Age and Treachery Shall Always Beat Out Youth and Skill...

This boys and girls is our third and final Olympic age based team. They’re old, they’re cantankerous, and they’re accomplished. Together they have won an astounding 28 Cups, with 6 Hart Trophies, 6 Art Ross Trophies (to be fair, all Lemieux), 3 Norris Trophies, 4 Vezinas, 5 Frank J Selkes, and 4 Conn Smythes. All of which makes them extremely accomplished and very knowledgeable about the game. Thirteen of them have tasted the success of Olympic Gold (what… you mean it isn’t chocolate wrapped in foil… aww man, why’d I skate so damn hard then…), but age is a factor. The average age of the team is 34, which means a lot of experience (see above), a lot of baggage (see Lindros, E.), and a lot of thick and tired legs. Still, something about these guys is tantalizing, perhaps it’s their involvement in 28 Stanley Cups, that cannot be a bad thing.

1st Line: C – Joe Sakic (36) – Colorado Avalanche
RW – Brendan Shanahan (36) – Detroit Red Wings
LW – Mario Lemieux (40) – Pittsburgh Penguins (captain)
D – Scott Niedermayer (32) – Anaheim Mighty Ducks
D – Chris Pronger (31) – Edmonton Oilers (assistant)

2nd Line: C – Eric Lindros (32) – Toronto Maple Leafs
RW – Glen Murray (33) – Boston Bruins
LW – Paul Kariya (31) – Nashville Predators
D – Adam Foote (34) – Columbus Blue Jackets
D – Rob Blake (36) – Colorado Avalanche

3rd Line: C – Jason Arnott (31) – Dallas Stars
RW – Steve Yzerman (40) – Detroit Red Wings (assistant)
LW – Rob Niedermayer (31) – Anaheim Mighty Ducks
D – Eric Desjardins (36) – Philadelphia Flyers
D – Adrian Aucoin (32) – Chicago Blackhawks

ChK Line: C – John Madden (32) – New Jersey Devils
RW – Kirk Maltby (33) – Detroit Red Wings
LW – Kris Draper (34) – Detroit Red Wings
Alt – Michael Peca (31) – Edmonton Oilers
Alt – Steve Staios (32) – Edmonton Oilers

In Goal: Martin Brodeur (33) – New Jersey Devils
Ed Belfour (40) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Curtis Joseph (38) – Phoenix Coyotes

Hard Cuts…

There were the perfect number of goalies and defensemen, so there was no challenge there, but Gretzky named an astounding 19 forwards 30 or older. I imagine he was trying to cover all his bases and not alienate any elder statesmen of the game. Six had to go, and as always I began with the surefire locks to stay: Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman (assuming he’s healthy), Murray, and Draper were easy. After that, Shanahan’s lost a step or two, but he’s pretty much a given, as are checking dynamos Maltby and Madden. Choosing Madden pretty much eliminates Minnesota’s Wes Walz, a checking line center who just isn’t quite as productive. All of which means, five spots remained for 10 guys. Jason Arnott has never quite played to his offensive potential, but he’s a talented forward who excels defensively as well, the same could be said of Niedermayer, so they’re both in. Paul Kariya has had his head rocked a few too many times and arguably suffered more than any other player from the “clutch and grab” era that hockey is now emerging from, but his ice vision is almost unparalleled. Peca is a perfect fit as the alternate, given the many talents he brings to the table. All that remained was the need for a second line center, so Nashville’s Scott Walker and Steve Sullivan, and Pittsburgh’s Mark Recchi were out. The final cut came down to Lindros, Florida’s Joe Nieuwendyk, and Philly’s Keith Primeau. In the end, as much as it pained me to choose the under achieving head case, he’s having something of a resurgent season with Toronto, while Primeau just cannot get healthy and Nieuwendyk is finally succumbing to old man-dom.

Linear Deliberations…

More so than either of the other teams, the over 30 has both the best balance and the most flaws. While it can produce four true lines, it lacks that sensational playmaker who can take over a game. Certainly Lemieux, Yzerman, and Sakic were once those players, but at 40, 40, and 36 they no longer can be asked to dominate for 60 minutes. Still, as the Leafs are doing this year, you make do with what you have. Thus, I’ve added Brendan Shanahan to fill Iginla’s right hand slot on the Lemieux-Sakic line from the World Cup. While Shanny obviously isn’t the player Iginla is, nor the player he was four years ago, he still is a physical presence with soft enough hands to capitalize on what the magicians on that line produce. Both the third and checking line are a coaches dream. The third line in particular looks great. While Arnott and Niedermayer have never produced the offence expected of them, they have both developed into extremely competent two way players, add to them Stevie Y (incidentally one of my 5 favorite players all time) and you have a line of players whom the term “true hockey guys” can be used in the same way that Yankee fans refer to Paul O’Neil as a true ball player. The Draper-Madden-Maltby checking line will frustrate opposing team’s top units and ensure that the over 30’s have an excellent penalty killing unit. Still, my biggest problem with the team is the second line. While Murray is still playing at a top level, Karriya and Lindros can both be (harshly, but accurately) described as damaged goods. They might come through with a big game here and there, but often they disappear on the ice and you watch a whole game and suddenly say, “wait, where the heck was Lindros tonight,” only to find out he’s played 18 minutes and been on the ice for all three of the other team’s goals. They aren’t great defensively and if they aren’t putting the puck in the net, well, there isn’t a lot of give in the roster to pick up the scoring slack.

Defensively the team is strong and deep. Niedermayer, Pronger, Foote, and Blake have been the core defenders of Canada’s recent national team. While each is taking a little longer than hoped to recover from the year long break (and, with the exception of Blake, adapting to new scenery), by January they should each have their bearings and be ready to be as productive (and disruptive) as ever.

In goal, Brodeur likely will be Canada’s starting goalie and he’s capable of standing on his head for two weeks and winning the gold himself, so he easily gets the nod over 2002 Olympic teammates, Belfour and Joseph. Age is a factor with all three, but they remain active and more than capable.

Eight Ball Says…

On some level I wonder where the goals for this team will come from and how they would match up against a young and fast roster (like the Russians will likely wield), but as the Bald Man used to say, “age and treachery will always beat youth and skill…” Now, I’m not entirely sure that wisdom from someone with no hair should be yielded, but perhaps here he has a point. I think this team would go deep into the tournament because the vets would always remain level-headed, they’d be very sound defensively, excel on the penalty kill and with the man advantage. It might only happen on the power play, but Lemieux and Sakic would somehow score a goal a game, and somebody like Stevie Y would find an opportune time to win the game for them. As with everything, it depends on which opponent awaited them at which stage of elimination, but I think in all likelihood, they lose to either the Czechs or our 26-30 squad in the semis and then beat the baby Canadians for the bronze. That would give us gold, bronze and a fourth place finish, which is good, but if we shook the roster up more (or even just mixed the under 25 and over 30) we could probably get that silver medal.