease, uh, not usually allowed with the Olympics.

And then one thing to mention as we are going to get into some of the rosters and

some of the players there and start looking at at these top teams, the Olympic

rosters are 20 skaters for a game and two goalies.

So 22 players are dressed compared to the NHL, which does 20 18 skaters and two

goalies.

So traditionally, you will see teams dress 13 forwards and seven defenseman

regularly for these international games, which is different than the 12 and

six or 11 and seven in the NHL.

Interesting.

Still no room for counterbidard though.

No, no, don't, don't.

All right.

Why don't we, why do you need a 15th forward?

Sure, yeah, exactly.

I don't know, man.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I think it's going to be really exciting.

Um, the, it's going to be interesting to see how the tie, especially for the,

the gold medal game, is it like, what is it like, 7 a.m.

or something?

7 a.m. on Sunday.

We'll be live from our, from the studios in our pajamas, uh, for that gold

metric, metal game, no matter who's playing in it.

But, uh, maybe the US, who knows?

Hopefully that'll make it a little more reasonable for me to get to the studio

for 7 a.m.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, we should hit the break zone early because we've got a lot

to get to in the show, including some rosters, some predictions and more.

Uh, so we'll talk to you in two minutes on CHG O Blackhawks.

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All right, we're back on CHGO Black Hawks.

Thanks for being with us.

If you're wondering why we're early today, by the way,

Mario is heading out to Rockford today.

To cover the skills competition that's happening tonight.

And then the three of us, Mario, Chloe, and I will be in Rockford for the game.

We're going to talk to Kevin Corchinsky and Nick Lardis tomorrow.

We're going to talk to Mark Bernard tomorrow.

So tomorrow's show drops at 5.30.

So we're kind of splitting the difference.

11 o'clock today, 5.30 tomorrow with all those interviews as part of it.

And then back to your regular regularly scheduled time for Thursday and Friday.

So that's why we're early today because Mario is going to hit the road.

And a little bit for Rockford here.

And I believe catch my flight.

Yeah, I believe the skills competition is also on CHSN tonight.

Yeah, so if you're here in the Chicago area, you can you can catch it on CHSN.

There's a lot of different ways to watch the AHL, but CHSN,

because of the special event going on in Rockford is going to be a broadcast scene.

Yeah, the skills competition and the All Star challenge tomorrow.

But you can if you're outside the CHSN area,

Flowhockey TV is a great way to do it.

And HL Network has it too.

And HL Network is another option.

Lots of options to watch the AHL.

But yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Last year Kevin Kurchinsky was the AHL challenge MVP.

So maybe he can do back-to-back years as MVP.

That'd be a lot of fun.

But yeah, it's Kurchinsky Lardis.

And also Brett Sini is going to be an All Star as well.

He got added to the mix late.

So that would be fun for him, because he's been having a good season too.

Nice.

All right, let's get to some of these rosters.

Should we start with the team closest to our hearts?

Check here.

No, I'm just kidding.

Oh, I thought he was in for Tevo.

But well, that too.

Yeah, let's start with Team USA.

That's who we are all mostly interested in.

A good, solid lineup.

You've got Austin Matthews, Jake Gensel, Matt Boldy,

Jack Heifold, Lika Chucks, Dylan Larkin,

Tage Thompson, Kyle Conner,

Brock Nelson, and JT Miller, and Jack Hughes.

Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Jacob Slaven,

Brock Favour, Noah Hannathon,

and Zach Rorensky are your deep hairs.

And in goal, Connor Hellibuk, Jake Houghtinger,

and Jeremy Swaman at the same time.

Good luck, Canada.

Yeah, geez, that would be a lot of fun talking about rural changes.

And also, so yeah, so these are the line-ups,

as you saw on the screen there, that's from Michael Russo,

who's over there from the athletic cover in Team USA

and his buddy Bill Garen.

That's the 12 and 6 format from Daily Face Off.

They don't have the 13-7.

So the extra four words for Team USA are Clayton Keller

and Vincent Trocheck.

The extra defenseman are Jake Sanderson and Jackson Locom.

It's a good team.

It's a very good team.

I think it's a team that you look at it

and you saw how they fared in the four nations

lining up against Canada,

getting to overtime,

like beating them in the group stage, whatever.

It's the same thing that happened to the 2010 team.

They were a very good team.

They matched up well against Canada.

They beat them in the group stage.

They took them to overtime and lost.

So I'm still very confident in Team USA's abilities

to dominate through this tournament

and probably get to the gold medal game.

I just don't see them beating Canada, though.

I just, when we look at this Canada roster,

it's going to blow your mind if it hasn't already

with how talented the group is.

And I think Team USA brought a very good team to the Olympics.

I think they left talent at home, though.

And I think that's going to end up costing them.

And you know, you got guys like J.T. Miller

and Vincent Trochek there.

And you know, Mike Sullivan is the head coach.

All these Rangers connections.

And the Rangers are one of the teams

I would least want to see Olympians from this group.

I think the biggest mistakes of leaving

Jason Robertson home and to another degree

in the whole Caulfield is going to cost this team

if they have, if they have struggles putting the puck

in that when the games matter,

that's going to be looked at for the next four years.

Yeah, I mean, they do have a goal-turning advantage.

I think that is if you're trying to make a case

for Team USA to win the gold,

I think that is your strongest argument.

Because I think man for man, they're very good.

They'll be able to hang with Team Canada,

especially in a short tournament.

But the goal of the advantage is there.

However, we saw it in the four nations

where Jordan Bennington, for whatever reason,

when the games really matter,

finds this level where he was, he was just unbelievable.

And the gold medal game for the four nations

or the championship game,

or what the hell they call it or they called it or any.

But you know what I mean?

The winning game, the championship, whatever, the final.

He was really, really good.

And had the advantage over the US goal-tending.

So I don't know.

Can you do that twice in a row?

I doubt it.

I think Logan Thompson's a really strong goalie.

We should get to Team Canada now

and make sense as we're talking about him.

