As the newly named executive director of Canada’s National Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, Steve Yzerman, will have the final say in selecting players for Canada at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

 

In a hockey-crazed country, people’s opinions will vary on which guys will be chosen. Remember the buzz in 2006 when Wayne Gretzky chose Todd Bertuzzi and not Sidney Crosby? The uproar continued when Jason Spezza and Eric Staal were only picked as alternates.

 

Most Canadians want to forget the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy where Canada didn’t even made the podium after losing to Russia 2-0 in the quarter-finals; Sweden, captured gold, followed by Finland and the Czech Republic.

 

One thing is certain in 2010, whether Yzerman or Canada’s “Joe the Plumber” make the choices, the Canadians will have an abundance of talent to choose from and will enter as pre-tournament favorites. The National Olympic Team will face formidable expectations as failing to claim a gold medal will be perceived as failure.

 

With the Olympics nearly 16 months away, things can change but as of October 24th, 2008 I would like to offer my player choices. I have taken into account that the 23 man roster (3 goalies, 7 defencemen and 13 forwards) should be a mixture of seasoned veterans, young stars on the rise, and players that can score, grind and play both ends of the ice:

 

Goaltenders:

Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marty Turco, in that order, were picked in 2006. Brodeur, who never seems to age and Luongo remain a lock for 2010, but that third spot will be up for grabs between Marc-Andre Fleury, Carey Price, Cam Ward and J.S. Giguere. I’m leaning towards Fleury, slightly ahead of Price.

 

Defencemen:

In 2006, Scott Niedermayer and Ed Jovanovski were injured and Dan Boyle was an alternate. Rob Blake, Jay Bouwmeester, Adam Foote, Bryan McCabe, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden and Robyn Regehr were the seven rearguards that donned Canadian colors.

Niedermayer, Pronger and Dion Phaneuf are “no brainers” while Regehr and Brian Campbell should also be on the team. The last two spots may come from a group including: Boyle, Redden, Bouwmeester, Shea Weber, and Mike Green. Ex-Prince George Cougars Sheldon Souray and Dan Hamhuis plus Willie Mitchell of the Canucks may also make the preliminary list. After considerable

deliberation, I’m penciling in Bouwmeester at #6 and Green at #7.

 

Forwards:

More than 20 legitimate players for 13 jobs. The Torino picks included Todd Bertuzzi, Shane Doan, Kris Draper, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Rick Nash, Brad Richards, Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Martin St Louis and Joe Thornton.

 

There are eight easy choices for the 2010 team: Crosby, Thornton, Lecavalier, Heatley, Iginla, Nash, Staal and Spezza. This leaves five spots. The candidates include: Brad Richards, Mike Richards, Doan, St Louis, Gagne, Sakic, Ryan Getzlaf, Jonathan Toews, Marc Savard, Jonathan Cheechoo, Daniel Briere, Brenden Morrow, Paul Stastny and Alex Tanguay.

 

And the envelope please… The winners are Doan, St. Louis, Gagne, Getzlaf, and Morrow. It was difficult leaving Sakic out, but he will be 40 in 2010 and he may slow down by then, although he is averaging more than a point a game this season.

 

 

To Recap: my team, made up of character players and snipers, has 13 returning players (two goalies, three defencemen and eight forwards) plus Niedermayer and nine new faces. My three man taxi squad or reserve list includes Weber, Sakic and Richards (with Brad and Mike I would hope to get two for the price of one and hope no one notices). The captain will be Crosby and it’s a tossup between Mike Babcock and Guy Carbonneau for Head Coach. Babcock gets the nod based on last season’s performance in guiding the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup.

 

So, let the debate continue. With a team like this there really are no wrong choices, unless, of course, Stephane Dion (Stephane who?) is calling the shots.

 

“The fans in Tampa Bay got a little crazy with their celebration. In the downtown area, wheelchairs were overturned, cardigan sweaters were set ablaze and stones were thrown at police (but it was OK, they were kidney stones).”Comedy writer Jerry Perisho http://monologuewriter.blogspot.com/, after the Rays won the ALCS.

 

“Did you hear about the radio talk show hosts in Minneapolis who said they were convinced that Magic Johnson 'faked AIDS'? In Monday's show, I hear, they're going to suggest that Lou Gehrig didn't really have Lou Gehrig's disease.”Dan Daly of the Washington Times.

 

“Bad news for Kwame Brown: the NBA announced it is eliminating 80 jobs in the U. S.” Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen (www.theprovince.com/liveat5)

 

“Former NFL Coach Dennis Green is teaching a Sports Business Management course at San Diego State Univ. One student reports that Prof. Green 'IS who we thought he was'.” Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

 

“In Ohio, an 89-year old woman was arrested for holding onto the neighborhood football. I can't wait to hear the Bengal defense's 911 call to the cops.”Bill Littlejohn

 

“U.S Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was campaigning in Ohio this week, continuing her talk about “pro-America” places. To be fair, she thought about visiting “amateur-America,” but the Bengals were having a closed practice.”Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)

“A month ago, the Dallas Cowboys were 3-0, and the stock market was over 11,000. Guess maybe they really are America’s team.” Janice Hough

“On the strength of recent performances by Dallas' Adam 'Pacman' Jones and Jerry Jones, not to mention Dow Jones, keeping up with the Joneses isn't what it used to be.”Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

 

“The CFL has announced its entertainment for the Grey Cup halftime show with BC band Theory of a Dead man narrowly edging out Hamilton's Theory of a Losing Season.”Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)

“59 year old golfing great Tom Watson has undergone hip replacement surgery. Now when he's talking about a Titanium insert, he isn't referring to his clubs anymore.”Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/)

 

 

Joke of the week that is making the rounds on the e-mail circuit:

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com