Who?s on Canada?s Olympic team?

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr haven?t sat down to talk about the best of the best playing at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, next February ? the NHLPA has to give its blessing ? but it?s a foregone conclusion.

NHL players were there in Nagano, Japan, in Salt Lake City, in Turin and in Vancouver. With NBC having the Olympics TV rights and NBC being the NHL carrier, they?ll be in the Black Sea resort of Sochi with a two-week break in the schedule.

Bettman will want some assurances from the International Olympic Committee, however. He would like more control over the organization of the event and better access for the media. While he?s an invited guest at the Olympics, the NHL is used to running its own show with the Stanley Cup playoffs, all-star game and Winter Classic. With 140 NHL players taking part, Bettman wants more say, and rightfully so.

The Canadian team will probably have a training camp in Calgary at the European-size rink that the Canadian junior team used for their selection camp in December. There will likely be 35 or so players invited.

In Sochi, they will use two rinks ? the 12,000-seat Bolshoi Ice Dome and the 7,000-seat Shayba Arena.

Everybody else is wading in with their 23-man rosters for Sochi, so here?s mine. Bear in mind, Olympic hockey is played on a bigger ice surface where skating ability and puck movement are paramount, and cycling the puck and banging in the corners isn?t as important. So no Milan Lucic.

Goalies: Carey Price, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury.

Defencemen: Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Kris Letang, Alex Pietrangelo, Marc Staal.

Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, Rick Nash, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Jordan Eberle, John Tavares, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Patrick Sharp, Taylor Hall.

On the bubble:

Goalie: Cam Ward.

Defencemen: Mark Giordano, Brian Campbell, Dan Hamhuis, Michael Del Zotto, Jay Bouwmeester.

Forwards: Logan Couture, Mike Richards, Ryan Getzlaf, Jarome Iginla, Jeff Skinner, Jamie Benn, Jeff Carter, Patrick Marleau, James Neal.

Eberle, a favourite of the Hockey Canada folks with his world junior heroics and playing in the world championship, seems to be on every early list, which probably means he has to play his way off the team.

?There?s still a year to go, but obviously I?d love to be there,? Eberle said.

When I talked to Stamkos last March in Tampa when the Oilers played the Lightning, the 60-goal scorer was very cognizant of the changing of the guard in the NHL. ?There?s obviously a lot of young guys coming in; you see the results. They are some of the top players in this league,? said Stamkos, who just turned 23.

General manager Steve Yzerman figures ice savvy is the most important thing for a Canadian team.

?Whether it?s forwards or defence, intelligence is the most important thing because you are getting different players, there?s so much emphasis on the tournament and so little time to prepare,? he said. ?The big ice surface always means your defence has to be mobile.?

The wild card for me on defence is Giordano, a multi-tasker. I know Kevin Lowe, who could have some input with Yzerman, likes the Flames blue-liner. Campbell would be great on a big surface with his skating ability.

Up front, it will be heavily weighted to centres, with Crosby, Toews, Stamkos, the Staals, Tavares, Richards and Giroux. Crosby and Toews are your first two centres. There will be no Ryan Getzlaf to go with Perry because there are too many centres already. I like Sharp?s skating ability and versatility. I think Yzerman will want to take his guy, Martin St. Louis, after passing on him in 2010, but he?ll be 38-1/2 years old at Sochi. I like Hall because of how he skates, and, I?m a homer. I?m entitled to go that route.

There are too many centres this time around for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to make it, I?m afraid.

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Source: http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/02/10/whos-on-canadas-olympic-team/

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