We have about 35 million people in this great country of Canada and the fact that so many of them were glued to their television, radio or the Internet yesterday to see the live announcement (the simple fact that there was a press conference covered by all 3 is something unto itself) of Team Canada’s Olympic Hockey Teams. Both the Mens and Women’s teams were announce and with all due congratulations to all those on the Woman’s team, I wish them them the best but don’t plan on breaking down that team here. So let’s go over the Men’s team that Wayne and his cohorts chose to represent us and try to bring back another Gold Medal.

Goaltenders (3)
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Marty Turco

While it was obvious that Martin Brodeur was always going to be Team Canada’s starting goalie, much had been made in the previous weeks about who the #2 and #3 goalies should be. Strong cases were made for all of Roberto Luongo, Marty Turco, Jose Theodore and Curtis Joseph. So in choosing Luongo and Turco there was really no way the team could go wrong. If Cujo was taken, he was never going to see the ice being the third goalie for sure and therefore although I credit the year he is having, there simply was no point in bringing him. Theodore is a solid goaltender, but his name was in there only because of the fact that he could have offered Canada a different look seeing as he has a right handed shot and catching glove.

So the debate becomes whether Turco or Luongo should be the #2 goalie. Most seem to think that Luongo has secured the #2 spot, but I’d personally rather see Turco get the nod. The guy has 18 wins and ask players around the league who they really hate fearing in net (which Sportsnet did here about a week ago), time and time again they named Turco. So while I certainly won’t complain to see Luongo on the bench (he is a fantastic goalie and has been a Team Canada hero before), I vote for Turco.

Defence (7 +1)
Rob Blake
Adam Foote
Ed Jovanovski
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Robyn Regehr
Wade Redden
(Bryan McCabe - Taxi Squad)

How can you go wrong with a group of guys that has on it five members of the 20o2 Gold Medal winning team in Salt Lake City and a group that (minus McCabe) includes all seven defencemen that were part of the Canada’s dominance at the World Cup of Hockey in 2004. As coach Pat Quinn noted,

“it might be among the best defenses Canada has taken into any international tournament…It just has the assets in all kinds of areas. We just hope the coaches don’t mess it up.”

So while you can bitch if you want that Rob Blake is at the end of his run as a premier NHL defenceman (he is minus 14), the guy still has 22 points and is a Norris trophy winner. Further, not that this team needs a ton of leadership, but with Lemieux and Yzerman not in the room this year, having Blake be the leader of the defense just makes sense.

So really all that is left to comment on is the addition of McCabe to the taxi squad and the fact that Dion Phaneuf was left off the team alltogether. Starting with McCabe. The guy has 40 points and is by far the most dangerous player on the Leafs every night. However he just isn’t the defensive player that a guy like Wakde Redden is and having to take a guy off the roster to slot McCabe in just wasn’t going to happen. So putting him on the taxi squad was the right thing to do. He is certainly the next guy you’d like to have on your list if an injury strikes and this way he still goes to Italy with the Canadian Maple Leaf on his chest.

As for Phaneuf. I simply think he is a tremendous player who already has shown the ability to play 20+ minutes a night at one of the toughest positions to learn in the NHL. However, if it wasn’t the right time to put Crosby on the team (which I believe was the right decision - see below and my next article), you couldn’t put Phaneuf on either. There is no doubt that he will be one of the leaders come 2010, but there was no way to justify dropping one of the 7 starters and you simply couldn’t pass-over McCabe for the taxi spot.

Forwards (11 +2)
Joe Sakic - Captain
Vincent Lecavalier
Joe Thornton
Simon Gagne
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Ryan Smyth
Shane Doan
Martin St. Louis
Brad Richards
Rick Nash
Kris Draper
Todd Bertuzzi
(Jason Spezza - Taxi Squad)
(Eric Staal - Taxi Squad)

Scott Burnside of ESPN said it right when he asked and answered his own question.

