Friday, July 01, 2005
Hockey Canada Announces Olympic Invitees
It looks like that Hockey Canada fully expects NHL players at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The invitees:
Goaltenders:
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Jose Theodore
Marty Turco
Defence:
Rob Blake
Jay Bouwmeester
Dan Boyle
Eric Brewer
Adam Foote
Scott Hannan
Ed Jovanovski
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Phillips
Chris Pronger
Wade Redden
Robyn Regehr
Forwards:
Shane Doan
Kris Draper
Simon Gagne
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Vincent Lecavalier
Mario Lemieux
Kirk Maltby
Patrick Marleau
Brenden Morrow
Rick Nash
Michael Peca
Keith Primeau
Brad Richards
Joe Sakic
Ryan Smyth
Martin St. Louis
Alex Tanguay
Joe Thornton
Steve Yzerman
Now, people can bicker about so-and-so left off of the roster until the cows come home. The roster could change due to injuries and so forth.
Still, I have one BIG quibble and that is the inclusion of Steve Yzerman and the exclusion of Brendan Morrison.
Yzerman, for all he's done in the NHL and for Canada, is a 40 year-old player who didn't play the past year, is coming off of some serious injuries, and will be even slower once we reach the Olympics.
Brendan Morrison, on the other hand, is a 29 year-old center. Brendan is in his prime, spent the last season playing actual hockey (in Sweden) and was one of the better players in his league. Morrison also represented Canada at the World Hockey Championships and did a great job.
Right now, Morrison is far more qualified for a spot on the roster, and his exclusion reeks of the 'old boys club' mentality that seems to strike Canadian hockey executives far too often.
Todd Bertuzzi? He's too much of a liability and I wouldn't want him there.
Bryan McCabe? I might take him over Philips, but only on the Power Play. Only Leafs fans think so highly of a guy who makes a lot of mental errors that are covered by his shockingly high point totals.
Yzerman's invite won't really affect Team Canada too much (I don't expect he'll make the final team), but Morrison is a player that deserved the invite more and could have had a positive impact on the playing roster for Canada.
CALGARY, ALBERTA – Hockey Canada announced today the 36 players that have been invited to attend Canada's Men's Olympic Orientation Camp that will run from August 15-20, 2005 in Vancouver and Kelowna, BC.
The invitees:
Goaltenders:
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Jose Theodore
Marty Turco
Defence:
Rob Blake
Jay Bouwmeester
Dan Boyle
Eric Brewer
Adam Foote
Scott Hannan
Ed Jovanovski
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Phillips
Chris Pronger
Wade Redden
Robyn Regehr
Forwards:
Shane Doan
Kris Draper
Simon Gagne
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Vincent Lecavalier
Mario Lemieux
Kirk Maltby
Patrick Marleau
Brenden Morrow
Rick Nash
Michael Peca
Keith Primeau
Brad Richards
Joe Sakic
Ryan Smyth
Martin St. Louis
Alex Tanguay
Joe Thornton
Steve Yzerman
Now, people can bicker about so-and-so left off of the roster until the cows come home. The roster could change due to injuries and so forth.
Still, I have one BIG quibble and that is the inclusion of Steve Yzerman and the exclusion of Brendan Morrison.
Yzerman, for all he's done in the NHL and for Canada, is a 40 year-old player who didn't play the past year, is coming off of some serious injuries, and will be even slower once we reach the Olympics.
Brendan Morrison, on the other hand, is a 29 year-old center. Brendan is in his prime, spent the last season playing actual hockey (in Sweden) and was one of the better players in his league. Morrison also represented Canada at the World Hockey Championships and did a great job.
Right now, Morrison is far more qualified for a spot on the roster, and his exclusion reeks of the 'old boys club' mentality that seems to strike Canadian hockey executives far too often.
Todd Bertuzzi? He's too much of a liability and I wouldn't want him there.
Bryan McCabe? I might take him over Philips, but only on the Power Play. Only Leafs fans think so highly of a guy who makes a lot of mental errors that are covered by his shockingly high point totals.
Yzerman's invite won't really affect Team Canada too much (I don't expect he'll make the final team), but Morrison is a player that deserved the invite more and could have had a positive impact on the playing roster for Canada.