Yeah.

So here are the lines.

Again, via Russo McDavid,

with Celebrini and Wilson McKinnon

with Suzuki and Marchand,

Crosby Third Line Center.

With Mark Stone and Mitch Munger,

and Bo Horvat with Brandon Hagel and Sam Reinhart,

your D-Pair's Devon Taves,

Taves the Leicester.

Kayle McCarrer, Josh Morrissey, Colton Perreco,

Drew Dowdy, and Thomas Hurley.

Yeah, and they got, as you said,

Jordan Bennington, Logan Thompson,

and Darcy Kemper are their goalies.

Their extra forwards are Sam Bennett,

and Seth Jarvis, extra defenseman,

our Travis Sanheim and Shay Theodore.

So one of those two groups will also play.

I think it was Bennett that was taking the,

was was lining up as a 13th forward.

Didn't see who might be the seventh.

Defenseman, but yeah, I mean,

cheese, just up and down the line up.

You just have talent everywhere.

As you mentioned, Sydney Crosby,

even still, like, I don't think his prime really ever ended.

But he's your third line center.

Nathan McKinnon is your second line.

It's, it's, it's, it's crazy.

It's crazy. It's, it's crazy.

Down to, but as you said,

and as is very valid, the, the goal-tending position

is the problem with, with Canada.

But I think in a tournament like this,

you're going to see teams use two goalies,

at least, you know, you, you give your starter the first game

and then maybe you give, uh, give, uh,

your quote-unquote backup game three of the prelims

or something like that.

USA might do the same where they give hella buck

and auditor, you know, that kind of split

or, you know, maybe they play all three,

who knows, depends on how comfortable they feel.

But it's, it's not, I feel like it's not set in stone

that Jordan Bennington is going to start

and finish this tournament that, as, as Canada's starter.

And if he does, then that's, that means he's playing well

and that's good news for Canada.

Um, I think this is very clearly

the, the favorite in the tournament.

Yeah, you know, I'm looking at these D pairs, though.

And I see a lot of old guys in there.

Drew Dowdy is a hundred.

Colton Perrico is a hundred.

Um, you know, I, I, I, again,

I'm not trying to take anything away from Canada,

I guess what I'm trying to do is make a case for the US.

And I'll take their top, their top 60 over to Canada's too.

Like Quinn Hughes, unbelievable.

McVoy, really good player.

Slaven is one of the most underappreciated

defenseman in hockey because of how strong he is defensively.

That is, you know, the Nicholas Jolmerson of Team USA,

if you will, Brock Faber.

We're all very familiar with him.

And Zach Werencky, who leads all defenseman

and scoring this year, like that's like having

another four and we got a good look at Werencky.

Uh, what was it?

Two of the last three or two of the last four against Columbus,

yeah, before the Olympic break.

And he is a difference maker.

Every time he's on the ice, you've got youth.

You've got speed.

So I think if you're aside from goal-tending,

if you're looking for a US advantage,

I think that would be it.

Is there younger in their faster?

Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't, I don't think that,

sorry, I don't know if you, I don't think Canada is like,

just like it's them and everybody else.

I think US has a very solid,

I think some are published, it might have been the athletic,

that it was like a 50-50, when you go to the odds,

like the statistical, like,

demolition breakdown of the favorites,

it was basically 50-50 for goals for these two.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's, it, it is going to be close.

Between those two teams, I think those are the top two favorite

before we even, you know, just start talking about Sweden,

who I wouldn't be surprised if they,

if they get into the gold medal game either.

But yeah, I, I, I just look at it and I think one,

one factor that I think is going to make a difference in this tournament

is experience and is confidence.

And I think Canada, they've got the confidence,

having just one four nations,

and they've got the confidence and experience led by Sydney Crosby,

who's, you know, been on all of the major Canadian international teams

that have done anything of, of, of consequence, 2010 gold medal,

2014 gold medal, 2016 World Cup of Hockey,

four nations, like, he's been the leader of, of all of that.

And I think that's a big thing that is, is there for Canada.

And for, it feels like for the US,

they're coming into this tournament with everything to prove,

just like they did with four nations.

They were going to go out and prove like,

Hey, like we're, we're in this, you know,

we're in this tournament, just like anybody else,

and should be at the head of the table,

they're going to still come into this tournament with that mindset.

And that's what's going to have to help them moving forward.

All right, Mario got a little jumbley there.

So we'll let his connection recover.

Points are taken for sure.

I don't know if you can hear me.

Mario, you suck.

You hear that?

I don't know if you heard that.

Here's what I'll say.

He's worried about the confidence factor.

That is certainly something.

And Canada goes in there with that swagger,

ready to win this.

And the expectation is for them to win this tournament.

And anything short of that is failure.

And that's true for Canada.

That also puts a lot of pressure on them,

where the expectation every year,

every time there's any sort of international tournament,

in hockey, if Canada's not winning gold,

their failures, their bombs, and they suck.

So that's something.

I also think, however you feel about the kachucks,

Brady and Matthew, maybe you're tired of them.

Maybe you think they're overrated.

Maybe you'd give up your first born to head them on the Black Hawks,

all those things perfectly valid for however you feel.

Those guys will drag you into the war with them.

Brady and Matthew will not let the team,

let Team USA be intimidated.

They will not.

Remember in the four nations,

they are the ones who initiated the violence to start everything.

And I think that they do with a little less pressure than Canada,

can go in there and feel good about a silver.

They won't, right?

But in terms of United States hockey as a whole,

like capital U, capital S, capital hockey,

will feel really good about an Olympic silver medal.

The guys will be pissed,

but it's not the sort of pressure

where you see these kachucks getting death threats

because they didn't, you know,

they didn't win gold.

So I'm very, I think USA has a chance.

We're going to get to our predictions coming up in a little bit.

So that's definitely going to happen.

And maybe you can predict mine, I don't know.

But I don't think it's going to be just a cakewalk for Canada.

And I think we might be a little bit

underselling some of the other nations as well.

