Steve Yzerman - No doubt here Yzerman will lead the class of 2009 into Hall. Steve played his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings and led them to three Stanley Cups. Yzerman won many major trophies as an NHL player including the Lester B. Pearson Award, Conn Smythe Trophy, Selke Trophy and Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Steve sits sixth all time in league scoring and has a better point per game average then great like Gordie Howe, Ron Francis and Mark Messier. If you put all the accolades aside, one thing every one will remember about Yzerman was his heart. He loved the game and played through a lot of major injuries, and was one of the best leaders in all of sports. Steve’s best individual season was in 1988 – 1989 when he recorded 155 points with 65 goals, and was voted by the players as the leagues MVP. He also represented Canada on the international scene, highlighted by Olympic Gold in 2002, playing on a line along side Mario Lemieux. No doubt Yzerman will be inducted next year and deservingly so, he is a true Hall of Famer.

Brett Hull - Son of Hall of Famer, Bobby Hull, Brett will be inducted when he is eligible next year. Hull was a pure goal scorer, with a lethal and fast one timer. Hull made his living on the power play and quite possibly was the best sniper of his generation. Brett sits third on the all time goals list with 741 goals, playing for five franchises, Calgary, St Louis, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix. The biggest goal he ever scored was a controversial one, that won the Stars the Cup in 1999. Later in his career he won another cup in 2002 with the Red Wings, along side two other players that will be on this list Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman. Hull holds a dual citizenship, but played internationally for the USA, highlighted by a World Cup title in 1996 and an Olympic Silver in 2002. Hull’s best season was in 1990 – 1991 when he scored an amazing 86 goals, he scored 50 plus goals 5 times in his career. Brett Hull will not be over looked next and will go into the Hall, on his first year on eligibility.

Brian Leech – Leech is quite possibly the best American born player of all time, and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. He was a tremendous offensive defenseman, who could make something out of nothing on the ice. He won the Norris Trophy as the leagues top defenseman twice and the Conn Smyth as playoff MVP in 1994. He also was the rookie of the year in 1989 and is only one of a handful of defenseman to score 100 points in a season. Leech will always be remembered as a New York Ranger, he played 17 seasons with the blue shirts, before finishing his career with Toronto and Boston. His best season was 1991 -1992 when he recorded more then 20 goals and 102 points on the season. He owns multiple Ranger records including most goals by a defenseman, most career assists and most points by a defenseman. Leech was an 11 time all star and retired with 1028 points which will easily get him into the Hall on his first try. Brain Leech might be the best player to ever play for the New York Rangers.

Luc Robitaille - “Lucky Luc”, is one of the most under rated players in NHL history. Luc is widely remember for his 14 seasons he played for the Los Angeles Kings, but he also played in Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York. He is the highest scoring left winger in the history of the National Hockey League. Robitaille won the Calder Trophy as the leagues top rookie in 1987 when he scored more then 40 goals in rookie campaign. Luc went on to score 40 plus goals 8 times in his career, highlighted by 63 goals in the 1992 – 1993 season. Four times Luc had more then 100 points in a season and retired with more then 1300 for his career. He was an 8 time all star and won a Stanley along side many great Hall of Fame players in Detroit in 2002. Luc Robitaille was a great NHL player, and although he probably didn’t get the recognition of Yzerman, Hull and Leech he deserves to go in the Hall along side them.

Being enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame is a tremendous honor that can cap off a terrific career. All four of these players have earned the right to be along greats like Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille all celebrated a Stanley Cup together in 2002, and now it is time for them to celebrate together again.

The Coach - There will be a short list of coaches for this team, but you can be assured the management team will make the right decision. Obviously with Yzerman and Holland making the decisions Red Wing coach Mike Babcock will be at the top of this list. Don’t over look Wayne Gretzky, if he wants to coach this team, it will be hard to say no. Other guys who will be in the mix is Ken Hitchcock, Pat Quinn, Guy Carbonneau, Lindy Ruff and Brent Sutter. For my money I would think Babcock will be the coach if he wants it, look for Hitchcock to be involved as well.

Forward Lines – This is where it become fun, Canada in very deep up front and the executives will have to try and find the best mix. Its not all about talent, they will need to find some players who can play in all situations. Well I think the top line will be Sydney Crosby at center and a couple wingers who you think he can get the best out of. I think all Canadians will love to see Jerome Iginla on the right side of Crosby. A healthy Simon Gagne would look very good on the left side and create a fantastic first line. The second line would centered by Vincent Lecavalier in my opinion and would be joined by Rick Nash playing left wing and Danny Heatley on the right. As the second line these three will be big and physical, and able to create a lot of offense. On the third line I would make it a little bit more of a checking line with Flyers captain Mike Richards as its center. Joining Richards would be physical players Shane Doan and Brendan Morrow, all three can penalty kill and play a physical game. The fourth line is where the tough decisions will have to be made, Canada will need to pick guys who can play a role and contribute when needed. If San Jose all star Joe Thornton is willing to play a role he will be the fourth line center. Martin St. Louis can play in all spots and is a good penalty killer which will get him a spot on this line playing right wing. Much like St. Louis under rated Sabres forward Derek Roy will make this team.

Line 1        Gagne        Crosby    Iginla
Line 2        Nash        Lecavalier    Heatley
Line 3        Doan        Richards    Morrow
Line 4        Roy        Thornton    St. Louis

Defense - The defense will be a mix of young and veteran players. Canada is not as deep on the back end as they are up front, but they still have a tone of talent. The group will be led in my opinion by tough physical defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Chris Pronger. For offence Team Canada will look at young exciting Capitols D-man Mike Green and veteran puck mover Dan Boyle. The third pairing will open for competition over the next year and I think Wild defenseman Brent Burns will earn one of the spots. Jay Boumeester will join Burns to make the final pairing.

