#youth sports rookie cards

[counterten]

Digital sports cards revolutionize collecting, blending tradition with innovation. These virtual treasures offer dynamic visuals, player statistics, and interactive features, all accessible online. Catering to casual fans and serious collectors alike, they provide convenience and engagement. With limited releases and trading capabilities, they foster a vibrant community of enthusiasts. Whether reliving iconic moments or discovering new favorites, "CounterTEN" digital sports cards offer an immersive and dynamic experience that transcends traditional collecting boundaries.

[justingelbman]

The Top Male Golfers from New Jersey

The state of New Jersey has produced a series of world-class golfers over an extended period. Rumson-born Vic Ghezzi won 17 tour events, including the 1941 PGA Championship, while Arlington’s George Dunlap won the Intercollegiate Individual Championship playing for Princeton University multiple times before winning the 1933 United States Amateur title. Additional golfers of note from New Jersey include Eugene Homans, Jim Colbert, and Al Besselink. More recently, golf in the state has been represented by the likes of Harry Higgs and Scottie Scheffler.

Harry Higgs was born in Camden in 1991, though he began playing golf at Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. He played college golf at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Following his college career, Higgs began competing on the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Tour Latinoamerica from 2015 to 2018.

Higgs won the 2018 Diners Club Peru Open. His results that season secured him a tour card for the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA’s development brand. He excelled on the tour, winning the 2019 Price Cutter Charity Championship. Higgs’ strong results culminated in a top-five finish and a tour card for the 2019-2020 PGA Tour. Highlights from his first season on the tour included second-place showings at the Bermuda Championship and the Safeway Open.

The Camden native made his major tournament debut in 2021 at the PGA Championship, held on the Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course. He showed no nerves on the sport’s biggest stage, shooting a bogey-free round on his final day to finish the event tied for fourth. His results at the PGA Championship qualified him for the 2022 Masters Tournament. He made the cut and finished in the top 15. He competed at the US Open for the first time in 2024.

Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, was born in Ridgewood and raised in Montvale. He showed an early interest in golf and, under the tutelage of Justin Leonard, enjoyed prolific success as a youth athlete. Leonard, who has remained Scheffler’s coach for over two decades, helped Scheffler secure 75 victories on the PGA junior circuit before he reached high school.

Despite a series of injuries brought on by a growth spurt, Scheffler led Highland Park High School to three consecutive state titles while continuing to succeed as a junior golfer. He made his PGA Tour debut at age 17 as an amateur. He finished the HP Byron Nelson Championship tied for 22nd place and gained attention for a third-round hole-in-one. Before turning pro, Scheffler spent four years at the University of Texas. He led the school to three Big 12 championships, among other achievements.

Scheffler turned pro in 2019. He competed with Higgs as a member of the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour, with Scheffler earning the tour’s Player of the Year award. He was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year the following season, which was highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the 2020 PGA Championship. Later in the season, he secured two big wins for a victorious Team USA at the Ryder Cup.

Since 2022, Scheffler has established himself as one of the most decorated athletes born in New Jersey. He won his first tour title at the WM Phoenix Open and won the 2022 Masters Tournament a few weeks later. He secured the world No. 1 ranking during this time, a position he has held for nearly a year.

By winning the 2023 Players Championship, Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the event and the Masters Tournament within 12 months of each other. He repeated the feat in even more impressive fashion the following year, defending his Players Championship title in March and winning a second Masters title the following month.

[guesthypebusinessfinance]

At 22, Vayna Jerabek is a Gen Z actual property agent who affords housing recommendations on TikTok. And her friends are gobbling it up.She's already amassed 640,000 followers and one video on house-hacking — the place you purchase a spot and hire out rooms to offset the excessive mortgage fee — has garnered 1.6 million likes. Others provide recommendation on down funds, discovering off-market properties, and how to qualify for a much bigger home.“My private mission is to empower my era in order that they know that actual property is a critical automobile to creating wealth,” Jerabek stated. “It is simply such an enormous driver of your future prosperity.”The recognition of her movies displays how Gen Zers, these born between 1996 and 2012, are tapping into social media to navigate an unaffordable housing market and they're profitable the sport by studying ideas and making way of life adjustments.Thirty p.c of Gen Zs who had been 25 owned a home in 2022, in accordance with knowledge revealed by Redfin. That's larger than the speed for each millennials (28%) and Gen X (27%) after they had been the identical age. Boomers barely outpaced the youngest era with 32% homeownership charge after they had been 25."[Gen Zers] aren't like your common rookie purchaser," Jon Byram, a Redfin actual property agent based mostly in Northern Virginia, stated. "Additionally they do have an excellent grasp on what the home goes to do, what they're getting for this house worth, and the [resale value] down the highway."For example, Jerabek is taking her recommendation on home hacking. She closed her house on Friday and is transferring out of her dad and mom' home for the primary time. She plans to hire out the additional rooms for added revenue."It is a three-bedroom and I'll Airbnb two of the rooms," Jerabeck stated. "The mortgage fee is $4,000. And I desire a low fee as a result of then I can use my cash to do different issues."‘Performed numerous analysis’(Photograph: Getty Artistic)Getting a leg up is essential on this housing surroundings. Consumers face a trifecta of challenges: excessive costs, little stock, and elevated mortgage charges. This era is proving to be nimble with social media at their fingertips. They're quick to be taught and even faster to react on the subject of the housing market.Story continues"They've completed numerous analysis. And numerous instances they're very aware of the phrases that we use, like what's an EMD and what's an escalation clause," Byram stated. "When the market was actually aggressive, most of my wins had been youthful era people who had been prepared to do what it took."(For many who don’t know: The earnest cash deposit (EMD) is a purchaser’s good-faith deposit for the vendor, which may be reclaimed if points happen throughout the shopping for course of and the deal is terminated. An escalation clause is an addendum in a house provide contract stating the customer is prepared to lift their bid worth if the vendor receives the next competing provide.)A search on Jerabek's TikTok reveals her discussing subjects like organising a home-buying plan and using an FHA owner-occupied house mortgage. Viewers usually chime in with their very own ideas within the remark part, sharing recommendation like how to construct credit score with bank cards and methods to pick out certified tenants."They do not educate these items at school. Except your dad and mom are educating it to you, you do not know," Jerabek stated. "I get messages every single day [that say] thanks for uplifting me, I now purchased my first home due to you… [or] my dad and mom by no means taught me this."‘We need to maximize our revenue’These younger homebuyers are additionally prepared to make sacrifices for homeownership."We need to maximize our revenue by decreasing our bills," Jerabek stated. "We're not very into consumerism."A latest Zillow survey discovered that 26% of Gen Zers imagine they would want to surrender all spending on clothes, eating, and leisure to afford a house, whereas 27% would want a second or third job.

Many Gen Zers have additionally chosen to stay with mother and pop to avoid wasting on hire and use that cash towards a future down fee. Census knowledge from 2021 confirmed greater than half of younger adults reside with dad and mom or family."I am most likely not going to search out or transfer out to my very own condo, a minimum of within the close to future, as a result of I need to begin saving up for my very own home at some point," stated Ashwin Musipatla, a 23-year-old Rutgers school graduate who now works as a uncooked materials purchaser at a chemical firm in New Jersey. The trade-off, he acknowledged, is giving up a way of extra independence and private house.Jerabek has additionally been residing along with her dad and mom to keep away from paying hire."So I reside with my dad and mom proper now. That is my first time transferring out," she stated. "Why would I transfer out and go pay hire once I may save for a down fee and purchase a home later?"TiKTok agrees. The hashtag #livingwithparents has 129 million views and lots of creators share how they're saving tens of 1000's of dollars yearly."Why not reap the benefits of it?” Byram stated. “Particularly in case you're constructing in the direction of one thing.”Rebecca is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and beforehand labored as an funding tax licensed public accountant (CPA).Click on right here for the newest private finance news that will help you with investing, paying off debt, shopping for a house, retirement, and extraLearn the newest monetary and business news from Yahoo Finance https://guesthype.co.uk/?p=7397&feed_id=16726&cld=645fdb0da63f3

[kicksaddictny]

Reebok Question x Panini America Footwear Collection

Merging the worlds of sneakers and collectibles, Reebok and sports card manufacturer Panini America have announced a rare collaboration highlighting cultural icons Allen Iverson and the coveted “Prizm” brand. Releasing globally November 4 alongside a retro-inspired apparel capsule ($40-$60), the collection is championed by three “Prizm” parallel iterations of “A.I.”’s historic Question basketball shoe.

Introduced in 2012, Panini America’s “Prizm” sports card brand – with its high-gloss Optichrome designs, desirable rookies, and coveted short-print parallels – has quickly become one of the most sought-after and defining products in modern sports cards culture. Then there’s Allen Iverson, an explosive six-foot guard out of Hampton, V.A. who as a rookie in 1996 would splash onto the scene and – wearing his signature Reebok Question – go on to redefine the game of basketball and its many subcultures. In Reebok x Panini America, these two irrepressible forces collide.

“This has been a long time coming,” commented Jason Howarth, VP of Marketing at Panini America. ““The Prizm brand has helped launch sports trading cards into the global mainstream. It reaches beyond the hobby, just like Iverson reaches beyond basketball. To be able to authentically bring together two iconic brands who each have such a deep connection to sports, collectibles, and culture – we think this one will be fun for everyone who engages with it.”

Across product, “Prizm” fans will appreciate special design hits like shrink-wrap-inspired all-over logo branding, embroidered Iverson autographs, light-reactive parallel treatments, classic Panini yellow-tag branding, “Rookie Shoe” badge hang tags, and more, all across three unique parallels: 

Question Mid “Tiger Prizm” (HQ1097/$170, HQ1103/$110): Widely available in adult and youth sizing, this wearable colorway nods Iverson’s tenacity, taking cues from Panini America’s admired “Tiger Prizm” parallel with overlays across a white leather upper.  

Question Low “Rookie Signature Prizm” (HQ1099/$140): Available in more-limited quantities, this design puts a glossy royal blue “Prizm” spin on the low-cut Question, paying homage to Iverson’s rookie team colors.

Question Mid “Black Pulsar Prizm” (HQ4135/$170): Rare in distribution, this Question Mid offers a narrative on the flashing lights surrounding A.I. via Panini America’s hyper-rare “Black Pulsar Prizm” treatment on the upper alongside smooth suede overlays. 

