Dallas Stars World Cup Of Hockey: Shoo-Ins vs. Snubs
By Josh Clark
The World Cup of Hockey is just around the corner after a 12 year absence, and the Dallas Stars are helping stack the rosters. But are they sending enough players?
Back in 1996, the World Cup of Hockey originated and ran its first tournament. Montreal hosted the games and the United States of America took the trophy. Canada assumed the runner-up role, and Russia and Sweden were made it to the semifinals.
The same tournament was played eight years later in Toronto and Canada came out victorious.
Now the World Cup of Hockey has returned after a 12-year absence, and it promises to be a good one. It will last from September 17 – October 1, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. Eight teams will compete, with six being made up of countries.
These countries are the USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Russia. The other two teams will be made up of different groups of prospects: one from North America and one from Europe. And guess what? ESPN will be broadcasting every second of it! ESPN and hockey. Go figure.
Yesterday, each country team announced their preliminary rosters. The Dallas Stars had no trouble filling some spots on the different squads. Forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin were named to Team Canada, and defensive prospect Esa Lindell was named to Team Finland.
When looking at the NHL as a whole, it’s obvious why Benn and Seguin both qualified for the tournament. Seguin (32-36-68) and Benn (32-39-71) have both played in all 65 of the Dallas Stars’ games so far this season, and have once again become one of the most effective dynamic duos in the NHL. It will be a great chance for them both to represent their countries as they already have so many times prior.
There were two main surprises following the unveiling of all of the rosters. First off, Esa Lindell. After a fast start to the year and one call up to the NHL level already, Lindell (10-23-33 in 57 games) is one of the Stars’ hottest prospects and at the front of the line in terms of defensive success.
The fact that he was the only AHL player named to a country roster makes him an extremely rare and exquisite case.
But the big shock came when Team Sweden announced their roster and John Klingberg was not a part of it. The Dallas Stars defenseman continues to grow into his blossoming role as one of the biggest threats on the Stars blue line. Whether he is attacking offensively or defensively, his combination of skill and youth make him a prime member of any defensive core.
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Klingberg (10-43-53 in 65 games) did not qualify for the preliminary roster, but could still make it in the final announcements. The roster picked up six defensemen ahead of him, but he could end up becoming the seventh before it is all said and done. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Either way, expect Klingberg to ramp up his production, which has seen a bit of a slump over the past few games.
Whatever the case may be, the World Cup is still a ways down the road. To add on to that, there is another Cup between our current time and then that is much more important to the Dallas Stars as a whole.
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The Stars fell behind and lost more ground in the race for first place in the Central Division tonight and will need to come out guns ablaze Friday night when they take on the New Jersey Devils at home. If not, it could be a long March and April for these Dallas Stars.