A coast by coast breakdown of Hockey Canada
It is said that Steve Yzerman has the toughest job in all of hockey. Yes, even tougher than captaining the Detroit Red Wings. As Executive Director for Team Canada, Yzerman has the dubious assignment of selecting Canada’s roster for international play.
What’s so hard about that, you ask? After all, the talent pool in Canada runs so deep, he could simply close his eyes and point to 23 names and there’s your championship team.
Okay, that’s a little far-fetched.
As a matter of fact, the situation is actually quite the opposite. Canadians expect a championship in any given tournament and it’s up to Yzerman to select the team that will deliver. And when the talent pool runs as deep as it does, selecting a team that maximizes Canada’s ability becomes extraordinarily daunting.
The talent runs so deep in fact, there is a general view that Canada could potentially enter two teams in an international tournament and both would be considered championship favourites. Could you just imagine an all-Canadian tournament final?
Consider though an alternative: instead of entering both teams in the tournament, what if you pit the two teams against one another in a pre-tournament “best-of” series – best-of-three, five, or seven – where the series winner is the team that actually goes on to play in the tournament. How exciting would that be?
Or what if, instead of awarding the tournament to the winning team, the pre-tournament series was used as a tryout for the players, with team coaches deciding who makes the final roster based on the player’s series performance? The concept, theoretical as it may be, could only actually be implemented for the World Cup tournament, as both the Olympics and World Championships take place during the NHL season.
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Even so, the entire scenario is very intriguing. But the question remains: just how deep does Canada’s talent pool run? While there’s little argument that an ‘A’ and ‘B’ team could both easily be contenders, what about a ‘C’ and ‘D’ team as well? How far down the alphabet could you go before the talent is spread too thin? Would it be conceivable that each of Canada’s provinces could enter their own team and all 10 would be considered a legitimate threat? Not likely. I mean, no offence to Prince Edward Island, but I’m quite confident that their club wouldn’t be very convincing.
So, if 10 teams would be a bit much, what about five? Is that asking too much; or can it be done? Well, what do you say we find out? After dividing the country into five geographical divisions, five different teams have been created, and you can judge for yourself.
TEAM 1 – WESTERN CANADA
| Player Name | Team | Birthplace |
| Goalies | ||
| Wade Dubielewicz | CBJ | Invenmere, BC |
| Jason LaBarbera | VAN | Burnaby, BC |
| Carey Price | MTL | Anahim Lake, BC |
| Defenseman | ||
| Eric Brewer | STL | Vernon, BC |
| Willie Mitchell | VAN | Port McNeill, BC |
| Brent Seabrook | CHI | Richmon, BC |
| Shea Weber | NSH | Sicamous, BC |
| Barret Jackman | STL | Trail, BC |
| Steve Montador | ANA | Vancouver, BC |
| Shaone Morrisonn | WSH | Vancouver, BC |
| Forwards | ||
| Shawn Horcoff | EDM | Trail, BC |
| Paul Kariya | STL | Vancouver, BC |
| Andrew Ladd | CHI | Maple Ridge, BC |
| Milan Lucic | BOS | Vancouver, BC |
| Darren McCarty | DET | Burnaby, BC |
| Rob Niedermayer | ANA | Cassiar, BC |
| Mark Recchi | BOS | Kamloops, BC |
| Joe Sakic | COL | Burnaby, BC |
| Brendan Morrison | DAL | Pitt Meadows, BC |
| Andrew Ebbett | ANA | Vernon, BC |
| Jason Krog | VAN | Fernie, BC |
| Kyle Turris | PHX | New Westminster, BC |
| Troy Brouwer | CHI | Vancouver, BC |
Analysis: In goal, Price is a potentially solid number one, but he is young and unproven, and his supporting cast is lacking to say the least. The rest of the BC team looks decent, but it would be a tough sell to say that they would come out of the tournament as champions.
TEAM 2 – THE PRAIRIES
| Player Name | Team | Birthplace |
| Goalies | ||
| Alex Auld | OTT | Cold Lake, AB |
| Cam Ward | CAR | Saskatoon, SK |
| Chris Mason | STL | Red Deer, AB |
| Defensemen | ||
| Jay Boumeester | FLA | Edmonton, AB |
| Scott Niedermayer | ANA | Edmonton, AB |
| Dion Phaneuf | CAL | Edmonton, AB |
| Jason Smith | OTT | Calgary, AB |
| Wade Redden | NYR | Lloydminster, SK |
| Mike Green | WSH | Calgary, AB |
| Mike Commodore | CBJ | Fort Saskatchewan, AB |
| Forwards | ||
| Shane Doan | PHX | Halkirk, AB |
| Ryan Getzlaf | ANA | Regina, SK |
| Jarome Iginla | CAL | Edmonton, AB |
| Patrick Marleau | SJ | Aneroid, SK |
| Brendan Morrow | DAL | Carlyle, SK |
| Devon Setoguchi | SJ | Taber, AB |
| Ryan Smyth | COL | Banff, AB |
| Jonathan Toews | CHI | Winnipeg, MB |
| Kyle Calder | LA | Mannville, AB |
| Mike Comrie | NYI | Edmonton, AB |
| Ray Whitney | CAR | Fort Saskatchewan, AB |
| Dustin Penner | EDM | Winkler, MB |
| Brooks Laich | WSH | Wawota, SK |
Analysis: The Prairie team’s greatest strength is depth, as they have a full regime of workhorses across the board. There appear to be little, if any, holes on this roster, and if they were to get some solid goaltending, this team might just be able to take home the gold.
