If Canucks prospects were World Cup teams

Entry posted by GoneProspectin' June 12, 2010

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if Canucks Prospects were World Cup teams
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I'm so glad the Stanley Cup Finals are over, it was difficult to get behind either team. On one hand cheering for the Blackhawks was like cheering for the kid in high school that stole your girlfriend. Cheering for the Flyers would be like cheering for the bully who beat you up and stole your lunch money.

I just wanted both of them to make out with Mike Ricci and get mono.

Regardless, i had to follow the finals as a true hockey fan...and i also didn't want anyone around me to know what i secretly wanted was the hockey season to finish so soccer season could begin.

Yes, the World Cup is upon us, an event which i consider the greatest sporting spectacle in the world...and thanks to those boisterous vuvuzelas it is now also the loudest and most annoying.

This got me thinking, one season gave way to the other and they blended so well i started comparing our Canucks prospects to the teams in the World Cup and what i found were some startling similarities.

Jordan Schroeder - Brazil

Small, skilled, and sneakier than a thief in Johannesburg Schroeder and Brazil are both on top of the world...for the moment. The fleet footed Schroeder finally found World Junior Championship gold this year on his third try, and Brazil has regained their #1 ranking in the world and is the heavy favourite to win it all. Doubts remain though, are they too one-dimensional? Can they play defense? Can they compete against stronger and more physical opponents? Time will tell, for Brazil we will know in a month, for Jordan we will know by the end of training camp.

Taylor Ellington - Mexico

Always good, but never great. Ellington has spent the last year in the minors, only playing 19 games for the Moose when it was hoped he could play a full season. Even in his final year in Everett he should have been one of the most experienced and weathered blueliners in the WHL but put in a average performance, improving his offensive statistics but making no substantive leap in his development as a defender we all have to wonder: will he break through?

Dan Gendur - Greece

It still baffles my mind, how Greece was able to win the European Championship all those years ago...they had their success and have been riding it for 6 years. Dan Gendur had one stellar season in the WHL, and has been getting splinters in his butt in Victoria and Johnstown ever since. There was a time when people actually thought Greece might have been a contender...and Gendur might have been a player. How wrong we all were.

Peter Andersson - Germany

Big, strong, efficient, with a questionable relationship with the English language. There's no flash, little dash, just a lot of crash when it comes to Peter Andersson. Plugged in as a 7th d-man for Sweden's WJHC roster he played a smart and simple game and outshone highly touted prospects like Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He doesn't try to do too much, he just gets in the way, moves the puck up, and makes sure you are on your donkey by the time that happens. He plays a system and he sticks to it. Now he just has to adopt the German pedigree for winning everything except world wars.

Patrick White - Canada

Huh? What's that? Canada's not in the World Cup? Oh...

Cory Schneider - Italy

There's little left to do for either. They are proven, experienced, skilled, and have a rich history. But this just isn't going to be Italy's year it's just the wrong place and wrong time for an aging team, better teams are in front of them and they just cannot compete...does all this sound familiar?

Steven Anthony - Spain

All the skill and all the tools in the world but neither could put them together to go anywhere except back to their home following disappointment after disappointment. Until now, hopefully. Spain had waited forever to have success and two years ago they found it. They caught a break, and so did Anthony. The departure of Jacques Beaulieu opened the door for Anthony to show the world how much skill he had that was being bottled. When that bottle broke he put together a marvelous half season, warranting a late pick by the Canucks. Question with both is: can they continue their resurgence?

Eddie Lack, Aaron Volpatti, Chris Tanev, Lee Sweatt - "Democratic" People's Republic of Korea

Veritable unknown's, they have never been given a chance to shine on the biggest stage of all, nobody is sure how they will respond or how they will even play. Indeed few people have even seen them play. Are we sure they are hockey players? Not sleeper agents of the Chicago Blackhawks?

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