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

The Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is awarded to the champion of the NHL, Lord Stanley’s Cup is obviously the most important award the National Hockey League hands out.

The Hart Trophy

The Hart is the NHL’s version of the Most Valuable Player in the league. A little different then most professional sports leagues the award is for the player who is most valuable to his team. The original trophy was donated to the league in 1923, and can be found in Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Wayne Gretzky won eight straight Hart’s between 1980 – 1987, Sydney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin won it the last two years respectively.

The Vezina Trophy

This is the goalie trophy, handed out to the net minder who has been the best that season. The trophy is a memorial to great Canadians goalie George Vezina and has been awarded annually since 1927. Martin Brodeur has won the award four of the last five seasons and the great Patrick Roy won the trophy three times.

The Calder Trophy

The NHL’s best rookie is awarded the Calder Trophy at years end. The trophy is named after Frank Calder, a former president of the National Hockey League. A lot of NHL greats have won this award and over history a lot of Hall of Famers win the Calder in there first season. NHL greats Terry Sawchuk, Bobby Orr, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg have all won the trophy. Last year Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane won the Calder.

The Jack Adams Trophy

The coach judged to be the best that season wins the Jack Adams award. Jack Adams the man was a coach and manager in the Red Wings organization and the trophy was donated by NHL broadcasters. A lot of great coaches have won this award including Don Cherry, Scotty Bowman and Pat Burns. Last year there was a surprise winner when Washington Capitols head coach Bruce Boudreau took home the award.

The Norris Trophy

Named for the late owner and president of the Detroit Red Wings James Norris. The award is handed out annually to the leagues top defenceman. In recent history the award had been dominated by future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom who has won the award an amazing six of the last seven years. Bobby Orr won the trophy a record eight times and Ray Bourque won it five times.

The Art Ross Trophy

This trophy is not voted on, it is given to the player who records the most points in the season. Art Ross a manger with the Boston Bruins donated the trophy in 1947. Guy Lafleur won the award three straight years in the 1970’s, Wayne Gretzky won the award an amazing ten times and Jaromir Jagr won it five times. Along with the Hart Alex Ovechkin won the Art Ross last season.

The Selke Trophy

The best defensive forward in the NHL is awarded the Selke Trophy. The award is in honor of Frank Selke who managed great NHL championship teams. The first four times the trophy was handed out it was won by Montreal Canadiens great Bob Gainey who was an excellent defensive forward. In recent years the award has been won by players like Steve Yzerman in 2000, Michael Peca in 2002 and Pavel Datsyuk last season.

Lester B. Pearson Trophy

The trophy is named after former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson, and has awarded since 1971. This is a special award to a lot of players because it is voted by the players themselves. The players vote who they think the most valuable player of the league is. Last year it was won by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby won in 2007. Dominik Hasek won the award in back to back years in 1997 – 1998 and Phil Esposito won the first award in 1971.

There are plenty more awards the NHL hands out, Maurice Richard Trophy (top goal scorer), Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship), Masterton Memorial Trophy (dedication to hockey) and the Jennings Trophy (fewest goals against average).

Teams can also receive awards like the Presidents’ Trophy (top regular season team), Clarence Campbell Bowl (western conference winners) and the Prince of Wales Trophy (eastern conference champions).

You can find all these trophies displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The National Hockey league does a great job honoring its players. The league celebrates its past and respects all the people who were involved in the game. These trophies are ingrained in the game and young players dream of winning some of these awards. Most of these awards have a lot of history some of which have been around since the 1920’s. To win an award and look at the engraved names and see NHL icons and your idols alike. The National Hockey League treats its players like true celebrities on award night which is truly unique to the league. To be a true hockey fan you need to respect the past, because without the greats of this game there would be no game. If you have a chance check out the Hockey Hall of Fame, you will find this game is full of great stories and emotions and you will not be disappointed.