Pairing 1    Phaneuf    Pronger
Pairing 2    Green        Boyle
Pairing 3    Burns        Boumeester

Goalies - The top two goalies are very easy to figure out, Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo are locks for this team. The third goalie will probably be the goalie who is playing the best at the time, look for Marty Turco to be picked because of his team Canada experience.

Obviously this is my opinion and there are a lot of players left to fight it out for the roster filling spots. Its important to note that if Joe Sakic and Scott Niedermayer are still playing next season there is a good chance they will be on this team. Team Canada knows the value of experience, that is a role Yzerman himself played for team Canada in the later years of his career. There are some notable players not of my list, who I think will battle it out for the final roster spots. Jason Spezza, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Jonathon Toews, Eric Staal and Ryan Smyth will fight to make the forward lines. On defense guys like Shea Weber, Brian Campbell, Sheldon Souray, Wade Redden and Marc Staal will be in the mix for jobs. Goalies in the mix for the final roster spot will be JS Giguere, Carey Price and Marc Andre Fleury.

Hockey Canada is very deep and will be interesting to see the decisions that need to be made over the next year. Its been said that Canada could put two teams into these tournaments that could compete a world class levels. It’s a long time from now still and this list will change, and some players will earn there way into the conversation over this season. Its fun to look at and I am sure the Olympic hockey tournament will be the highlight of the games. These are my opinions and I am sure a lot of people have different ones, but will all know Canada will have a deep team and will be there to compete with the best in the world.

#5 Steve Yzerman – A lifetime Red Wing, “ Stevie Wonder” amassed 1,755 points in his career with 692 goals. Yzerman was the Red Wings first round pick 4th overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft and was an immediate contributor scoring 87 points in his rookie campaign. Steve was undersized, but he had the heart of a lion. Early in his career Steve was known as a gifted offensive player, recording 155 points while winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy. As the leader of the Detroit Red Wings, Yzerman changed his game in the 90’s, becoming a threat on the defensive end. In order to win the Stanley Cup Steve worked hard on his defensive game with the help of legendary coach Scotty Bowman. In 2000 Yzerman won the Frank Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the game. Over his career Steve Yzerman won three Stanley Cups (‘97,’98,2002) winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1998 as the top player in the playoffs. “Stevie Wonder” sits 5th all time in league scoring and is known as one the best leaders ever.

#4 Phil Esposito – Phil played in the league from 1963-1964 until 1980-1981 recording 1,590 points good for eighth all time. Esposito led the league in scoring five times and won the Hart trophy as league MVP in 1969 and 1974. His most productive year was in 1970-1971 when he recorded 76 goals and 76 assists for 155 points with a plus ranking of 71. He spent time with three franchises the Chicago Blackhawks (4 years), the Boston Bruins (9 years) and the New York Rangers (6 years) to end out his career. Phil was a leader for Canada in the 1972 summit series, one the best moments in Canadian hockey history. During the summit series Esposito led Canada with 7 goals and 13 points in an 8 game series against Russia. Phil was a great playoff performer recording 137 points in a career 130 playoff games.

#3 Marcel Dionne - Marcel played his first season with the Detroit Red Wings in 1971-1972, but is well known as a Los Angeles King where he played 12 seasons. Fourth all time in scoring as a center, Dionne had 731 career goals and 1,771 career points. Marcel was known as a sniper firing shots from all over the ice and recorded over 230 power play goals over his illustrious career. He won the Art Ross in 1980 as the leagues leading scorer when he recorded 53 goals and 137 points. Playing in Los Angeles Dionne didn’t have the playoff success as the rest of the guys on this list only playing 49 career playoff games. Marcel represented his home country Canada through out his career in Canada Cups. It would have been nice to see Marcel Dionne play in more meaningful NHL games, we will never know how great he could have been. His downfall will always be that he never played more then 10 playoff games within a single season and no Stanley Cups.

#2 Mario Lemieux – “Super Mario” cannot be over looked as maybe the bast talent the NHL has ever seen. He battled injuries and illness throughout his career and played less games then anyone else on this list. He only played 915 games and still recorded 1,723 career points. He was drafted 1st overall in 1984 and played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He won the Calder Trophy that year and went on to lead the Penguins to two Stanley Cup titles. No doubt his best season was in 1988-1989 when he recorded an astonishing 199 points with 85 goals and 114 assists. Lemieux was big and he had great hands and scored highlight goals seemingly in every game he played in. Mario also led Team Canada to an Olympic Gold Medal in 2002 along side another person on this list Steve Yzerman. Injuries and cancer caused Lemieux to retire from hockey after the 1997 season, but he made a triumphant return in 2000. Who knows if it wasn’t for the injuries and missed time we might talk about Mario Lemieux as the best player to ever lace up skates.

#1 Wayne Gretzky - Surprise, Surprise the “Great One” is at the top of this list. Wayne is the most productive player in NHL history, from the day he entered the NHL he was the best player on the ice. The career leader points Gretzky had 894 goals, 1963 assists and 2,857 points throughout his record smashing career. He won the Hart trophy as league MVP nine times and was by far the best player in the NHL throughout the ‘80’s. Its hard to say what his best season was, he recorded three straight years of 200 or more points between 1983-1987. He scored a career high 92 goals in the 1981-1982. He also was a great playoff performer winning the Conn Smythe for top performer in the playoffs twice, and recorded a career 382 playoff points. “The Great One” led the league in scoring 10 times and led the league in plus/minus four times. Wayne is the best player to ever play and I could go on forever listing his career records and highlights.

I would be remised if I didn’t mention some of the players who easily could have made this list, Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Stan Mikita, Joe Sakic, Alex Delvecchio and Bryan Trottier All of these players are hall of famers and are big part of NHL history