By this time, I’m sure everyone has studied, backwards and forwards, the Canadian Olympic hockey roster.
Unless you live under a rock, you heard last Wednesday’s announcement that named three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards to Team Canada.

Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fluery were virtual locks in goal, while on defence, Dan Boyle, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger were all but guaranteed spots. Up front, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash were mortal locks.
However, there were surprises. Drew Doughty, the 20-year-old Kings rearguard, made the team, along with former Lethbridge Hurricanes defenceman Brent Seabrook. More predictable were Duncan Keith and Shea Weber.
Patrice Bergeron was perhaps one of the biggest surprises at forward, along with Eric Staal and Brendan Morrow. The Ducks pair of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf were expected to make the team, and the play of the Sharks’ trio of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley made them impossible to ignore. Mike Richards of the Flyers, who has had a subpar year, was another minor surprise, and young Blackhawks phenom Jonathan Toews was perhaps somewhat surprising.
The players left off the list are numerous — defencemen Mike Green and the Flames trio of Dion Phanuef, Jay Bouwmeester and Robin Regher could have made the team, along with Stephane Robidas of the Stars, one of the league’s top offensive defenceman.
Up front, the Lightning trio of Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier were notable omissions, along with Brad Richards of the Stars, who is third in scoring amongst Canadian-born players this year. Only in Canada could we leave off such talented players. So, with that, here is my Team Canada No. 2, starting in goal.
Goaltenders: Marty Turco, Dwayne Roloson and Carey Price — Turco would be the starter, followed by Roloson, who has been amazing this year for the surprising Islanders. Price had a stretch this year when he was as good as any goalie in the league. Left off this list is Cam Ward, who likely would have been the starter if not for an early-season injury.
Defencemen: Mike Green, Robin Regher, Brian Campbell, Stephane Robidas, Ed Jovanovski, Dion Phanuef and Jay Bouwmeester. Green and Robidas would be the two power-play specialists, while Jovanovski and Regher would be the shut-down pair. That leaves some pretty good players like hard-hitting Phanuef and smooth-skating Bouwmeester to battle it out for minutes, along with the electric Campbell.
Forwards: Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Dustin Penner, Steve Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Smyth, Jordan Staal, Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, Jeff Carter, Mike Fisher, Shane Doan and James Neal. Going for chemistry, the three Tampa Bay players are selected, along with Panthers duo of Weiss and Horton. The line-up features top-flight set-up men like Richards, Lecavalier and St. Louis, and goal scorers like Carter (even though he is having a down year, he leads the league in shots on goal among Canadians) and Penner, who has 19 goals already this season. Also included is a fair amount of grit, from Doan, Smyth and Neal, along with a list of top second-tier scorers.
All in all, I have no doubt this roster could give nearly every nation, including Canada’s No. 1 team, a run for its money, especially if Turco gets hot.
But just like Team Canada No. 1, things would not be easy for Team Canada No. 2. Consider the top-flight talent of Russia, with Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Semin and Datsyuk, and Sweden’s fearsome front of the Sedin brothers, Backstrom, Zetterberg and Alfredsson, not to mention Forsberg. Even the Czechs have Elias, Havlat and Michalek, along with Jagr, while the Americans boast Kane, Parise, Ryan and Kessel.
And last but not least, goaltending could be huge. No matter how many stars Canada assembles, a hot goaltender can take us out of contention quickly. Russia’s Nabokov, Finland’s Kiprusoff, the USA’s Miller, Sweden’s Lundquist and the Czech Republic’s Vokoun are capable of stealing a game from Canada, along with Halak of the Slovaks, who also feature other stars such as Gaborik and Hossa.
Certainly, Canada leads by a mile in depth, but all it takes is one hot offensive line, or one lights-out night from a goaltender, and things can change in a hurry.