Thursday, November 26th 2009

By unknown

ALEX TRAN

THE SILHOUETTE

A new executive director, a new management team, a new coaching staff, a new team philosophy and a potential for a completely overhauled roster will hopefully help Hockey Canada rebound to gold medal glory on home soil at the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The prestigious program will attempt to turn the page and move on from the disastrous 7th place finish at the 2006 Games in Turin where Canada suffered the worst Olympic showing of its entire 90 year participation in men’s ice hockey.

In an attempt to rekindle the flame of Olympic success, Hockey Canada appointed Hall of Famer and former gold medalist, Steve Yzerman, as the general manager for the 2010 squad. The program would undergo a complete overhaul, bringing in Stanley Cup winner Mike Babcock as head coach along with a new focus on having a younger and faster team. As for the players themselves, the selection process has been going on for several months with members of the management staff scrutinizing NHL games to chip down the list of potential candidates. Let’s take a look at some of the players that could be proudly wearing the Maple Leaf next February.

Goaltending: Between the pipes, it appears that Martin Brodeur is emerging as the leading candidate with a terrific start to the season for the New Jersey Devils. There were questions raised during the year about how he would bounce back from an injury-shortened ’08-’09 campaign, but the 37 year old future Hall of Famer is looking as good as ever. With the struggles of youngsters Cam Ward and Steve Mason, look for Roberto Luongo to earn the backup job, if not challenge Brodeur for the starring role.

Defencemen: Year in and year out, opposing nations have come to fear the imposing defensive corps of superstars Canada seems to trot out every game. The Canadians will look to implement a tough and mobile group on the backend, a style fitting for the international game. All-Star Jay Bouwmeester fits that description of size, speed and skill to a tee and will likely be a big part of that group. Nashville’s Shea Weber is another behemoth with a physical edge and a bomb from the point, and as arguably the best defenceman in the NHL, he is all but a lock to make the team.

If Babcock needs a little veteran experience to support the locker room, he could look to the former Anaheim duo of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer that brought home the Cup for Brian Burke’s Ducks squad in 2007. Unfortunately, the third ring-bearing defender and current Leaf Francois Beauchemin will not be making the team, meaning that no Maple Leaf will be donning the “Maple Leaf” this time around. To round out the defence, there are a bevy of talented youngsters to choose from such as slick puckmovers Drew Doughty and Mike Green, or perhaps the rugged all-around packages offered by a pair of Blackhawks in Brent Seabrook and Norris trophy candidate Duncan Keith.

Forwards: Last Olympics’ veteran-laden line-up struggled to score when it counted, including embarrassing shutout losses to Russia and Switzerland. This year’s team could look to trade in the grizzled veteran experience of Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth and Kris Draper for the youthful exuberance and creativity of the game’s rising stars.

NHL superstar and Gatorade poster boy Sidney Crosby will lace ‘em up for his home country for the first time on the Olympic stage. His presence should offer plenty of dynamic playmaking and offensive creativity on the team’s first line, despite a slow start to his NHL season. Returning players will likely include the San Jose Sharks’ passer-finisher duo of Joe Thornton and NHL goal-scoring leader Dany Heatley as well as snipers Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash.

The 2008 1st overall pick, Steven Stamkos, is off to a blazing start for Tampa Bay and should warrant plenty of consideration despite not being invited to the summer orientation camp. For some much-needed toughness, grit, and character the team could benefit from the additions of Flyers’ captain Mike Richards, Stars’ winger Brenden Morrow or Bruins’ power forward Milan Lucic.

The Bottom Line: Whatever the makeup of the team, Hockey Canada cannot afford another disappointing finish this time around, especially in their own backyard. The team failed to earn a medal on home soil during the 1988 Games in Calgary, and will be under a lot of pressure to produce results in Vancouver this time around. The boys showed it could be done with an improbable gold medal win by the U-20 team at the World Juniors in Ottawa last winter, and now it’s time for the men to step up and capture the hearts of an eager and hopeful nation.

Tags: canadian olympic team, olympics