Why did Canada fail at 2006 Olympics?

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Canada actually played well against Russia but Nabokov had a great game and Russia was strong that year.

 

[Pavel10]

Deviated from taking the best players strategy like 2002. Wanted to build an 82 game reg season team with guys like smyth regher and draper.

 

[MadLuke]

It was not 1991 leaving Yzerman home or Messier in 1998 (Oates-Francis at other moments)

Who outside rookies in their prime, healthy, did Canada leave out.

Spezza-Staal traveled.

Marc Savard, Cheechoom, old Kariya ?

Of the top 15 Canadian players with the most points in the 2006-2007 season:

Thornton
Crosby
Heatley
Savard
Sakic
Lecavalier
Spezza
Staal
Marleau
St-Louis
McDonald
Cheechoo
Iginla
Kariya
Richards


The rooki Crosby, Savard, McDonald, Cheechoo, Kariya missed. Cheechoo-Crosby season start were not like the second half.

Lot of player picked over the left out of that list were not less talented (Nash, Gagne), maybe Boyle would help with no Niedermayer but him and Campbell are not like not having Coffey or Bourque like of some previous teams.


Changing the Draper, Smyth for Brind'amour, Smyth for that version of Kariya, you still have that group playing defense... put the 2010 or 2014 Canada Ds in there, change Sakic and Iginla for their 2002 version, Brad richards for Olympics Toews, Bertuzzi for a big time scorer and Draper-Smyth-Doan do not look like an issue anymore

 

[VanIslander]

To the op's query:

Us Canadians were still high from '02 and didn't feel the existential need again until '10 in Vancouver.

 

[MadLuke]

Yet 2014 they won by getting scored like only 3 goals during the whole tourney (could be a change in the quality of intl competition too).

A lot of those players were not on the 2002 winning squad (Thornton-Lecavalier-StLouis-Richards-Bertuzzi-Nash-Heatley)..

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Luongo should have started every game.

 

[Crosby2010]

Luongo should have started every game.

Brodeur, and goaltending in general, was definitely not the issue for Canada at the time. In fact it was the only thing I would say wasn't the issue.

It was not 1991 leaving Yzerman home or Messier in 1998 (Oates-Francis at other moments)

Who outside rookies in their prime, healthy, did Canada leave out.

Spezza-Staal traveled.

Marc Savard, Cheechoom, old Kariya ?

Of the top 15 Canadian players with the most points in the 2006-2007 season:

Thornton
Crosby
Heatley
Savard
Sakic
Lecavalier
Spezza
Staal
Marleau
St-Louis
McDonald
Cheechoo
Iginla
Kariya
Richards


The rooki Crosby, Savard, McDonald, Cheechoo, Kariya missed. Cheechoo-Crosby season start were not like the second half.

Lot of player picked over the left out of that list were not less talented (Nash, Gagne), maybe Boyle would help with no Niedermayer but him and Campbell are not like not having Coffey or Bourque like of some previous teams.


Changing the Draper, Smyth for Brind'amour, Smyth for that version of Kariya, you still have that group playing defense... put the 2010 or 2014 Canada Ds in there, change Sakic and Iginla for their 2002 version, Brad richards for Olympics Toews, Bertuzzi for a big time scorer and Draper-Smyth-Doan do not look like an issue anymore

I would say that if you added Crosby, Staal and put Boyle on the back end it changes the dynamic a bit more. Do we win? I don't know, because there were other issues at play, but you do add some firepower. You add a mobile defenseman who carries the puck. That's huge. That was sorely lacking.

 

[The Panther]

Paul Kariya really stands out to me as a ridiculous exclusion from the (rather anemic) 2006 forward group. He was not "old" then, as someone said, but was 31 and in the middle of a great season. He was captain and leading scorer of his great NHL club that year, and he certainly had the skill-set needed on the large ice surface. An absurd omission.

 

[MadLuke]

He was not "old" then, as someone said

Kariya became "old" Kariya really early in his career, his last top 10 in points was in 2000 and he never got close after 2003.

By old meant not a similar situation to 1998 Kariya missing the team.

 

[sr edler]

Because their team wasn't good enough.