Select pairs purchased from Reebok.com and local retailers will come with a pack of limited-edition Panini America x Reebok Iverson trading cards. Each card features beautiful imagery of A.I. from the early 2000’s captured by legendary photographer Gary Land with designs drawing inspiration from “Prizm”, Question, and other Reebok Iverson product lines. From these packs, consumers will have the opportunity to “pull” special “Prizm” parallel cards, short-printed Iverson on-card autographed cards, Iverson-worn patches, and more. (Comprehensive checklist available upon request.)

In late September, Reebok and Panini America “teased” the collaboration with a rare friends-and-family “Blue Dazzle Prizm” flip (HQ4562) on Iverson’s historic blue and gold Denver player-edition Question from 2007. Only 100 were made, each of which shipped with an exclusive Panini x Reebok “Mile High” gold-vinyl insert card.

The Reebok x Panini America footwear and apparel range is available globally from Reebok.com and select retailers beginning November 4. Fans can signup for release reminders at Reebok.com/US/Classics-Basketball

[puckngrind]

Leave Her Wild: Chapter 2 - N. MacKinnon

Summary: MacKenzie and her friends head to opening night for the Colorado Avalanche.

Warnings: swearing, alcohol

Word count: 2, 675

Series masterlist / Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist

Flames.

"You are really gonna wear that?" Mosi looks her friend up and down.

"Yeah, why?" MacKenzie tugs at her jersey. Of course she was going to wear it. Opening night, only hockey jersey she owned. Was a Christmas gift from her parents last year. She did a little twirl to show it off to the group of unamused friends.

"Because..." Drew rolls his hands and she rolls her eyes.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!" Remy waves his hands in the air.

"That means, Let..." MacKenzie starts.

"Let the good times roll! We know.” Drew and Mosi say in unison.

"Alright, Mac is going to be wearing that. Remy has clearly pre-gamed. Mosi should’ve. We have our tickets and I'm driving so let's go." Drew starts herding the friend group out of MacKenzie's condo.

Opening night at Pepsi Center was always an event. MacKenzie and Drew got tickets from their volunteer efforts so the group headed out for their first time ever. They had gone to a Rockies game after Remy moved to Denver but normally the friend group didn't really do sporting events as outings.

“Is someone gonna explain these rules?” Remy plopped down from his first beer run with Drew and handed MacKenzie one. Eyeing her for the answer.

“Yeah. Kinda like soccer. You know?” She started. Knowing she was the only one who knew anything about hockey. “You can yell, cheer, boo. Doesn't really matter because no one really pays attention to the crazy you say.” The group all nod and she knows they will just clap when those around them do.

“So pizza-Jeep boy is wearing what color?” Mosi whisper yells while leaning into MacKenzie’s side during warmups.

“He’s in the blue and maroon jersey. The white is the Flames.” MacKenzie doesn’t take her eyes off the ice looking for Nathan to point him out but feels Mosi’s eyes on her. “Yes, Mo?”

“But… um... never mind.” Mosi stutters strangely.

"There he is." Kenzie ignores and points to the screen where they have a close up of Nathan showing his stats from the previous season.

The game starts which quieted the group’s chatter while everyone but Kenzie tried following the puck and going from watching the ice to the screen and back.

“Let’s go boys!” MacKenzie stands and yells after a big play with everyone in her section turning to look at her.

“Mac!” Drew pulls her down to her seat. “Check your surroundings.”

“You know I don’t care, right?” MacKenzie starts clapping again with a little cheer.

“As always, you do you.” Drew slow claps along as the game progresses.

Even though MacKenzie warned her friends that there might be only a goal or two, the game was high scoring which the friends all enjoyed. Remy cheered when anyone scored regardless of team. Colorado winning made the home crowd pumped and buzzing about being the year.

"We realize the season has over 80 games, right?" Kenzie comments to no one in particular as they head down the stairs.

“Food! Real food and drinks that don’t cost a million bucks.” Mosi begs on the way out.

“Allons! Let’s go!” Remy points to the closest restaurant he can see. "That one! Onward." Remy leads the group over.

Drinks, food, laughter fill the table as they banter back and forth.

“Isn’t that her, Mac?” MacKenzie hears someone nearby. She turns to see Nathan, Cale and a few more guys at a table about ten feet away. Nathan nods. She raises her hand then quickly feels the blood rushing to her face.

“Kenzie Lou, why are you the same color as your jersey?” Remy looks her up and down.

“Oh.” Drew mumbles with his mouth full seeing the table MacKenzie just waved towards.

“Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun!” Mosi clapped and is greeted with a kick under the table. “Ouch. Well it is.”

MacKenzie huffs and stands to her feet. Inhales and walks right over to the table of what she assumed was full of professional hockey players.

“Nice game Nathan.” She stops right at the end of his table and knows her face is still bright red.

“Looks like you were rooting for the other team there. Sorry 'bout that.” One of the boys down the table barks out.

“Hi MacKenzie. Thanks. Were you there? At the game, I mean.” Nathan turns his body towards her.

“Yes. Got tickets because of the foundation thing so we all went.” She gestures towards her eager looking friends. They wave and Nathan waves back with a flick of his wrist.

“Oh cool. So you are a… a Calgary fan?” Nathan gulps hard taking in the home Flames jersey.

“Well, a Tkachuk fan, actually. Yeah.” MacKenzie looks over at the 19 on her shoulder. “He was phenomenal last… ya'll. Well. Yeah.” MacKenzie looks around the amused players and shuts up.

“Sorry, let me introduce you. Guys, this is the other Mac. MacKenzie. Uh. Shit. I never caught your last name.” Nathan looks at her searching for a name.

“Blackwood.” MacKenzie answers and the guy across from Nate spits out his drink. “Um.” She just looks at him.

Nate wipes his face and stares down his teammate. “Are you fucking serious, EJ?”

“Sorry man.” EJ hands him another napkin. “No teeth.” He flashes his massive gap which makes MacKenzie giggle softly and Nathan groan.

“Let me get this straight. You live in Cale and Tyson’s building, volunteer with youth, only seem to follow Tkachuk 'cause you don't seem to know Avs hockey.” He wipes his mouth to continue. MacKenzie recognizes him as the captain from the game. “Have the same name as a goalie in the league, and are giving my boy, Nate here a run for his money.” Gabe winks with a sinister smile.

“Wait what?” MacKenzie puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

“What he means is…” Nate starts and MacKenzie places a finger up to stop him.

“No the goalie thing. I’m choosing to ignore the last part for now.” She says which gets a reaction from the entire table.

“Mackenzie Blackwood is a goalie in New Jersey. You happen to have the same name.” Nate explains.

“Gotcha. I’ll be honest, I catch games when I can but it’s background noise.” MacKenzie still feels her cheeks on fire but doesn’t let it stop her. “I will go to a Flames games if I'm in town when they play ya'll then a Blues game when I’m home with my dad and brother. Most of my hockey following is checking stats or social media.” She takes a deep breath not wanting to look directly at the table that all seem mesmerized by her presence. “Anyway, just wanted to say hi, which I did. So…. Nice game gentleman. Enjoy your post game dinner. Good seeing you again Nate. Cale.” MacKenzie nods and turns on her heals to her friends who haven’t touched their food since she left.

"Kenzie Lou!" Remy softly squeals.

"Don't." MacKenzie grits her teeth.

"What the hell did you talk to an entire table of NHL players about?" Mosi ignores her friend's request.

"I guess I have the same name as a goalie in the league." She annoyingly answers.

Drew starts typing before anyone can respond. "Oh yes. Mackenzie Blackwood. K not capitalized. Canadian. 22. New Jersey rookie who started last year. Wait, how does that happen?" Drew looks at MacKenzie's face . "Later. I'll google it later."

"Could we eat please?" MacKenzie takes a drink of her water and starts to finish her meal. She feels a ping on her phone and turns it over to read the notification.

Nathan's i-phone wants to airdrop you. Accept?

MacKenzie looks over and he nods at the phone. She looks back to accept and sees a screenshot from his notes apologizing for being awkward and asking for her number. She seems confused.

"Kenz?" Mosi questions.

"He wants my number." MacKenzie whispers.

"I'm confused." Remy whispers back.

"Found my phone on airdrop. Smart at least." MacKenzie chuckles.

"So airdrop your digits back to him or I will." Mosi pulls her phone out. "I just need to turn on mine. Who keeps it on? You, of course you do Mac." Mosi looks at Kenzie amused.

"Should I?" MacKenzie pulls at her loose curl wrapping it around her finger and letting it bounce back.

"YES!" Drew almost yells. "What could it hurt? Have a new contact for work at the least." Drew knew exactly what would get MacKenzie to send her number. She looks down to see Remy had written down her number on his napkin. The man always had a pen on him.

"Snap this to 'em." Remy pushed it over so MacKenzie did just that. Almost throwing her phone down as soon as she did. It buzzed not even a minute later.

Maybe Nate: Hi Mackenzie. This is Nate.

MacKenzie: Hi Nate. You can call me Kenzie or Mac

Nate: Okay Kenzie.

She looks up at him and he smiles wide.

Kenzie: enjoy your dinner

Nate: Same. I’ll text you later

She didn’t expect to hear from Nate but the next morning while getting ready for work, MacKenzie hears her text notification.

Nate: good morning. We are off Sunday and a few of us are playing cards at Cale’s place. Would you and your friends want to come over? It’s not far for you.

She stares at the text and starts to pace. Then sends out a group text.

Kenzie: Nate and some of the Avs want us to come over Sunday. Thoughts?

MacKenzie got all three messages immediately in return.

Mosi: obviously yes

Drew: yes is the only answer

Remy: fuck ya!

MacKenzie sent a text to Nate saying yes and asked what they could bring. She wasn't surprised Nate said nothing just themselves.

Sunday rolled around. MacKenzie and her friends walked down to Cale’s condo. She stopped in front of the door and Drew reached over her to knock. Kenzie looked up at him.

"What, just making sure we don't have to stand here forever." The door swung open as Drew finishes his statement.

“Nate, they are here and at least she’s not in a Flames jersey today.” The curly haired guy MacKenzie knew was Tyson from a quick google search of the team over the weekend.

“Decided to leave that at home, Tyson, but I can go get it.” MacKenzie points while giving him a half smile.

“Oh, and she...” Tyson turns to see Nathan behind him. “And she knows my name.”

“Sorry, don’t mind him. He got checked a little too hard at practice this morning.” Nathan pulls Tyson back into the condo. “Come in please.” He gestured and they moved past Nathan into the condo that was the mirror image of MacKenzie’s just slightly larger.

"Make yourselves comfortable." Cale popped his head out from the kitchen. "I'm sure you know where everything is."

"Yeah, just backwards." MacKenzie looks down the hall to the rooms. "Two or three?"

"Three. You?" MacKenzie raises two fingers and realizes her friends have already made their way into the living room.

