Fan In Van

My Team Canada

It’s only a matter of hours before Steve Yzerman and his executives finalize Team Canada for the impending 2010 Olympics and now it’s my turn to put in my final nominations for our national roster. Feel free to comment and critique on your changes.

Goaltenders

This one’s easy. Disregarding who will start, who will backup and who will sit in the press box, the three nominations go out to Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, and Marc-Andre Fleury. Brodeur and Luongo are the quintessential favourites who have a combination of both experience, passion, and home-ice advantage, while Fleury has played head over heels over fellow compatriots Marty Turco and Steve Mason.

Defensemen

I’ve got a hunch that Yzerman isn’t going to go with a roster with the best players, but one that has a higher degree of familiarity. As a result, I’m putting forth a blueline corps with pairings who have either played together in the past or are currently playing on the same NHL club.

Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger - The two played together in Anaheim before Pronger was dealt to the Flyers in the offseason, but both would be locks whether there was chemistry or not. Niedermayer is a nominee for the captaincy after playing in the Olympics twice, while Pronger is still one of the nastiest and toughest blueliners in the world.

Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook - These two are teammates in Chicago and they’re the engine that makes the Blackhawks go. They can play in all situations and are a strong second unit. It’ll be their first Olympics but the fact they went deep into the playoffs last season gives hope that they should be fine.

Jay Bouwmeester, Shea Weber - Having never played together in the past or present, the hope may be that they can generate chemistry quickly. Bouwmeester is one of the most prolific skaters today and that may help offset Weber’s lack of speed, while Weber is a big and bruising defender who is not much different from Bouwmeester’s teammate Dion Phaneuf (and without the defensive problems).

Dan Boyle - Probably one of the best defenceman in the game today, Boyle can easily be slotted on the third pairing if one of Bouwmeester or Weber falters. He’s the kind of guy who can play on the powerplay if the Canadians need an injection of offense.

Forwards

To make this simple, here are the locks at centre: Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, and Mike Richards. My locks on the wings are: Corey Perry, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Patrick Marleau.

That’s ten of the thirteen forward spots that are taken. To justify the locks above, Crosby is the best player in the world, Thornton is the NHL’s leading scorer and Richards is a terrific two-way player. Getzlaf and Perry are teammates, as is Marleau and Heatley. Nash and St. Louis have enough international experience to merit another trip to the Olympics.

My last three selections at forward may shock some of you. Brenden Morrow, Shane Doan, and Steven Stamkos are my final four forwards. Morrow and Doan bring sandpaper as well as passion to this team. To get deep into the medal rounds it’s clear that a team needs a little extra determination and these three provide it. Stamkos has also had a scintillating year, enough to warrant the 13th forward position.

So there you have it, my final Team Canada Olympic roster. Some of the notable exceptions: Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dion Phaneuf, Mike Fisher, Patrick Sharp, the Staal brothers, Brad Richards and Jason Spezza. To be fair, most are on the cusp but bring things to the table which have already been met by the players on my roster.

Comments? Critiques? Let’s hear your Olympic roster.