A day before the start of their NHL playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes was asked about his teammate, goaltender Cam Ward, and the possibility he might be included on Canada’s 2010 men’s Olympic team.
“Included?” Staal responded. “He should be the starter.”
Staal’s enthusiasm for Ward’s candidacy stemmed from the brilliant and clutch goaltending Ward delivered in the first two NHL playoff rounds, while the two favourites for the top job in 2010, Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) and Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), each had difficult moments.
Now, three games into the Penguins series and with the Hurricanes on the brink of elimination, Ward has had his struggles - largely as a result of fatigue, according to Olympic hockey analyst Pierre McGuire.
Also complicating matters for the decision makers, led by Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman, is that two Canadian-born goalies will likely be playing against each other in the Stanley Cup final, Chris Osgood (Detroit Red Wings) and Marc-André Fleury (Penguins), neither of whom has been mentioned much in previous Olympic speculation.
Fleury has had a quality playoff and, should they eventually win the Stanley Cup, he’ll have shed the reputation of not being able to win the big game.
“Ward’s in a realistic position to battle Brodeur and Luongo for the starting job, whereas before the playoffs started, I don’t think you could say that,” McGuire said. “Cam’s clearly gotten fatigued in the seven-game series with New Jersey and Boston, and you can see that he’s giving up goals high on the short side a lot. That’s what he’s dealing with right now, but he’s had an amazing playoff. He’s played himself into the equation.”
And playoff performance, former NHL general manager Craig Button says, does matter. He says there is no better way of analyzing how a player will respond to the pressure of the Olympics than under these circumstances, when every goal allowed is scrutinized.
Button wondered if the longest of long shots - Osgood - hasn’t played himself into consideration, with his even-keeled steadiness this postseason. Osgood is one of those rare goaltenders who elevates his game in the playoffs, and needed to do so after a mediocre regular season.
“If Osgood wins again this year, that’ll be four Stanley Cups [in his career],” Button said. “I’m not sure he’s your [2010] starter, but he should be under consideration.”
According to Button, Yzerman’s evaluation process will be aided by watching players that might faceoff in the Olympics compete against each other in these playoffs. For example, the Anaheim Ducks defence pair of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer saw a lot of Red Wings forwards Pavel Datsyuk (Russia) and Henrik Zetterberg (Sweden) in the previous round.
“To me, Brodeur is still the standard bearer, but you start going through the pecking order after that,” Button said. “It looks like Fleury is going to beat Ward. It depends upon how the [NHL] final goes, but the winner might be your second guy. That’s how I look at it, based on today.”
Former Olympic head coach Pat Quinn subscribes to the view Brodeur and Luongo are the mainstays in goal, largely because of their experience.
“They’ve been there before,” Quinn said. “A lot of people forget that probably the biggest game in the 2004 World Cup was played by Luongo and won against the Czechs. To me, they’d be the guys that would merit the most interest.”
Quinn, who was behind the bench in 2002, when Canada won its first gold medal in men’s hockey in 50 years, says a lot of thought needs to go into selecting the third goalie.
“It’s never planned that they play, so what do you do?” he said. “Do you take a young guy that you want to feel that experience? Or do you do what we did in 2002, and take a guy like Ed Belfour, who was outstanding as a third guy. His leadership and his personality were such that he fit in really well. He didn’t play a game, but in theory, he would have been an excellent guy to come in.”
“That year, we didn’t know. We thought we had three good goaltenders but Curtis Joseph got the start; and then we switched [to Brodeur]. Early on, none of us as coaches were sure about our goaltending, but Brodeur certainly stepped up and finished strong.”
A look at the projected team:
Goaltender
Martin Brodeur: Struggles in the final moments of his team’s NHL opening-round playoff loss aside, he remains the favourite for starting job because of experience.
Roberto Luongo: Like Brodeur, wilted in a deciding playoff game, but its hard to overlook his brilliance in opening-round sweep of the St. Louis Blues.
Cam Ward: Clutch play in postseason puts him in contention for more than just a support role.
Others getting votes
Marc-André Fleury, Chris Osgood
DEFENCE
Scott Niedermayer: A lock if he decides to keep playing; is expected to make a decision on his future before invitations issued for orientation camp in July.
Chris Pronger: Fine playoff performance, should answer any questions about whether his game is slipping.
Mike Green: Did himself no favours with a so-so playoff after leading NHL defencemen in regular-season goals and points; for decision-makers, the issue will be how much was due to injury and how much to lack of poise?
Shea Weber: Greatly enhanced his chances with a strong performance during Canada’s silver-medal finish at world championships.
Duncan Keith: One half of Chicago’s key shutdown pair; is a poor man’s Nicklas Lidstrom, raising awareness of his abilities with a good postseason.
Jay Bouwmeester: Paul Coffey-esque skating ability, a developing confidence in his overall abilities.
Robyn Regehr: Would provide a penalty-killing and stay-at-home presence on a team of skilled and agile rearguards.
Others getting votes
Dion Phaneuf, Braydon Coburn, Dan Boyle, Brent Burns, Marc Staal
FORWARDS
Sidney Crosby: Brilliant postseason has probably enhanced his chances of getting named captain of 2010 squad, even at so young an age.
Ryan Getzlaf: Excelled on the power play in two excellent playoff rounds. If Crosby switches to the wing, as expected, Getzlaf may be Canada’s No. 1 pivot.
Vincent Lecavalier: Continues to recover from early April wrist surgery, should be good to go by training camp.
Jarome Iginla: Invaluable because of his leadership abilities and previous Olympic experience; one of the few holdovers from 2002 gold-medal team.
Dany Heatley: Canada’s all-time leading scorer in international events cemented his position with another solid world championship performance.
Rick Nash: Unparalleled 1-on-1 skills; received a baptism by fire in his first NHL playoff series with Columbus.
Mike Richards: Underwent two off-season shoulder surgeries, but unless it affects his performance in the early part of next NHL season, he’s a lock to make the team because of his general all-around abilities.
Shane Doan: Annually provides leadership and scoring at international events; the perfect two-way game to play a secondary support role.
Jeff Carter: NHL’s second-leading goal-scorer in 2008-09; has history of playing internationally alongside Getzlaf.
Martin St. Louis: Former NHL MVP solidified spot in Canada’s international pecking order with a strong world championship performance.
Eric Staal: Young star made the biggest jump up the depth chart in leading Carolina to back-to-back, upset playoff series wins.
Jonathan Toews: Candidacy enhanced with an exceptional second half and impact in his first NHL playoff.
Joe Thornton: Would have been a lock with a better postseason, but still cannot be overlooked because of playmaking skills and capacity to play a secondary role, if asked.
Others getting votes
Joe Sakic, Simon Gagné, Patrick Marleau, Ryan Smyth, Brenden Morrow, Jordan Staal, Corey Perry, Marc Savard
Potential line combinations:
Forward (LW-C-RW)
Crosby-Staal-Iginla
Heatley-Getzlaf-Nash
Richards-Toews-Carter
Doan-Lecavalier-St. Louis
Thornton
Defence
Pronger-Niedermayer
Keith-Weber
Regehr-Bouwmeester
Green
Goaltender
Brodeur
Ward
Luongo
