Fact: Canada embarrassed the US in Denver in 2014.
They were leading 8-2 with under twelve minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Fact: They had a one goal lead with three minutes to play in 2018 pool play.
Referee errors in the fourth quarter cost them the gold medal game.
Fact: Their Sixes team dish ragged the US in…Birmingham, Alabama this summer.
Who will be on their roster this summer in San Diego?
They are hosting a 53 man camp next weekend in Ontario. The full list can be found here. We absolutely expect the following to make the final cut.
Goalie – Brett Dobson
Goalie – Dillon Ward
Defender – Graeme Hossack
Defender – Ryland Rees
Defender – Eli Salama
Face Off – Jake Withers
Face Off – Justin Inacio
Midfield – Dhane Smith
Midfield – Challen Rogers
Midfield – Latrell Harris
Midfield – Tre LeClaire
Midfield – Zach Currier
Attack – Josh Byrne
Attack – Jeff Teat
Attack – Curtis Dickson
We’re rather unsure of the Canadian depth at the long pole position, but we have also made adjustments to our preferred US defense since releasing our initial projection.
Tre LeClaire absolutely gets a spot after proving he can play a two role with the Archers. Not sure he’s a roster lock without crushing that responsibility this summer.
How many Chaos members do they bring along?
Do they hope that chemistry outweighs the opportunity to bring the best players or at least deploy the best players the most?
Will they announce their roster after seeing what the US does?
Is there even a specific deadline to announce rosters?
San Diego won’t be as hot as Israel right? Still, how much gas will the indoor players have following their NLL season and a portion of the PLL season? It eventually caught up with the Chaos.
Regardless, Canada will have their hands full if the US brings this group. You could agree that Blaze and Ward will cancel each other out. The faceoff advantage will be significant. In Israel, Gurenlian was used as a second option primarily to give Baptiste a breather during pool play in the hopes that Baptiste would be full go for the gold medal game.
Baptiste won 9 of 12. Gurenlian went 3 of 8. The US won the game, thanks to the aforementioned officiating blunders, 9-8. One more face off win for either team would have changed the outcome. Presumably, the duo of Baptiste and Nardella is better than 12-20 in 2023.
