Hockey

Hockey Canada recently announced the 46 players that have been invited to its men's Olympic orientation camp, to be held in Calgary in late August. We spoke to Olympic hockey analyst Pierre McGuire to get his reaction to the list of invitees. Here are some highlights of our conversation with him:

What do you think of the pool of goaltenders they invited: Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, Cam Ward, Marc-Andre Fleury and Steve Mason?
Those are the five that should be there. Those are the five best right now that are Canadian and have a legitimate chance of making the team. They will push each other. It's great to see Mason and Ward, who have had very good international success, be invited. It's great to see the latest Stanley Cup champion goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, invited. Obviously, the pedigree of Luongo and Brodeur - that's great. I don't think anyone could deny those are the top five Canadian goalies right now. Ken Hitchcock is an assistant coach with Team Canada and Steve Mason's coach in Columbus. Detroit sees Columbus a lot, and Babcock has seen Mason a ton, especially in the first round of the playoffs. There's a certain familiarity there.

Are there any players not invited to camp that you could see playing their way onto the Olympic team?
I could see Marc Savard because he'll be watching Milan Lucic a lot [with the Boston Bruins]. Savard has the potential to ring up tons of points. Potentially, Ed Jovanovski if he has a tremendous start to the year. Maybe Chris Phillips if he has an amazing start and a real steadiness to his game. Jason Spezza comes to mind, and maybe Steven Stamkos. But at this point, that list is pretty much spectacular.

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Why specifically do you think Dan Cleary is being given a chance?
That's familiarity - it speaks to what Babcock and Yzerman have seen from him in Detroit: the reliability that Dan plays with and the fact that he has won a Stanley Cup and been to another final. He can skate, he's a team man, he'll accept any role, he's a top-level penalty killer, he plays with energy and he's a clutch finisher for a quote, un-quote role player.

Why do you think Steven Stamkos wasn't invited?
I think Stamkos isn't on this list because he isn't going to make the team. They have Crosby, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal - they're looking for a certain niche. When you look at it, Ryan Getzlaf right now is ahead of Steven Stamkos at this time in his career, so is Mike Richards. That's not a knock on Steven Stamkos. It just shows how strong Canada is. Canada is unbelievably strong. You can't find fault in that list at all. It shows they are trying to go in a different direction. In terms of holdovers, Joe Sakic has a unique role on this team. Ryan Smyth - in terms of a holdover brings a certain niche - power play, slot-area presence, leadership, having played in a lot of big games internationally for Canada.

Talk about the players who earned their way onto this list by turning heads late in this past NHL season, particularly Milan Lucic
Lucic had a tremendous first year and an even better second year, so he's showing tremendous improvement. What he brings is a fore-checking element that a lot of guys in the league can't bring. Milan can skate really well and finish checks. That's not to say he'll make the team, but he's put himself in a position to be invited. The fact that all three Staal brothers have been invited is a tremendous statement. I believe it to be fantastic and an unbelievable opportunity. And they put themselves in that position. Brent Seabrook played himself into this position with a tremendous playoff. I like to see them reward guys who have played well and not hand out the invitations because of their names. They gave opportunities based on skill set.

Looking at the defencemen they invited, you look at guys like Blackhawks duo Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith who you once told us are a ready-made tandum. A lot of duos with chemistry on the list - can you sort of see some possible pairings taking shape?
I think they are envisioning it too. Seabrook and Keith are great together. So are Niedermayer and Pronger. Phaneuf and Weber in the 2005 world juniors were an unbelievable tandem against Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin during the whole tournament and in the gold medal game. Steve Yzerman is thinking smart and thinking clearly and he also has a lot of people around him that are very smart hockey people.

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What do you think about Drew Doughty getting an opportunity in camp?
I think it shows they are paying attention to guys who have had a great year. He's a really consistent puck-mover. He's reliable defensively. Unbelievable puck-moving presence and he's mature beyond his years. His international success rate for Canada has been tremendous. His conditioning has improved - he went from a boy to a man really quick. I'm glad to see him get an opportunity. I'm thrilled for Marc Staal too. It's great to see them get rewarded.

Brian Burke reached out and called certain veteran ‘warriors' of USA Hockey that he chose not to invite to his camp, and Steve Yzerman chose not to call anyone that he didn't invite to Canada's camp. What do you think of Yzerman's approach?
Steve doesn't have to call and apologize to anyone. This isn't highschool hockey or the local house league. These are big time players. Anyone that plays hockey for money understands. It's a cold hard world. Steve has a lot on his plate right now - he has to worry enough about with - he's concentrating on the guys he did invite, not the guys he didn't. I remember when Jarome Iginla drove from Edmonton to be part of the 2002 camp. People said he wouldn't make the team. He ended up playing on a line with Sakic and Gagne and was one of the best players in the Olympics - one of Canada's best. That's something I really admire about Hockey Canada. They don't bury their head in the sand and they aren't afraid to think outside of the box. They reward guys who play well. Think back to 2002, Curtis Joseph was the starting goalie. He didn't play well against Sweden, and they switched right away and went to Brodeur and he helped them get a gold medal. When Yzerman and Lemieux didn't have what it took to play in 2006, they knew it at training camp and pulled themselves out. That's part of the greatness of Hockey Canada - great players understand when they can do it and when they can't. That's why Steve didn't have to pick up the phone and apologize to anyone. If you're a player who didn't get an invitation to this camp, go prove them wrong when you play in the NHL until the end of November. Go do it.

So in general, do you like this list? Did they miss anyone?
They really haven't missed anybody at any position, except maybe Marc Savard, because of what he could do on the power play as a 13th forward. But I think that's a really strong list. It's a great list. I'm very impressed. Anyone that's a fan of Canadian hockey should be impressed.