November 23, 2005

Super Mario may sit out the Turin Olympics: Proving yet again he is one of the classiest athlete in sports today, Lemiuex announces he will sit out the Olympics if he feels he is not playing well enough. Who does he want to give his roster spot to? None other than Sid "the Kid" Crosby.

posted by HATER 187 to hockey at 12:59 PM - 5 comments

Methinks Sid the Kid doesn't need Mario's roster spot. He'll easily take someone else's. Kris Draper anyone?

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:27 PM on November 23, 2005

It just shows that Mario is really a humble guy. He realized his time is rapidily approaching and he will have to pass the old cliched torch. I think some of the guys on the Canadian roster of 1,437 players should take a back seat to some of the younger talent. The Americans chose to go with a much younger team (at least on their preliminary roster) and that might just push them over the Canadians.

posted by HATER 187 at 03:52 PM on November 23, 2005

There are a lot of great young Canadian hockey players who will not be going to the Olympics this year. Here is the roster from the 2004 World Cup winning team:

  • Goalies:
    • Brodeur
    • Luongo
    • Theodore
  • Defencemen:
    • Bouwmeester
    • Brewer
    • Foote
    • Hannan
    • Jovanovski
    • Niedermayer
    • Redden
    • Regehr
  • Forwards:
    • Doan
    • Draper
    • Gagne
    • Heatley
    • Iginla
    • Lecavalier
    • Lemieux
    • Maltby
    • Marleau
    • Morrow
    • Richards
    • Sakic
    • Smyth
    • St. Louis
    • Thornton
  • Injured:
    • Belfour
    • Blake
    • Pronger
    • Yzerman
I've bolded the players that I believe are pretty much guaranteed a spot on the 2006 Olympic team. They are either among the most talented at their position, or they have experience (Smyth) or leadership (Sakic) that the team would require. That means there are around 7-8 spots open. There are some players on the above list that will probably get those spots (for their defensive play or "grit"), like Doan and Draper. Then again, they might be replaced by players having better seasons this year. Who is available? Here is the "long list" from which Team Canada must choose. I'll make my suggestions: Goalie: Only one position available, and I'd go with Cam Ward. He'd be a good player to "learn" the position, like Luongo did back in 2004. If he needs to play, then things have gone VERY poorly for Canada by that time, so it won't matter. Defencemen: One spot here, and it seems pretty simple for me to fill in: Bryan McCabe. He's having too good of a year to pass up at this point. Dion Phaneuf, however, will get a long look and might take a spot if one of the other ones gets injured. Forwards: Five spots to fill, and now it gets interesting. If you want some speed and scoring, you'd go with Crosby, Staal or Spezza. If you want some grit, you go with Bertuzzi, Draper or Maltby. If you want some defence, you look at Madden, Walz and Primeau. In the end, I'd pick the following 5 guys: Crosby, Spezza, Draper, Madden and Primeau (assuming they are all healthy).

posted by grum@work at 12:29 AM on November 24, 2005

I say wow grum, wow! Excellent fucking post man! I was going to disagree with some of your choices (i take Thedore over Luongo) but the presentation is so nice.

posted by HATER 187 at 02:37 PM on November 25, 2005

(i take Thedore over Luongo) I made my post before I saw the results of Luongo getting lit up like an Xmas tree this week. Canada's goaltending situation is pretty strong, and I don't think too many people would complain if any three were taken from Brodeur, Luongo, Theodore, Ward, Belfour.

posted by grum@work at 07:57 PM on November 25, 2005

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