Numbers game real drag
Choosing who to bench difficult
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
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Team Canada forward Brad Richards smiles while talking with teammate Joe Sakic (left) during practice at the Corel Centre in Ottawa on Friday, August 27, 2004. (Ottawa Sun/Errol McGihon) |
When it comes to the administrative aspects of his job, the part Wayne Gretzky likes most is calling a player to tell him he has been selected for Team Canada.
The part he likes least is the one facing him today. He'll have to tell six players they are not going to play in tomorrow's World Cup opener against Team USA.
"That's always the hardest part," he said.
SCRATCHED
Gretzky knows from experience how much players like to play. And he also knows how hurt they are when they're scratched, even though simply by being a part of the team, they have demonstrated they are among the best players in the world.
The six designated sitters already have been determined, but they have not yet been told, the idea being that the less the Americans know about Team Canada, the better.
In goal, the decision seems fairly straightforward. Because Jose Theodore joined the team as a replacement for the injured Ed Belfour, Roberto Luongo, an original selection, likely will backup Martin Brodeur.
But that wasn't automatic. By definition, if Brodeur's backup gets to play, it would be a mid-game appearance, and there is a feeling that Theodore is better off the bench than Luongo.
All three goalies have played well in the exhibition games, but Theodore likely will be the one who sits out.
Now the decisions get a lot harder. There are no bad forwards but, obviously, some have been better than others.
The original sentiment was that the late replacements for injured players would be the scratches.
But how can you scratch Vincent Lecavalier? He has been brilliant.
The fall-back position was that first-time players would be easy to scratch. But you couldn't leave Shane Doan off the roster. He has been one of the most effective forwards, and certainly the most physical.
You can't tell Dany Heatley to watch from the press box. He has a goal and three assists in the three exhibition games, and the team only scored six goals.
And probably, there's not much to be read into the fact that the line of Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow and Ryan Smyth sat out the final exhibition game.
Morrow is likely to round out the top defensive line with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby; and Smyth's physical play around the net, and a strong game against the Americans in Ottawa shows that he can be an important asset.
But Marleau hasn't shown any real flashes of brilliance and since this is his first appearance on the team, he may be a healthy scratch tonight.
He may be joined by Simon Gagne who entered camp with a ready-made spot -- on a line with Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla.
But the magic that existed in Salt Lake City has not resurfaced here. Iginla and Sakic will definitely play, but Gagne may not.
That leaves one spot and, at this point, the decision becomes much more difficult. The staff is going to have to sit out a guy who can make the case that he deserves to play.
Still, it's likely to be a Team Canada first-timer, and that would make it Joe Thornton.
On defence, the decision looked easy when camp began.
Jay Bouwmeester and Scott Hannan were late replacements for Chris Pronger and Rob Blake. They figured to be expendable.
But both are extremely talented players and have made that very clear in the exhibition games.
No defender has been bad, but if the decision were based purely on game performances, Hannan and Bouwmeester would probably dress ahead of Ed Jovanovski (who is bothered by an injury) and Eric Brewer.
THE RULES
Really, none of the Canadian players at any position has been so poor that he deserves to sit out.
But the rules say that six of them will have to do so.
And Gretzky will have to tell them.
No wonder he likes that part the least.