So we'll see, it's going to be a really, really awesome tournament.

I can't wait for it to start.

All right, we're going to hit the break zone in a second here.

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Again, change and schedule this week.

11 to AM today.

As you can see,

tomorrow's show ahead of the AHL All-Star game

will drop at 5.30 interviews with Kevin Corchinsky,

Nick Lardis, Mark Bernard,

potentially some more.

We're trying to work on some other things.

But it'll be a full show that drops at 5.30 PM on Wednesday.

And then back to the normal 3PM time for the rest of the week.

All right, we're going to hit the break zone.

Talk to you in two minutes on

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Continue to stay warm as the temperature is still a little chilly.

All right, we are back on CHGEO Blackhawks and Mario has rejoined the show.

Got a couple of super chats we want to get to here real quick.

TorneZ, 27, says thanks for the pot and throws us two bucks.

Thank you very much. And our buddy Sprout, 1969 says nice Sweden Finland,

USA Metals Canada Falls early due to bad gold tending.

That that would be wild. I'm here for it.

I am here for that. Hey, it's chaos rains supreme.

That would be a lot of fun. That would be awesome.

All right. What did I miss as I said?

I said you suck to make sure if you were connected or not.

Perfect. So don't take a personally.

It was just a technical test.

That's what the troubleshooting guide said to do.

I also talked about how you mentioned the confidence that Canada has.

I said that with that confidence also comes a ton of pressure to win gold.

It's gold or bus for them.

And I also mentioned how the Kachuk brothers will drag the rest of this roster into the war

with them and will not be intimidated by Canada.

Yeah, no, that's that's that's all that's all fair.

I mean, hey, it's it's it's this tournament is going to have probably the most

eyes on it that it's ever had since, you know, the 2010 2014 Olympics.

Because of the inclusion of the NHL team players again.

And because of just the hype around it.

So it's it's going to be it's going to be good good viewing between those two teams.

Should we get into the Nordic region?

Let's do it.

All right. Swing your Nordic regions.

Swing.

They got a pretty team as well.

You see here on your green from left to right.

Adrian Peugeot Erickson at William Neelander Phillip Forsberg.

Elias Lindholm Lucas Ruin.

Elias Patterson Mika Zabinjad.

Ricardo Raquel Gabriel Landiskog Alexander Wenberg.

Yes, or Brat those are the forwards defensive group.

Former Blackhawk Gloucetov Forzlin.

Rasmus Dalin.

Victor Hadman Rasmus Anderson.

Philip Broberg and Eric Carlson.

Goldtenders Jacob Markstrom.

Philip Gustafson and Jesper Walstead.

Extra forwards Pontus Holberg.

Marcus Johansson.

Oliver Ekman-Marston and campus Lindholm.

Jay, your thoughts on the Swedes?

That's just always a very tough out.

They they just play such a disciplined

well-coached style of hockey.

They play a very strong team game.

And again, I'm not taking anything away from Canada and the US.

But I think sometimes those things get a little

and I think we saw it with Canada a lot

in that in the championship game and the four nations is

the people that were watching that game were like,

can someone John Cooper said it?

Someone win the game.

Someone do this, right?

Like there was like, oh no, I couldn't possibly shoot.

That would be selfish.

And they pass and pass and pass.

Sweden's like, effit man, we are a unit.

We are a team trying to win.

And I think that is their superpower.

Is it's not about getting a teammate there

or hiding from being the top dog on the team?

It doesn't matter.

It's 13 forwards.

It's seven defense minutes, two goalies

trying to win the game together

without all the ego that goes along with the Canadian team

and sometimes the US.

And I will say to like,

I mean ego and it's like,

you know, I'm kind of my David,

but I don't want to be the, I don't want to be a puck hog.

I don't want to take over this game.

I'm just going to distribute.

So no one calls me a puck hog.

Screw that.

Screw that.

Win the tournament.

No one's ever said like, you know what?

They won gold, but didn't you think Sidney Crosby

was a little bit selfish in that?

What are we talking about here?

Yeah, I think that Wayne Metzky was a real selfish guy.

Yeah, right.

And I think that like that is one of Sweden's edges

is that they've got superstar players.

William Newlander, of course.

Like Elias Pettersen a few years ago.

A superstar, of course, right?

Like, but this is a team

that is going to just play together.

And they've also got always pretty good goal-tending.

Now, I know Marksborough hasn't been great shakes this year.

Maybe not as strong as it's been in the past,

but this is a team you can never count out in an international tournament.

They just play such a strong game.

Yeah, no more Henrik Longest

and these international turns for Sweden,

but they're going to be interesting

because I think they're,

they're most talented player in William Newlander's

battling and injuries.

So that's tough.

I think, I mean, solid skill all around upfront.

Arguably one of the best defensive groups

as well.

You guys have been there like headman and Carlson

and you have Landis Kaga on the team as well.

Like those guys have been on the big international stages before.

I think for Sweden, like my biggest question is going to be like,

can you, can you get to the gold medal game?

Can you win this whole tournament

without having the elite centerman

that is like a play driver,

like a do-it-everything kind of guy

because don't get me wrong.

Erickson, Ack, Linda Holmes, a bandage ad.

Like those are all really top-tier players,

but I feel like Sweden's strength upfront

is on the wing and you compare that to a Canada

where it's McDavid, McKinnon,

Crosby, one, two, three down the middle.

It's a little different.

So that's going to be my biggest thing to watch with Sweden

is how they how they attack the game

and how they're aggressive down the middle

or if they, or just use their wings,

like, like, Kempay, Forsberg, and Raymond,

and Newlander, like, do they use them

as the driving force and just play to their strength?

This feels like the first time to where

Sweden doesn't have, like, a bonafide superstar.

And I guess you'd probably say, William Newlander

is right on the cross.

Newlander and Landiskog.

Like, those guys are stars in the NBA.

They're stars, but I'm talking about,

like, they used to have Peter Forsberg.

