Overthought is a semi-regular series that takes a look at some of the more interesting and notable tidbits shared by Elliotte Friedman in his weekly 32 Thoughts column. Each edition will feature some unique thoughts on the state of the Sabres or league as a whole before digging in on some of the notes from Freidman’s weekly column.
One piece of the post mortem on Hockey Canada and the World Junior Championship that I found particularly interesting was the focus on their decision to lean into role players over skill. Canada has some of the deepest skill to draw from for the WJC but opted for a more well rounded roster. Many have pointed out that they would’ve been better off leaning into their skill for a short tournament. I believe something to the effect of “In a short tournament, skill can grit but grit can’t skill” was said with respect to their roster.
It made me think about the final choices made by the Team USA roster for the 4 Nations Face Off. While the players who rounded out the US roster are still proven producers at the NHL level, they do draw some parallels to what happened with the Canadian WJC team. Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider are more than capable NHLers, but will the Americans regret not having Clayton Keller or Cole Caufield once the tournament is rolling? It’s something I referred to when the rosters came out, but as this is a bit of fan service that will tease interest for next year’s Olympics, there was a perfect opportunity for the various decision makers to be more creative with their choices. It didn’t need to be a Very Serious tournament, yet the rosters were built as such. As we just saw in an event with actual stakes, trying to find a perfect fit for every role vs. finding the best possible players didn’t work out for the Canadians. Hopefully the US. doesn’t fall victim to the same issue.
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4- The fourth best of the bunch goes to the Boston-Philadelphia matchup from 2010. The logo does a nice job paying tribute to Boston and Fenway, but I just doesn’t have much oomph. A decent design, but not as eye-catching as the others.
– Number three goes to this year’s classic. The prominent use of the Liberty Bell looks great but the Bridgestone logo doesn’t look right at the bottom of the bell. What’s worse is that placement clearly bumped “Philadephia 2012” to the outside. Had the Bridgestone logo or the location found a different home, the logo would likely be a bit more aesthetically pleasing.
2- Pittsburgh’s 2011 Winter Classic logo comes in at number two. The use of the iconic yellow bridge and the way in which the shape of the bridge flows with the entire logo is fantastic. The I-beam is a nice understated addition too. Unlike the 2012 logo, the location and date being bumped to the outside isn’t nearly as obtrusive. A big win for the 2011 designer.
1- Wrigley Field has taken quite a few number one’s from me regarding my Winter Classic rankings. A great game, perfect weather, legendary venue and awesome uniforms. Add to that a clean, classic logo. First, there is no appearance of the sponsor on this logo, which is a big plus. Also, the subtle icicles and the excellent interpretation of the Wrigley marquee makes this an all-around winner.
Two in the Box 