Olympic Roster Speculation - USA

In the 2010 Olympics, the United States surprised the hockey world by making it to the Gold Medal Game. Four years ago, team USA was a young team with very little Olympic experience. They will have a deep group of forwards that will be returning again built around Zach Parise and Patrick Kane as well as great goaltending from Jonathan Quick. USA's defensive group will have some new faces this year but they will be built around Ryan Suter, Jack Johnson, and Brooks Orpik. This year’s Olympics will be very different in that they will be one of the favorites to compete for a medal.

Forwards

Line 1: Zach Parise, Derek Stepan, Patrick Kane

Line 2: Bobby Ryan, David Backes, Dustin Brown

Line 3: Phil Kessel, James Van Riemsdyk, Ryan Callahan

Line 4: Max Pacioretty, Ryan Kesler, Joe Pavelski

Extra Forwards: Blake Wheeler, T.J. Oshie

Defensemen

Pair 1: Ryan Suter, Ryan McDonagh

Pair 2: Jack Johnson, Kevin Shattenkirk

Pair 3: Keith Yandle, Brooks Orpik

Extra Defensemen: John Carlson, Seth Jones

Goaltenders

Starter: Jonathan Quick

Backup: Jimmy Howard

Extra Goalie: Ryan Miller

Olympic Roster Speculation - Latvia

Coming into the 2014 Olympics, Latvia will be one of the weakest teams. Most the Olympic roster for Latvia will come from the Kontinental Hockey League team stationed in Latvia, Dinamo Riga. If 2012 1^st round selection, Zemgus Girgensons can reach his full potential, Latvia will have a player to build a solid team around in future Olympic Games. However, Latvia will not contend for an Olympic Medal with being in the same group as the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Forwards

Line 1: Roberts Bukarts, Martins Karsums, Kaspars Daugavins

Line 2: Mikelis Redlihs, Zemgus Girgensons, Miks Indrasis

Line 3: Vitalijs Pavlovs, Elvijs Biezais, Aleksandrs Nizivijs

Line 4: Gunars Skvorcovs, Maris Bicevskis, Andris Dzerins

Extra Forwards: Armands Berzins, Gints Meija

Defensemen

Pair 1: Arturs Kulda, Oscar Bartulis

Pair 2: Guntis Galvins, Kristaps Sotnieks

Pair 3: Arvids Rekis, Rodrigo Lavins

Extra Defensemen: Georgijs Pujacs, Krisjanis Redlihs

Goaltenders

Starter: Edgars Masalskis

Backup: Maris Jucers

Extra Goalie: Ervins Mustukovs

Olympic Roster Speculation - Czech Republic

Czech Republic has been a power house in past Olympic Games but since the retiring of Dominik Hasek, they have not. That being said, the Czech Republic will still create a solid team with a combination of veterans and underrated players. The defensive core won’t be that strong but they do have a solid group that has the ability to play at the International Level. The Czechs forwards are highly underrated but the main concern with the Czechs is their starting goalies. The major question with the Czech Republic is that do they have enough to beat teams like USA, Canada, Sweden and Russia. I feel with the roster they have, the Czech Republic Olympic Team has the ability to surprises a few of those teams. 

Forwards

Line 1: Jakub Voracek, David Krejci, Jaromir Jagr

Line2: Milan Michalek, Tomas Plekanec, Radim Vrbata

Line 3: Martin Erat, Patrik Elias, Tomas Fleischmann

Line 4: Ales Hemsky, Martin Hanzal, Jiri Hudler

Extra Forwards: Jiri Tlusty, Roman Cervenka

Defensemen

Pair 1: Marek Zidlicky, Zbynek Michalek

Pair 2: Roman Polak, Tomas Kaberle

Pair 3: Ladislav Smid, Jakub Kindl

Extra Defensemen: Filip Kuba, Radko Gudas

Goaltenders

Starter: Ondrej Pavelec

Backup: Tomas Vokoun

Extra Goalie: Michal Neuvirth

Olympic Roster Speculation - Slovenia

Slovenia is a team that has come a long way since its first appearance in international play back in 1993. They have made seven appearances at the top level of the World Championships, avoiding relegation twice. Their best finish is 13th, coming in both 2002 and 2005. There's little doubt that this team will go as far as star player Anze Kopitar takes them, but this slowly improving group is still not to be taken lightly.

Forwards

Line 1: Ziga Jeglic, Anze Kopitar, Jan Mursak
Line 2: Tomaz Razingar, David Rodman, Marcel Rodman
Line 3: Luca Basic, Gasper Kopitar, Jan Urbas
Line 4: Rok Ticar, Ales Mujic, Bostjan Golicic
Extra Forwards: Robert Sabolic, Ziga Pance

Defensemen

Pair 1: Blaz Gregorc, Ales Kranjc
Pair 2: Mitja Robar, Ziga Pavlin
Pair 3: Klemen Pretnar, Andrej Tavzelj
Extra Defensemen: Sabahudin Kovacevic, Luka Tosic

Goaltenders

Starter: Robert Kristan
Backup: Luka Gracnar
Extra Goalie: Andrej Hocevar

Olympic Roster Speculation - Austria

Team Austria, currently ranked 15th in the world, definitely has their work cut out for them in Sochi. Having just been relegated to Division I at the recent World Championships, the Austrians are looking to bounce back in a big way at the Olympics. They feature one solid scoring line, some decent defensemen, and a serviceable starting goaltender. How that will hold up against the heavy hitters in Group B remains to be seen, but I expect this team to at least be competitive next winter.