"Thanks for coming." Nate was still standing behind her and she jumped.

"Thanks for inviting us. My mother tells me I need to make more friends here." MacKenzie sighs.

"Same actually. Tells me the team isn't enough." Nathan looks over her at his friends that were also his coworkers.

"Work, travel, and such keep my circle small." MacKenzie admits. "Oddly, same. You travel for work?" Nathan pushes his hands into his pockets and leans against the wall.

"I do then try to do different things for fun, you know?" She leans against the other wall.

"That's cool. Where are you heading next?"

MacKenzie's mind normally would be racing. Thinking of all the reasons why she shouldn't tell this essential stranger her work schedule but something about him made her feel easy. Maybe how he had more to lose if he burnt her. He didn't know what she did for a living but she could make his life miserable. Maybe it was the simplicity of their conversation or the kindness in his eyes. She felt like she could talk to him.

"Colorado Springs then off to Washington D.C. for the rest of the week and into next week." She answered him.

"Oh, I think we are in D.C. next weekend or maybe the beginning of the week." He stares at his foot kicking the invisible dirt then looked back up at MacKenzie.

"We are. Now are you two just gonna talk in the hall or are you gonna play cards here?" Gabe leans around the corner. "We've already gotten to know Kenzie's friends... let's go!" He gives Nate a look that doesn't go unnoticed. The two walk into the living room.

“Do I need to make introductions?” Nate looks around the room at all the eyes on both of them.

“Well, I googled ya’ll in preparation for today… so… I think I’m good.” She scans the room and sees a few of the girlfriends or wives. “Well, I don’t know the ladies.”

Nate took a moment to identify the few sitting around the room and who they belonged to. Pulling out an empty chair for MacKenzie. “Here, you can play here.” She sat down and pulled her legs up criss crossed under her as Gabe explained the rules. The group played poker until there were four left. JT, Nathan, MacKenzie, and Mosi. Mosi kept saying she accidentally won her table which made the competitive men agitated but made MacKenzie amused. Eventually it was just Nathan and MacKenzie.

“Kenzie, I think you and Nate need a wager of some sort.” Drew drops a bottle of water next to her and she glares up at him.

“I’m game.” Nate pipes up.

“Okay, so what if I win?” Kenzie takes a sip of water.

“Glass seats at the game of your choice.” Gabe declares.

“Okay, and if Nate wins?” Kenzie directs her attention to the captain who now has his hands on Nathan’s shoulders.

“You go out to dinner with him.” Gabe squeezes Nathan’s shoulders and smiles at Kenzie.

“Uh…” Nathan tries to nervously interject.

“That’s fine.” Kenzie tries to control her blush by not directly looking at Nathan then overcomes it to look right into his soft eyes. "Let's play."

Cale starts to deal and everyone can feel the shift of all eyes on the table even though most had scattered once they were knocked out in individual conversations. After three hands, Nathan goes all in.

"I think he's bluffing." MacKenzie whispers and pushes all her chips to the center.

"Kenzie..." He breathes out and Gabe's hand returns to his shoulder.

They place their cards down and Nathan wins with a full house. The cheers start and Nathan just stares at Kenzie who gives him a small smile. She gets up and heads to the kitchen to grab a drink. Finding Cale's rum and starts pouring more than necessary into her diet coke. Takes a drink and feels someone behind her.

"Drew, I'm not that competitive." She doesn't even turn around.

"It's not Drew." Nate murmurs.

MacKenzie turns around slowly. "Sorry. Nice game." She raises her glass to him.

"We don't have to go out for dinner, you know." Nathan shifts his weight.

"Well, a deal is a deal, right?" Kenzie tries not to breath him in as he reaches around her for a water but he smells amazing. He shrugs his shoulders. "If I won, would I have glass seats?" She leans into the counter.

"Yes, you can still have them if you want." Nate fiddles with the bottle, flicking at the paper label.

"So, dinner. When we both get back in town, okay?" Kenzie takes a sip and looks up at Nathan.

"Yes, I'll have my people call your people then." Nathan laughs.

"So Gabe will call Mosi?" MacKenzie bites her cheek with her comeback.

"Oooorrrr... I'll just text you." Nathan replies.

MacKenzie takes a drink again and winces with the burn. "That works too."

[burkymakar]

Hi! I was wondering if you could post the Athletic's Olympic roster predictions please?!

ok here’s a lot under the cut, i’ve included men and womens for both Canada and USA. 

Canada Mens

Remember how the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang unfolded? Canada won a hard-earned bronze medal playing a stingy brand of defence under coach Willie Desjardins and lost only a single game in regulation – to Germany in the semifinals – before defeating the Czech Republic to earn a place on the podium.

Just one thing was missing: NHL players. Hockey’s crème de la crème. Three years ago, the NHL decided not to participate in the Winter Olympics for a lot of reasons that made little sense to the hockey world which made the Games look a little like the Spengler Cup.

Thankfully, as part of the collective bargaining extension signed last summer, the NHL is returning to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing — assuming the logistical details can be ironed out among the league, the IIHF and the IOC and that the pandemic is under some sort of control.

With apologies to all the players who competed so hard for Canada in 2018, the selection process this time around will be far more difficult because of the staggering depth of the talent pool.

One thing Canada never lacks at the highest level of hockey is oodles of options at both forward and defence. The players who don’t make the grade for Canada would fill out a ‘B’ team that would contend for gold.

How might Team Canada 2022 look? Thought you’d never ask. In our eternal quest to be helpful to the managerial powers-that-be, here are our projections for a 25-player roster, which is what the IOC permitted for Sochi in 2014.

As always, remember that in Canada, for an exercise such as this one, there really aren’t many bad options. Just too many good ones.

The last time men’s hockey had a best-on-best tournament was back in 2016 and if that World Cup taught us anything, it is that the younger generation of players dominating the game today had no stage fright whatsoever when they were got a chance to play together as North America’s 23-and-under team. They were fun to watch and unlucky not to advance to the medal round.

In previous Olympics, sometimes Canada’s management team would opt for veteran players over young up-and-comers because of a fear that they might be overwhelmed by the moment. Team Canada’s biggest Olympic bobble in the NHL era came in 2006 and you wonder what might have happened if they’d injected the youth and vigour of Sidney Crosby onto a team that seemed slow and plodding on the big ice of Turin.

By contrast, the decision to go with the 20-year-old Drew Doughty in Vancouver proved quite prescient – he was one of the key contributors that year and then again in 2014 in Sochi, as Canada won back-to-back golds.

Nowadays, Doughty is one of the more polarizing players in the game. He still plays a ton of minutes for the Los Angeles Kings and oozes confidence. On a blue line that features a whole lot of next-gen talent – from Cale Makar and Shea Theodore to Thomas Chabot and Morgan Rielly — chances are they’ll opt for one or two steadying veterans on the blue line. We’ve selected Alex Pietrangelo and Doughty to fill out what is otherwise a talented but relatively green defence corps that’ll get the puck up to the forwards, with great dispatch and accuracy.

Canada’s 2014 gold-medal team won with a stingy brand of hockey and timely saves from Carey Price, whenever he was called upon. That can be a challenge sometimes – playing goal on a team that surrenders few Grade-A opportunities and tests your level of focus and concentration because there will be the occasional breakdown that you will need to be in a position to respond to.

Long-term, Carter Hart will likely take over from Price as Canada’s go-to starter in goal, but there are still some inconsistencies in his game that drops him down to the No. 2 position. One wild card I considered here was the Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood, who had an excellent rookie season last year and was off to a good start this year as well. Chances are if Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong has the final say, Jordan Binnington would likely be the third goalie on this roster.

All of which leads us to the hardest, most controversial decisions which involve the forward group. There’s the usual problem of having too many natural centres on the roster and so someone will have to switch to the right wing. Among the elite-level centres in Canada, both Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Scheifele are right-handed shots and could swing over to the wing. One likely will have to and in this scenario, it’s Scheifele, if only so that MacKinnon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who developed some familiarity playing for Team North America in the World Cup, can play together.

That creates some flexibility if the coach – we’re picking Barry Trotz – ultimately wants to shift Nugent-Hopkins up to Connor McDavid’s line.

Splitting Crosby and Brad Marchand may also just be temporary. In 2016, those two along with Patrice Bergeron were the clear top line for Canada, and scored all the important goal. But Bergeron will be 36 by the time the Olympics roll around, and thus, didn’t make the final group here. You could theoretically put Marchand, Crosby and MacKinnon (playing right wing) together on an all-Nova Scotia line and the chemistry could be magical.

The beauty of Canada’s roster is the versatility of so many of the better forwards – Ryan O’Reilly, Sean Couturier, Brayden Point and Bo Horvat could all play the wing as well as down the middle. Chances are, every line that Canada rolls out will include two natural centres making face-off match-ups easier for the coaching staff, if they can fit both a right- and a left-hand centre onto each line.

The bottom line: With a player pool so deep, Canada has incredible talent and flexibility. Talent enough to get the go-ahead goal in a tight game.

Flexibility enough to juggle lines as needed and get the defensive match-ups as required. The greatest coaching challenge is usually selling a one-for-all and all-for-one vision. If a star player is forced to adopt a secondary role, he’ll need to handle it with maturity and grace and cannot start pouting because he isn’t the first option on the PP or the PK the way he might be on his club team.

Managing egos is as big a part of the job for the coaching staff as setting lines and spooling out ice time. — Eric Duhatschek

I’m going to keep this very simple.

Hockey Canada has a formula. It involves a few key rules that have helped Team Canada dominate best-on-best competition to an unprecedented degree over the past decade:

1) Everyone plays on their strong side.

2) Wherever possible, bring pairs of players that play together in the NHL so you have an immediate chemistry advantage in a short tournament.

3) Bring extra centres and just have them play on the wall.

4) Experience and tenure matter. If you were on the last team and are still elite, you have an edge in the event all other factors are equal.

Now, Hockey Canada has also opted to play grinding, low event hockey over the past decade. It’s cynical, it’s ruthless and it delivers gold.

However, this approach stinks. It shows a certain ruthless focus, which I appreciate, but it actually lacks any grander ambition.

Hockey Canada could aspire for more. They should aspire for greatness.

They should aspir for a national men’s team with the purpose of articulating a national vision of a beautiful, skillful and yet still assertive and physical two-way brand of hockey. Canada’s men’s team could play hockey beautifully if Canada decided to play hockey beautifully, and that’s what this team is going to do — within the framework of Hockey Canada’s otherwise winning formula.

