Happy New Year! Would you like some beef jerky?

I am half awake and completely disinterested with doing work, so forgive me if this blog in underwhelming. More than anything else, consider this a fun distraction until the NHL/NHLPA decide to share with the media what in the world is going on today during CBA negotiations.

WJC All-Stars
I realize there's plenty of time to go on this tournament, but I thought I'd share with you my picks for the six players I'd stick on the All-Star team so far.

Goalie - John Gibson, Team USA
It's hard to argue with a 1.93GAA and a Save Percentage of .936. Big goalie who kept an American team that completely lacks depth in a couple of games.

Defense - Rasmus Ristolainen, Finland and Jacob Trouba, USA
Finland came into the tournament looking brilliant, but something went horribly and unexplainably wrong. Ristolainen was heroic in a couple games and gave the bad Finnish team a shot at a playoffs position.

Trouba is a house on legs that can do just about anything out there. Hit, move the puck, skate...Tremendous defenseman who will have a killer NHL career. Four goals so far in four games. Amazing. Who drafted this guy again?

Forwards - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canada; Alex Galchenyuk, USA; Marko Dano, Slovakia
Nuge is the MVP for the entire tournament so far. 'Nuff Said.

If Nuge is the MVP, Galchenyuk is a close 2nd. He's an absolute force out there. Watching him play makes me wish the Oilers drafted him 1st overall a few months ago. Centers like him don't just fall out of the sky. A Nuge/Galchenyuk 1-2 punch at center for the next 15 years? Ridiculous.

I had to give a spot to Marko Dano, even though he won't be on this list by the end of the tournament. The Slovakia side wasn't a great team, but this Dano kid can skate like a demon. Absolute tenacity. Playing on a good team, he'd have eight points in four games instead of four.

As far as this list goes, Dano and Ristolainen won't be on it by the end of the tournament. Something about both teams being gone from medal contention after only four games. Team USA, surprisingly, has three players on this list, and I can't see that standing up by the end either. Their playoff match-up against the Czech Republic could go either way, and there's no way they're getting past Canada after that.

Names I could see being on the All-Star list by the end of the tournament? Malcolm Subban is one. He looked shaky against Germany and Slovakia; games we knew Canada was going to win. But against the "real" teams, Subban has been brilliant. If Canada gets the gold, Subban will be one of the main reasons.

Also for Team Canada, it will be hard to keep Ryan Strome and Morgan Rielly off the all-star list. If Boone Jenner was playing from the start of the tournament, I think he'd be there too. Team Canada's depth is destroying other teams right now.

Other players? We'll start with the Russians. Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko certainly have the talent to be there. Grigs has been better than Yakupov so far. I'm not sure which goalie - Andrei Makarov or Andrei Vasilevski - The Russians will go with the rest of the way, but either is good enough to steal a gold medal. Either guy could win tournament MVP by the time this is done. As someone cheering for Canada, Vasilevski scares the hell out of me.

I'd have an easier time identifying Swedish, Swiss and Czech players if one/some of them stood out more. There have been some quality performances: Victor Arvidsson and Sebatian Collberg for Sweden, for example, but nothing on the same level as what Nuge and Galchenyuk have done.

Actually, I think the teams from Group B are going to absolutely run over the teams in Group A during the playoffs in the tournament. I have the USA beating the Czechs, and the Russians beating the Swiss...Which sets up a Canada/USA semi-final and a Russia/Sweden semi-final. There's no way Canada loses to the Americans, but Russia/Sweden is a toss-up. If Sweden didn't have their four best defensemen missing from the tournament due to injury, I'd bet my money on them over Russia. But the situation is what it is, and we haven't seen the best from Nail Yakupov yet. If Nail wakes up, Sweden could be toast.

All things considered, we're looking at a Canada/Russia final, and that's okay with me considering how we clobbered them last time. No other team can match the roster depth Canada has.

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