Not that I'm rooting for Canada & not that they won't win Gold anyway but how did Draper make it over Brind'amour? He's always been their defensively & is a stud in the face off circle, has great playoff numbers & this year has had a bit of an offensive rebirth. I thought as a PK face off specialist he was a slamdunk with Madden, Draper & Peca all having off years & Yzerman out of contention. I always liked him & would love to see him in the Olympics again (he scored 3 points in games in Nagano)

Team Canada
Goalies
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Marty Turco

Defense
Rob Blake
Adam Foote
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Robyn Regehr
Ed Jovanovski
Wade Redden

Forwards
Vincent Lecavalier
Joe Sakic (Captain)
Joe Thornton
Simon Gagne
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Ryan Smyth
Shane Doan
Martin St. Louis
Brad Richards
Rick Nash
Kris Draper
Todd Bertuzzi

Alternates
Jason Spezza
Bryan McCabe
Eric Staal


Team USA
Goalies Rick DiPietro, Islanders;
Robert Esche, Flyers;
John Grahame, Lightning

Defensemen
Chris Chelios, Red Wings;
Derian Hatcher, Flyers;
Jordan Leopold, Flames;
John-Michael Liles, Avalanche;
Aaron Miller, Kings;
Brian Rafalski, Devils;
Mathieu Schneider, Red Wings

Forwards
Jason Blake, Islanders;
Erik Cole, Hurricanes;
Craig Conroy, Kings;
Chris Drury, Sabres;
Brian Gionta, Devils;
Scott Gomez, Devils;
Bill Guerin, Stars;
Mike Knuble, Flyers;
Mike Modano, Stars;
Mark Parrish, Islanders;
Brian Rolston, Wild;
Keith Tkachuk, Blues;
Doug Weight, Blues

i have no idea what to expect from the americans. they could be decent. they could also very well suck. depends on whether the players get on a roll and the goaltenders show up.

Shane Doan has caught the worst case of the suck the world has ever seen. Gomez and Parrish haven't exactly been lighting it up either.

Ask me how I know.

I was in a restaurant when they were annoucing. I was heading to the washroom and I heard "...from Sudbury, Ontario.." and I was thinking 'nah it couldn't be him...'

Their goaltending is very weak, otherwise look very good.

I think Canada blew it. They should have invested in youth for this olympics, with the big payoff in 2010 in Vancouver. Imagine how good the '10 team will be, led by Spezza, Crosby, Staal, Phaneuf. Imagine how good it would have been, if all these players had olympic experience under the belts, (along with guys like Regehr, Heatley, Thornton, Gargne, etc...

If I were picking...

out: Foote, St.Louis, Doan, Bertuzzi, Draper.
In: Phaneuf, Staal, Madden, Spezza, Cheechoo or Marleau)

Taxi squad: Doan, Bertuzzi, McCabe

Probably too many centres, but that's where our strength lies.

I do worry about goaltending in 2010.

this is a Flyers specific article, but it's an interesting perspective:

John Smallwood | NHL integrity, season threatened by Olympics
I feel a bit strange saying this because I'm a huge fan of the Olympics.

And I loved when the International Olympic Committee got rid of its bogus rules about amateurism and let professional athletes compete in the games.

The Olympics should be about the best of each nation competing against each other.

All that in consideration, however, I'm not in favor of the NHL shutting down for 17 days in February for the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Sure, it's great to see the top NHL stars going against each other in the ultimate tournament of national pride, but not so great for the integrity of the NHL season.

And really, that's what we're talking about here.

By shutting itself down from Feb. 12 to March 1, the NHL will create an artificial influence on the entire 2005-06 season, and the results could range from it being little more than a hiccup to drastically altering the course of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Olympics are an unpredictable wild card that could totally change the stretch drive of the NHL's regular season.

In a normal season, February is when teams start fine-tuning things to try and peak for the playoffs.

It's not supposed to be a time for knocking off the rust of inactivity, which is what the vast majority of NHL players will be doing when play resumes.

Because no one can accurately gauge how each team is going to respond to the layoff, the final 25 or so games could play an enormous role in playoff positioning and performance.

A team that was hitting its stride just before the Olympics might come back completely disjointed, while a team that was struggling might suddenly find itself.

Instead of an 82-game marathon, the Olympics could turn the NHL season into a 25-game sprint that nullifies everything that happened during the first two-thirds of the campaign.

Enhancing the window of opportunity for teams that might not normally be a legitimate contender is not what a regular season is supposed to be about.

Even though the powerful Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in the NHL's previous two Olympic seasons, I don't think it's a coincidence that their opponents, the Washington Capitals (1998) and Carolina Hurricanes (2002), were two of the most surprising finalists in league history.

The biggest problem with having the Olympics during a regular season is that it could actually penalize the more talented teams.

And if you're a Flyers fan, that should concern you.

On Monday, USA Hockey announced that it had picked Flyers goalie Robert Esche, defenseman Derian Hatcher and wing Mike Knuble for the 2006 Olympic team.

Along with the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, that's the most players on Team USA.

Today, when Team Canada is announced, it's likely to include winger Simon Gagne, and when the international rosters are announced, it's likely to include Peter Forsberg and Kim Johnsson (Sweden); Michal Handzus and Branko Radivojevic (Slovakia); Sami Kapanen, Joni Pitkanen and Antero Niittymaki (Finland); and Dennis Seidenberg (Germany).

It's not unreasonable to think that half the Flyers' roster will be in Italy and possibly playing as many as seven games in 11 days.

Beyond the fatigue factor, what if a key player suffers a serious injury?

That could decimate a good team's Stanley Cup hopes.

I understand why the NHL jumped into the Olympic barrel.

It saw how the popularity of the NBA exploded internationally after the Dream Team played in the 1992 Barcelona Games.

But there is a fundamental difference - the Summer Games are not played during the middle of the NBA season. They have no direct effect on the outcome of the regular season or playoffs.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but if basketball were part of the Winter Games, I think the NBA would do like Major League Baseball does and say, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Whether it's intentional or not, the NHL is giving out the message that an exhibition tournament, which is all the Olympics really are, is more important than the league.

I love the Olympics, but that's not the way it should be. The NHL is supposed to be where the best hockey in the world is played. It shouldn't voluntarily have the integrity of its season comprised every four years.