Eurolanche

Avs heading to Sochi?

The NHL recently reached a deal with the International Ice Hockey Federation that will once again see its players take part in the Olympics.

The question for Colorado Avalanche fans is whether or not we see any of our players exchange the burgundy and blue for their country’s colours.

This week the names were released of players invited to their National Team Orientation Camps for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

So far, five Avs have officially been nominated to attend, they include Matt Duchene (Canada), Paul Stastny (USA), Erik Johnson (USA), Semyon Varlamov (Russia) and Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden).

Notable players who got left off are Canadians P.A. Parenteau and Ryan O’Reilly. Though it’s not that big of a surprise based on Canada’s forward depth.

While no one is guaranteed a spot, Varlamov and Landeskog seem to be no brainers for their respective teams. Varlamov will be in competition with Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky for the starting job for the Russians, while the Avs captain is one of the most talented young Swedes in the league. Veteran defenseman Jan Hejda (Czech Republic) should probably get the nod as well.

Paul Stastny is also pretty likely to make his American squad. He’s played well for his country in the past and just recently had a great showing at the World Championships. Unless he has an abysmal start to the season I’d expect to see him in Sochi.

His countryman Erik Johnson will probably have a harder time. He cracked the lineup in 2010 but will probably have to finally have a break out year and establish himself as a top pairing defenseman to make the team. One thing I’m sure of is we won’t be seeing Matt Hunwick reprise his role from 2010.

The biggest question mark could be star forward Matt Duchene. He’ll certainly have his work cut out for him as he’s already behind the likes of centers Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, Ryan Getzlaf and JohnTavares. 

If he has a fantastic start to the year he might just have a chance, but probably not as a center. If Duchene makes the team it will be as a winger. He could probably be very effective there too because the large international ice will play to his speed and skill.

It will be exciting to see how things all play out.