the 4th star

Last night, the good folks at the Hustler & Big Head Lawless show had me on to talk Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team. Like most player lists put forth these days, my honour roll reads like most, with many similarities and only a few differences from projection to projection. I bet that if you grabbed a group of your friends off the Facebook and asked them to put together a team, the disparity would only come by three or four players up front. Maybe a defenceman or two would swap out, but if you don’t have Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith on your team then you don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m not going to waste my time listening to you, anyway. You got that, Pierre McGuire?

OK, so who’s on my forward list, you ask? Well, let’s start with the automatics: Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Corry Perry, Dany Heatley, Martin St. Louis, Shane Doan.

Tough to argue against any of those guys. All are having pretty good seasons, all have different reasons for being on the squad. As you notice, though, only nine guys. If Ryan Smyth didn’t get hurt he would be an automatic, as well. Over Doan. But unfortunately, “Smythie” is longer in the mix. What about the other four? Well, rather than talk about why Crosby or Iginla are on the team (you already know why they’re on the team — check your own list), I thought I would give some explanation on the “bubble” guys I have.

Joe Thornton: Yes, I know. A long and famous history of coming up small when the games are their biggest. But the guy leads the NHL in points (again) — so how do you not take him? Plus, Canada is not a scoring machine like say the Russians or the Swedes. They’ll need to take advantage of every power play they get. Having Thornton’s play-making ability on the side wall running the show won’t hurt them.

Brendan Morrow: Let me start off by saying I hate Shane Doan’s game. He’s a plugger on a bad team who has been celebrated in this country because he can give a good quote while playing overseas every spring. However, guys like him serve a purpose. Like Doan, Morrow going to be a fourth-line guy who will be counted on to wear down a defenceman on a regular basis and not get scored on in the process. Taking a guy here like Stamkos or Brad Richards doesn’t make a lot of sense. You need someone with a little jam.

Jonathan Toews: Some people have him as a bubble player. I have him as a lock for the fourth line pivot position. He could be the key to Canada’s chances. Let’s say Crosby or Getzlaf or Richards goes down with an injury. Toews — who is the No. 1 centre on one of the best teams in the NHL right now — could easily come in and fill one of those holes. Think about it for a second. Would there really be that much of a drop-off if the Winnipegger had to skate between Iginla and Nash on the No. 1 line? Another plus for all-around game of Toews? Great in the face-off circle.

Vincent Lecavalier: He’s had a bad year. No question. But if I’m Steve Yzerman, I go to Vinny and I say “Look, I know you’ve had a tough season. I know things in Tampa are shitty and I know Rick Tocchet is misusing you. I’m going to put you on my team, anyway. You’ll be the 13th guy so I need to know if you can do that for me. If there’s a situation where a guy gets hurt or if we need to inject a little more life into our forward group, you’re going to be my guy.” If Lecavalier can do that, he’s coming to Vancouver and will probably see a major role before the tourney is done.

If you’re wondering about the rest of my team, I have Scott Neidermayer, Chris Pronger, Doughty, Keith, Shea Weber, Dan Boyle and Jay Bouwmeester on the blue-line. Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, and Marc-Andre Fleury in net.

Your teams in the comments. If you want. Whatever.