“What does it say about your national depth when the fourth and sixth leading scorers in the NHL (Eric Stall and Jason Spezza) aren’t named to the 23-man roster and instead are relegated to the taxi squad? It says you’ve got a lot of toys in the toy box.”

Obviously nobody can question the selection of Joe Sakic as the team’s undeniable leader and naming him the captain at the press conference was a classy move to indicate to the team and country just who was taking over from Mario Lemieux as the man to be Canada’s captain. If anyone is going to argue that the likes of Thorton, Heatley, Richards or Lecavalier shouldn’t have been on the team then you’re just insane.

So let me move on to a couple of the guys that could have been bubble players. First take Rick Nash. Having hardly played this season (I think 5 games or so) many were speculating that he might not make this squad. But lets be honest, he was simply unbelievable at the World Championships last year and it’s not exactly like the Olympics are tomorrow. He has the rest of December and all of January to get his game legs back, taking him to me was never an issue.

Ok so what about Draper, Doan and Ryan Smyth. Do we need all 3 of these guys? Well Doan captain’s the Coyotes, so that ought to give you a sense of just how much respect Gretzky has for him; Ryan Smyth is the ultimate Hockey Canada guy and there at least is a sense that he should be rewarded for that if he was a bubble guy. So that leaves me with Draper. I understand the need for role players in a tournament, but 2 of them in Doan and Smyth was enough. In my mind I easily switch Draper for Spezza from the taxi squad and here’s why. Draper has one goal this year, seven total points and is a minus 6, while Spezza has amassed 13 goals and 34 assists with an extremely healthy +21 rating. Add to that the fact that the combination of Spezza and Heatley has been deadly for the Senators this season - the two have combined for over 90 points - and I would have easily switched him and Doan.

Todd Bertuzzi - I could write an entire article on this selection (and many of you have - Pete makes his argument here; or check out Steve’s post…man there is even an online petition to keep him off the team - sorry but that’s pretty lame) but I have to say I have no problem with him being on the team. People can say what they want about the guy as a person, but we have a legal system and he went through it. The NHL has its own penal system and he went through that too. How long are we going to punish him for a mistake he made? To tell me that he doesn’t deserve to go as one of Canada’s best forwards is simply not true, and if you tell me that you’d rather he not represent your country with the Maple Leaf on his chest, perhaps you should take a look at your voting ballot a little harder this January when we go to the polls and you decide which corrupt poltician you are choosing to represent your country in International debates, votes and treaties. Sorry to rant, but Todd Bertuzzi being on the Canadian Olympic team is about his hockey playing abilities and not about the Steve Moore incident. He was wrong then and if you want to punish someone for that, don’t look to Bertuzzi anymore, perhaps its time to question where the Avalanche have been in all of this and if you were so upset, why did nobody seem outraged when an American Court tossed out Steve Moore’s lawsuit? This is about Olympic Hockey, its not Law and Order. Bertuzzi paid his price (and continues to pay it as you all beat him down) and is hands down one of the top Canadian forwards. He can play on my team as we go for gold!

Those Left Out

Sidney Crosby - I can’t cover the reasons he wasn’t right for this team in this article so will write a post specifically about him, but bottom line, yes he’s fantastic, but he would have been too big a distraction on a team where chemistry counts. He himself may be a great guy, but he has so many “people” and would have been even more of a media circus than the team will already be facing. Quite simply, he may have been ready for the team, but the team wasn’t ready for him.

Paul Kariya - Was he really in the running anway or am I just being sentimental because I like Kariya and think that he has returned to great form in Nashville this year. However with that said, he has no business being on this team and unfortunately for him, he probably won’t have the skills by the time the 2010 team hits so his time in a Team Canada uniform has probably come to a close.

Marc Savard, Patrick Marleau, Brendan Shanahan & Alex Tanguay - All are in the top 25 in NHL scoring but didn’t crack this squad. Just again making the case that Canada has one of the deepest talent pools available.

That’s all I got for this morning, check back later on my reasons why it was the right reason to leave Sidney Crosby off this team.