With the camp rosters being announced for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi the Pittsburgh Penguins have a fair number of players that are in with a possibility of playing in the Olympics next year. Some players are obviously outside shots and unlikely to make it. The Olympics start next February on the 8th to be precise with the opening game being between the Czech Republic and Sweden on the 12th of February. The hosts first game is on the 13th of February against Slovenia. The players selected to the camps are;
Sidney Crosby - Canada - A lock to make the team. Not taking Crosby would be one of the most boneheaded decisions in a long time. He will be a fixture on the Canadian Olympic team for a long time to come and he scored the winning goal in the last Olympics so will be hoping to add to that.
Chris Kunitz - Canada - Unlikely to make but could depending on his season and if the coach feels he would be good to put on a line with Crosby because of the chemistry between the two developed in the off-season. However, I feel Canada has better options elsewhere and he will likely be pushed out.
Kris Letang - Canada - A lock to make it unless he has an abhorrent season. One of the top Canadian defenceman he will be playing in his first Olympics. He recently signed a new deal with the Penguins which kicks in during the 14/15 season and will be looking to repay that.
James Neal - Canada - Another player unlikely to make it due to the better players available to the Canadian coaches and the fact that he plays well with Malkin mostly and does drop off slightly when not with Geno. Wouldn't expect him to make it.
Beau Bennett - United States of America - No chance of making it but a nice claim to have and a good trivia question. He will likely be a contender in 2018 but it's too early for him when you consider the wingers that are available ahead of him.
Paul Martin - United States of America - He is likely to play due to the fact that the United States management have invited a lot of younger players for the experience and too keep an eye on them for future tournaments. Martin has played well enough in my opinion to get a position but he could just as well miss out.
Brooks Orpik - United States of America - Likely to miss out due to the fact that there is better competition available on the roster. Likely his last Olympics as well as he is starting to age now.
Jussi Jokinen - Finland - The Finland management team invited a rather large 53 players to their camp, 18 of which were in the Bronze medal squad three years ago. I'd say that Jokinen could be a 50/50 shot. There are some KHL players who could be called upon due to their more natural playing style on bigger ice (I.e being more used to it) also the fact that Jokinen hasn't really set things alight. If he goes he'll be a depth player likely to play on the 3rd and 4th lines.
Evgeni Malkin - Russia - A lock to make it. It's his home country Olympics and I'd be very surprised to not see him make it. He'll be hoping to put on a show for his home fans alongside Ovechkin.
Tomas Vokoun - Czech Republic - Vokoun is likely to make it but will most probably play an exclusively back-up role. His performances in the play-offs merit him an Olympic spot in my opinion.
Most rosters are to be announce around the end of the year so we should know by then who has made and if my predictions are right.
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