senators' olympic hopefuls looking to make an impression with team usa coach mike sullivan
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mike sullivan had two roles to play at the canadian tire centre on thursday night.
first and foremost, he was guiding the new york rangers behind the bench against the ottawa senators, but when he sits down on friday morning to break down the tape, he’ll be taking a closer look at three players on the opposition.
with only 65 days until the winter olympics get started in milan/cortina, italy, the head coach of the united states entry in the tourney will be watching to see what kind of role senators captain brady tkachuk, top defenceman jake sanderson and centre shane pinto could play overseas.
tkachuk already has been named to team usa and it feels like sanderson will be a lock. but pinto is in a group of players still battling for a spot with less than a month until the countries participating in the olympics name their rosters.
sullivan, who led team usa to the final at the 4 nations face-off in february with tkachuk and sanderson on the roster, said he’ll make his decision on the trio of possibilities in the morning.
“that takes place the next day, when i break the game film down, and then that way i can control the timing of all that. i can rewind and the pause button is amazing.” sullivan said with a laugh before facing the senators on thursday. “i have the ability to watch both our team, but i can also key in on our opponents, and i do that all the time.”
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pinto, who was invited to the american orientation camp in the summer by general manager bill guerin and the staff, has put himself in the mix with a strong start to the year that can’t be ignored.
the 25-year-old pinto went into the visit by the rangers with 12 goals and 18 points in 26 games. he has emerged as a player who can play up and down the lineup, plus contribute at both ends of the ice.
pinto put himself on the radar screen in the spring when he helped team usa win the iihf world championship for the first time in 92 years. unfortunately, he left in the first period with a lower-body injury after taking a hit along the boards from mika zibanejad.
“he’s always been a very conscientious player. defensively, he checks well, he’s positionally a very sound player,” sullivan said of pinto. “one of the guys on my staff, ty hennes, was on the staff for the world championships in the czech republic in prague when shane was on that team.
“i had an opportunity with bill guerin to go over and watch that team. i think he’s always shown an ability to have a real conscientious game defensively and he checks really well. he’s always in the right spots. there’s a lot of detail around this game, away from the puck. what he’s shown this year is that he had, there’s an offensive side to his game.
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“there has been a growth in his game. that’s exciting for him and for us as americans.”
many believe pinto’s toughest competition will come from vincent trochek, a centre with sullivan’s rangers. the 32-year-old missed the early part of the season with an undisclosed injury and is performing well. he went into the game against the senators with five goals and 12 points.
j.t. miller played a huge role for team usa at the 4 nations, but he’s not a lock, either. the reality is that no matter who gets selected, there are no bad choices because you’re going to have good players. a team is the sum of its parts and sullivan noted they have to decide where everybody fits.
“with these types of teams, the talent pool is very deep,” sullivan said. “going through the 4 nations experience and now the olympic experience, our objective is to put the best team together in the true sense of the word. there’s a difference between an all-star team and a team.
“what i mean by that is we need players who can bring different elements to the table depending on what situations arise through the course of a game. we talk a lot about player deployment. you go through a game virtually in your mind. ‘who’s first over the boards when you’re defending a 3-2 lead late in the game? team canada pulls the goalie, who is first over the boards? who will take a faceoff on the left, who on the right, and what happens if that guy gets kicked out? what happens if that guy gets hurt? who’s first over the boards in the penalty kill? who’s first over the boards on the powerplay? who’s going to defend as a pair against (connor) mcdavid or (nathan) mckinnon, or (sidney) crosby?’
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“those are the types of conversations that we have a lot when you think in terms of what a team in the true sense of the word looks like. that’s where i think it’s different than a ‘all-star team.’
“good teams bring different strengths to the table.”
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