Thursday LNN: Four Nations Rosters, Gaudreau Tribute, Yakemchuk Snubbed, and more!
Links, news, and notes on the Four Nations rosters, Johnny Gaudreau tributes in Calgary, the Canadian WJC team's odd choices, and more!
- The rosters for the Four Nations Faceoff were officially unveiled yesterday, with a few surprises on each team, but that's usually how it goes. Team USA looks like the team to beat as they have the best goaltending, a deep forward group, and probably the best defense as well. It is weird going into a tournament not having Canada as the clear-cut favourite, and I'm curious who you think will win this new tournament. Here are the rosters:
Presenting Canada's #4Nations Face-Off roster! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/zXeAOg4nsG
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2024
USA's roster for the #4Nations Face-Off has landed! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DXeSBqLO30
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2024
A Swede team, indeed. 🇸🇪
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2024
Sweden's roster for #4Nations Face-Off is here!
Presented by #svenskaspel pic.twitter.com/zmV0E3CTo7
Introducing... The Fins! 🇫🇮
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2024
Thoughts on Finland's roster for the #4Nations Face-Off? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/PQle066fcQ
- The Columbus Blue Jackets played in Calgary on Tuesday, and the Flames had a wonderful tribute for Johnny Gaudreau. Go check out the Flames' Twitter page for lots of great clips, but the best one in my opinion is Johnny's father Guy getting nothing but love in the Flames dressing room, which is so wholesome:
Game puck for Papa Hockey ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BZXxUTyMHO
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 4, 2024
- The U20 Team Canada announced their camp roster for potential players to make it to the World Junior Championships in Ottawa. They had some baffling omissions including Senators prospect Carter Yakemchuk, 3rd overall pick Beckett Sennecke, 6th overall pick Tij Iginla (who is now out for the season anyway), 9th overall pick Zayne Parekh, 21st overall pick Michael Hage, top 2025 prospect Michael Misa, and others. I can maybe get it if a few of those players didn't make the final cut, but not making the camp? This is truly a head-scratcher. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic analyzes the Canadian roster as it stands.
- Ottawa fans were surely hoping to see Yakemchuk on home ice for the World Juniors, and I think he deserved a spot, but now they'll lose that opportunity. And the only Senators prospect that could be in the tournament is Vladimir Nikitin for Kazakhstan.
- Tyler Seguin will be out for 4-6 months after undergoing surgery on his hip. It has been bothering him for a while and he had been playing through it somehow. It's a tough blow for Seguin who was off to a great start with 20 points in 19 games, which would have been his best season in years.
- Lindy Ruff will become the fourth NHL coach of all-time to reach the 1,800 game mark on Thursday, joining Barry Trotz, Paul Maurice, and Scotty Bowman. He ranks 5th all-time in wins at 875, behind those previous three plus Joel Quenneville.
- Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic takes a deep dive at the Four Nations rosters and sees who matches up best at each position. It's a great read if you're looking at analyzing and comparing all the different lines and pairings. Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun also take a look at how the Canada roster came to be.
- The "Road to the Discover NHL Winter Classic" debuted on TNT yesterday in the USA, and will debut in Canada on Sportsnet1 tonight at 8:30 ET. This is a four-part docuseries that goes behind the scenes with the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues before they play against each other at Wrigley Field on December 31st. The final episode will air just before the Winter Classic, although I found that a bit strange that they won't be taking footage from the actual game (according to NHL.com at least).