They used to have Henrik Lundquist,

like, top of the league in the conversation for MVP,

like, every year, those kind of,

they don't seem to have those guys this year.

Newlander is by far the best, I think.

So I don't know.

I just, all these players are strong defensively too, all of them.

Yeah.

So it's, they're, they're going to be, they're going to be tough.

All right, let's move on to Finland.

Finally, we can talk about, well, as you mentioned,

Andrew Sorensen, coach with...

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I should have gotten my Ruchu jersey out.

My Finland hits it, right?

Ah, that would have been good.

I can't reach it.

Yeah, excuse me.

Ooh, right in the microphone.

Good job.

Uh, Finland, the only,

you, uh, the only Black Hawk on the roster,

Tevo Taravinen.

Hey, there he is.

He's going to be playing with Miko Rantonen,

Rupé Hens, Michael Bennland,

Artori Lekinan, Sebastian Ajo,

Elylister Rainen, Anton Lundell,

Kapo Kako, Ellie Tolvenen,

Eric Hala, and Yoel Armia.

That's up front on the back end.

Miro Heiskenen,

Esselendell, Niko Mikola,

Rasmus, Ristolinen,

former Black Hawk's,

Oli Mata, and Henry Yoki Haru,

Innet, UC Saro's,

former Black Hawk Kevin Lincolnen,

Jonas Korpisalo,

and then their extra skaters,

Arkesbury Kappenen,

Yolkiviranta,

Miko Letzonen, and Nicholas,

Marin Polo.

And it's a really good team.

It's a really good, a lot of Dallas stars.

It's a really good team.

They feel like if there's ever going to be a team

that everyone counts out and shouldn't,

it's this Finland group.

Like, I don't see anyone saying,

oh, Finland,

you know, they're going to play in the,

you know, in the gold medal game or anything.

Like, I feel like a lot of people are discounting this group,

and they are just, they're,

honestly, look around.

They're stacked.

They're like,

ranting in an ajo, and, you know,

hints and, you know,

high skin and like,

these guys are really good.

I think Innet is going to be a question with UC Saro's.

But I, I feel like this,

this Finland group is like,

even though they're one of the like,

power four, quote-unquote, power five,

I feel like a lot of people are not giving them a lot of credit.

We have seen what a motivated Miko Rantin can do

in a short span.

Last year's playoffs just was absolutely

on fire for the Dallas Stars.

Just historical numbers.

Wasn't able to sustain it throughout all the way to the Cup Final.

But holy crap, when Miko Rantin wants to dominate,

he can dominate.

And the team around him is good enough to hang and, you know,

I could see the games were there.

You know, maybe outshot pretty significantly,

but the game is close to the end.

And when that's the case,

and you've got guys like you mentioned,

Ajo, hints, Rantin and a game changing forwards that can,

you know, score and keep them in games.

And maybe when they sneak one here or there,

they could get a favorable matchup down the road.

I never count out of Finland.

I think the top three are pretty clearly the top three,

but it would not shock me in the least if Finland mentaled.

Yeah, I agree.

Like I think this is going to be a really

a really good team, a really like sneaky good team.

And I think the thing that we saw with kind of that

Finnish hockey resurgence, so to say,

as we saw with some of their, you know,

performances in world championships,

world juniors and everything.

Like the team game that they play,

the buy-in that Finnish teams usually have is like,

you know, no one's going to individually,

you know, be a, you know, a me first player,

like they all kind of work together as a group.

You got guy, you got a guy like Michael Rantin,

as you said, working within a group of other

all-star caliber guys, like that's going to be a really team.

So I wouldn't be surprised.

They got it, they got matched up in the group with Sweden.

So that's going to be a fun pre-lim game.

But that's going to be a big test for both those teams

early before you get to the knockout round.

All right, one more before the final break zone team,

Czechia, sweet uniforms, by the way.

Left, right, Martin Nejas, Tomasz Hurtle,

David Posternak, Andre Palot, David Kamp,

Andre Case, Roman Servenka, Lucas Sedlak,

Thomas, David Thomas, David Zeck,

David Thomas Zeck, Matys Trazni,

Radik Foxa, and our old pal, Dominic Kublik,

and your depares.

That's old pals on this team.

Lots of old pals.

Redeem Simeck, Philip Ronik, Michael Kempney,

Radco Goudus, Jan Ruta, old friend,

and David Spachak, son of old friend.

A lot of former Black Hawks here.

Also, Tender's Lucas Dostal,

Karel Vemalka, and, sorry, Karel Vemalka,

and Dan Voldar.

Their extras are Jakub Fleck, Philip Schallpick.

I'm sure I'm not pronouncing these correctly,

but I'm doing my best.

Yuri Ticketek, and Tomasz Kundrek.

Kundrek.

Ticketek.

Zeck.

Kundrek, Zeck, yes.

That's correct.

This is a Czechia group that's got a lot of pride.

They won the World Championships two years ago,

and that was a big deal for this group.

Again, they don't have the star power,

fire power from the NHL group,

but I think you look at up front,

nature's hurdle, pasta knock.

If there was ever a team that could top line their way

to maybe surprising some groups,

that's a pretty solid top line.

I think the biggest question when Czechia is going to be

their depth on both ends,

and how much you trust the young Lucas Dostal

to get you through this tournament.

Dostal, I could see him steal in a game or two, for sure.

Yeah, he's good.

Yeah, so I don't think you're going to meddle,

but they are a team they seem to be on the rise too.

Like when you look at the World Juniors,

they're always competitive.

You mentioned a World Championships.

I think this is a nation that is on the rise for hockey,

and you look back to before the fall of the Soviet Union,

when Czechoslovakia was competing as one nation,

they were, when you talk about those teams,

like they were mentioned with the Russians

as like the second best hockey, hockey playing nation,

now Slovakia and Czechia split,

so that talent pool gets watered down a little bit,

but I feel like Czechia especially is on the rise

and on the way back up,

and could certainly upset some people.

If someone's going to knock out like a favorite,

that's the team you would look at to do it.

Agreed.