Right off the top, I’ve built the fastest first line in the history of the sport. McDavid moves to the wing mostly for handedness reasons. A top line of McDavid, MacKinnon and Mathew Barzal are going to test the limits of what’s possible to accomplish in hockey playing at the highest possible speed.

Until one of Marchand, Crosby and Bergeron fall off and aren’t among the NHL’s best individually, they’re a set line for Hockey Canada. This is the easiest choice there is. They have chemistry, experience, swagger as a group, and they bring the DNA of Hockey Canada’s decade-of-dominance to this forward group.

The third line is where things get interesting, particularly because this is where the toughest omission from my team — Jonathan Huberdeau — kicks in. Ultimately I’m going to make a decision to prefer John Tavares’ experience, ability to cover in the event of a centre injury and his chemistry with Mitch Marner over Huberdeau’s electricity.

I’m not bringing Rob Zamuner or Kris Draper to fill a role or anything, but my fourth-line definitely has the identity of the highest-end possible version of an energy line. Honestly, in some matchups, this trio may well end up being Hockey Canada’s matchup line ahead of the Crosby line, since it’s just a collection of the countries most willful two-way players.

I’m bringing Steven Stamkos and Couturier as extra forwards, basically two centremen — a lefty and a righty — which means snubbing Bo Horvat and Claude Giroux, my toughest omissions besides Huberdeau.

We weren’t asked to name coaches, but I should add that I’ve named Pete DeBoer and Jared Bednar as assistant coaches, partly because they’re deserving and partly so that my top-four can get reps together throughout the NHL season leading up to the 2022 Games.

There’s a factor in the international game that I still don’t think Hockey Canada has fully incorporated into their player selection process, but they really should: Puck-moving defenders are everything.

Which is why Samuel Girard — probably my most surprising selection — is a slam dunk no brainer for this team and is likely to play a prominent role. Thanks to Bednar’s colluding with me to win a gold medal, he’ll spend more time with Makar in the season leading up to the Olympics (although they’ve spent 200 5-on-5 minutes together the past two seasons, so they’re not exactly strangers). Same goes for Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, who have played together a bit at 5-on-5 in the early going for Vegas (about 35 minutes so far), but will become the Golden Knight’s fixture top pair in 2021-22 for the purposes of Olympic preparation.

Doughty makes the team because he’s still performing at a high enough level that his status as the most important Hockey Canada veteran defender matters. And Morgan Rielly will be his partner on a mobile third pair, narrowly edging out Giordano.

Ryan Ellis is custom made for the international game and my Hockey Canada will have zero reservation bumping him up the lineup if injuries call for it.

In net, Price and Hart are coming to represent the past and the future while Jordan Binnington gets the nod to round out my trio of netminders. I’m comfortable enough with all three goaltenders that whoever is performing the best ahead of the tournament will go into the round-robin as my defacto starter. — Thomas Drance

Canada Womens

Picking a Canadian roster a year ahead of an Olympics is never easy.

And this time around, looking ahead to Beijing 2022, might be harder than ever, as the years since the 2018 Games have been unlike any other post-Olympic period for Team Canada.

First of all, Canada is coming off a silver medal finish at the last games in Pyeongchang — the first time that’s happened in two decades. If that wasn’t difficult enough, on the eve of the 2019 world championships, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it would fold after nearly 12 years in operation, taking away most Canadians’ daily training environments. Canada ultimately lost in the semifinal of the tournament and took home a bronze medal, the first time Team Canada hasn’t won’t at least silver at a world championship. Then, the 2019 4 Nations Cup was cancelled due to contract disputes between the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and the Swedish women’s team.

On top of all of that, there have been further complications brought by a global pandemic, which led to the cancellation of the 2020 4 Nations Cup and the 2020 women’s world championships.

Essentially, the women’s hockey calendar through the first three years of the Olympic quad cycle has been almost entirely wiped out.

“This quad had been a huge challenge, not only for our program but certainly for women’s hockey globally,” said Gina Kingsbury, the manager of the senior women’s national team. “We’re sitting at Year 3 of our quad with a very little amount of critical experience that we were able to share across our athlete pool to be able to evaluate them and be able to prepare them for an Olympic Games.”

The last time Team Canada played at an international event was 660 days ago at the 2019 worlds. Since then, they’ve relied on games against the U.S. national team and mini-camps throughout the season hosted by Hockey Canada, but even those have been largely put on hold due to the pandemic.

Still, with all that being said, as part of The Athletic’s one year out from the Olympics package, we are going to try our best to project the 2022 Team Canada women’s Olympic roster.

Guided by 2018

To start, let’s take a brief comparative look at who played for Canada in 2018 and who would make the team today. Players selected for the 2022 team are highlighted in red.

FORWARDDEFENCEGOAL

Meghan AgostaRenata FastShannon Szabados

Bailey BramLaura FortinoAnn-Renée Desbiens

Emily ClarkBrigette LacquetteGeneviève Lacasse

Mélodie DaoustJocelyne Larocque

Haley IrwinMeaghan Mikkelson

Brianne JennerLauriane Rougeau

Rebecca Johnston

Sarah Nurse

Marie-Philip Poulin

Jill Saulnier

Natalie Spooner

Laura Stacey

Blayre Turnbull

Jennifer Wakefield

From 2018 to 2022, we’re projecting 15 returnees among the 23 roster spots. Nine up front, four on the blue line, and two in goal. It’s not a ton of turnover between the four years, but there are still several spots for younger players to break onto the senior national team and for others to make their Olympic debuts.

Now, let’s look at the projection.

How did I arrive at these names with so few evaluation opportunities?

Well, despite the cancellation, Hockey Canada still named its 23-player roster for the 2020 world championships.

And, in early January, 47 players were invited to a training camp at Hockey Canada’s home base in Calgary. Thirty-five athletes attended the two-week camp — players such as Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Nurse were invited but unable to attend — and were split into two teams for scrimmages, with the line rushes and defence pairings posted daily.

It’s not a huge sample size, but using the previous Olympic and World Championship rosters, and taking stock of the two-week camp, which ended on Friday, you can get a pretty good idea of where things stand one year out from Beijing 2022.

As mentioned above, this roster consists of 15 returnees from the 2018 Games. And 22 of the 23 players projected here were named to Canada’s roster for the cancelled 2020 Women’s World Championship. Brigette Lacquette is the only player on my roster who didn’t make the World Championship roster, as she was unable to play.

These lines and pairings certainly aren’t set in stone, but they were consistently used at last week’s camp, except for Nurse on the line with Emily Clark and Blayre Turnbull, as Nurse did not attend camp.

To start, there are some names on this roster that should be no-brainers.

Marie-Philip Poulin, 29, is now over a decade into her international career and is arguably the greatest player of all-time in the women’s game. She’s Canada’s captain and scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal games of her first two Olympic appearances (2010 and 2014). A knee injury kept her mostly out of the 2019 world championships, but she’s healthy now. And it would take something completely unforeseen for Poulin to not be in Beijing.

Her frequent winger for club (the now-defunct CWHL Les Canadiennes) and country, Mélodie Daoust, is also a natural choice. With three goals and seven points in five games, she led Canada in scoring at the last Olympics. And scored one of the most impressive shootout goals in the gold medal game.

Natalie Spooner and Brianne Jenner have been consistent staples for Team Canada in the last two Olympic Games, with Spooner making her World Championship debut in 2011, and Jenner in 2012. The duo ranked No. 1 and 2 in scoring for Canada at the 2019 world championships. Spooner scored six goals and 10 points in seven games, only one goal behind Hilary Knight, who led the tournament with 11 points. Jenner wasn’t far behind with nine points.

Lauriane Rougeau and Jocelyne Larocque are also steady veterans, albeit on the blue line, who have the 2014 and 2018 Olympics under their belts. While, Nurse and Clark, who played together at the University of Wisconsin, both made their Olympic debuts in 2018 and should be natural choices to return in 2022. Similarly, Fast made her debut in 2018 and has established herself as one of the top defenders in the women’s game.

Youth vs. experience

I wanted to strike a balance on this roster with returning players, veterans and young players, or those making their Olympic debut. Because according to Kingsbury, as much as you want to win a gold medal, you have to keep an eye to the future.

“Often you tend to lean on what you know, and the unknowns of the young players obviously is a little scary, but I do think we’re at a point in our program that we do have to sometimes take calculated risks,” she explained. “We’re aiming at winning a gold medal in Beijing, but we’re also making sure that we’ve got a sustainable success here down the road as well and that we’re looking ahead in the future of our program.”

With that front of mind, there are some obvious omissions on this projected roster.

Both Johnston and Laura Fortino, who played in 2018, were among the final cuts for the 2020 world championships. I left them off this roster.

Shannon Szabados was a steady presence in Canada’s crease from her Olympic debut in 2010 until 2019. She recently had her first child and is currently not playing. She could certainly decide to come back but will be 35 by the next games and 39 by 2026.

So, this feels like a natural time for a passing of the torch in the crease to younger goalies like Ann-Renée Desbiens, 26, and Emerance Maschmeyer, 26, who have been given a lot of the net over the last two and a half years, along with Geneviève Lacasse, 31.

Similarly, Meaghan Mikkelson, a three-time Olympian, was one of the most experienced players at last week’s camp, with just under 50 games for Canada at the Olympics (14) and world championships (35) over the last decade. She last played in 2017-18, taking a leave after the birth of her second child. This will be her second comeback to the national team.

This was one of the more difficult decisions for my projected blue line, and I assume this will be the same for the real decision-makers at Hockey Canada. Mikkelson will be 37 when the Games begin. If she can re-elevate her game, she can be a force on the ice. But could, say, Claire Thompson, 23, have a similar impact?

If we assume Rougeau, 30, and Larocque, 31, make this team, with two other returning blueliners in Fast and Lacquette, the Canadian blue line isn’t going to be inexperienced. So bringing Thompson to Beijing over Mikkelson could be one of those “looking ahead in the future” decisions.

There could be a similar decision in looking at a player like Erin Ambrose, who was the most difficult omission for me. Ambrose was one of the last cuts for the 2018 Olympics, but played her way onto the 2019 and 2020 World Championship rosters. She could realistically do the same for Beijing. But again, how much does Hockey Canada want to look forward to the future?

Admittedly, Ambrose, Mikkelson and even Meghan Agosta — a four-time Olympian who is a full-time Vancouver police officer who hasn’t play for Canada since 2017-18 — could be the ultimate wild cards for 2022. However, for this exercise, I decided that if I was undecided between a player on the way up and an older player, I erred on the side of the former.