TEAM 3 – ONTARIO
| Player Name | Team | Birthplace |
| Goalies | ||
| Marty Turco | DAL | Sault Ste. Marie, ON |
| Manny Fernandez | BOS | Etobicoke, ON |
| Steve Mason | CBJ | Oakville, ON |
| Defensemen | ||
| Rob Blake | SJ | Simcoe, ON |
| Brian Campbell | CHI | Strathroy, ON |
| Adam Foote | COL | Toronto, ON |
| Ed Jovanovski | PHX | Windsor, ON |
| Chris Pronger | ANA | Dryden, ON |
| Bryan McCabe | FLA | St. Catharines, ON |
| Mark Giordano | CAL | Toronto, ON |
| Forwards | ||
| Rick Nash | CBJ | Brampton, ON |
| Brendan Shanahan | NJ | Mimico, ON |
| Jason Spezza | OTT | Toronto, ON |
| Eric Staal | CAR | Thunder Bay, ON |
| Joe Thornton | SJ | London, ON |
| Jason Arnott | NSH | Colingwood, ON |
| Todd Bertuzzi | CAL | Sudbury, ON |
| Rod Brind’Amour | CAR | Ottawa, ON |
| Mike Cammalleri | CAL | Richmond Hill, ON |
| Jonathan Cheechoo | SJ | Moose Factory, ON |
| Patrick Sharp | CHI | Thunder Bay, ON |
| Mike Richards | PHI | Kenora, ON |
| Nathan Horton | FLA | Welland, ON |
Analysis: Team Ontario looks solid throughout and would likely be the favourite of the five Canadian teams. Their biggest strength is defence, and if they have a weakness, it’s goaltending.
TEAM 4 – QUEBEC
| Player Name | Team | Birthplace |
| Goalies | ||
| Martin Brodeur | NJ | Montreal, QC |
| J.S. Giguere | ANA | Montreal, QC |
| Roberto Luongo | VAN | Montreal, QC |
| Defensemen | ||
| Francois Beauchemin | ANA | Sorel, QC |
| Marc-Andre Bergeron | MIN | Trois-Rivieres, QC |
| Philippe Boucher | PIT | St. Apollinaire, QC |
| Denis Gauthier | LA | Montreal, QC |
| Kris Letang | PIT | Montreal, QC |
| Stephane Robidas | DAL | Sherbrooke, QC |
| Marc-Edouard Vlasic | SJ | Montreal, QC |
| Forwards | ||
| Danny Briere | PHI | Gatineau, QC |
| Simon Gagne | PHI | Ste. Foy, QC |
| Vincent Lecavalier | TB | Ile Bizard, QC |
| Martin St. Louis | TB | Laval, QC |
| Patrice Bergeron | BOS | Ancienne-Lorette, QC |
| J.P. Dumont | NSH | Montreal, QC |
| Alex Tanguay | MTL | Ste-Justine, QC |
| Antoine Vermette | CBJ | St. Agapit, QC |
| Mike Ribeiro | DAL | Montreal, QC |
| Eric Belanger | MIN | Sherbrooke, QC |
| Pierre-Marc Bouchard | MIN | Sherbrooke, QC |
| Steve Bernier | VAN | Quebec City, QC |
| Alexadre Burrows | VAN | Pointe-Claire, QC |
Analysis: Without question, the greatest strength of this French-Canadian squad is goaltending, as Brodeur, Luongo, and Giguere are likely to be Canada’s netminders at the 2010 Olympics (unless Yzerman elects to go with Price or Turco in place of Giguere). What’s even more amazing is that Quebec still has solid goaltending to spare. And with a fairly weak defensive ensemble, they will most definitely need it.
TEAM 5 – THE MARITIMES
| Player Name | Team | Birthplace |
| Goalies | ||
| Daniel Lacosta | CBJ | Labrador City, NL |
| Joey MacDonald | NYI | Pictou, NS |
| Cedrik Desjardins | HAM(AHL) | Edmundston, NB |
| Defensemen | ||
| Aaron Johnson | CHI | Port Hawkesbury, NS |
| Randy Jones | PHI | Quispamsis, NB |
| Nathan McIver | VAN | Summerside, PEI |
| Adam Pardy | CAL | Bonavista, NL |
| Colin White | NJ | New Glasgow, NS |
| Mark Flood | ALB (AHL) | Charlottetown, PEI |
| Chad Denny | CHI (AHL) | Sydney, NS |
| Fowards | ||
| Eric Boulton | ATL | Halifax, NS |
| Dan Cleary | DET | Carboneau, NFL |
| Ryane Clowe | SJ | Fermeuse, NFL |
| Sidney Crosby | PIT | Cole Harbour, NS |
| Andrew Gordon | WSH | Halifax, NS |
| Craig MacDonald | CBJ | Antigonish, NFL |
| Steve Ott | DAL | Summerside, PEI |
| Pascal Pelletier | CHI | Labrador City, NFL |
| Teddy Purcell | LA | St. John’s, NFL |
| Brad Richards | DAL | Murray Harbour, PEI |
| Michael Ryder | BOS | Bonavista, NFL |
| James Sheppard | MIN | Halifax, NS |
| Jon Sim | NYI | New Glasgow, NS |
Analysis: Only one word describes this Eastern Canadian team: Ouch! To say that they are weak in the back-end is an understatement as both their goaltending and defence leave much to be desired. The squad’s only bright spot is superstar Sidney Crosby, but it’s doubtful that even Sid the Kid could lead this team to a championship.
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