Group B: Canada favorite to advance to medal round

If group play wasn't already simply a preseason tuneup for Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, it might be now.

What already was a top-heavy Group B became even more so when Finland was dealt a severe blow to its hopes with the injury withdrawals of Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild and Valtteri Filppula of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Missing its top two centers, Finland's best hopes for an automatic bye to the quarterfinals most likely will be through the wild-card spot. It's unfortunate because a healthy Finnish squad featuring undoubtedly the best goaltending in the tournament could have had a chance to finish first in the group.

Now Group B is shaping up to be fodder for the Canadian machine to roll through on its way to the medal round.

Preliminary-round play in Group B begins Thursday and concludes Sunday, when Canada and Finland face each other in the final game of group play in the tournament.

Here is a preview of Group B:

Canada

Coach: Mike Babcock

Key players: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)

2010 Recap: Canada won the gold medal with an overtime victory against the United States.

Preview: Gold or go home.

Canada has 11 returning players from the team that won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, including its top three defensemen (Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Drew Doughty), top two centers (Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews) and starting goaltender (Roberto Luongo). Among the 14 players added to that group are the reigning Art Ross (Martin St. Louis) and Norris (P.K. Subban) Trophy winners, and the NHL's third (John Tavares), ninth (Patrick Sharp), 17th (Chris Kunitz), 21st (Jamie Benn) and 24th (Matt Duchene) leading scorers.

In fact, Canada has 11 of the League's top 25 scorers among its 14 forwards. The rosters of all the other countries in the Olympic tournament combined have nine: The U.S. has three (Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski), Russia has two (Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin), Sweden has two (Erik Karlsson and Nicklas Backstrom), the Czech Republic has one (David Krejci) and Slovakia has one (Marian Hossa).

So really, whatever combination coach Mike Babcock comes up with from this group of forwards should work, at least in theory. Canada's depth at the position is best reflected by its response to the loss of Steven Stamkos, who had to pull out last week because his broken tibia hadn't sufficiently healed for him to play. In his place Canada added St. Louis, a two-time NHL scoring champion and former Hart Trophy winner.

And St. Louis might be asked to play a checking role.

The main question mark for Canada, as it has been all along, remains in goal.

With Luongo returning as the defending gold medalist it stands to reason that he will be given every opportunity to seize the starting goaltending job. Luongo's performance amid the pressure cooker in Vancouver four years ago likely has allowed him to get the benefit of the doubt from Babcock, but he is entering the tournament cold.

Playing behind a Vancouver Canucks defense decimated by injuries, Luongo allowed at least three goals in each of his final six starts prior to the Olympic break, posting an.880 save percentage in those games.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Montreal Canadiens' Carey Price, who finished with a flourish prior to leaving for Sochi. He stopped 203 of 210 shots and posted two shutouts in his final six starts for a.967 save percentage.

Price's numbers took a dip during a run where he allowed at least four goals in five straight starts immediately prior to his current hot streak, but his save percentage of.925 on the season is second among all goaltenders who will be in Sochi, behind the.928 of Finland's Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins.

Luongo's.917 save percentage ranks him seventh among Sochi-bound goalies, behind Rask, Price, Semyon Varlamov (Russia, Colorado Avalanche), Ryan Miller (United States, Buffalo Sabres), Henrik Lundqvist (Sweden, New York Rangers) and Sergei Bobrovsky (Russia, Columbus Blue Jackets).

Babcock already has said Luongo and Price will start one of Canada's first two games of the group stage, against Norway on Thursday (Noon ET, USA, CBC) and Austria on Friday (Noon ET, USA, CBC) before a final decision is made on the No. 1 job in goal.

On defense it is another member of the Canadiens that represents what basically is the lone question among what probably is the strongest group in the tournament.

Subban's spot on this team was the subject of great debate right up until he was named Jan. 7. Now that he's on the team it remains to be seen in what capacity he will be used. He is fifth in scoring among League defensemen and is considered to be one of the most potent power-play weapons in the world. It's possible Subban will dress exclusively to help in that area, just as it's possible Subban is used in a top-four role or that he'll be scratched altogether.

One thing that is not in question is that Keith, Doughty and Weber will be the anchors of the Canadian defense, likely will log heavy minutes and play in all situations. No team can count on a top trio of defensemen as elite as Canada's.

Filling out the Canadian defense are Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester of the St. Louis Blues, who almost are guaranteed to play together on a third pair, along with Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks) and Dan Hamhuis (Canucks).

One of Vlasic or Hamhuis, both lefty shooters, likely will play the left side on Canada's second pairing, while the other might not dress.

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