Steve Yzerman is scheduled to get down to work today in Calgary, home of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Perhaps Yzerman should pull Harper aside and swap insider secrets on the fine art of stickhandling through a world where every word is scrutinized.
No offence to Harper, but Yzerman arguably holds the unofficial title of Canada’s most powerful politician for the next six months. The retired Detroit Red Wings star is tasked with assembling the men’s hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The puck drops tonight for the first practice at the Canadian Olympic orientation camp.
Hockey parliament, if you will, is in session with 46 big-name candidates in town for the four-day twirl at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
“I don’t find it stressful,” Yzerman, executive director for the Canadian men’s team, said over the phone. “Everybody has thoughts on the players. Everybody has thoughts on who should coach. Everybody has thoughts on who should be the captain.
“Everybody has an opinion. We’ll make educated decisions.”
With 170 accredited media descending on the Pengrowth Saddledome, Yzerman’s every utterance is subject to obsessive analysis. A hockey-mad nation awaits clues — any clues — on what this team will look like when the puck drops on Feb. 16 against Norway.
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“I’m looking for balance,” Yzerman said. “I think we can take highly skilled players and ask them to fill a specific role. I don’t want to leave a really top NHL player, a top Canadian player, off the team to bring in a guy who has been customarily a third-line checking player or something like that.”
So don’t expect a Kris Draper or Rob Zamuner clone this time around.
“I’m hoping we can come up with Canada’s best players and ask some of them to play a role differently than they played on their club teams,” Yzerman said. “I expect we’ll have good success with that. I believe you have to have a balance. You have to have a mixture. You can’t bring exactly the same type of player. Some players are going to play fewer minutes. Some guys are going to play out of position.”
So the ability to park the ego at the door to GM Place — dubbed Canada Hockey Place during the Olympic tournament — is paramount, especially for candidates on the bubble.
Another hot issue is the captaincy. Among media pundits, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Scott Niedermayer are considered favourites to have the C stitched on their sweater.
“In my mind, we want veteran players,” Yzerman said. “I think guys who have had experience before at these tournaments; guys with certain personalities; guys who remain calm in stressful situations — keep a level head.
“Those types are things are important, because I expect things to get a little, potentially, crazy at the Olympics. There will be a lot of pressure on the guys, so I’m looking at veteran guys who can go about their business; guys who have been through these things — maybe in the Olympics, maybe in the Stanley Cup playoffs.”
The group of blue-liners is expected to look nothing like the brigade in 2006 where the Canadians placed a disappointing seventh.
Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski, Bryan McCabe and Wade Redden — all Olympians in 2006 — continue to toil in the NHL, but haven’t received an invitation to the orientation camp.
“On the international ice surface, I think it’s more important the guys — and particularly defencemen — are really mobile. On the North American surface, I think big tall rangy defencemen can have more of an advantage. You’re closer to your net. You’re not going to get caught far away.”
Calgary Herald
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