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Crosby named in Hockey Canada squad
Source: Agencies |
January 1, 2010, Friday
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SIDNEY Crosby was among 15 Olympic newcomers on a 23-man squad named by Hockey Canada on Wednesday to carry the weight of the host nation's gold medal dreams at the 2010 Winter Games.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Crosby, controversially left out four years ago, was one of the certainties this time in a squad announcement that brought workplaces to a halt when it was made live on 13 television networks in hockey-mad Canada.
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer, a member of the 2002 winning team, was named captain for Vancouver 2010.
He will anchor a defence that includes four players seeing their first Olympic action - Chicago Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, Nashville Predators' Shea Weber and 20-year-old Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.
New Jersey Devils' record-breaking goaltender Martin Brodeur, in net when Canada ended a 50-year gold medal drought at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was also named on a squad that will face monstrous pressure to win on home ice. No medal other than gold will satisfy Canadians, who have spent the last year arguing over who should wear the Maple Leaf in what is being hyped as the greatest hockey event of all-time.
"Certainly there is pressure," Crosby said. "That is also why you love to play the game and those are the challenges you look forward to. You are talking about representing Canada and being a hockey player in a sport that is so important in Canada and having the Games in Canada so I feel pretty lucky to have that opportunity."
Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman, a Hockey Hall of Famer and another member of the 2002 gold medal team, will face the same intense scrutiny and second-guessing for his picks as Wayne Gretzky did when he was charged with assembling Canada's 2002 and 2006 Olympics squads.
Gretzky was hailed a genius after Canada won gold in Salt Lake but the Great One lost some of his aura after the country failed to reach the medal round in Turin in 2006.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Crosby, controversially left out four years ago, was one of the certainties this time in a squad announcement that brought workplaces to a halt when it was made live on 13 television networks in hockey-mad Canada.
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer, a member of the 2002 winning team, was named captain for Vancouver 2010.
He will anchor a defence that includes four players seeing their first Olympic action - Chicago Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, Nashville Predators' Shea Weber and 20-year-old Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.
New Jersey Devils' record-breaking goaltender Martin Brodeur, in net when Canada ended a 50-year gold medal drought at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was also named on a squad that will face monstrous pressure to win on home ice. No medal other than gold will satisfy Canadians, who have spent the last year arguing over who should wear the Maple Leaf in what is being hyped as the greatest hockey event of all-time.
"Certainly there is pressure," Crosby said. "That is also why you love to play the game and those are the challenges you look forward to. You are talking about representing Canada and being a hockey player in a sport that is so important in Canada and having the Games in Canada so I feel pretty lucky to have that opportunity."
Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman, a Hockey Hall of Famer and another member of the 2002 gold medal team, will face the same intense scrutiny and second-guessing for his picks as Wayne Gretzky did when he was charged with assembling Canada's 2002 and 2006 Olympics squads.
Gretzky was hailed a genius after Canada won gold in Salt Lake but the Great One lost some of his aura after the country failed to reach the medal round in Turin in 2006.
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