Canadian quandary
Quinn admits it will be tough deciding who sits out World Cup games
By BRUCE GARRIOCH, Ottawa Sun
THE AUDITIONS will end tonight for Team Canada. After Canada faces Slovakia in its last World Cup exhibition game at the Corel Centre, executive director Wayne Gretzky, coach Pat Quinn and the assembled staff will have to sit down and make the tough decisions on who plays ... and who doesn't.
With only 20 players allowed to dress each game and 26 players -- 15 forwards, eight defencemen and three goalies -- in camp, six of them will find themselves in the press-box for Tuesday's tournament opener against the United States in Montreal.
While Quinn was still tweaking his lines yesterday and wouldn't say who the scratches will be against Slovakia, he admitted the decisions are not going to be simple.
"It's not like these players are making it easy on us," Quinn said following a one-hour workout yesterday. "We've got some decisions to make and I can tell they're not going to be easy. Nobody is playing themselves out of ice time.
"We feel that the players we have here, especially some of the young guys, have come in and performed well."
ODD MEN OUT
If yesterday's practice is any indication as to what Tuesday's lineup might look like, then the line of Brenden Morrow, Patrick Marleau and Ryan Smyth could be observers. On defence, it appears Scott Hannan and Jay Bouwmeester will be the odd men out.
Of course, a good performance tonight against Slovakia could change Quinn's plans.
Although Canada looked good in Wednesday's 3-1 over the U.S., the players feel they can play better vs. the Slovaks.
"I really think an area where we can make an improvement is with our intensity," said winger Jarome Iginla. "This is our last chance to get ready for what we know is going to be a tough competition and everybody wants to be better.
"We made a step in the right direction (against the U.S.). We know that if we're going to be successful, we need to have everybody at the top of their game."
One player who hopes to be on top of his game is goaltender Martin Brodeur, who is expected to play the entire game vs. Slovakia after Roberto Luongo and Jose Theodore split duties Wednesday.
BRODEUR FEELS GOOD
Brodeur said he's getting his confidence back.
"It's going to be good to see how I feel after playing 60 minutes," said Brodeur, who played 30 minutes of Monday's 3-1 loss to the Americans in Columbus, Ohio. "When you're getting ready for a tournament like this, you've got to make sure you take it day by day and step by step. You start slowly and then you've got to build up your confidence for the start.
"Everybody is pushing hard right now and they want to play well as a team. I know that I have to make sure that when I go in there I perform well because I know I've got two young guys behind me who are going to be ready to step in. I have to make sure I go in there and get the job done."
Brodeur said the Slovaks will be a tough test with shooters like Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Richard Zednik.
"You look at a team like Slovakia and they've got a lot of firepower," said Brodeur. "Before a game, I sit back and think a lot about guys' tendencies and where they might shoot the puck. We know that Slovakia has a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net. We've got to be ready."
bruce.garrioch@ott.sunpub.com
