Team Canada 2010 Men's Hockey roster - December 3 update

It's been about a year since we first discussed the best Team Canada lineup in this space...let's see how things look now, shall we?

FORWARDS

Sidney Crosby, C. Sid has been considered a lock all the way and has been nothing but superb this year with 36P in 29 games, good for third in the NHL. He's in.

Joe Thornton, C. Joe was considered a question mark last year as there was some suspicion he was past his prime. Not quite - he's leading the league with 40 points thanks to his new linemate Dany Heatley. While we're on the topic:

Dany Heatley, LW. Heatley had an off-year last season but was still considered a near-lock to make the team as one of the best pure scorers around. Tied for fifth in the league with 33 points, he's in.

Patrick Marleau, C/RW. Getting a little ahead of ourselves? Not quite. Marleau is one of the men tied with Heatley for fifth in scoring. Though he lacks the same track record, Canada's management will recognize the value of keeping this line intact at the Olympics.

Jarome Iginla, RW. Iggy is having another nice year and has 17 goals already for Calgary. Expect him to line up with Crosby on the first line.

Rick Nash, LW. Nash is a good fit to play on the top line with Iginla and Crosby. He has continued to improve this year and could be a dominant force at the Olympic tournament.

Ryan Getzlaf, C. Getzlaf was a force last season and hasn't missed a beat this year. He'll be picked, in large part because Yzerman will want to pair him up with another Canada Juniors alumnus:

Corey Perry, RW. Perry was good in the last couple years - at age 24, he is now awesome. Tied for 5th in league scoring, Corey will be matched up with Getz and:

Steven Stamkos, C/W. Stamkos gets this spot because, as much as it would be nice to pair him with St. Louis and Lecavalier, the other scorers on the roster have been better. Meanwhile, the fourth line needs to be the checking line, if you can call it that:

Mike Richards, C. It hasn't been a pretty season in Philadelphia, but that doesn't change the fact that one of Canada's best two-way forwards needs to be on the roster for line-matching and PK purposes. He'll be on the first unit with teammate:

Jeff Carter, C/W. Carter has been merely good in '09-'10 after scoring at will last season. He'll be there.

Ryan Smyth, LW. His game isn't pretty in any way, but he's off to a nice start and has paid his dues. So long as he comes back from his injury, he's got a claim to be in the starting lineup.

Other possibilities:
Shane Doan, RW: Another solid two-way player who has paid his dues. The only thing keeping him on the outside looking in are his merely good scoring skills. A top choice as injury fill-in.

Martin St. Louis, RW: He would make a nice offensive tandem with Stamkos but doesn't offer much beyond that. He's out.

Jordan Staal, C. PK specialist with legitimate scoring chops to boot. Keep in mind that Canada does have options after Carter and Richards; Nash and Marleau would make a very acceptable second PK unit. He could get into games as a PK-only player.

There are of course a dozen or so others in the conversation. Some players who looked like they had very good chances to make it - Lecavalier, Eric Staal and Toews haven't done enough to justify ranking them in the starting lineup.

DEFENSE

Very little has changed in the D picture. Though several of the challengers for spots have fallen off the pace, the top guys are still there:

Mike Green. The Washington Capital has only cemented his place with a point-a-game pace thus far. He's in, without a doubt.

Dan Boyle. You can't have too many Sharks, it seems. Boyle is an easy pick and would fit right in with the Thornton/Heatley/Marleau unit on the power play.

Duncan Keith. Keith was touted in this space as a probable key Dman on the team. He plays huge minutes in Chicago and is a top-flight defensive player in addition to being a scoring threat.

Chris Pronger. He has aged gracefully and is a lock to make the team. His ability to handle the big stage will be important on what is shaping up as a fairly young D unit.

Scott Niedermayer. I questioned a year ago whether he'd still be playing, let alone worthy of consideration for Canada. Oops. Scott has put up points and big minutes.

Dion Phaneuf. Dion gets the spot on seniority, really. There's several other players worthy of the sixth D spot, but it's his to lose (which he may yet do).

Some alternates:
Shea Weber. Continues to get rave reviews for his all-round game. He's just as good as Phaneuf but lacks the reputation.

Drew Doughty. He's got 21 points already but will be only 20 years old at the tournament. He's got all the talent, but the polish and defense can't be assumed over more experienced guys. Expect him to be a key part of the 2014 team.

Jay Bouwmeester. A good bet to replace injured players so he can be paired with Phaneuf. Not sure who you can bump for him, though. Brent Seabrook has a similar appeal.

There's no lack of depth here, and several of the extra D-Men are complete packages rather than offensive specialists like Brian Campbell. It'll be interesting to see whether the selectors opt for size, experience, scoring or youth.

GOAL

Martin Brodeur. For all the discussion, this guy has put up the best numbers again and again, despite being without a strong defense in front of him this year. He gives peace of mind, which is more than you can ask from any goalie.

Roberto Luongo. He's great. He's just not as good. Sure, he gets hot, but he sure can go cold, too. Give me the guy with the Cup rings instead.

Others: There's been a lot of talk about Marc-Andre Fleury and others...if you ask me, none of them are in the same class as the top two.

The Tragic Case of Marc Savard

Team Canada is now well into its preseason selection camp for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Without a doubt they have as good a collection of talent as anyone, save perhaps the Russians, who will be sending one of their strongest teams ever. For all the scoring power on the Russian team, though (including three of last season's top four scorers in Ovechkin, Malkin and Datsyuk) Canada has incredible scoring depth up front, taking ten of the top 20 spots in last year's NHL scoring race, while Russia only has five (Kovalchuk and Semin being the other two).

Such is team Canada's depth that they felt it unnecessary to invite a player who finished ninth in league scoring last season. He was 22nd the year before, but also finished ninth in scoring in both 05/06 and 06/07. He's become the league's unknown superstar. And while it's fair to say Canada isn't lacking for offensive centremen, it's a little galling that he doesn't even merit an invite to training camp.

You could make the argument that Savard is a product of good linemates, but I don't buy that. While he has been blessed with some strong supporting casts, he outscored his next-best Boston teammate, Phil Kessel, by 15 points last season. Last year, he led the team by a margin of 22 points. He is in many ways a second coming of Adam Oates - an unglamourous passer who racks up points by dishing the puck to scoring wingers. In that sense, he's perfectly suited to playing for Canada, where he'd have no shortage of quality scoring wingers.

You could make the argument that he's a product of the new NHL and will struggle in clutch-and-grab international hockey, but that position fails too. In two pre-lockout seasons he was a point-a-game player, while he has been no disappointment in high-pressure playoff games, scoring 19 points in 18 games.

The only possible explanation is that Canada's management don't see another place for a scoring centre. At this point Crosby, Getzlaf, Thornton and Richards are all strong options, not to mention Staal, Lecavalier and Carter (among others). Simply put, Savard lacks the defensive chops to put him ahead of that group, and isn't suited to moving to the wing the way Carter or Marleau might be.

Why not invite him over Andy MacDonald or Jordan Staal, though? Over Derek Roy, who managed just 70 points last year? Savard is getting a raw deal because he's played nearly his entire career as the quiet star of American teams. There is one last problem - he hasn't played for Canada since an appearance at the world u-18 tournament years ago. He missed the playoffs again and again after starring with the Thrashers but never threw his hat in the ring for a spot with Canada's World Championships teams, a move that has earned dedicated but perhaps less talented players like Shane Doan and Ryan Smyth automatic invites to training camp this year. Savard can only wonder if that might have made a difference as, at age 32, he will watch these Olympics from the sidelines knowing he will never get a chance.