This brings us to the Olympic rookies, projected to be: Jamie Lee Rattray, Victoria Bach, Sarah Fillier, Loren Gabel, Jaime Bourbonnais, Micah Zandee-Hart, and the aforementioned Maschmeyer and Thompson.

All eight of these rookies were named to the 2020 World Championship roster, and they were all featured in the 2019 world championships except for Bach and Fillier, who were among the final cuts. Rattray, 28,  has been in the Hockey Canada program for a while now and has seemed to solidify a place within the core group. Bach was set to make her international tournament debut at the world championships, and while that debut has been delayed, her standing on the team remains.

There are two young stars to watch for here, too, in Gabel and Fillier.

Gabel, 23, made her senior team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup and won the Patty Kazmaier Award — the biggest individual honour in women’s college hockey — in 2019 after scoring 40 goals and 69 points in 38 games, including 11 game-winning goals for Clarkson University. She graduated that year as the all-time leading scorer with 213 points on 116 goals and 97 assists through 160 games.

Fillier, 20, was nominated for the Patty Kazmaier as a rookie at Princeton in 2018-19 after she put up nearly two points per game (1.97) to lead NCAA women’s hockey. Fillier, a centre, also led her team in scoring (22 goals and 57 points in 29 games) and was named the National Rookie of the Year. Like Gabel, Fillier made her senior team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup.

These two have been on the rise and should certainly crack the 2021 World Championship and 2022 Olympics rosters.

Bourbonnais, Thompson and Zandee-Hart further make up the young up and coming core of Hockey Canada’s roster, specifically on the blue line.

As mentioned, all of the above players were named to the 2020 World Championship roster, which shows a lot of trust from the decision-makers to put them into best-on-best competition. The world championships is often a dress rehearsal for the Olympics, too. That they were all chosen over veterans like Johnston and Fortino means a lot.

Finally, there are some other young players in Hockey Canada’s talent pool to be highlighted here, such as Élizabeth Giguère, Emma Maltais and Daryl Watts.

Giguère won the Patty Kazmaier last season, while Watts currently leads the nation with 11 goals and 21 points through 10 games to start the NCAA season. There are some key complications impacting their Olympic chances.

None of the three were at the recent camp, a key evaluator for the 2021 world championships. Kingsbury said “it was impossible” to bring any U.S.-based athletes to camp due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Fillier decided to take the year off from Princeton with the questions around if Ivy League schools would have a season and the Olympic considerations in mind.)

“Having our college players not here is definitely another challenge,” she said. “You’re trying to scout online, and it’s hard to see what they do in college and try to figure out if that’s going to have an impact at the international level.”

So while they are talented, without camps and potentially cracking the 2021 World Championship roster, it will be hard to jump into the 2022 Olympics. Especially if they are trying to take spots from returning players such as Turnbull, Jill Saulnier and Laura Stacey, who have all shown they can be reliable forwards who can play up and down the lineup.

For everything laid out here, all it takes is a really good tournament or training camp by one or two players to change my entire roster. Every year before the Olympics, Hockey Canada invites its Olympic hopefuls to Calgary for a six-to-seven month “centralized” camp before the Games.

Typically, there are some surprises on the roster, as Kingsbury said some players come in “like sponges” and elevate their game.

Such is the difficulty in this exercise. Anything can happen once we officially get into the final year of the Olympic quad. But regardless, Canada is going to have a deep talent pool to chose from when it comes time for Beijing 2022.

USA Mens

I remember covering the 2010 United States Olympic men’s hockey team — that came within a Sidney Crosby overtime goal of winning a gold medal — and before the tournament wondering: How the hell are they going to fill out this roster?

Ten years later, there has been a seismic change in the hockey landscape at the highest levels in the United States. Depth is no longer an issue for the U.S.

We often joke Canada could enter two teams in these best-on-best tournaments and both would be gold-medal worthy. The U.S. is not so far behind that and it’s illustrated by the difficult decisions we’ve made with this lineup and the hard decisions that await whoever builds the 2022 version of Team USA. There will be no shortage of heated debate about those tabbed to wear the red, white and blue and, of course, those whose names do not end up on the 25-man roster.

In starting to narrow down our roster here, we hearkened back to that scrappy 2010 team built by Brian Burke and David Poile and coached by Ron Wilson and looked for clues as to how to build not just the most talented team but the team most likely to win gold. What was it that allowed that group to defy projections and push a superstar-laden Canadian team to overtime?

Conversely, what was it that led a talented American roster to fall short of a medal in Sochi four years later and to flame out spectacularly in the 2016 World Cup? You will hear over and over that this version of Team USA will be the most talented ever iced in a best-on-best tournament. Maybe. But we focused in this exercise on building not just the most talented American roster but a team that can overcome disappointment, obstacles and the unexpected en route to what would be the first American gold medal in men’s hockey since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

Let the shame-talking begin. Yes. No room on this roster for Johnny Gaudreau, Zach Parise or Paul Stastny. No room for 2019 first overall pick Jack Hughes. Sorry.

This is as good a team down the middle as any Team USA has iced, starting with Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. A little bit of everything from this group of centers including solid leadership, ability to play shutdown hockey and, of course, create offense. That meant excluding worthy pivots like Kevin Hayes and Hughes even though one former coach and executive we spoke to felt Hughes would continue to evolve and push his way onto the roster before the end of 2021.

As for the wingers, there is so much to like from this group including the size and speed of Blake Wheeler, Jake Guentzel and Anders Lee and the offensive creativity of J.T. Miller and Kyle Connor. And of course, who will every team in the tournament love to hate from the word go? Matthew Tkachuk.

We kept Stanley Cup champion and Olympic shootout hero T.J. Oshie (T.J. Sochi as he is known after his exploits in 2014) given his experience. If you wanted more speed on the right side, you could go with Bryan Rust and/or one of our favorite emerging players, Conor Garland. We love the natural connection between usual Winnipeg linemates Connor and Wheeler and we wanted Stanley Cup champion Blake Coleman on this roster for his versatility and his ability to play both ends of the ice.

At one point, we had Gaudreau as one of our extra forwards in place of Max Pacioretty but the experts we spoke to felt Pacioretty needed to be on the roster and the fact that Gaudreau has struggled to produce in the playoffs we went with Pacioretty. Both the coach and former player we spoke to suggested two Brocks, Nelson and Boeser, and Columbus captain Nick Foligno should be considered. Another dark horse forward in the former player’s view is Alex Iafallo.

There will be no more critical decisions for Team USA’s management team than the ones made on the blue line.

The Beijing Games will be played on North American-sized ice so it will be critical to include not only those defenders who can skate fluidly and make good, quick decisions with the puck but who can defend vigorously. Team USA’s entry in the World Cup in 2016 is a good illustration of why you should never build a team with the notion of facing one particular opponent. But given Canada is in the same round-robin pool as the U.S., the ability to defend a physical, skilled team like Canada will be paramount.

As in all things, the balance will be crucial. This group is split evenly right shot/left shot and does have a good mix of youthful zest and solid experience. Some may quibble with leaving a guy like Zach Werenski off the roster, especially given his familiarity with Seth Jones. Fair enough. But a number of NHL sources we spoke to felt Torey Krug needed to be on this team.

Jeff Petry has established himself as one of the most effective defensemen in the game excelling in all situations and playing more often than not against opposing teams’ top talent. Jaccob Slavin, who is the motor that drives the talented Carolina blue line, must be on this roster. Charlie McAvoy has emerged from the shadows of Zdeno Chara to become the Bruins’ undisputed number one defender and he will be a key part of this blue line.

So having to leave Werenski off the list of eight is difficult but a function of the breadth and depth of options that will be available. Others who were on the radar included young John Marino, who has been so impressive in Pittsburgh, and the venerable Ryan Suter, who is a perennial participant in these best-on-best tournaments.

Goaltending is probably the most clearly established position for Team USA. Connor Hellebuyck is the defending Vezina Trophy winner. He’s an elite netminder who has endured his own share of ups and downs en route to his current lofty status.

John Gibson, playing behind a rebuilding Ducks team, won’t have the gaudy numbers that other top NHL netminders boast but he is recognized around the hockey world as an elite netminder and he will push Hellebuyck for the starter’s role in Beijing.

Ben Bishop’s lingering health issues excuse him from our list but if the multiple time Vezina Trophy finalist went on a roll later this season or to start the 2021-22 season he could play his way into the picture. Two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick is Hall of Fame worthy but past his prime so we went younger with Thatcher Demko, who was stellar in the bubble playoffs for Vancouver.

We’ll admit one former NHL coach and executive with whom we shared our roster felt unequivocally Bishop should be on the team ahead of Demko. And one longtime netminder and analyst felt that the Kings’ Cal Petersen in Los Angeles might actually jump over Gibson by the time the Olympics roll around. — Scott Burnside

Let’s start with the fourth line. I was chatting with Blackhawks director of amateur scouting Mark Kelley for another story on the way about Team USA and he suggested this one. We were debating the merits of Jack Hughes on the Olympic team and he said, if he were to do it, he’d throw him out there with the two Tkachuks.

“No one will get near him,” Kelley said of Hughes. “It’ll be like he’s walking his two pit bulls.”

To pull it off, we’re probably costing a guy like Jake Guentzel a deserving spot, but it’s fun. I like the idea of T.J. Oshie as an option for shootouts but just couldn’t squeeze him in. I’d also like to find a spot for Joe Pavelski, who is averaging like three goals per game this season, but am skewing younger because we’re a year out. This team is loaded.

Quinn Hughes has gone from a guy knocking on the door to make the roster to the top pair over the last year. Just think of how good he’ll be a year from now. Zach Werenski could be penciled in to play in the place of Ryan Suter but it would be great to have Suter’s Olympic experience available in the top six. It’s also possible we’re suffering from some recency bias following Werenski’s slow start. Adam Fox, Neal Pionk and Matt Grzelcyk all have to be on a watch list this season.

The debate in goal will be about who starts between Gibson and Hellebuyck but the most interesting slot might be No. 3. Chances are, that goalie isn’t playing, so I’m bringing the future of American goaltending — world junior gold medalist Spencer Knight — to get experience on the big stage and soak in the experience much like a young Jonathan Quick did in 2010. — Craig Custance

Team USA is due in best-on-best hockey.

They lost the bronze medal game at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. They were embarrassed at the 2016 World Cup.

Now they’ve got a whole new generation of stars ready to bring USA Hockey back to gold-medal contention.

The difficulty in this exercise of selecting the roster for the Beijing Olympics is proof of how things got to another level for USA Hockey over the past decade.