Forwards

Line 1: Thomas Vanek, Markus Peintner, Michael Grabner
Line 2: Andreas Nodl, Thomas Hundertpfund, David Schuller
Line 3: Daniel Oberkofler, Manuel Latusa, Daniel Welser
Line 4: Gerhard Unterluggauer, Gregor Baumgartner, Michael Raffl
Extra Forwards: Andreas Kristler, Matthias Iberer

Defensemen

Pair 1: Thomas Pock, Mario Altmann
Pair 2: Florian Iberer, Robert Lukas
Pair 3: Andre Lakos, Johannes Reichel
Extra Defensemen: Sven Klimbacher, Martin Schumig

Goaltenders

Starter: Bernhard Starkbaum
Backup: Rene Swette
Extra Goalie: Mathias Lange

Olympic Roster Speculation - Norway

The Norwegians are a team that heads into the Olympics at a bit of a crossroads. While they did finish a respectable fifth in their group at the World Championships, they failed to qualify for the playoff round and posted a -14 goal differential. This suggests that they are not as good as their 3-4 record from the Worlds, and that -14 includes a 7-1 loss to Canada, who they must face at the Olympics in Group B. They also lost 5-1 against Sweden and 7-0 against the Czech Republic. This is a team that needs help all over the ice, most notably in goal, but this group could scratch out a win against Austria in group play. If they can steal a point from someone else, then they may be able to reach the quarters by way of getting a more favorable draw.

Forwards

Line 1: Mats Zuccarello, Patrick Thoresen, Per-Age Skroder
Line 2: Anders Bastiansen, Mathis Olimb, Mads Hansen
Line 3: Marius Holtet, Lars Erik Spets, Martin Roymark
Line 4: Tore Vikingstad, Jonas Solberg Andersen, Martin Laumann Ylven
Extra Forwards: Sondre Olden, Mats Froshaug

Defensemen

Pair 1: Jonas Holos, Alexander Bonsaksen
Pair 2: Mats Trygg, Henrik Solberg
Pair 3: Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Lars Lokken Ostli
Extra Defensemen: Juha Kaunsimaki, Tommy Jakobsen

Goaltenders

Starter: Lars Volden
Backup: Pal Grotnes
Extra Goalie: Lars Haugen

Olympic Roster Speculation- Switzerland

The Swiss Olympic team isn't much of a threat compared to U.S.A, Canada, Sweden and Russia but they will still be able to create a very good team surrounded by their defensive group. They will have decent goaltending with Jonas Hiller in net but their weakest part of their team will be their offensive group. With two former 1st round picks, Nino Niederreiter (2009) and Sven Baertschi (2011), the offensive group for Switzerland is still young. If Hiller can keep the puck out of the net and they can chip in the odd goal, they might have a chance to surprise some teams.

Forwards

Line 1: Damien Brunner, Thomas Demurs, Thibaut Monnet
Line 2: Nino Niederreiter, Julien Sprunger, Sven Baertschi
Line 3: Anders Ambuhl, Roman Wick, Martin Pluss
Line 4: Raffaele Sannitz, Hnat Domenichelli, Romano Lemm
Extra Forwards: Thierry Paterlini, Sandy Jeannin

Defensemen

Pair 1: Mark Streit, Luca Sbisa
Pair 2: Roman Jusi, Yannick Weber
Pair 3: Raphael Diaz, Mathias Seger
Extra Defensemen: Phillipe Furrer, Patrick Von Gunten

Goaltenders

Starter: Jonas Hiller
Backup: Martin Gerber
Extra Goalie: Tobais Stephan

Olympic Roster Speculation- Slovakia

Slovakia is a very "top heavy" team when it comes to superstar talent. The "Big Three" for Slovakia are Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, and Zdeno Chara. After those three, the talent level of Slovakia drops but they can still create a scare like they did against Team Canada in the semi-finals of the 2010 Olympics. If Slovakia can get hot goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, this team can be a dark horse team, pull an upset and compete for a medal again. Here is my projected roster for Team Slovakia in the 2014 Olympics.

