Saturday, December 15, 2001
Team Canada names final roster
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM! Sports
TORONTO -- Faster.
A little younger.
Better armed than four years ago.
There were few big surprises as Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky, at a press conference at the Hockey Hall of Fame and in front of a live television audience, announced this afternoon the 15 players who will fill out Team Canada and carry Canada's colours in the search for our first Olympic gold medal in hockey in 50 years.
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Team Breakdown
Makeup: Three goalies, seven defenceman and 13 forwards.
Team Allegiance: Three, Colorado; Two, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, New Jersey, New York Rangers, St. Louis; One: Anaheim, Calgary, New York Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto, Vancouver.
2001-02 Wage Bill: $118 million US approximately.
Average Salary: $5.15 million US.
Average Height: 6-1.
Average Weight: 203 pounds.
Averge Age: 29.9.
Biggest: Chris Pronger, 6-6 and 220 pounds.
Smallest: Theo Fleury, 5-5 and 180 pounds.
-Canadian Press
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"I feel so fortunate there are so many great players in this country," said Gretzky, who, with an assist at the podium from assistant executive director Kevin Lowe, named to the team goaltenders Ed Belfour (Carman, MB), Martin Brodeur (Montreal, QC) and Curtis Joseph (Keswick, ON), defencemen Eric Brewer (Vernon, BC), Ed Jovanovski (Windsor, ON), Adam Foote (Toronto, ON) and Al MacInnis (Inverness, NS) and forwards Jarome Iginla (Edmonton, AB), Eric Lindros (Toronto, ON), Theoren Fleury (Russell, MB), Simon Gagne (Ste-Foy, QC), Joe Nieuwendyk (Oshawa, ON), Michael Peca (Toronto, ON), Brendan Shanahan (Mimico, ON) and Ryan Smyth (Banff, AB) to the team which will compete at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City beginning Feb. 14.
Those players join the original eight selections named last March: forwards Mario Lemieux (Montreal, QC), Joe Sakic (Burnaby, BC), Owen Nolan (Thorold, ON), Paul Kariya (Vancouver, BC) and Steve Yzerman (Nepean, ON) and defencemen Chris Pronger (Dryden, ON), Scott Niedermayer (Cranbrook, BC) and Rob Blake (Simcoe, ON).
"I played in a number of Stanley Cup finals and this day rates right up there," said Lowe. "It's a special day. There's been a lot of hard work that went into this, but it's just the start. I can't wait until Salt Lake."
As the name of each player was announced, a child wearing a Team Canada sweater with the player's name on the back was introduced and they stood together at the conclusion of the announcement.
"They're a little small," joked Team Canada head coach Pat Quinn, surveying the kids, "but what we lack in size, we'll make up for in heart."
The job of molding the 23 stars into a team will fall to Quinn and assistants Ken Hitchcock, Jacques Martin and Wayne Fleming.
"We want to play a puck possession game and take the play to the opposition," said Quinn. "But not forget that defence is primary in your ultimate success. We believe the type of players we've selected will let us play that game. We want the spirit of the player and the ability to play to come forth and prevail."
The selection of Belfour as one of the goaltenders over Sean Burke could be rated as a surprise along with the selection of Nieuwendyk up front and Ed Jovanovski on the blue line. They made the team over the likes of goaltender Sean Burke, who has had a strong year for Gretkzy's Phoenix Coyotes, forwards such as Joe Thornton, Keith Primeau and Mark Recchi and defencemen like Wade Redden and Derek Morris.
Gretzky said Burke's two rough outings with the Coyotes (he gave up 12 goals in the last two games) had nothing to do with Belfour getting the nod over Burke. Nieuwendyk, 35, impressed Gretzky when they were teammates at the Nagano Games four years ago.
"The most consistent player in '98 was Joe Nieuwendyk," said Gretzky. "I wanted to watch him closely and see where he was in November. He's been one of the most consistent players in Dallas. He can play right wing, left wing and centre. We felt he's a well-rounded player. He's a winner who deserves to be on on this team."
Jovanovski's passion, mobility and his toughness in front of the net earned him his ticket to Salt Lake, said Team Canada director of player personnel Steve Tambellini.
"He can cover so much ground on the large ice surface," said Tambellini. "He's a fierce competitor. It's not a lot of fun playing Eddie in front of the net."
The selection of Jovanovski, 25, and Brewer, 22, gives Team Canada a younger look on the blue line which should be very adept at moving the puck and helping create offence. Trouble scoring goals brought down Team Canada in Nagano as it finished out of the medals.
"The speed level is going to be tremendous," said Gretzky. "The talent level is extremely high. There's speed on the defence and three defencemen from '98 who have tremendous experience. Yzerman and Peca are as good defensive players as there are in the game.
"The style of the team is what we talked about last March (when the original eight were named)."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
