Hockey

By general manager Steve Yzerman's stated objective, Team Canada's 2010 roster will include only a handful of players needing to play out of position.

That will be a challenge. Of the 13 forwards selected to the team by our inaugural panel, eight are natural centres - Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Patrick Marleau and Eric Staal.

In addition, of the players most capable of moving to the wing (Crosby, Marleau, Carter and Richards), all but Carter are left-handed shots. That means one or several players would be out of position, and on his off-wing, if Canada goes in this direction.

Many prognosticators made first passes at choosing a men's Olympic team in mid-February, with the 2010 Winter Olympics a year out. Since then, some have shifted their thinking to reflect the rise and fall of the stocks of certain NHL players.

TSN analyst Pierre McGuire, who originally had Carey Price as his third goaltender behind Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, believes Steve Mason has moved into that spot.

Also added to McGuire's list: Staal and Martin St. Louis. Defenceman Dion Phaneuf is only pencilled in now, as McGuire thinks he needs to pick up his game.

"There's going to be some pretty good offensive players [for] Sweden and Russia," legendary coach Scotty Bowman says. "The concern I have with Canada is shutdown guys on defence; there's not a [Nicklas] Lidstrom there."

Up front, both McGuire and Bowman selected several natural centres for the team. Neither thinks Yzerman needs to be overly concerned about having centres playing the wing.

"Growing up playing centre, they have to be able to play all over the ice," McGuire says. "[Bowman], I know, thinks centre is just a starting point for faceoffs anyway. For instance, with Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh, we had him as a centreman for faceoffs, but in in-zone coverage, we had him playing left wing. ... With the flow of the game today, you'd rather have smarter players and I think most centremen are smarter because of their overall learned knowledge of the game."

Bowman, who watches a lot of games as a consultant for the Chicago Blackhawks, believes both Carter and Richards can switch to the wing, if necessary.

"I watch Carter play a lot," Bowman says. "He's playing confidently. He's used to penalty-kill. He's used on the power play. Late in the game, in the last minute, he makes the right plays. He looks like a smart player. Some guys are good players. He's good and smart.

"The toughest part [for Canada] is going to get players who can play a mixture of styles - guys you can trust. Richards is like that, too. He's a good player."

Bowman is based for much of the winter in Florida and thus watches the Tampa Bay Lightning a lot. He likes what he sees in Bolts forwards St. Louis and Lecavalier, despite playing for a non-playoff team.

St. Louis, a bubble player on some preliminary lists, is in the top 15 in scoring this NHL season. Says Bowman: "I'm always amazed at how hard he can play and the minutes he plays - and how he doesn't fade."

Because of limited preparation time, Yzerman may be tempted to select tandems from teams - Thornton and Marleau (San Jose Sharks); Lecavalier and St. Louis; and Carter and Richards (Philadelphia Flyers) - because their familiarity with one another could fast track chemistry in a short Olympic tournament.

"I always thought, even in all-star games, if two guys had ever played together before on a line, it was automatic that I'd put them together," Bowman says. "There are not a lot of tandems in the league and when there is, there's usually a Russian and Swede together, or a Swede and a Canadian - it does you no good on an Olympic team."

Projected Canadian roster

GOAL
Martin Brodeur - NHL's career wins leader and goaltender of record for 2002 gold-medal triumph.

Roberto Luongo - Brodeur's NHL heir apparent, Luongo will also have the comfort level of playing in front of hometown fans in Vancouver.

Steve Mason - NHL's shutout leader this season (10) and odds-on favourite for Calder Trophy as league's rookie of the year.

Others getting votes:
Cam Ward, Carey Price

DEFENCE
Scott Niedermayer - Smooth-skating veteran, his absence because of injury was sorely missed in 2006 at Turin.

Chris Pronger - Last defenceman to win Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and a sturdy, physical presence - if occasionally penalty prone.

Dion Phaneuf - High-risk, high-reward defenceman. Excellent shooter, fine hitter, can be an adventure defensively at times.

Shea Weber - Emerging all-round rearguard and Phaneuf's former world junior partner.

Duncan Keith - 2008 all-star game appearance his coming-out party; excellent first-pass defenceman.

Jay Bouwmeester - Paul Coffey-esque skating ability and developing confidence in his overall abilities.

Mike Green - A pure offensive threat, NHL's leading goal-scorer among defencemen and giant power-play threat.

Others getting votes:
Robyn Regehr, Dan Boyle, Brent Burns, Marc Staal

FORWARDS
Jarome Iginla - One of a handful holdovers from 2002 championship team, considered to be front-runner for 2010 captaincy.

Sidney Crosby - Left off 2006 team in grave oversight, is, at 20, Canada's next great scoring threat.

Vincent Lecavalier - Only two years removed from Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as NHL's goal-scoring champ, remains a productive player on an unproductive team.

Dany Heatley - Canada's career leading scorer internationally is a pure sniper and key power-play threat.

Ryan Getzlaf - Prototypical NHL centre: big, strong and in possession of a good, all-round game.

Rick Nash - Perhaps Canada's finest 1-on-1 player, dangerous in open ice, and a highlight reel waiting to happen.

Mike Richards - Skilled enough to average better than a point per game, but will be relied on for faceoff and penalty-killing skills.

Joe Thornton - For three years running, the NHL's assist leader.

Shane Doan - All-round two-way game, heart-and-soul leader, was captain on 2007 world championship gold-medal team.

Jeff Carter - This year's leading NHL goal-scorer among Canadian-born players, can play either centre or wing.

Martin St. Louis - Like Lecavalier, hasn't let Tampa's struggles over the past two years bury him.

Patrick Marleau - A natural centre, who has played much of the season on the wing on a line with Thornton, an excellent penalty killer and a short-handed scoring threat.

Eric Staal - Young star, led the playoffs in scoring in 2006, and has recently been revitalized by the return of winger Erik Cole.

Others receiving votes:
Simon Gagné, Ryan Smyth,
Jonathan Toews, Derek Roy,
Corey Perry, Marc Savard,
Brenden Morrow

A look at how Canada's 2010 men's Olympic hockey team might line up:

Forwards

Nash (LW)/Crosby (C)/Iginla (RW)
Marleau (LW)/Thornton (C)/Doan (RW)
Richards (LW)/Getzlaf (C)/Carter (RW)
Heatley (LW)/Lecavalier (C)/St. Louis (RW)
Staal (C)

Defence

Pronger (LD)/Niedermayer (RD)
Phaneuf (LD)/Weber (RD)
Keith (LD)/Bouwmeester (RD)
Green (LD)

Goal

Brodeur
Luongo
Mason