<p>Best-on-best hockey returns this February in the form of the 4 Nations Face-Off! This event will pit teams representing Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden head-to-head to see which will reign supreme heading into the 2026 Winter Olympics.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
<p>The rosters for the four national teams were announced last week. But if you&#8217;ve followed Canadian history at all, you&#8217;ve probably noticed that Alberta marches to the beat of its own drum. So what would happen if Alberta decided to send its own team to this type of event?</p>
<p>We took our stab at putting together a 23-man roster – three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards – with all the coaches and players hailing from Alberta. (<em>In situations where players were born in Wild Rose Country but represent another nation internationally, such as William and Alex Nylander, we graciously allowed them to represent their other country instead</em>.)</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s dive in. Everyone&#8217;s listed with their NHL club and hometown included. (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/what-would-an-alberta-only-team-look-like-at-the-4-nations-face-off">Stick-taps to OilersNation&#8217;s Zach Laing for the idea</a>.)</p>
<h2>Coaching staff</h2>
<p>As general manager of Team Alberta, I&#8217;ve opted to pull in coaching expertise in various roles from throughout the league. Craig Berube (TOR/Calihoo) is our head coach, supported by assistant coaches Jeremy Colliton (NJD/Blackie), Ryan McGill (NJD/Sherwood Park) and Rocky Thompson (PHI/Calgary), and goaltending coach Robbie Tallas (FLA/Edmonton).</p>
<h2>Goaltenders</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Eric Comrie</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Stuart Skinner</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Logan Thompson</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Washington Capitals</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Alberta has three goaltenders in the NHL this season, so they&#8217;re on the team by default. A Skinner/Thompson tandem is admittedly kind of fun to think about, and we would probably lean on Thompson as the starter right now given he&#8217;s having a better season than his Edmonton counterpart.</p>
<h2>Defencemen</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Josh Mahura</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Seattle Kraken</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Albert</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Cale Makar</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Colorado Avalanche</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake Middleton</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Minnesota Wild</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Wainright</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Josh Morrissey</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Colton Parayko</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Albert</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jared Spurgeon</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Minnesota Wild</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Olen Zellweger</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Anaheim Ducks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Honourable mentions: Brett Kulak (EDM/Edmonton), Jacob Bernard-Docker (OTT/Canmore), Ryker Evans (SEA/Calgary), Kaiden Guhle (MTL/Edmonton)</em></p>
<p>This is a surprisingly stacked defensive group. Here are our proposed pairings:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Morrissey-Makar<br />
Mahura-Parayko<br />
Middleton-Spurgeon<br />
Zellweger</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t have many qualms about this group. There are good shutdown guys. There are good puck-movers. It&#8217;s a nice mix.</p>
<h2>Forwards</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Nicolas Aube-Kubel</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Slave Lake</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Kirby Dach</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Fort Saskatchewan</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake DeBrusk</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Vancouver Canucks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brendan Gallagher</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ridly Greig</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ottawa Senators</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Lethbridge</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dylan Guenther</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Utah Hockey Club</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Taylor Hall</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Chicago Blackhawks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dylan Holloway</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brett Howden</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Vegas Golden Knights</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Peyton Krebs</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake Neighbours</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brayden Point</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Tampa Bay Lightning</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Sam Steel</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dallas Stars</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ardrossan</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Honourable mentions: Noah Gregor (OTT/Beaumont), Parker Kelly (COL/Camrose), Justin Dowling (NJD/Calgary)</em></p>
<p>We like this forward group, but we don&#8217;t love it. On one hand, we can produce some pretty balanced forward lines:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Hall &#8211; Point &#8211; Gallagher<br />
DeBrusk &#8211; Dach &#8211; Guenther<br />
Holloway &#8211; Krebs &#8211; Neighbours<br />
Howden &#8211; Steel &#8211; Aube-Kubel<br />
Greig</p>
<p>On the other hand, aside from perhaps Point, is there any scary-good, elite skill on this forward group the way there is on the defensive group with Makar or Morrissey? We don&#8217;t think so, and as a result the team&#8217;s pretty reliant on scoring-by-committee&#8230; and on making sure their goalies and defence can bail them out from time to time.</p>
<p><em><strong>What do you think of Team Alberta? Would you make any tweaks to the roster or the lineup? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em></p>


Best-on-best hockey returns this February in the form of the 4 Nations Face-Off! This event will pit teams representing Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden head-to-head to see which will reign supreme heading into the 2026 Winter Olympics.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
The rosters for the four national teams were announced last week. But if you've followed Canadian history at all, you've probably noticed that Alberta marches to the beat of its own drum. So what would happen if Alberta decided to send its own team to this type of event?

