Team Canada Olympic Hockey - 2010 Olympics - Evaluation of Forward Skaters.

The date for Team Canada to make a final decision for it's 2010 Olympic Hockey Roster is fast approaching. In fact, Team Canada's set December 31st of this year as the deadline. Like many things, it's going to be a numbers game in terms of who makes the final roster. By the numbers, there are 13 spots for the forward skaters. Previously, there were 26 forward skaters invited to Team Canada's Olympic Hockey Camp this summer. Additionally, six other players are under consideration for the team including Dustin Penner of the Edmonton Oilers.

By the numbers, let's take a look at how these players have performed in this NHL season.

Already, Kevin Lowe has suggested that Team Canada will look to find players who already have chemistry playing together. For this reason and based upon their season start, it's likely that Patrick Marleau, Joe Thorton, and Dany Heatley will make the squad. As well, Kevin Lowe suggested that because Dustin Penner's played with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, that this might work in his favor. Depending on injuries, other players might end up getting substituted into the roster.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	P	(+/-)	PPG	5v5/60
Joe Thornton	SJS	38	7	36	42	7	1.11	2.82
Sidney Crosby	PIT	31	20	17	37	12	1.19	3.48
Dustin Penner	EDM	32	18	18	36	13	1.13	3.46
Dany Heatley	SJS	33	20	16	36	7	1.09	2.26
Corey Perry	ANA	31	15	21	36	5	1.16	2.64
Ryan Getzlaf	ANA	31	6	30	36	4	1.16	2.8
Martin St-Louis	TBL	31	6	27	33	-3	1.06	2.18
Rick Nash	CBJ	31	16	16	32	-9	1.03	2.12
Jarome Iginla	CAL	31	15	15	32	4	1.03	2.52
Steve Stamkos	TBL	31	17	13	30	-3	0.97	1.98
Vincent Lecavalier	TBL	31	6	29	26	1	0.84	2.18
Jeff Carter	PHI	29	11	14	25	-3	0.86	1.81
Michael Richards	PHI	28	13	12	25	1	0.89	1.65
Patrick Marleau	SJS	33	20	14	24	9	0.73	2.83
Ryan Smyth	LAK	22	9	14	23	5	1.05	2.59
Patrick Sharp	CHI	30	9	14	23	8	0.77	1.91
Derek Roy	BUF	29	6	17	23	1	0.79	2.01
Brenden Morrow	DAL	31	12	9	21	1	0.68	1.69
Shane Doan	PHX	31	7	12	19	-7	0.61	1.11
Jordan Staal	PIT	32	8	11	19	5	0.59	2.35
Jonathan Toews	CHI	24	8	10	18	11	0.75	1.54
Jason Spezza	OTT	28	3	14	17	-4	0.61	1.49
Dan Cleary	DET	30	7	9	16	-8	0.53	1.67
Andy McDonald	STL	28	6	9	15	-4	0.54	1.52
Eric Staal	CAR	21	4	10	14	-5	0.67	1.96
Simon Gagné	PHI	9	1	4	6	2	0.67
Milan Lucic	BOS	10	2	3	5	3	0.50

Dustin Penner

4rth in Goals scored
6th in total assists
5th overall in points / 4rth in points-per-game (PPG)
#1 based on his plus/minus stat
2nd in even-strength points per 60 minutes time on ice (5v5/60) to Sidney Crosby.

Currently, Dustin Penner is well-situated in terms of his boxcar numbers along with his even-strength point production relative to the other potential players. Six additional names were put into consideration for Team Canada and his name is one of them. I would imagine that Steve Stamkos is as well, which leaves four other players under consideration for the team. Of note, there are nine players on the above list who're currently averaging over a point-per-game. If you figure that the eight players listed below are locks on a roster spot, that leaves just five more openings.

When looking at these numbers, I myself think that it's important to consider that Dustin Penner, unlike Dany Heately, isn't playing on a $21 million dollar cap hit line (Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley). The fact that he's maintained over a point-per-game pace while playing on the mediocre Oilers squad largely with middling linemates is pretty impressive. There's only eight Oilers games left before Team Canada makes it's final roster decision. If Dustin Penner manages just 4 points over the next 8 games, he'll still be at a PPG pace. This season, Penner's been an absolute monster at even-strength point production and is second only to Sidney Crosby at this point.

Forward Skaters - Virtual locks on roster position.

Sidney Crosby
Patrick Marleau
Joe Thornton
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla
Rick Nash
Corry Perry
Ryan Getzlaf

Likely to make the team?

Dustin Penner
Martin St. Louis
Michael Richards
Jeff Carter
Ryan Smyth - Captain Canada? Injuries?

Other Strong Candidates

Jordan Staal - role player
Brenden Morrow - role player
Vincent Lecavalier - slow season start
Patrick Sharp
Jonathan Toews
Steve Stamkos ? recent injury
Shane Doan - role player - Minus 7, poor even-strength production.

Unlikely to make Team Canada

Eric Staal
Derek Roy
Simon Gagne - injuries
Milan Lucic -injuries
Dan Cleary
Andy McDonald
Jason Spezza

Comments (4) Add Comment

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written by OilersFan32, December 13, 2009

Ryan Smyth is still injured. I'm not sure when he'll be back to play.

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written by Jay-, December 15, 2009

Yeah, that is a big question mark.

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written by FlyingFridge, December 25, 2009

Dustin Penner's ranked in the top ten of CTV's Forward skater rankings for players from all countries. Actually, he's right behind Dany Heatley which is pretty funny.

Here's the link for the CTV Olympic Power Rankings:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hock...cid=rsstsn

...
written by Jay, December 30, 2009

Team Canada's Official List of Forwards

1. Patrice Bergeron
2. Sidney Crosby - Alternate Captain
3. Ryan Getzlaf
4. Dany Heatley
5. Jarome Iginla
6. Patrick Marleau
7. Brendan Morrow
8. Rick Nash
9. Corey Perry
10. Mike Richards
11. Eric Staal
12. Joe Thornton
13. Jonathan Toews