All right, let's hit the brakes on for the final time,

come up next to some predictions,

and a look ahead to the 2030 Olympics

in which Blackhawks might be part of it.

That's all next on CHCO Blackhawks.

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All right, we are back on CHTL Blackhawks,

and we've got to do our predictions,

and we've got to do them quick.

All right, first prediction.

Yes.

Group winners.

Jay, you had the groups mentioned,

I've completely forgot them.

I've got them right here.

Let's see.

Group A, Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, and France.

Group B, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Italy.

Group C, United States, Germany, Latvia, and Denmark.

All right.

Out of Group A, I'm going to say Canada wins.

Group B, I'm going to go Sweden.

Group C, I'm going to go USA.

Not very surprising.

Group B, runner up, going to be Finland.

Group C, runner up, I'm going to say Germany,

because you got to pull for Lucas Rikle.

Of course.

And Group A, runner up, Switzerland.

Because you got to pull for Philip Kurschev.

Of course.

Okay, I'm going.

So many former Blackhawks in this.

I'm going total chalk here.

I'm going Canada, Sweden, US.

And then I've got,

I'm going to actually go Czechia, Finland, Latvia.

Okay.

Those are mine.

Okay.

Yep.

All right.

Who plays in the bronze medal game and who wins?

Bronze medal game.

Now, I know the seeding will have to shake out,

but who do you think is going to be in the three-four spot?

I've got Czechia in Sweden, in the bronze,

and I've got Sweden winning.

Okay.

I'm going to put,

I'm going to put Finland over Sweden in the bronze game.

Spicy.

I'm going to say Finland pulls the upset.

Okay.

All right.

Who's playing in your gold medal game and who wins?

I've got Canada in the United States,

and I've got USA winning.

I'm going to sound like a trader.

Because I also think Canada and US are destined

to play in the final.

And I think Canada is just,

I think they're just that fraction better.

So I think this is Canada's tournament to win.

And I think that they're going to do it.

And hey, I mean, that's,

I don't think it's a slight to the US to say that

you're going to go home with bronze.

Hey, I want the US to win.

Obviously, I'm going to root for them to win.

It would be a lot of fun to see them win

their first Olympic gold medal since 1980.

You know, we were just yesterday talking about the 1980

documentary series and all that stuff.

It would be great to have a modern hockey gold medal

for the men's US team in the,

in the biggest tournament that matters.

They just won the World Championships.

It would be awesome if they could follow it up

with an Olympic gold.

I'm pulling for them.

I'm just, I'm, I have my doubts

and I think Canada's still like this is their tournament.

Okay.

Who is your underdog team?

I think you meant you mentioned Czechia a few times.

Czechia is my underdog team, for sure.

I think they're going to jump up and bite a good team

unexpectedly.

My underdog team is going to be in the group stage

and probably the, the playoff round somehow Latvia

always sticks their head in there.

And it's just like, hey, don't forget about us.

We like to, we like to upset the Goliaths.

So I won't be surprised if Latvia pull something off

in this tournament again, because they always seem to.

Not saying that they're going to go on any runs,

but I mean, look out if that Latvia USA game is,

is tighter than it should be.

Okay.

Who is your tournament MVP?

Well, as I have the US winning gold,

I am going to go with Connor Hellerbuck as my tournament MVP.

Hopefully he will silence the hashtag haters

with the Z about his postseason and meaningful performances

and have a great tournament.

If he doesn't, they're not going to win gold.

I think it's, it's really going to fall on his shoulders

and look, do I think Jake Ottendrick could do it?

Yes. Do I think Jeremy Swamin could do it?

Sure.

But I think their best chance at gold is Connor Hellerbuck

remains the Connor Hellerbuck we think he is.

Yeah, I would tend to agree.

If he has that kind of tournament,

then, then I would think the US is probably,

you know, in a prime position to get gold.

I'm going to go with a guy who is probably waited

for this moment for a long time,

much longer than he thought he ever would.

And his psychotic.

I'm going to go with Nathan McKinnon.

I feel like this is a guy who plays hockey

and plays in these moments.

You've seen him in the playoffs, seen him in the cup final.

This is a guy that is wired for these kinds of games.

And I feel like, I feel like it's easy to say,

McDavid.

But I think, I think McKinnon is going to use this tournament

as a showcase of like, you know,

hey, you can say Connor McDavid's the best player in the world,

but I'm going to, I'm going to show you something else.

I'm going to show you what for, you know, I'm going to tell you

a lot of it.

Free all that stuff that Nathan McKinnon usually says.

So I'm going to go on Nathan McKinnon as the MVP

of the tournaments.

Do you have a leading scorer prediction?

You just talked about Nathan McKinnon, who I love

that they're like, have you had a chance to take any of this in?

No, yeah.

I'm not here to take in anything except a gold medal.

So yeah, he is laser focused.

He is, I still give McDavid the edge over him

in terms of who is the best player in the league,

but it is razor thin and if you could even have that conversation

with a guy like McDavid in the league, that tells you

all you need to know about Nathan McKinnon.

Like, and I feel like maybe he gets overshadowed

because he is on, in my opinion, a better team.

So maybe he blends in a little bit.

Edmonton Canadian team gets a lot of attention,

but McKinnon is unbelievable.

I think he is going to be this scoring leader.

And I think it's going to be by a decent margin.

Like four or five points.

It could be.

Yeah, I could see him just kind of saying, I'm going to do this myself.

I got it.

Yeah, I'm going to go, so I had McKinnon as MVP.

I think him and McDavid likely, like you said,

the scoring race is going to be between those two guys.

But I'm going to say McDavid has more points,

but I'm going to say that McKinnon puts more up

during the big games.

Like, like bigger moments.

Yeah, I think.

And that's not to say, kind of, David won't or couldn't.

I'm just thinking, you know, here, I'm trying to predict

a scenario in my head for this tournament.

I think, you know, you might see a point or two

difference between the two of them in favor of McDavid.

