Canada Unveils Olympic Hockey Roster
January 4th, 2010

As our hockey-crazed nation knows by now, the men’s hockey roster for Team Canada at next month’s 2010 Olympic Games was revealed last week. Bringing back only seven players from the 2006 squad that finished a very disappointing seventh place, Team Canada’s Executive Director Steve Yzerman is apparently looking to shake things up in order to bring the country that created the sport back to its gold medal perch from 2002.

Canadian business owners as well as the lucky recipients of their specially branded 2010 Hockey Schedule Pens courtesy of Synergy Marketing Consultants are well aware of this NHL season’s schedule for all six Canadian teams. Notably, there is a two week gap in the NHL schedule in February to make room for the always-exciting Olympic Games.

The puck drops on home ice in Vancouver, British Columbia for Team Canada’s first game of the 2010 Games on February 16th. Although injured players can be replaced prior to that date, the current roster consists of Scott Niedermayer, who was named captain along with alternate captains Jarome Ignila, Chris Pronger and Sidney Crosby - who last year, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, became the youngest player ever to captain his team to a Stanley Cup championship.

Along with Niedermayer and Pronger, Canada’s other defencemen (all of whom are either from British Columbia or Ontario) are Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Brent Seabrook.

Canada's forwards come from all over Canada with the small majority representing Ontario. They are Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton and Jonathan Toews. Team Canada also showcases an all-Quebec line up of goalies in Martin Brodeur, Marc-Andre Fleury and Roberto Luongo.

While this can be considered quite a formidable lineup, much is being made in the media about the omissions from 2010’s Team Canada. In all fairness, it would be quite doable to send two medal-contender-worthy Team Canadas to Vancouver. Players that were chosen for previous Olympic teams like Shane Doan, Ryan Smyth, Robyn Regehr, Jay Boumeester, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis were all overlooked this time around.

The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek believes that Canada’s 2002 Olympic squad won the gold medal “because their best players were their best players - an old hockey bromide that nevertheless is also an unflinching truth most of the time.”

If the stars of the 2010 team perform at the level of excellence expected of them, the entire nation will be doing some heavy celebrating this February. It is likely that this will be especially true for Toronto hockey fans who may only have the Olympic games as their hockey highlight of the year! Go Canada!