We took our stab at putting together a 23-man roster – three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards – with all the coaches and players hailing from Alberta. (<em>In situations where players were born in Wild Rose Country but represent another nation internationally, such as William and Alex Nylander, we graciously allowed them to represent their other country instead</em>.)

Let's dive in. Everyone's listed with their NHL club and hometown included. (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/what-would-an-alberta-only-team-look-like-at-the-4-nations-face-off">Stick-taps to OilersNation's Zach Laing for the idea</a>.)
<h2>Coaching staff</h2>
As general manager of Team Alberta, I've opted to pull in coaching expertise in various roles from throughout the league. Craig Berube (TOR/Calihoo) is our head coach, supported by assistant coaches Jeremy Colliton (NJD/Blackie), Ryan McGill (NJD/Sherwood Park) and Rocky Thompson (PHI/Calgary), and goaltending coach Robbie Tallas (FLA/Edmonton).
<h2>Goaltenders</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Eric Comrie</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Stuart Skinner</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Logan Thompson</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Washington Capitals</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Alberta has three goaltenders in the NHL this season, so they're on the team by default. A Skinner/Thompson tandem is admittedly kind of fun to think about, and we would probably lean on Thompson as the starter right now given he's having a better season than his Edmonton counterpart.
<h2>Defencemen</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Josh Mahura</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Seattle Kraken</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Albert</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Cale Makar</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Colorado Avalanche</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake Middleton</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Minnesota Wild</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Wainright</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Josh Morrissey</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Winnipeg Jets</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Colton Parayko</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Albert</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jared Spurgeon</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Minnesota Wild</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Olen Zellweger</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Anaheim Ducks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<em>Honourable mentions: Brett Kulak (EDM/Edmonton), Jacob Bernard-Docker (OTT/Canmore), Ryker Evans (SEA/Calgary), Kaiden Guhle (MTL/Edmonton)</em>

This is a surprisingly stacked defensive group. Here are our proposed pairings:
<p style="text-align: center;">Morrissey-Makar
Mahura-Parayko
Middleton-Spurgeon
Zellweger</p>
We don't have many qualms about this group. There are good shutdown guys. There are good puck-movers. It's a nice mix.
<h2>Forwards</h2>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Nicolas Aube-Kubel</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Slave Lake</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Kirby Dach</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Fort Saskatchewan</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake DeBrusk</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Vancouver Canucks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brendan Gallagher</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Montreal Canadiens</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ridly Greig</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ottawa Senators</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Lethbridge</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dylan Guenther</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Utah Hockey Club</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Edmonton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Taylor Hall</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Chicago Blackhawks</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dylan Holloway</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brett Howden</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Vegas Golden Knights</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Peyton Krebs</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Buffalo Sabres</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Jake Neighbours</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">St. Louis Blues</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Brayden Point</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Tampa Bay Lightning</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Calgary</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Sam Steel</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Dallas Stars</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">Ardrossan</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<em>Honourable mentions: Noah Gregor (OTT/Beaumont), Parker Kelly (COL/Camrose), Justin Dowling (NJD/Calgary)</em>

We like this forward group, but we don't love it. On one hand, we can produce some pretty balanced forward lines:
<p style="text-align: center;">Hall - Point - Gallagher
DeBrusk - Dach - Guenther
Holloway - Krebs - Neighbours
Howden - Steel - Aube-Kubel
Greig</p>
On the other hand, aside from perhaps Point, is there any scary-good, elite skill on this forward group the way there is on the defensive group with Makar or Morrissey? We don't think so, and as a result the team's pretty reliant on scoring-by-committee... and on making sure their goalies and defence can bail them out from time to time.

<em><strong>What do you think of Team Alberta? Would you make any tweaks to the roster or the lineup? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em>

What would Team Alberta look like at the 4 Nations Face-Off?

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