Hockey

When Steve Yzerman and Hockey Canada named their roster for the 2010 Olympic Games back in December, they believed they had assembled a group of players that would be firing on all cylinders when action got underway in February.

They've been about half right.

While players such as Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have continued on a torrid scoring pace, others have seen their offensive output take a significant hit since they were informed that they would be representing Canada at the Olympics.

Over the past three NHL seasons, Jarome Iginla's 109 goals trail only Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley for the most scored over that time span. Since being named to the Canadian Olympic team on Dec. 30, Iginla has found the back of the net only four times and went through an 11 game goal drought. Compare that to Crosby who has 16 goals in 19 games since the announcement.

Similarly, there were few players in the NHL as hot as Anaheim Ducks' forward Corey Perry through the first two months of the season. His 19-game point streak is the longest by any player this season. While his scoring has not completely dried up, he has only four goals and eight assists in 19 games since being told he would wear the Maple Leaf in Vancouver.

Injuries have also played a role in some Canadian Olympians' offensive woes. One of the top offensive defencemen in the game, the San Jose Sharks' Dan Boyle only recently returned from an 'upper-body' injury that caused him to miss six games and limited him to 12 points since the New Year.

While not known for their offensive firepower, both Patrice Bergeron and Brenden Morrow have only seven and six points respectively since Dec. 30, however Bergeron suffered a broken right thumb, which cost him six games, while Morrow lost four games to an upper-body injury.

On the positive side of the ledger, several players have flourished since being named to the team, perhaps no one more than Carolina Hurricanes' forward Eric Staal.

The native of Thunder Bay, Ont. suffered through a statistically terrible opening month of the season, scoring three goals and adding only two assists. Many believed that he had potentially played his way off the Olympic team. Missing 10 games in November with an 'upper-body' injury certainly did not help his cause either.

Staal returned from his injury with a vengeance, and over the past month he has been among the NHL's top scorers with 12 goals and nine assists in his past 17 games. He was also recently recognized for his leadership abilities by the Hurricanes when he replaced Rod Brind'Amour as team captain in January.

While several pundits grumbled about Mike Green's exclusion when the team was named, it appears as though the worries that Canada may lack offensive punch from the backend are unfounded. Chicago Blackhawks' blueliner Duncan Keith continues to produce in his breakout season with five goals and 11 assists since the Olympic announcement. Los Angeles Kings' super-sophomore Drew Doughty does not show any signs of slowing down either with 16 points in 19 games as well.

Perhaps no player has been more impressive than the one who will play on Olympic ice in his own home rink.

Roberto Luongo has been stupendous between the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks for more than a month, posting an 11-3-1 record with a 2.41 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. His play is one of the biggest reasons why the Vancouver Canucks have vaulted to the top of the Northwest Division standings heading into action Monday.

While the common line of thinking has been that Martin Brodeur will assume the starter's role for Canada, 'Bobby Lu' has given the Canadian brass something to think about with his play of late. That being said, Brodeur is no slouch either.  He has a .912 save percentage and 2.44 goals against average over the same stretch; however his record is a less than inspiring 9-9-1 as the Devils slumped through January.

Despite the ups-and-downs, Canada remains in an enviable position in terms of scoring. Of the Top 10 current NHL scoring leaders, six are Canadians; two of those players (Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards) were not even named to the Olympic team. With scoring depth like that, it is no wonder Canada enters the tournament as a favourite to bring home the gold.