It’s probably a crime to leave off T.J. Sochi but there’s plenty of time for me to change my mind before next year. Anders Lee, Jake Guentzel, Blake Coleman, Bryan Rust, Chris Kreider and James van Riemsdyk are among other names I passed over for now. It speaks to the elite U.S. depth. I’m probably one of the few who has young Brady Tkachuk on this roster this far out but, believe me, when we get closer to the final roster picks next December/January, he will have worked his way on to a lot of people’s lists.

I may also be one of the few to select Kevin Hayes but I wanted the extra center on the roster and given the fact the tournament will be played on North American-sized ice, I like his big body as a factor.

Four lefties and four righties, talk about balance in this defense group. I do worry I put too much offense on here but I’ve got my penalty-killing units in Slavin-Jones and McDonagh-Petry. Obviously, it’s tough to leave off a quality veteran like Suter and no doubt USA Hockey may not. Zach Werenski and Cam Fowler are other names to monitor over the year. But I really like the balance in those eight I put down.

Not much to debate in goal as Hellebuyck-Gibson is pretty much locked in at this point as the 1-2 punch. Now, I went with youth as the No. 3 with Demko but obviously, a healthy Ben Bishop or a resurgent Jonathan Quick would force USA Hockey’s hand. — Pierre LeBrun

USA Womens

It’s been nearly three years since USA Hockey forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson unleashed her gold-medal winning shootout goal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The “Oops I Did it Again“ move shook Canadian netminder Shannon Szabados right out of her pads and sent the United States back home with their first goal medal since 1998.

Much has changed in the women’s hockey landscape since the national team was paraded around the United States media circuit. From “Ellen” to “The Tonight Show” to some players visiting the White House, we seemed on track to see the best leadup to the next Olympics ever.

However, the U.S. women’s team hasn’t competed in an official tournament since the April 2019 women’s worlds in Finland and has had very few competitive games since. It’s been a rocky road that has been only further complicated by the pandemic. The last official roster we got from USA Hockey was ahead of the cancelled 2020 world championships.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are officially one year away and soon we can expect USA Hockey to name a roster for the 2021 worlds and enter residency in the fall ahead of selecting the roster for the Beijing Games. Here is a look at all that has happened since the Pyeongchang Games and what we predict the final U.S. Olympic roster will look like.

The rundown

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded as Team USA traveled to Finland for the 2019 world championship — their last official tournament. New head coach Bob Corkum made some noticeable roster adjustments for that tournament, including bringing back the final cuts from the 2018 Olympic roster: Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek. Kelly Pannek, Annie Pankowski and the return of 2014 Olympian Michelle Picard were other notable additions.

As Team USA was competing on the ice, they were also paving a future for professional women’s sports off the ice. Players made a bold statement with the #ForTheGame movement, vowing not to play for an existing professional league in North America. That was a loud and clear message to then-NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan. The movement has since evolved into the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and the #DreamGap tour.

Games were already sparse when the Swedish national team held its own boycott for better conditions. Unlike what unfolded after the U.S. held out of the 2017 worlds, Sweden and its players did not reach an agreement and the 4 Nations Cup was canceled.

In lieu of 4 Nations, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada held a joint training camp in Pennsylvania. Canada opted for a young roster for the training camp, while the U.S. went with the usual suspects.

The next scheduled official tournament was the 2020 worlds. However, the pandemic shut that down and we haven’t seen USA Hockey in competition since. COVID-19 also greatly affected the PWHPA’s second year. Some players hit the ice last month in Tampa, but the organization has not yet been able to activate all of its five hub cities.

The 2020 world championship roster was announced and likely gives us the best glimpse at what USA Hockey will roll with as we approach the one year mark from the 2022 Olympics.

2020 world championship rosterFORWARDSDEFENDERSGOALIES

Brianna DeckerLee SteckleinAlex Cavallini

Hannah BrandtCayla BarnesMaddie Rooney

Hayley ScamurraMegan KellerAerin Frankel

Hilary KnightEmily Matheson

Kelly PannekMegan Bozek

Dani CameranesiKacey Bellamy

Kendall Coyne-SchofieldSavannah Harmon

Amanda Kessel

Jesse Compher

Alex Carpenter

Britta Curl

Grace Zumwinkle

Abby Roque

Roster changes

Notably missing from this roster compared to the 2018 Olympic team are Meghan Duggan, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, and Monique Lamoureaux-Morando. Duggan has since retired and it is unclear if USA Hockey is permanently moving on from the Lamoureux twins, who both returned to the team in November 2019 after each giving birth to their first child.

Defender Emily Matheson has announced she is expecting a baby boy in June 2021. Shelly Picard, who returned for the 2019 worlds, has also effectively retired and now serves as the deputy commissioner of the NWHL.

In goal, it would appear Nicole Hensley is on the outside looking in. Katie Burt and Aerin Frankel might be the two netminders Corkum brings in to join Maddie Rooney and Alex Cavallini. Overall, Corkum has shown he isn’t afraid to mix in some new faces with those synonymous with USA Hockey, such as Hilary Knight, Kacey Bellamy and new captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.

Annie Pankowski had a great world championship in 2019 but did not land on the 2020 roster. She was also missing from the 53-player roster tapped for an evaluation camp in October 2020, while younger players like Jincy Dunne, Natalie Snodgrass and Britta Curl were present.

Corkum emphasized in October the importance of bringing in new players and facilitating internal competition.

“We have a nice blend of youth and veteran talent here and the young players are certainly pushing the older players. And the older players aren’t ready to give it up,” Corkum said in a USA Hockey video recap.

Predictions

It is always difficult to make Olympic predictions, especially when USA Hockey hasn’t hit the ice in so long. I get the impression, though, that Corkum and USA Hockey are ready to shake things up. The roster for the 2021 worlds won’t be a complete youth movement, but it will feature some rising stars who have proven themselves in the 2019-20 Rivalry Series and in the NCAA. Here is my best guess at the 2022 Olympic Roster:

The 2020 world championship roster is the best indicator we have right now and I think we’ll see that team begin to take form as the go-to roster. I came up with line pairings based on the 2018 Olympics, 2019 worlds, and the 2019-20 Rivalry Series.

Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek should make the next Olympics, though I’m more confident in Bozek than Carpenter.

Both are extremely skilled and are two of the few players currently getting in competitive games overseas. That said, there are a lot of good, young forwards coming up in the USA Hockey system. Abby Roque and Jesse Compher, for example, showed they are ready to play with Olympians in the 2019-20 Rivalry Series.

Roque, the 2020 Bob Allen USA Hockey Player of the Year, is an elite center and all signs point to her having a stellar international career. She scored two impressive goals in the Rivalry Series and injected some much-needed energy into USA Hockey coming off the lackluster performance at the 2019 November camp.

Last year would have marked the second consecutive world championship for Boston University product Jesse Compher. An injury kept her away from the Rivalry Series, but expect her to be back in the rotation. She has a great combination of size and skill for a USA Hockey team that is equal parts fast and furious on the ice.

Making the USA Hockey roster as a defender is tough, but ultimately, I think Matheson will need more time to return. I predict Savannah Harmon and Jincy Dunne will be the two vying for a spot this year, while Matheson will go for hers in 2022. I give the edge to the youth.

In net, Cavanelli and Rooney seem to be the mainstays for Corkum. Hensley attended the October evaluation camp, while Katie Burt did not. Frankel making the worlds roster indicates to me that she is being prepared for international competition.

As a journalist very fond of the eye test, this exercise was difficult, but here is to hoping we get to see players hit the ice for the red, white, and blue sooner rather than later.

[elishamanning]

ChriKra podcast. The topic is young players again. CK: „It’s particularly glaring in football. If you look at A-Jugend today, look at the salaries they make already, it keeps getting earlier, and faster, and *better!!* and more *popular!!!*, it’s a development that is actually quite dangerous, especially for young characters, because if, aged 16/17 in B- or A-Jugend you already earn over 10.000 Euros a month, I doubt that’s a good thing for the development of that child in question, and it has to be clear that they are in fact still children. And the next issue is, whenever there’s a lot of money involved, there will also be much charlatanry, if that’s a word (that’s what he says- „if that’s a word“ - interviewer confirms, CK’s happy:)), there’ll be tons of people who ‘only have your best interests at heart!!’ - and I’m speaking from experience here. When I was 17, I think, I met up with 13-14 different agents, and really it made me want to scream, I couldn’t believe they were for real. Thankfully I found someone who - well at least I get the feeling - is honest to me, and that’s all I want, in fact it’s a big asset, especially compared to some other experiences I’ve come across (he says „was ich so mitbekomme“, meaning experiences of other players he’s privy to) you get all sorts out there… So of course it’s difficult - if you’re 16 years old and you earn 10.000-20.000 Euros a month, you’ll get agents approaching you, making all kinds of promises, telling you you’ll play for Real Madrid in two years’ time. Selling that like that, that’s just a very dangerous game - and, I think, there are already quite a number of football corpses („Fußball-Leichen“) out there, some close friends of mine, who chose that same path, who were bad pupils at school like I was, because we were just always playing football, who are now playing  in Oberliga or Regionalliga and are  doing alright for now, but who’ll have to („schauen wo sie bleiben“ - that means they have to prepare for the future and make sure to save money for the time after the (short) football career when there won’t be any income anymore, as for now it’s a full-time job to live by, at that level.) and I think everybody, every player, knows stories of that kind, of people who put everything on that card, on football, because there are those famous 1:1Million stories, and everybody holds on to that. (As in, everybody thinks they’ll make it big.)“  Tbh I don’t know the interviewer but he makes various remarks that seem to indicate he used to be a professional athlete as well - a hockey player potentially? He asks if CK talks to young players about that, saying „I’ve made the experience that these talks between athletes with a lot of experience and young players can really help, even if those young players may not appreciate it at the time, but with all these talks I’ve had throughout my career, they all ended up leading somewhere and the young players benefitting from them“ and does CK have these kinds of talks with young players? To which CK replies you can do that (and in fact he himself quite enjoys it), that there are certain givens, rights or wrongs young players should be aware of, but that it’s difficult to convey to an 18year-old that it’s not on to arrive at training (…as an 18 year old…) with an Audi R7 and a Louis Vuitton-bag if the player talking does the same, and that it’s not a matter of course that having achieved something already makes the difference there. He says that’s especially difficult to get across to a 17/18yo when that child is getting at the same time so much approval from their entire surroundings, their family, „if (at that age) they already earn more money than both parents combined and get so much recognition from their friends, at school, their agents, people from the club… so then it’s hard to convey, because for a young person it’s very difficult to judge - it certainly was for me! - to properly assess the situation/see where the journey’s going, and that in life things won’t always go your way, that’s just an experience you have to make for yourself - so tips and advice might be helpful but only if they’re taken/accepted as such and that’s where that usually fails…“ (Earlier he’d talked about wanting to drop out of school himself to become a pro and how his parents had insisted that he’d finish his A-levels/college degree. He did „Zivildienst“ after finishing school (he was apparently in the last year/cohort (?) that had to do it (when there was still mandatory military service and you didn’t want to do army training, you could do community/civilian service instead, that’s what he did). Anyway he says after that he made the decision that for one year he’d try and focus entirely on football, to see if he could make it and if he didn’t, do something else, and that’s when he got the offer from Bochum/2. Liga) Interviewer asks if the ability to grasp that is a criteria (can you say that?) for someone to actually make it in professional football and CK’s all, well yes, of course, that’s what it comes down to. So many highly talented players but that in addition to talent you also needed ambition, and continuous ambition because it’s a long way - that those don’t guarantee success either, but without the ability to grasp that (the fact that you had to stay humble and keep working and it would remain a struggle) you couldn’t make it, „save for the stand-out one-in-a-million talent“ (and in his youth he came across one such exception where it was clear even aged 14 that he’d make it and that was Mario Götze „But in every generation there’s only, at the maximum, one such player“). Interviewer asks if the sport/the system itself could regulate it? Does CK watch American football? What with the upcoming Super Bowl, that there was a player who might well end up being the MVP in the final while still playing on a rookie contract (I have no idea what I’m talking about, sorry, and we also don’t find out if CK cares about American Football because we don’t hear his reply to that - the interviewer keeps talking without waiting for it, actually) Might that be the solution in football, to regulate the salaries of the young players? CK „I’ll abstain from blunt statements on things I don’t know anything about and which are actually none of my business anyway, all I can say is it’s certainly not in the power of one single club, because if you say 'we pay our A-Jugend/the oldest non-professional youth team much too much’ and introduce a limit, Leipzig will go and sign that player for the same money, and then you’ve lost your best talent.“ „What if DFB did that?“ „Well, that’s the question, but once again-“ „It’s utopian?“ „It’s definitely very hypothetical, I have to say. The thing is, I feel like in our society there seems to be no money left for anything, everything’s tight, but in football there’s so much money, and so many rushing in on it (?) and it keeps getting blown up even more, so I think it’s definitely difficult to put the brakes on that in youth football (sorry, bad literal translation…) because there as well, more and more money keeps getting invested (?)/there’s much financial promotion (he speaks very eloquently in proper sentences that I however find very hard to translate for some reason, sorry), so I think that would be very difficult to realize, but as I said, those are topics that I am rather unqualified to talk about because I’m entirely clueless on the subject.”

