A look at a potential Western Europe roster

[studentized 166]

Yes, I know it's still VHL playoffs. Why are we talking World Cup already? Easy write-up, that's why.

 

In S66, Western Europe had 4 nations to choose from: Germany, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom (technically already a collection of nations, but whatever). For S68 I think adding a few more countries to the list might make sense: Italy, Spain and/or Iceland would open up some more possibilities and make the team more competitive on a whole, especially defensively . Despite what I would like to see, for this write-up I will still assume nothing has changed from S66 and they will only have the four more typical western European nations to choose from.

 

To have any chance in this tournament, Western Europe is going to need to rely on its stifling defence and a bit of scoring luck. They lack high end talent outside of McWolf and Finn Davison but could medal with some smart roster decisions, good line chemistry, and some of that SHTS magic. Here's a breakdown of a potential roster for them.

 

Goalie

 

Easy decisions here. Finn Davison and J.B Rift represent the best goalies of the past two VHL seasons. Stable, veteran leadership from your goalies goes a long way in any tournament, especially in single-game elimination ones. This is the unquestionable strength of the team.

 

Defence

 

McWolf leads the way here and captains this ship. Picking a partner for him and the remaining D-pairing is where it gets more interesting. 

 

Out of Ireland, two aging, regressing defensemen in Mulligan and Baxter would have once been easy picks. Now I think both have to be passed up on, unless the tournament opens up to allow a third pairing. They've had their chance in past world cups and there are plenty of equally talented, younger defencemen deserving of a chance.

 

In France, you have Fontenette who plays a well-rounded, not super flashy style of game. I think he slots in well with just about anybody, so I'd stick him on the second pairing.

 

Out of the U.K you get the remaining two guys; S68 rookie (and soon to be rookie of the year?) Lance Flowers and puck mover Codrick Past.

 

Flowers proved he could match against the best of the best this year and still hold his own. I really like him paired with McWolf but that leaves a Past/Fontanette second pairing that I'm not as sure about. In any case, I think you can get two good D pairings somewhere out of those four guys. Just might take some tinkering.

 

Centre

 

This is where it gets toughest for me. The three best eligible centres of the class all play a similar style; defence first, shoot second, pass third. Two of these guys are from Germany: Hans Gruber and Mark Gebauer. The other is Aston Martin from the UK. All of these guys are deserving of roster spots, but I think Martin and Gruber are the better candiates to take the draws for being slightly less one-dimensional. Gebauer should have no problem at wing, in fact, I like him better there.

 

Winger

 

By far this is the weakest position group, emphasized by the fact that you need to two per line. Denver Wolfe makes the first pick easy, representing the best forward available for Western Europe to choose from. It falls off a cliff after him though, so I think you probably have to stick Gebauer up with him on that top line.

 

The next best forwards West Europe has are two more S68 rookies; Irish winger Owen Nolan and UK centre Thorney Underyew. I've got the personal connection to Nolan, but to be honest I'm not sure how well he works without a pass first centre/opposite winger. Underyew plays a similar style which makes coming up with some good line chemistry all the more frustrating. Despite the possible lack of fit, I don't really see any alternatives outside of these two guys; the next best forwards are VHLMers who just don't have the experience desried.

 

Lineup

 

Gebauer @Sova - Martin @Sullvino - Wolfe @InstantRockstar

Underyew @jack - Gruber @TheFlash - Nolan @studentized

 

McWolf @McWolf - Flowers @CowboyinAmerica

Fontenette @okocha5 - Past @Kylrad

 

Davison @Poptart

Rift @Devise

 

It remains to be seen how the actual roster will shape up, but that is how I would do it (barring any extra countries being added to the candidate pool).

[McWolf 3,115]

I'd be honored to share a pair with CIA.

 

And I might be wrong but I think we can count on Cast for one last tournament. He retired this season so he's still active the whole season.  Should solve the center problem

[okochastar 97]

ready to go

[studentized 166]

15 hours ago, McWolf said:

I'd be honored to share a pair with CIA.

 

And I might be wrong but I think we can count on Cast for one last tournament. He retired this season so he's still active the whole season.  Should solve the center problem

 

Good call

[Victor 10,946]

On 10/28/2019 at 9:41 PM, McWolf said:

I'd be honored to share a pair with CIA.

 

And I might be wrong but I think we can count on Cast for one last tournament. He retired this season so he's still active the whole season.  Should solve the center problem

My  conservative ass wants us to go back to when if you announce your retirement before the WC you don't get to play, but that has changed recently so yes Cast should be there for one last hurrah.

[McWolf 3,115]

16 minutes ago, Victor said:

My  conservative ass wants us to go back to when if you announce your retirement before the WC you don't get to play, but that has changed recently so yes Cast should be there for one last hurrah.

Let's win a WC Gold for the legend!