But I think maybe there might be a scenario

that plays out in a semi-final or a final

where McKinnon puts up a multi-point game or something

like that.

All that being said, the guy who scored the Four Nations

OT winner was Conor McDavid.

So don't count him out.

The also in my mind is Sydney Crosby's last Olympics.

I could see a man possess Sydney Crosby

in this tournament.

Last Olympics.

So says you.

Yeah, well, yeah, perhaps I'm, I don't know, don't count him out

yet.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, he could shock me either.

He could have a really good performance throughout this

tournament and end up leading Canada anyways.

Who knows?

Yep.

All right.

Do we want to have a prediction for the NHL,

or for the Olympic All-Star team?

So it's three best forwards, two best defenseman,

best goalie?

Sure.

I have a list.

Go ahead.

I'm going to, I'm going to say the three forwards are going

to be McDavid, McKinnon, and I'm going to go with on the US

side.

I'm going to say the top forward from the US is going to end up

being Matthew Goodchuk.

Okay.

Defensively.

Oh, sorry.

Oh, I'm just going to run through defensively.

I'm going to go with, I'm going to say Rasmus Dalin has a

really good tournament, and I'm going to go with Kalmakar

as well.

In net, I think Conor Helibuck's going to be the best goal

tender.

I'm going to go with Nathan McKinnon, Sydney Crosby, and Jack

Eichel at forward, my defenseman, Kalmakar, and Zach

Werenzki.

And I think Lucas Dostol is going to have a couple of games

where he puts on a show and gets kind of like a courtesy.

It's the vote.

Right.

We're not going to go all US and all Canada.

So here is a, here's a little like tip of the hat.

I'll start on our for you.

Sure.

Sure.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, we have time.

I think we have time for both of these final discussions.

But let's start with the Hawks one first.

And then maybe we can have a little bit of fun and over time

regarding NHL or Olympic All-Star teams of past.

So we're looking at the 2030 Olympics, which are going back

to France.

They were just there for the summer games.

Who from the current group of Black Hawks, do you

foresee being either locks or in the discussion

for the 2030 Olympic teams for their respective countries?

I have three locks.

Conor Baudard, Anton Frandel, and Vaca,

Vanessa Sill will be locks.

Oh, OK.

I think Nester Sill will be on team Czechia in four years.

So hey, that would be wonderful.

Yeah.

I think that is, I mean, he's made a big impression.

Nester Sill has, for sure.

I agree with Baudard.

I think by then he will have solidified himself

as one of the 13 or 14 best forms amongst a Canadian group.

And some of these guys that are on this team

are going to retire and all that likely

with maybe Crosby, Martian, all those guys.

So I'd say Baudard, for sure.

Frandel is, I feel good about him.

But in same with Nester Sill, I feel

like they would have to hit the ground running in the NHL

to crack those rosters at the ages that they'll be.

But I mean, if Frandel does, then that's

all the better for the Hawks.

Another guy I'm going to say is a lock is Spencer Knight.

I think in four years' time he will be in the conversation

or will have made himself in that conversation

of one of the three best U.S. goalies.

goalies can be fickle sometimes.

Like, I know Halabuck has been the best U.S. goalie

for almost a decade it feels like.

But we see Canada, sometimes it can be shaky.

You see some teams.

Sometimes it's from one tournament to the next.

They have completely different goal tenders.

So I wouldn't be certain that Halabuck,

Audinger, Swamin, Pencil, and Men for 2030 either.

I think Spencer Knight is going to be in that conversation as well.

I think I would add, in the discussion,

Frandel is an Alex Flasick in the conversation.

But I feel like Vlasick's chances are getting smaller

just because he has not accelerated.

I think we might be close to seeing exactly what he is,

which is still a really good middle pair guy.

Defendable defender with some decent offensive upside.

But I don't know how much more on the Alex Flasick bone there is.

Nasar, I think, in four years should be one of the better

United States forwards.

I'm going to go back and look at the rosters.

And it's like who's going to, the problem is there's not

a lot of old guys on this team.

Really a lot of these guys are years in the NHL can aid you a little bit.

Sure, sure.

But you know, like so, you know, maybe,

OK, Brock Nelson will be out, JT Miller will be out.

I don't think you're bringing back Tro checker.

Yeah.

I mean, Jake Gensel, who knows what he's going to look like.

I mean, I mean, you can even probably say,

what are the chucks going to look like in four years, too,

based on the way they play?

Yeah.

But they are the faces of USA.

So I think he's got a shot.

By the way, we are in overtime.

So if you're watching on the fast channels, switch over to all

CHGO.com to continue watching.

But yeah, other than that, unless I'm missing, you know,

a prospect that's that's way down there, I like your call

on Spencer night.

I think that's really solid.

I think that that that could certainly happen.

I actually feel better about that than I do about Nasar.

Yeah, yeah, I think because I think it's, you know,

you look at what Nasar would have to do to get into that top 14

US forward conversation.

Like, I know he had a really good world championships

and he was invited to the US orientation camp over the summer.

But definitely, like, he's got, he would have a lot of work

to do to really get into that conversation

because of how talented the group is.

You know, you know, that guy's like Bolly and Jack Hughes.

And even though they were left off this roster,

I'd imagine in four years, Jason Robertson

and Cole Coffield are still in that conversation.

The Kachucks, you know, I, I, I,

gold doesn't seem like he's slowing down.

Awesome, Matthew's like, there's still,

those still are, are those top of the week guys.

So for Nasar to get into that conversation would really have to,

he'd have to be like a Brandon Hagle has been

with team Canada over the last few years

where he's really made a name for himself

within the NHL and gets on the radar of the US hockey.

Well, in four years, I mean, we all predict

the black Hawks will be significantly better,

whether or not they're competing for a Stanley Cup

or they're a favor or anything like that remains to be seen.

But they should be a playoff team.

And if they're not, it's kind of a massive change made.

And if they're not, then most of these guys aren't going to the Olympics.

But they'll be getting the conversation about, you know,

they'll be more in the, on the everyday eye of hockey watchers.