[counterten]

Digital sports cards revolutionize collecting, blending tradition with innovation. These virtual treasures offer dynamic visuals, player statistics, and interactive features, all accessible online. Catering to casual fans and serious collectors alike, they provide convenience and engagement. With limited releases and trading capabilities, they foster a vibrant community of enthusiasts. Whether reliving iconic moments or discovering new favorites, "CounterTEN" digital sports cards offer an immersive and dynamic experience that transcends traditional collecting boundaries.

[ragingwave]

⊱ ────── {.⋅ BASICS ⋅.} ────── ⊰ 

Quick basic info on Nessa! I’ve done nothing but study videos of the demo since her announcement. So again, until then she’ll be canon divergent / headcanon based! ♥ This is a start of some of the more solid ideas i’m working with.

➡️ CANON BASED ( so far… )

EXPERT on WATER TYPE POKEMON and one of Galar’s eight Gym Leaders

Mostly calm and collected, but actually lowkey has very competitive attitude.

Known enthusiastically as “The Raging Wave”.

Pokemon Team: In the demo it shows her battling with two Pokemon. Her Dreadnaw ( ♂ ) and Goldeen ( ♀ )

Annnd this unintentionally got long so headcanons part under the cut! 👀💦

➡️ HEADCANONS

AGE: Mid Twenties — I’m not going to put a stamp of a definite number for her age but i’m dropping her in that area solely from the way she speaks in the E3 demo. It gives me the impression she’s pretty mature yet obviously still is pretty youthful.

OFFENSIVE BATTLER — Listen, Nessa isn’t here to waste turns on status changes and stat boots to level a playing field on her opponents. That’s partially why she’s called The Raging Wave. Her strategy is attack on attack on attack. It seems like something right out of a rookie card move, especially for a gym leader, but somehow Nessa makes it work. It’s like working under pressure. If her opponent expects strong move after move, maybe they’ll crack being so overwhelmed with powerful water type moves.

VERY CONFIDENT — In both her own abilities and that of her Pokemon. She believes in them as highly as she believes in herself and of the members of gym.

VERY COMPETITIVE — A personal favorite of mine. Ness is quite competitive, though a majority of the world probably sees her as cool and collected. And for the most part this is true! Nessa is pretty chill. But when it comes to winning, that’s always top goal. If she loses, her competitive nature may slip through getting frustrated easy especially at a loss. But in the end she’s mature enough to take it like a champ and in the end is grateful for the display of her opponent and the opportunity to have battled. (Though she’s probably gonna replay the battle in her head a handful of times to reflect on how she can win next time!)

She can come off as rough and honest but she means well!

SURFING ATHLETE — It’s where her stage name of “The Raging Wave” initially came from. When she did more surfing leagues that required her to travel this gave her a hand in her first love and interest in studying Water type Pokemon before returning back home to Galar and taking a spot as one of its gym leaders. It’s one of her favorite things that her surfing name carried into her life as a gym leader.

That said, she’s an athletic gal! Enjoys a handful of the water sports Galar has to offer!

She loves her fans, she loves the crowd. Cheering gets her amped up every battle!

WATER POKEMON EXPERT — In her travels to other regions she’d study the water Pokemon there. Their habitats, their natures, their environment, just about anything she can get her hands and eyes on to learn all that she can on the ins and outs of water Pokemon, their capabilities, and how to pedestal those traits to make them greater than they already are.

Dive Balls are her aesthetic poke ball of choice.

One of her top sponsors is a popular water company in Galar. She promotes the water bottle brand.

Can hold her breath underwater for a ridiculous amount of time.

She loves Leon. Thinks he’s the coolest cat in the land. Totally supports his brand of ridiculous fashion. It’s cute for making a statement and she’s all about embracing style and making it your own.

LAPRAS holds a special place in her heart as one of her favorite Pokemon. (More about this in another post though c; )

[jawdatsa]

Undertaker: 25 Years of Destruction

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[roseate7]

I want your honest opinion: do you think Sid and Geno, as well as other greats, are slowly affected by recency bias in the league? Don’t get me wrong it’s great that even at their age they’re still keeping up with the young talent today but it’s kinda sad to see nowadays that commentators (the bad ones of course) act like their careers aren’t worth a damn

Oh boy, yeah that’s been a marked delineation between how media and commentators talk hockey. Like the fully grown ass man commentating on one of the games where Sid got a couple teeth high sticked out and said “well you know it’s sort of a right of passage for a hockey player to lose some chiclets.” As if Sidney Crosby hadn’t lost his original teeth his rookie year, had them broken multiple times since and broken his jaw in just ten years. This dude was getting paid to yammer over a hockey game and couldn’t even remember one of those highly publicized instances about one of the most famous active players lmao.

And (as I’ve learned here recently) a whole large section of tumblr hockey fandom is not the place to look for hockey fans who are in it for the long haul. Most of them have already hopped teams and players multiple times and, as in any youth-obsessed culture, players will be discarded as they age and become more real/less harmless dreamboy fantasy. There’s a much smaller group of us I’ve slowly found that accurately represent people who are watching first for the sport and second for the players and dead last for the bland man behind the hockey player. (This isn’t to disparage people who own up to only being interested in RPF and prefer to stay out of the rest of fandom though.)

That’s how wider hockey fanbases approach hockey and always have. Long before social media and when there were maybe one or two players who could feasibly be involved in PR work for their team, all anyone had was the games and what you got on hockey cards. The gold standard of a good hockey representative has been the player who keeps his mouth shut for the most part, lives a fairly scandal-free existence and leaves everything on the ice. Orr, Gretzky, lately Crosby. Somewhat waxen figures where the ideal of hockey player isn’t affected by individuality. That is still considered the ideal by most hockey fans, and it’s the world that shaped Sidney Crosby into the “face of the NHL” and Canadian sport. And also squeezed him dry of what personality he came in with. 

Obviously in an era of more transparency and accountability that ideal has drastically shifted and mostly for the better. Apart from an unfortunate section of tumblr, most liberal hockey fans aren’t involved in the gold star notion of performative progressiveness. Especially for older or just plain mature liberal hockey fans, it’s been a very unstable but welcome path being slowly made towards integrating hockey into the wider concerns of society. We also know better than to attribute the work of women and people of color to the bland white men and boys who are as blindly going along with the slow trickle of progress as they very recently did the old ways. White men all do as the world around them does. They deserve zero credit for the often invisible forces guiding or guilting them into being better people.

So yeah, while the current tide of popularity will forever live in the moment and only for the youngest and least proven wave of hockey, that won’t affect people who watch hockey for it’s own sake and certainly won’t affect the careers of the players. When these guys show up to work, the goal is to win. Men like Sid and Geno never sought to chase after ever-larger salaries and they’ve lived the pro hockey dream several times over already. The “rivalries” with younger talents like McDavid and Matthews don’t exist outside of the fleeting attention span of media and the fans who are baited by them. McDavid and Matthews will, like all new generational talents, have to prove themselves throughout an entire career rather than just a couple good years, just the same as everyone before them. They know that and they know every other player around them knows that. And they look at guys like Crosby and Malkin as examples of what they want and what they’d love to one day surpass.

Those players are already written down in history and if anything, the recency bias hurts the younger generation far more. They’ll be considered “old” much sooner than their predecessors and they’ll only be 23 or 25 by the time the next draft of dreamboat boy wonders renders them obsolete.

Fortunately this isn’t pop music. The whole boyband youth-obsession side interest will die off once hockey is no longer of interest to people who only want youth and popularity. It’s already only been three or four years and already that’s wearing out it’s welcome.

[bunkershotgolf]

Catriona Matthew and Muni He join elite field at HSBC Women’s World Championship

Duo to join Singapore’s Amanda Tan in region’s premier women’s golf tournament as title sponsor looks to balances experience with youth

Major winner Catriona Matthew and up-and-coming LPGA rookie Muni He have received invitations from Championship sponsor HSBC, to participate in the HSBC Women’s World Championship. The event takes place from 28 February to 3 March 2019 at Sentosa Golf Club.

