Hockey

CALGARY - It would be quite an accomplishment for an NHL team to have three representatives on the Canadian Olympic team. How about three members of one family?

That's something Eric, Marc and Jordan Staal would love to see happen at the Vancouver Games in February.

The three brothers are all attending the Olympic orientation camp this week and have been able to consider the possibility after each receiving an invite last month. They were together when executive director Steve Yzerman started formally asking players to come to Calgary.

"We were all really excited about it,'' Jordan Staal said on Monday. "We were all actually out at camp when all three of us heard about it and we were all happy for each other. There's no question it'd be something special if it all came together for us.''

It's already been a special summer for the 20-year-old after winning the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in June. That gave him a chance to follow older brother Eric and bring the trophy back to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ont.

By doing so, it upped the pressure on Marc, a defenceman with the New York Rangers, and the family's youngest son Jared, who is a Phoenix Coyotes prospect.

"Obviously everyone's looking at me and Jared as the only ones that haven't won it,'' said Marc Staal. "But you can't predict stuff like that. Obviously, I want my hands on that thing, seeing how much fun they had with it.''

He didn't have too much fun during Jordan's day with the Cup.

"I kept my distance,'' said Marc. "Never touched it.''

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EXTRA MOTIVATION: Jason Spezza is intent on making the most of an opportunity he nearly didn't have.

The Ottawa Senators forward was initially snubbed when invites went out for the Olympic orientation camp in July. He ended up getting asked to Calgary after Joe Sakic decided to retire.

Spezza readily admits that it was tough being passed over.

"I was a little bit upset, a little bit disappointed,'' said Spezza, a member of the taxi squad at the 2006 Olympics. "But it's also a little bit of an eye-opener that maybe I have to do some things a little bit differently. It kind of motivated me a little bit.

"It could work out to be a blessing in disguise.''

Even without the Olympics, this would have been an important year.

Ottawa has fallen short of expectations the past two seasons and Spezza is one of the veteran players on the team. He's spent plenty of time recently thinking about the Sens struggles.

"We had a real disappointing year last year,'' said Spezza. "I'm pretty motivated this summer to try and right the wrong.''

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SURPRISE INVITE: No one was more surprised to get invited to the Olympic orientation than Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Francois Beauchemin.

The 29-year-old has never once represented Canada or even been asked to come to a tryout before. As a result, he was understandably shocked when Kevin Lowe gave him a call on July 1 to extend an invite.

Now that he's in Calgary, he feels a little like a rookie.

"I've never participated in the world juniors or World Cup or whatever,'' said Beauchemin. "I'm new to this. I don't know what it's like. I'm coming in and (I'll) see how it goes and do what I can do.''

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GROWING UP FAST: Times have changed pretty quickly for Duncan Keith.

He attended Canada's Olympic orientation camp as a spectator in 2005 and now finds himself participating in the real thing. The experience of watching what went on in Kelowna, B.C., four years ago has stuck with him to this day.

"I remember watching Marty St. Louis and how fast he was,'' said Keith. "I couldn't believe it took him two seconds to get down the other end of the ice. It was a packed building there in Kelowna with a lot of people watching.

"I remember seeing Wayne Gretzky up in the stands. Just to be a part of that now and actually be one of the guys for me is a thrill.''

Even though he's come a long way, he's intent not to rest on his laurels.

"I don't feel like I'm satisfied with anything I've done,'' said Keith. "It's obviously a thrill and an honour to be here, but for me it doesn't feel like I've accomplished anything yet.''

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BAD MEMORIES: There aren't many good memories left over from Canada's last Olympic experience.

The men's team finished seventh in Turin - a result made even more shocking by the fact that they entered as the reigning Olympic champions. Forwards Simon Gagne and Ryan Smyth are among those that played in each of the last two Games and talked about the different experiences on the opening day of Canada's orientation camp.

"I sure have the experience of the last two, both sides of the mill,'' said Gagne. "We won a gold medal in '02, everything went well. In '06, it went the other way. We finished seventh. By going through that tough time, you learn a lot too.''

Smyth referred to the experience in Italy as one that left a "bitter taste'' in his mouth. Captain Canada would love to have a chance to get rid of that by playing on the 2010 squad in Vancouver.

"I think the biggest goal is to win the gold again and obviously here in Canada everyone wants to call it pressure - they can call it pressure, but I think it's just something to thrive on,'' said Smyth.

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LETTER-LESS SHARKS - Head coach Todd McLellan has declared no San Jose Shark will wear a captain's 'C' or assistant's 'A' until leadership emerges on the team next season. That effectively stripped Patrick Marleau of the captaincy.

Marleau, from Aneroid, Sask., has been captain of the Sharks since Jan, 2004. The Sharks won the President's Trophy as the NHL regular-season champion, but were upset in the first round by Anaheim.

Marleau says he discussed the post-season flop with McLellan and GM Doug Wilson at season's end.

"We're looking to getting to the next step and this might be one of the ways of getting there,'' Marleau said. "If they think this is what we need to do to win, then I'm all for it.

"We've had really good teams there in the past and we haven't won it and maybe this will be the thing that takes us over the hump.''

Marleau has one-year remaining on a contract with a no-trade clause. A captain's demotion often sparks trade rumours.

"I can't really speculate on what's happening in the back, but as far as I know, I don't think it's going to transpire that way,'' Marleau said.

Mike Grier was an assistant captain of the Sharks, but has since signed with Buffalo. Joe Thornton is no longer an assistant captain, although McLellan hasn't ruled out restoring letters to Marleau and Thornton.

"I think it might be innovative on San Jose's part,'' Thornton said. "I think more teams will probably look at this and say 'hey.' We can't get buy the second round and some teams aren't making the playoffs and maybe they'll change too.

"Whoever is going to be part of the leadership group we'll support and I'm sure I'll be part of that leadership group.''