Forwards

Line 1: Marian Hossa, Miroslav Satan, Marian Gaborik
Line 2: Marcel Hossa, Michal Handzus, Tomas Kopecky
Line 3: Richard Panik, Tomas Tatar, Stefan Ruzicka
Line 4: Branko Radivojevic, Martin Cibak, Tomas Surovy.
Extra Forwards: Juraj Mikus, Roman Kubumberg

Defensemen

Pair 1: Zdeno Chara, Lubomir Visnovsky
Pair 2: Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera
Pair 3: Milan Jurcina, Martin Stajnoch
Extra Defensemen: Ivan Baranka, Jaroslav Obsut

Goaltenders

Starter: Jaroslav Halak
Backup: Peter Budaj
Extra Goalie: Rastislav Stana

Olympic Roster Speculation - Russia

As the tournament hosts for next year's Olympics, the Russians will have the advantage of playing in front of their fans. Said home ice worked out well for Canada in 2010, as they were able to go the distance and win gold. The biggest questions for the hosts are in net, where there isn't a standout goalie among their choices. Was Sergei Bobrovsky's Vezina win last season a flash in the pan, or can he step up at this level and take his team to the gold?

Forwards

Line 1: Alex Semin, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin
Line 2: Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Nail Yakupov
Line 3: Vladimir Tarasenko, Artem Anisimov, Nikolai Kulemin
Line 4: Alex Radulov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Viktor Tikhonov
Extra Forwards: Denis Kokarev, Michael Varnakov

Defensemen

Pair 1: Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar
Pair 2: Nikita Nikitin, Anton Volchenkov
Pair 3: Fedor Tyutin, Slava Voynov
Extra Defensemen: Denis Denisov, Alexei Emelin

Goaltenders

Starter: Sergei Bobrovsky
Backup: Evgeni Nabokov
Extra Goalie: Semyon Varlamov

Olympic Roster Speculation - Finland

Finland will be bringing a strong squad to Sochi this winter, to be sure. This is a team that doesn't particularly excel at any single facet of the game (except goaltending, where they're by far the deepest team in the field), but they have no glaring weaknesses, either. This is a group that plays solid all-around hockey. I'm excited to see how far they go in the Olympics, as I believe they're a true darkhorse pick to win it all. They have only Canada to worry about in their group, so a berth in the quarterfinals is all but assured; the path there will not be rigorous. However, rest assured that this group will go only as far as their netminders can carry them. Here's a quick look at their projected roster:

Forwards

Line 1: Jussi Jokinen, Mikko Koivu, Teemu Selanne

Line 2: Tuomo Ruutu, Olli Jokinen, Valtteri Filppula

Line 3: Mikael Granlund, Saku Koivu, Lauri Korpikoski

Line 4: Sean Bergenheim, Ville Leino, Antti Miettinen

Extra Forwards: Niklas Hagman, Jarkko Immonen

Defensemen

Pair 1: Kimmo Timonen, Sami Salo

Pair 2: Toni Lydman, Joni Pitkanen

Pair 3: Sami Lepisto, Sami Vatanen

Extra Defensemen: Janni Niskala, Lasse Kukkonen

Goaltenders

Starter: Pekka Rinne

Backup: Tuukka Rask

Extra Goalie: Antti Niemi

Olympic Roster Speculation - Sweden

Sweden is one of the favorites in this years Olympics. They won Gold in 2006 but was unable to grab a medal in 2010. Sweden always has a large selection of talented players to pick from and they will build a solid team around arguably the best goalie in the World, Henrik Lundqvist. With the invitations for the camp roster already out, the most surprising player missing is Daniel Alfredsson. The major competition within the roster will be on defense. All of Sweden’s defensemen invited to Sweden’s ’14 Olympic camp roster are considered “top 4” on their respective NHL teams. That being said, here is what I think the Swedish Olympic roster will look come February.

Forwards

Line 1: Loui Eriksson, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin
Line 2: Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Backstrom, Johan Franzen
Line 3: Patric Hornqvist, Patrik Berglund, Gabriel Landeskog
Line 4: Carl Hagelin, Alexander Steen, Oscar Lindberg
Extra Forwards: Marcus Johansson, Joel Lundqvist

Defensemen

Pair 1: Erik Karlsson, Niklas Kronwall
Pair 2: Alexander Edler, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Pair 3: Victor Hedman, Niklas Hjalmarsson
Extra Defensemen: Johnny Oduya, Jonas Brodin

Goaltenders

Starter: Henrik Lundqvist
Backup: Viktor Fasth
Extra Goalie: Robin Lehner

Olympic Roster Speculation - Canada

Canada enters the Olympic Tournament as the favorites, as usual. Also standard to Team Canada is the gigantic pool of players from which to choose from. The hottest competition for roster spots will be in net, where five goalies have been invited to camp: Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith, Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, and Carey Price. As usual, they have a rather large advantage over other countries when it comes to scoring depth. Here's what I think the roster will look like when all is said and done:

Forwards

Line 1 - Rick Nash, Sidney Crosby, Corey Perry
Line 2 - Jonathan Toews, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos
Line 3 - Jordan Staal, Eric Staal, Tyler Seguin
Line 4 - James Neal, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic
Extra Forwards - John Tavares, Shane Doan

Defensemen

Pair 1 - Duncan Keith, Shea Weber
Pair 2 - Dion Phaneuf, Drew Doughty
Pair 3 - P.K. Subban, Kris Letang
Extra Defensemen - Francois Beauchemin, Alex Pietrangelo

Goaltenders

Starter - Mike Smith
Backup - Roberto Luongo
Extra Goalie - Carey Price