Crosby Staals and Nash!

Here is the new addition of CSNY (For the purposes of this to work I will throw Yzermans name into the mix). Coming on the heals of the Olympic Camp that was held in Calgary over the last couple of days I figured it was time to start looking at a possible roster. The camp culminated with a Red/White Scrimmage that packed some 19,000 people for an exhibition game into the Saddledome (and they can’t get 9,000 in some NHL cities for regular season games)....but no hockey works in Phoenix, Florida and Atlanta.

It is true that Canada could probably field 2 or maybe even 3 teams and would have a good chance at getting at least 2 medals. With that being said, it certainly makes it difficult to widdle down the long list of potential players to just 1 roster. Players need to be able to adapt to new roles, different positions and be willing to buy into what the management and coaches are looking for. There is an embarrassment of riches at the center position so there will be probably a couple of players moved to the wing. Having the ability to be one of those versatile players who have the ability to shift around could greatly help their chances on making the team.

The interesting thing about this process it the word team. It is not going to be, nor can it be just the top players or the biggest names. As we see during the playoffs it seems to come down to the 3rd and 4th line grinders and which ones show up and play bigger roles. The same thing will have to happen on this team and that may allow for some lesser known players to slide into the mix and in turn leave some very big names off the lineup.

Here is my early selection of what Team Canada 22 man roster will look like. Then just before the rosters are announced I will give a revised list and see if there has been any movement based on guys play at the beginning of the season, also taking into consideration any possible injuries that may crop up between then and now.

Just as they did during the 2006 Olympics I will also include a 3 man Taxi Squad or Black Aces as it were. Lets see how much different this team looks and time goes on. (Also I will admit that I have Jordan Staal on the team both for is penalty killing and energy but also to help with this blogs title).

Forwards:
Jarome Iginla - Sidney Crosby- Simon Gagné
Rick Nash - Ryan Getzlaf - Dany Heatley
Eric Staal - Mike Richards - Jonathan Toews
Shane Doan - Jordan Staal - Milan Lucic
Jeff Carter

Defence:
Scott Niedermayer - Shea Weber
Chris Pronger - Dan Boyle
Jay Bouwmeester - Dion Phaneuf

Goal: Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, Marc-André Fleury

Taxi Squad: Vincent Lecavalier Mike Green Corey Perry