Matthew, who is competing in her 24th consecutive year on tour, is a household name in women’s golf. To date, the 49-year-old is the only Scot to win a women’s major following her victory at the 2009 RICOH Women’s British Open. In addition to her four LPGA Tour victories, Matthew has competed in no less than nine Solheim Cups and will captain Team Europe in this year’s edition in her home country, Scotland.

Since the start of the HSBC Women’s World Championship in 2008, Matthew has competed in nine editions of the tournament, with her best finish coming in 2011 where she finished in eighth position.

Matthew said: “I’m excited to return to Singapore to compete in this year’s HSBC Women’s World Championship and I am very grateful to HSBC for this invite. It is such a great event in one of my favourite cities with a world class field gathered so I am looking forward to what will be a fantastic week. I have been working hard on my game and am feeling refreshed after the Christmas break so can’t wait to return to Sentosa later this month.”

Joining Matthew is 19-year-old He, who is China’s newest player on the LPGA circuit. As a rookie on the Symetra Tour in 2018, He recorded two top-10 finishes, including her maiden win in the inaugural Prasco Charity Championship. After earning her exemption into the inaugural LPGA Q-Series, He successfully earned her LPGA card through the LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

On her sponsor exemption, He said: “I’ve heard many wonderful things about the HSBC Women’s World Championship, and to be given the opportunity to compete against the world’s best golfers so early on in my career is just a dream come true. I’d like to say a huge thank you to HSBC and the tournament. As an Asian player, I’m looking forward to competing in what many describe as ‘Asia’s Major’ and hopefully lining up alongside my childhood idol Feng Shanshan.”

The pair join yet another stellar field at the HSBC Women’s World Championship which boasts a total of 20 major winners who have won 33 Major titles between them. Along with current World No. 1 Ariya Juntanugarn, there are six additional former World No.1s competing this year. There are also 19 Solheim Cup players who have made more than 60 appearances and, impressively, almost 400 international tournaments have been won by the 63-player line-up.

Speaking about the sponsor exemptions, along with Singapore’s Amanda Tan’s qualification following her win at the recent HSBC Women’s World Championship Regional Qualifying Tournament, Tony Cripps, Group General Manager and CEO, HSBC Singapore said: “We’re thrilled to have Catriona Matthew, Muni He and Amanda Tan join us at the 12th edition of the HSBC Women’s World Championship. Matthew is a true legend of the sport and is a remarkable ambassador to the game of golf, while both He and Tan serve as great inspiration to young players that they can make such a breakthrough in this challenging sport through hard work and determination.

“We’ve got yet another fantastic field for this year’s tournament and can’t wait to see the action get underway at Sentosa Golf Club later this month.”

For more information on the HSBC Women’s World Championship 2019, visit the tournament website at www.hsbcgolf.com/womens.

[keeganhchi986]

Gte Technology: What Is It & Should You Invest In 2022?

G.T.E (GTE Technology) simply means "" Exists a Global Token Exchange? Not exactly. While there is a Worldwide Token (GLT), what Brown is actually referring to is the process of transforming digital and physical properties into publicly-traded tokens such as the ones you have actually been seeing recently choosing unbelievable total up to "own" them.

Now, believe for a minute, the sports card collection you have sitting in your attic could be tokenized and traded. Classic motion picture posters. Much of the fond memories from your youth might quickly be on the exchange. Think bigger. Art. Fashion jewelry. And even bigger still to companies and property.

According to Jeff, tokenization can allow you to partially own a costly property, such as an art piece or genuine estate. Could this be the end of time-shares as we understand them? Worldwide economy, you would most likely concur that the majority of possessions are owned by someone or business.

The procedure makes sense realistically that the majority of people can't afford a vacation house themselves, so they broke up the ownership among 50 other owners and each takes one week of the year to remain with 2 weeks reserved for upkeep and upgrades. Where timeshare is restricted based upon "use" there is no limitation in tokenization as a possession can be sculpted up in a boundless number of pieces to own.

Something went wrong. Wait a moment and try again Attempt again.

Jeff Brown, a distinguished tech forecaster, claims that he anticipated the 2016's, 2018's, 2019's, and 2020's no. 1 tech stocks. Numerous financial investment analysts have actually been paying terrific attention to the current discussion of Jeff Brown's GTE technology. In his discussion, he appropriately says that GTE is a technology that will produce the biggest buy-and-hold chance.

He says that this event will view as lots of as 20,000 "IPOs" releasing in a single day. And, he states that it will be the biggest financial occasion in human history. There's something we need to clear here. And that is, what does Jeff Brown refer to when he states IPO? Here he isn't describing Preliminary Public Offerings in a common sense.

Nor it has to do with what he went over inside The Crypto Effect. Rather he's referring to a brand-new technology, which with the aid of a concept called tokenization, is altering the world of financing. This brand-new innovation allows you to own and trade assets. Discussing the concept of tokenization, he says that investors can own anything on earth with the aid of tokenization.

And by anything, he indicates anything from realty, a cars and truck, artworks, racehorse, software programs, to rookie cards. Moreover, not only this but all of these things become tradeable also. He states that tokenization is already happening, and it's not something that's going evernote.com/shard/s540/sh/edd1677d-ff2a-e249-2e6b-2cbc2260d6de/adffa1d58641c5829325d72171b44fc9 to happen in the long run.

It could have just $206 for which investors had actually bought units of ownership. This is what Jeff Brown is referring to. Property tokenization is the process in which an issuer creates digital tokens on a blockchain, and hence, represents ownership of a property. The term asset here means digital or physical items.

But Jeff states that GTE isn't the very same thing as NFTs. Here is the possible projection of gte technology that how high its rate can get in 2022 up to 2025 checked out here. A non-fungible token (NFT) is an unit of data that is saved on a blockchain to signify the ownership of a digital property.

[shaneoeac039]

13 Things About How much is a Derek Jeter Rookie Card Worth You May Not Have Known

Derek Jeter was signed on due to the New york city Yankees with the 6th total selection in the first round of the 1992 MBL Draft.He is actually by much and away taken into consideration among the most well-known gamers ever before to put on the Yankees Pin Stripes otherwise the absolute most preferred of all time (Baby Ruth and Mickey Mantle could have one thing to say about that).

The Leader, Mr. November, Leader Link-- whatever you intend to refer to as Derek Jeter, he is just one of one of the most influential sportsmens of his age group as well as among the most effective pitcher of all time.

Our Leading Derek Jeter Novice Memory Card Picks

Along with a great deal choosing him on and off the industry, he is just one of the best prominent investments in sporting activities trading memory cards. Absolute Best Derek Jeter Newbie Cards Thus, Derek Jeter has the amounts, the background, and the future on his edge. It is actually lucid that his novice memory cards are actually an awesome assets, but which ones need to you target?This is actually the one. It is just one of the signature baseball cards of its whole generation and probably, Derek Jeter's absolute best rookie card.The craft represents Jeter rushing to create a play against a splendid aluminum foil background.As a top-tier assets, this memory card has much more than multiplied in worth over recent 5 years, along with peaks at triple value.NY Yankee Future All-Star? Purchase Jasson Dominguez Rookie Cards If you require to have the most ideal Derek Jeter memory cards on the market place, this card must remain in your portfolio.This essential Jeter newbie card is actually a complete treasure from top to bottom. The simplicity recalls a various age of cards where drug reigned over flash.

The craft, featuring a youthful, enthusiastic Derek Jeter creates this an ideal show item for the significant, however a subtle capitalist. It's unsubstantiated just how younger Jeter looks right here, but that becomes part of the allure.

This memory card is timeless in every the appropriate techniques as well as will definitely boost your collection both monetarily and aesthetically. Derek Jeter Minimal Sun Secondary School Automobile Autograph Novice RC

This card features a Derek Jeter so young, he looks more probably to hit your doorbell as well as run than to attack house runs, yet it is actually a stellar assets. "With merely 250 authorized duplicates of this card, it is actually fairly unusual, especially in leading circumstances" exciting woodgrain pattern behind Jeter also makes this memory card a stand-out display screen piece, as there are actually really couple of like it.1993 Derek Jeter Arena Club Murphy Rookie Memory Card # 117.

ADD TO pushcart Derek Jeter arena nightclub rookie memory card Stadium Club memory card possessed a more restricted release than a number of the various other Jeter novice memory cards, so this has improved in market value unbelievably effectively.

Along with refined gold lettering and lining basically, however no side perimeter, the memory card is both beautiful and also complicated to find in fantastic disorder.

As the gold aluminum foil model of one of Derek Jeter's most prominent rookie memory cards, this is actually a staple financial investment for Jeter enthusiasts as well as savvy entrepreneurs alike. The 1993 Derek Jeter Bowman Newbie Memory Card can possess quite effortlessly been actually in our top 5 as well as is worth an assets at greater levels. The 1993 Pinnacle Derek Jeter Newbie Memory card is actually yet another one that rarely missed out on out on the leading 5 ... our experts like the view look along with the complacent smile Jeter has on his face ... Derek Jeter rookie cards the memory card somewhat reminds us of one of the absolute best newbie cards ever imprinted in the 1989 Ken Griffey Jr.

You are going to certainly not, I duplicate will definitely not locate this memory card incredibly typically on eBay auctions. You might locate it up on eBay get now for an extremely higher rate yet finding it on eBay auctions is actually like discovering a needle in a haystack.However, if you do find the 1992 Face Row Gold Derek Jeter RC atop ebay.com auctions we advise creating a bid (and additionally email our team at info@goldcardauctions.com and also let our company recognize).

Why Purchase Derek Jeter Newbie Cards?

ut is actually the enormous quantity of funds one must devote to get a Jeter rookie card and also the hype around them supported through the facts?Will the market value of his memory cards maintain increasing since he is actually retired? Which memory cards should you target for investment? Our company'll address those concerns as well as additional in this particular detailed Derek Jeter Financial investment File. Major factor that produces Derek Jeter a great investment is his association along with the Yankees. Being actually the skin of among the most useful sports franchise business on the planet is wonderful for enhancing a sportsmen's account." Derek Jeter Newbie Cards are actually a few of the very best assets in the interest ... particularly the 1993 SP Jeter RC" Jeter spent much more than a decade as the Yankee's team Captain and also led the group to 5 Planet Collection Championships during that stretch.

Continual effectiveness in such a top-level posture produced Jeter a family label, even for people who understand absolutely nothing else concerning baseball.Also, playing in the enormous The big apple City media market helped Derek Jeter connect with an astoundingly big viewers as both a sportsmen and also media individual.

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