I'll bet Steve Yzerman will have his eyes glued to the Penguins/Blachhawks tilt tonight. Most hockey fans will do the same, but Yzerman will be watching for more than just what promises to be an entertaining game and exhibition of some of the leagues best young talent.
And this is where I hope, for his sake, Brent Seabrook capitalizes on this opportunity. There's been talk all season among Hockey Canada followers of keeping Chicago's impressive young defensive pairing of Seabrook and Duncan Keith. The way I've been interpretting it, the general assumption seems to be that Keith is a pretty good bet to represent the maple leaf in Vancouver in February, while Seabrook seems to be viewed as on the bubble.
Seabrook will get a chance to prove he can defend Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin. Malkin, as the reigning Conn Smythe winner as the playoff MVP, figures to be a huge threat for the Russian team many are predicting to triumph over the Canadians at the Olympics. If Seabrook is able to contain Malkin and keep him from having a decisive impact on tonight's game I'm sure Team Canada GM Yzerman will be much more likely to give him a spot on the blueline.
The downside of this is that Seabrook played 24:33 in Chicago's 4-1 loss to Nashville last night. So he may be a little worn out and exposed by Malkin's brilliance if fatigue slows the young Chicago blueliner down.
I was on hand to see Florida get embarassed 6-2 against the Capitals Thursday night, and Florida looked downright exhausted and indifferent after playing a shootout game the night before.
Let's hope, as we near the December 31st final roster announcement for the Canadian roster, this opportunity provides motivation for Seabrook and his fellow Blackhawk teammates and this game lives up to expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment