Happy New Year and with it, Team Canada’s Olympic Hockey Team

Hi kids,

Happy New Year!

Alright, now that the celebration is out of the way, here are a few comments on the news of Canada’s Mens Hockey Team for the 2010 Olympics.

First up, I think it was a really smart PR move to announce the team amidst the World Junior Championships in Saskatchewan. Not only does it complete the full circle of the brand of Hockey Canada, it lets the kids actually playing in the WJCC see what they could eventually achieve in their careers. The other high note for me is the way Stevie Y picked this team. It was almost as if he looked at the other teams that Canada had brought to the big dance and said, screw it, it’s my time. Stevie Y did what I think most smart Canadians would do, he left those big, slow, untalented Calgary D-men at home and told them to watch the tourney on TV. Brilliant. Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phanuef and Robyn Regehr are not Canadian D-men. And, according the recent record of the Flames, they are hardly NHL D-men. I’m glad to see them off of the roster.

But with the selection of the team comes some big decisions for Steve and his crew of Red Wings. Now that we’ve got a team, who plays? The majority of journalists, tv analysts and Don Cherry‘s are saying that experience is the key with this, but I say no way. Experience has only given us one gold medal in the last few tournaments so Stevie Y should go with youth, speed and reckless abandonment. That’s why I really like the decision to bring Dew Doughty, Sid the Kid, Patrice Bergeron and Ricky Nash. But that’s also why I’m not loving the fact that we have to dress Scotty Niedermeyer, Chris Pronger and Marty Brodeur. I’ll give the vets this, they were part of the last team that actually won a gold, but now? Really? That was like 8 years ago! Time to hang’em up for the international game and hand the reigns over to the young talent.

Here’s my bold prediction for the tournament next month:

Gold – Russia

Silver – Sweden

Bronze – Canada

4th – USA

I know, I know. How can I predict that my own country isn’t going to come through? Look at the rosters for Sweden and Russia and argue the fact that a line up of Ovie, Gino Malkin and Kovalchuck isn’t going to skate circles around anyone in the tourney. Also, try and argue that the Sedins and Zetterberg can actually be stopped. Let me get this straight though, I HOPE Canada can pull it off, but if they don’t I won’t be too disappointed. It’s a lot of pressure to be playing at home in the greatest city in the world, let alone backed by one of the worst branding experiences put forth by a soft drink company ever….

Oh well, time to sit back and hope for the best.