I know the Hawks are kind of, they're forced on national television a lot.

But in terms of like everyday coverage and important highlights

and you'll see them a lot more.

And they'll have a much brighter spotlight.

Just like, you know, if the black Hawks were out of the playoffs

and when Patrick Sharpe was scoring 35 goals,

like Patrick Sharpe would not have been part of team Canada, right?

You know what I mean? Just because he had a band.

Okay, he's a good player.

But, but because he was on the, the great black Hawks teams,

he got a lot of attention that way.

Yeah, definitely.

Anyway, yeah.

All right, I got some fun stuff.

All right.

I'm so if you're asking me to like, what team is it?

I'm so bad at this stuff.

All right, the NHL put this out.

Okay.

I'm going to give you plenty of hints.

Don't worry.

But the past, the past four Olympic All-Star teams in Olympic games

that have featured NHL players.

So O2, O6, 2010 and 2014.

So let's go all the way back 24 years ago in Salt Lake City, 2002.

Who was the Olympic All-Star team?

Three forwards, two defensemen, one goalie.

I will say right now, there is a former Black Hawk on this list,

but they did not play for the Black Hawks at this time.

Okay. I am not cheating.

I am looking at my computer, but all I'm doing is I'm looking at

all-Star rosters so I can get my era calibrated, okay?

Era of player.

Yeah.

Era of player calibrated.

Okay, so I'm going to say 2002.

Yager.

2002.

No, Yarmere Yager.

Okay.

How about Mario Lemieux?

No, Mario Lemieux.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Oh, Dominik Hachik has to be.

No.

Wow.

All right, here's a few more.

Hold on, give me a call.

Let me get a call.

Let me get a call for it.

Jerome again, La.

No.

All right, now I'm quitting.

All right, here I'll give you another hint.

So there is a former Black Hawk on this group.

He did not play for the Black Hawks at the time of the 2002 Olympics.

Okay.

Both defensemen are American.

Okay, so Chelyos.

Yes, there you go.

Are both defensemen our former Hawks or are they?

No, no.

Okay.

Both defensemen are American.

How about Chris Prokshade?

Not Chris Pronger.

He's not American.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Um, American defenseman.

Lately, early 2000s.

Nope.

I feel like Brian Leach would be too old at that point.

Are you sure?

I guess not.

Was it Brian Leach?

Defensemen were Chris Chelyos and Brian Leach.

Okay.

All right.

Gold tender.

Also American.

American gold tender.

Interesting.

Mm-hmm.

Um.

American gold tender.

Mike Richter.

Yes.

Nice.

Nice.

All right, you didn't even make the all-star team, by the way.

No.

But hey, he had a good Olympics, I guess.

Yeah.

Three forwards.

An American, a Canadian, and a Swede.

That's, excuse me, Matt Sandin.

Yes.

Okay, wasn't Lemieux or Yager or American?

Oh, how about Britain and Shanahan?

Nope.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

You said a Swede?

Well, you mean, you got the Swede, you got Matt.

Yeah, I was going to say Marcus Natham.

But a Canadian and an American forward to round out 2002.

2002 hockey.

Oh, with Nolan?

No.

All right, giving to me.

All right, the Canadian was on the Colorado Avalanche.

Sackic?

Yes.

Okay.

The American was on the Philadelphia Flyers.

Ronic?

Was not Jeremy Ronic.

Leclerc?

John Leclerc.

Yes.

There you go.

John Leclerc, Joe Sackic, Matt Sandin, Chris Chalios,

Brian Leach, Mike Richter.

All right, on to 2006.

All right.

I will say, no North Americans on this list.

Not at all?

Not at all.

All European players.

All right, well, then it's got to be Dominic Ahsik.

Nope.

No way.

Nope.

Okay.

No Americans.

No Americans.

No Canadians.

One former Black Hawk.

One random former Black Hawk.

Okay.

How about Yager on this one?

Nope.

Ovechkin.

Yes.

Ovechkin is one of the forwards.

Okay.

Nicolidstrom?

Yes.

He's one of the defensemen.

Is it Dan O'Chara?

No.

Sergey Zubov.

Nope.

All right.

Give me the rest.

The random former Black Hawk is a defenseman.

Mid 2000's defenseman.

Not North American.

Yes.

Um.

Hmm.

Want to Stanley Cup?

Oh, chemo team in?

Yes.

Oh, that's awesome.

That's awesome.

You got two four words.

And the gold tender are all from the same country.

Um.

Jesus.

Mid 2000's.

European Goli.

Mm-hmm.

I would be shocked.

Make a keeper solve.

No.

I think same country, though.

Yes.

Same country, different Goli.

Finland.

Finland.

At the time played for the flyers.

Oh, God.

No, give it to me.

And tarot nitty-mocky.

Oh, my God.

I wouldn't know.

In a thousand years, I would not have gotten that.

So all right.

So your two four words you're missing are both finish.

Mid 2000's finish four words.

Twomo and Yarko Routou.

No.

As much of your heart would want it to be.

No.

I don't know.

Give it to me.

Timo Salani.

OK.

Yeah.

Saku Koivu.

Oh, yeah.

All right.

Somehow that number not retired, by the way, by the Canadians.

So we were.

Yeah, for real.

So Koi, Saku Koivu, Timo Salani, Alex Ovechkin, Nick Lidstrom,

Kim Oteeman, and an Tarot nitty-mocky, where the 2006 all

starts.

All right, 2010.

More recent.

All right.

Let's cross view as great.

Obviously three four words.

Two defensemen, a Goli.

There are three Americans, two Canadians,

and I'll say European countries.

I don't want to give it away.

But a European country.

OK.

So I'm going to say Crosby.

No.

Wait, give me the countries again.

I'm just starting to know.

There are two Canadians, three Americans, and a European.

OK.

Jonathan Tase, if I'm not mistaken, led Canada and scoring.

And was also an all-star.

OK.

All right.

So Tase was on there.

OK.

There is another former Black Hawk on this list.

