The Canadian Olympic men's hockey team, which was named today by general manager Steve Yzerman, bears a strong resemblance to the team picked 24 hours before by your About.com brain trust.
The only differences: Drew Doughty on defense instead of Jay Bouwmeester, and Patrice Bergeron at forward instead of Martin St. Louis.
Keep in mind that Olympic rosters named this week are not final. Players can be replaced up until 24 hours before the Olympic tournament begins.
Injuries will surely lead to a few roster changes between now and the middle of February.
There are several mild surprises in the team announced today:
Patrice Bergeron wasn't invited to last summer's Olympic orientation camp, but played his way onto the team with a strong two-way game for the Bruins since October.
Philadelphia's Mike Richards and Carolina's Eric Staal both made it, despite the fact that their teams have had hugely disappointing seasons.
Another Philadelphia Flyer, Jeff Carter, was considered a lock for the team after scoring the most goals of any Canadian in the NHL last season. His production has declined this season.
Brenden Morrow of the Stars fell off a lot of people's radars when he missed much of last season with an injury. But he has been an outstanding forechecker and two-way performer for several years.
Many considered Bouwmeester a strong candidate after his impressive start with the Flames this year. Several media outlets are reporting that the final roster decision was a Doughty-versus-Bouwmeester debate for the seventh defenseman spot.
Washington's Mike Green is the highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL this season. But many believe his play in his own zone needs improvement.
Team USA will be named on New Year's Day.
Photo: Boston's Patrice Bergeron was an unlikely Team Canada candidate when this season began (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images).
Comments
no captain canada
he could outperform Morrow or Bergeron with a broken leg and a wooden stick.
would a second Canadian team and i would be happy to pick and coach them challenge for a medal.
let me answer for ya.
yep !!
Mason and Ward
pheneuf, bowmeester, reghr, green, beauchemen, robidas
carter, smyth, doan, lecavilier, stamkos, st louis, sharpe, brad richards, mike fisher, penner, tavares, henderson
Mason and Ward? Good luck beating Latvia with those two.
Of course, all it takes is a couple of untimely injuries over the next few weeks, and Mason and Ward could be getting the call.
I like Henderson, though. Solid pick. What about Sittler?
Sittler is a little too slow these days and we would only be using Henderson in the last 50 seconds of the game.
He has a bit of a solid reputation for those last second tying and winning goals in international competition.
And if Ward or mason should not prove adequate I have a call in to Roger Kennedy