Canada Shines Gold Across A Nation!
These are the words that every Canadian hockey fan is hoping to hear at the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver... or something like them. Maybe "Canada Stirkes Gold!" or Gold Medals in our Backyard!" Whatever the headlines read, they will have an exclamation point or two following them and it will bring a great pride to the host nation.
Lets take a look at what it would take for the Canadians to win gold in Vancouver, where they failed so miserably to do in Turin (an overly disappointing seventh place finish).
The Canadian team is once again very deep with superstars at every position. The first challenge was just how to build this team, and Steve Yzerman (and management) were forced into some tough decisions that saw great players like Vinny Lecavalier and Jay Bouwmeester looking from the outside in. Its a team that should be able to compete and beat all contenders in this tournament of tournaments, but there is more than just a championship title in the balance. There is the weight of a nation that is starved for hockey gold, in fact, the media has pounded the population with the fact that a Canadian athlete has not won Olympic gold on native soil, no matter what the sport. Can you imagine if the men's Canadian hockey team is in the gold-medal match and Canada is still looking for its first gold medal? Can you imagine how that added pressure... that added immense pressure would feel like to this group of men?
As mentioned, this team is deep at all positions, which may require a player or two to step up the play in this tournament to help the coaches make the decisions that need to made in crunch time.
In goal, the early nod continues to go with the veteran who shows no signs of slowing down; Martin Brodeur has broken many significant NHL goaltending records this season including most shutouts and most career wins. Its staggering what this guy has done over his career, system or no system. He has the rings, the records and the recognition that he is the best netminder to ever play this game. Roberto Luongo will be the main backup and should see some preliminary round action. Luongo has been called the heir apparent and could be asked to be one of those players that make a difference should Brodeur falter or (knock on wood) get injured. The third goaltender on the bench will be reigning Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury; only in Canada would a guy of this calibre be slightly buried on the depth chart.
The defense has a good mix of young studs (Drew Doughty), established stars (Shea Weber, Duncan Keith) and grizzled, savvy vets (Dan Boyle, Scott Neidermayer). This is where the tournament is likely won or lost, because it is where the fault lie in Italy. Noticeably absent are offensive-minded Dion Phaneuf and the aforementioned J-Bo, but both are defensive liabilities who'd be exposed by the Russians, Swedes and Americans (among others). Yzerman understands that this was a problem last Olympics and needed an overhaul, that is likely why we are seeing one of the best pairings in the NHL remain together for this tournament as Brent Seabrook joins Keith in what should likely be Canada's shutdown pairing. These are improvements over 2006 and the w
hole word will see if it is enough of an adjustment to make the jump back to champions.
There are two problems for the forward corps, the first being who line up together. This has been speculated over a number of times, and just as the hype died down a bit, a commercial airs in Canada about a behind the scenes look at the selection process for the team. This original documentary takes fans behind
closed doors with an all-access look at the making of the 2010 Canadian
Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. And there is a shot of the whiteboard where Eric Staal's name is listed on the top line as a winger for Sidney Crosby and opposite Patrice Bergeron. Let the speculation continue... No matter how you look at it, this group is talented, mature, and balanced enough to play at the high level required to win it all.
The second issue is all about chemistry - will the lines have it? Can it be created in such a short time? There is the line of Rick Nash - Ryan Getzlaf - Dany Heatley that had some 21 goals and 47 points in only nine games in the last World Championship.. this sort of chemistry cannot just appear, but if its already there, then that's one less thing to worry about. "IT" just has to develop for every line and over the entire tournament, something that remains to be seen and Canadians everywhere are waiting to watch.
There isn't one team that stands out as being better than any other by a wide margin and that includes the Canadians. This team will have to battle with the Russians; an elite group of skilled players (Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Semin, Sergei Gonchar, Andrei Markov) and tremendous netminding (Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov)... the Swedes with elite Henrik's all over the ice (Sedin, Zetterberg, Lundqvist) and the ability to play a dominating game... the Americans and their youth movement (Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny), but backstopped by top NHLers in Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas... The Czechs and Finns are not to be overlooked, as both have dangerous players across the ice.
The streets of Vancouver are filled with Olympic revelers going to and from all sorts of events, but there is only one that matters in the hearts of all Canadians... only one event that will bring the country to a standstill for three championship hours... and there are only three words that everyone wants to hear when the final whistle blows and those are "CANADA WINS GOLD!!". And don't forget the exclamation points.
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We are the champions - my friends And we'll keep on fighting - till the end - We are the champions - We are the champions No time for losers 'Cause we are the champions - of the world - █ ♥ █ Go Canada Go! █ ♥ █.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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NHL Central Scouting have released their complete rankings of 211 players for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
The International Scouting Services have released their Mid-Term Rankings for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