Another Cory Perry.

No, no, no, no.

Because it'll be a Black Hawk.

Quote, unquote, former Black Hawk.

Oh, what's the guy you fell at the face of the earth?

No.

The defenseman fell off the face.

It was a Mark Henry flurry.

No, he's not the Goli.

No.

OK.

I got nothing of that one.

Sorry.

At this time, he played for the Nashville Predators.

Nashville Predators.

Who was good on the Predators back then?

Shay Weber.

Yes, there you go.

OK.

All right.

All right.

Those were the two Canadians, Tase and Weber.

OK.

So you got an American.

Three Americans, you said.

One American forward, one American defenseman, a European forward, and an American gold tender.

That should give it away.

All right.

I'm going to say Zach Prisay is the forward.

Yes.

Um, gold tender, was it, was it Tim Thomas?

No.

Who else was in that era?

Would that be Ryan Miller?

Yes, it would.

Future Black Hawk, Ryan Miller?

Yes.

Let it play out.

OK.

And then what else do I need?

What am I missing?

An American defenseman and a European forward.

American defenseman.

What's Prisay?

It's got to be Souter.

No.

Uh.

Older.

Older than Ryan.

Souter, it's nobody.

Eric Johnson.

Nope.

Older.

OK.

This is a long shot.

So.

A lot of him in the, in the post season was, uh, was Brian Raffelsky in that, he was.

Yeah.

It was.

And he was an MVP.

Or also, he was an all star.

Brian Raffelsky.

He had to be what?

Like 34 that.

Yeah.

See, Brian Raffelsky.

He would have been, he would have been up, up there.

He's 52.

Yeah.

So that, wow.

Yeah.

36.

Yeah.

That's crazy.

All right.

The European forward.

European forward.

All right.

Team of Salani.

No.

Played for the conucks at this time.

OK.

Is that in Asland?

No.

Oh, uh, Nicholas Baxter.

Nope.

Really?

No, he would have been on the capitals, Nicholas Baxter.

Oh, yeah.

What team did you say it was on?

It was on the conucks at this time.

Oh, a Sedine.

Give me a Sedine.

Not a Sedine.

He's from Slovakia.

Very good friends with Mary and Hosea.

Oh, uh, Gabrik?

Nope.

Demetra.

Yes.

OK.

Pavel Demetra.

2010 was Demetra, Parise, Taze, Raffelsky, Weber, and Miller.

All right.

2014.

Let's wrap it up strong.

Oh, dear.

Yeah.

Two North Americans.

One.

One US, one Canadian.

Uh, and then.

Uh, four Europeans.

I'll tell you two finished players.

Two Swedish players.

And one of these players we've already mentioned.

OK.

So.

I hope you get the American last.

OK.

Um.

Yeah.

2014.

2014.

What?

That's Eric Carlson.

I'm a scene at this point.

Yes, he is.

And he is also an all star.

OK.

So that's one.

One of the defensemen.

All right.

Um.

Well, this is great.

Then I'm OK.

Grab a Sedine now.

No.

You cannot.

OK.

Um.

Because of your USA hint, I'm going to say it's Phil Kessel.

Yes, it is.

All right.

Olympic all star.

Phil Kessel.

All right.

So that eliminates the Americans.

Two four words.

One defenseman.

The goalie.

Left.

Two fours.

One D.

And one of these players we've already met.

So it's on.

Okay.

I'm going to say,

I'm going to say,

show,

Weber.

Not show Weber.

Four.

I'm going to make me a million player.

I would say Drew Dowdy had a good tournament.

I see did.

Drew Dowdy and Eric Wilson are your defensemen.

OK.

I'm writing,

I'm writing down the guys I've gotten right.

a little doubty and Carl, so you need two forwards in the goalie.

All right.

Yeah, my brain's dead, dude. I'm done. I'll say Timo Salani, because he mentioned it before,

but he was old. Salani is there. Yes. Really? Yes. Timo Salani for Finland.

Damn. Okay. Can you think of a Swedish goal tender in 2014, who was good?

Henrik Longquist. Yes. Oh, crazy.

All right. And the other forward was Salani's teammate with Finland.

Salani's teammate with Finland. I played for the wild at this time.

Oh, God.

Is also on team Finland for this tournament.

Grandland? Yes. Really? Wow. Well done.

I still think of him as young. I don't know why. Like he, I think he just looks young.

I mean, he would have been in his early 20s for that, for that tournament.

Damn. But yeah, he's, I think I'm so bad at that stuff.

Now, if I asked you all their numbers, you would have had it right away. Oh, good, Lord.

Yeah. That's that. I love stuff like that, like trying to think back to those.

It's just, it was helpful to have the, the NHL All Stars in front of me, just like it like,

yeah, celebrate my brain to that time. Yeah. Yeah. Nation of, nation of origin, please.

Without that, it would have been used in a split. I would have been screwed without that.

Yeah. That's like, well, yeah. That's good. That took a lot longer than, uh,

than I expected, but it was still, uh, still fun. And I, I hope people liked playing along at home.

Yeah. Well, I hope you didn't miss your flight to Rockford. No, no, it's, uh, we got plenty of time.

All right. Good. We have good news in the chat, though.

Yeah. Chloe, uh, she got her no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Sorry.

I didn't purposely run 18 minutes long on purpose. I thought that game would go faster,

but no, it was fun. I told you I'm bad at those. My 48 year old brain is

adult, no longer useful. I can no longer think. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to the Olympics.

I think all our predictions are going to be 100% true. And, uh, if we're not, then no one will

know. That's right. All right. We will talk to everybody tomorrow, five, 30 show drop,

Korkinsky, Lardus, Mark Bernard, and much more. So don't miss that show. Remember skills competition

tonight on CHSN and NHL Network Mario will be there. And the whole crew will be in Rockford

tomorrow. So say hi. If you see us, buy us some pig slump. Sure. That'd be great. All right.

We'll talk to you tomorrow at 530 on the CHGO Black OX podcast.