Music: {allcanada} Canucks' Kesler, Predators' Suter carry flag for USA

Monday, May 9, 2011

{allcanada} Canucks' Kesler, Predators' Suter carry flag for USA

Even before center Ryan Kesler's offense erupted recently, he was one of the Vancouver Canucks' top players in the postseason.

That's because he contributes much more than offense.

"He's a total player," Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter said. "He plays hard; he comes at you. He plays physical. He's not afraid to chirp (at) you to get after you. He's a fast skater. And he can make plays, too, and shoot the puck."

Kesler and Suter have become two of the main faces in U.S. hockey since the Olympics in Vancouver last year.

The shift occurred last year in the Winter Games. By that point the veteran faces of U.S. hockey —Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk, Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios and Doug Weight— were deemed too old to play in the tournament or had retired.

This opened the door for a younger crop of stars, including Kesler, Suter, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils.

The group wasn't expected to go far, but the USA reached the gold medal game, losing to Canada in a game watched by 54.1 million Americans and Canadians.

Later that season, Kane's Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. A new hierarchy in American hockey was born.

"It gets to that time and era, the faces you've seen for years start to dwindle down," California-born Predators defenseman Jonathon Blum said. "You see the new kids popping out and leading that team."

Since those Olympics, an argument can be made that Wisconsin native Suter and Michigan native Kesler have carried that momentum more than any U.S.-born player on that team.

Kesler is coming off the best season of his NHL career with 41 goals. His plus-24 rating was also a career high. Suter also had a career-high plus-minus rating of 20.

"I know Suter had an unbelievable Olympics. He played so much," Blum said. "And you look at Kesler, he may not have the skill and talent as a guy like Patrick Kane, but he knows what his role is. He could play two-way any day of the week. He checks hard and frustrates other guys, and that's what he's good at and that's what he does."

Kesler has been hot since ending his goal drought in Game 3, recording five goals, two game-winners and eight points in the last three games to move into second place on the playoff scoring list.

But he does more. He hits. He plays defense and is a finalist for the Selke Trophy. He skates. He drew the penalties that led to his winning power-play goals. He returned quickly to Saturday's game after being hit in the face by a puck, even though he lost a tooth and needed stitches.

The Predators even switched the Suter-Shea Weber defensive pair off the Sedins' line and onto Kesler's line after Game 1.

"He's one of our go-to guys, one of our impact players," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "Some guys find ways to get on the scoresheet, other guys sometimes find ways to contribute in different ways, whether it be through checking, faceoffs, blocking shots (or) killing penalties. Ryan is one of those guys."