the 4th star

1. You like ‘em young, eh?
Here’s how the ages break down: The average age for the crease is 30-years-old. The average age for the blue-line is 28-years-old. The average age for the forwards is a surprising 25-years-old. You wonder how a little more veteran presence, say from a Shane Doan or Martin St. Louis, would look up front. Of the 23 players chosen, only five of them (Martin Brodeur, Scott Neidermayer, Chris Pronger, Dan Boyle, Jerome Iginla) are over 30-years-old. The youngest players is defenceman Drew Doughty, who at 20 is lucky the Olympics are in Canada. Should make for getting into the bars a little easier. Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews is next at his young 21 years.

2. Is Steve Yzerman talking out of both sides of his mouth?
When speaking with TSN, the Canadian general manager justified the selection of Drew Doughty as “the safe pick” over a guy like Green. No argument here — Doughty is a stud — but wouldn’t the safe pick then be Jay Bouwmeester, who last we checked did not just turn 20-years-old this month? Just say Doughty brings more to the table than Green and Bouwmeester and leave it at that.

3. Does “playing at the top of your game” really matter?
Yzerman said Patirice Bergeron’s selection was based on the fact that each time he watched the Boston Bruins play, Bergeron was the best in all three areas of the ice. OK, that’s fine. But if that’s the case, and Yzerman puts him on the team in place of say a Vinny Lecavalier or Shane Doan (who I don’t really like), then how does Mike Richards or Eric Staal make this club? Neither of them are having any kind of season and in the case of Richards, his play is actually dropping off as the season moves into the New Year. The way he’s going right now, Richards is a reputation pick pure and simple. And I know I have the guy on my club, too, but I also have Canada winning the gold and silver medals in my hockey fantasy world. Real world implications are not my department.

4. Is this the best message I received post-announcement?
And I quote: “Well there you go… I hope you are happy. No Flames defencemen. No Monsters. No Elisha Cuthbert crowd shots. Viva Team Suisse!” This from a Calgary Flames fan and unapologetic Theo Fleury denier.

5. Can that be right: Only four players have Olympic experience?
Yes. But as Hockey Canada will tell you, the depth of resume for the Canadian entry is solid. From the release: All 23 players have international experience, including 53 gold medals, eight Olympians and, as a group, the players have played in 702 international games, 13,136 NHL regular season games and 1,219 NHL playoff games. What about Stanley Cups? At first glance, I think there are about 13 on the Red and White side.

6. Why is everyone so shocked that Mike Green is not on the team?
Not to beat a dead horse on the subject of reputations and playing well when it matters, but no one should be surprised Green isn’t on the club. For all his offensive attributes (league-leader in points for defenceman), he is a celebrated liability in his own end. Phaneuf-esque. The best line in his, um…defence came from noted NHL star apologist Pierre McGuire, who said last night that Canada would miss Green on the power play — pointing to their dismal PP percentage in Italy four years ago. That argument, of course, has little pop when you insert guys like Boyle, Keith, or Doughty on the Team Canada power play. I think Alex Ovechkin might have something to do with Green’s numbers, too. Just saying.

7. Canada’s starting goaltender is ________.
Gotta be Brodeur, but it would not surprise to see Luongo (or even Fleury — gasp!) supplant him as the tournament goes on. Look for coach Ken Holland to give the top two guys a game in the start of the tournament, and then run with one guy the rest of the way. On the broadcast today, Nick Kypreos said Fleury should be ahead of Luongo on the chart. Once you stop laughing, feel free to move on to Question No. 8.

8. Who has to be the most disappointed today?
Doan, St. Louis, Lecavalier, or Green would be on the list. Half of the Flames defence are probably feeling a little jilted right now. The glass is still half-full for those guys, though. If any injuries pop up in the next six weeks (before Feb. 15), they’ll probably be getting a call. The guy who has to really be wondering where he fits in (or if he does fit in) is Brad Richards. He has 44 points this year and is tied for sixth in league scoring. Canada is so deep at centre there’s no room for him on the top two lines, though. The two Canadian pivots ahead of him in NHL scoring are Crosby and Thornton. If one of them gets hurt, then Getzlaf slides in there, moving Toews and Mike Richards up a notch.