The red and white blues
The Press Box
Joe Scaringi
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Sports
Mike Green currently leads all National Hockey League defenceman with 52 points, yet he is not one of the seven d-men heading to B.C. to participate in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
A player who had a breakout year last season, garnering a career-high 73 points and earning himself a nomination for the Norris Trophy, the Calgary, Alberta native was nowhere to be found when Team Canada Executive Director Steve Yzerman announced his long-awaited list of 23 players who will take to the ice in Vancouver.
How could Yzerman make such a glaring omission? Well, the problem with that question is that it begets a domino effect of a multitude of questions to follow.
Where is Jay Bouwmeester, and for that matter, Dion Phaneuf?
Surely, Drew Doughty, at 20 years of age, is much too young to be an Olympian.
Patrice Bergeron wasn't even invited to orientation camp yet he's cracked the roster, while former Olympians Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Ed Jovanovski were conspicuous by their absence.
Canadians from coast-to-coast spent the latter portion of 2009 constructing their ideal Team Canada rosters, but at the end of the day, only a handful of individuals actually selected the team and had the final say on who is going to do battle and who is staying home.
"I'm very honoured to have a chance to go," said Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who will be getting his first taste of international play at the senior level in Vancouver. "I think no one in Canada expects less than gold, so we're going to try to bring that in. I'm looking forward to getting it started."
While the French-Canadian backstopper is one of the lucky ones, there is a plethora of talented Canadians who have had to face the disappointing reality that they were deemed unworthy of the Olympic club.
"You don't really say you expect anything," said Calgary Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester when asked if he expected to be on the roster. "Like anyone, I would have loved to have been picked, but that's just the reality."
A player who had a breakout year last season, garnering a career-high 73 points and earning himself a nomination for the Norris Trophy, the Calgary, Alberta native was nowhere to be found when Team Canada Executive Director Steve Yzerman announced his long-awaited list of 23 players who will take to the ice in Vancouver.
How could Yzerman make such a glaring omission? Well, the problem with that question is that it begets a domino effect of a multitude of questions to follow.
Where is Jay Bouwmeester, and for that matter, Dion Phaneuf?
Surely, Drew Doughty, at 20 years of age, is much too young to be an Olympian.
Patrice Bergeron wasn't even invited to orientation camp yet he's cracked the roster, while former Olympians Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Ed Jovanovski were conspicuous by their absence.
Canadians from coast-to-coast spent the latter portion of 2009 constructing their ideal Team Canada rosters, but at the end of the day, only a handful of individuals actually selected the team and had the final say on who is going to do battle and who is staying home.
"I'm very honoured to have a chance to go," said Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who will be getting his first taste of international play at the senior level in Vancouver. "I think no one in Canada expects less than gold, so we're going to try to bring that in. I'm looking forward to getting it started."
While the French-Canadian backstopper is one of the lucky ones, there is a plethora of talented Canadians who have had to face the disappointing reality that they were deemed unworthy of the Olympic club.
"You don't really say you expect anything," said Calgary Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester when asked if he expected to be on the roster. "Like anyone, I would have loved to have been picked, but that's just the reality."
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