Moments ago Steve Yzerman named the roster for the Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team for the Vancouver games. Below is the list of names that will shoulder the responsibility of winning gold.
Forwards:
Patrice Bergeron
Sidney Crosby
Ryan Getzlaf
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Patrick Marleau
Brendan Morrow
Rick Nash
Mike Richards
Cory Perry
Eric Staal
Joe Thornton
Jonathan Toews
Defence:
Dan Boyle
Drew Doughty
Duncan Keith
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Brent Seabrook
Shea Weber
Goaltenders:
Martin Brodeur
Marc-Andre Fleury
Roberto Luongo
I'm quite happy with this roster. The one thing that stands out (which I applaud Steve Yzerman for) is that this team is packed with World Junior Gold experience (minus the greatest goaltender of all time strangely enough)...players that know how to play an international tournament format. I'm glad they went with the Blackhawk's team defensive pairing of Keith and Seabrook along with the inclusion of the Drew Doughty, while leaving off the likes of Mike Green (who is just another Brian McCabe). Defence should be about stopping the opposition and not about having high flying scorers. Some may say that Jeff Carter should be on the team, but in the end Mike Richards is the tougher player when push comes to shove and more of an asset on the penalty kill. My only wince is Joe Thornton, a guy who time and time again has shown he has no passion come playoff time and is seemingly incapable of elevating his game. Just don't put him on the ice during the last minute of a close game.
Go Canada Go!!
I tend to think that Marleau needs good players to play with him in order for him to produce. When Cheechoo let for example, he did jack all. Now that he's had Heatley on his line for the better part of the year, he's been excelling. If Thornton and Heatley weren't having such good years, Marleau would not be on this team. So given that Team Canada is packed with good players, I think he'll do fine.
Marleau does the disappearing act in pressure situations.