If they can remain at their current level of play, I'd definitely bring back five players selected to this year's main team: Sakic, Smyth, Niedermayer, Brodeur and Luongo. Sakic is still one of the best centres in the game, and he'll be 41 when Vancouver rolls around, but if he can still contribute in some way, I'd pick him as at least the 13th forward or a Taxi Squad guy. This team lacked leaders, and we can't afford to lose any more good leaders. Smyth was one of the few things that went right with this team. I really feel bad for him, because you could see he really wanted to win. He'll be 34 in 2010, but should still be playing at a pretty high level. Niedermayer and Brodeur will be in their late 30s. Niedermayer is still one of the best in the business, and as long as he retains his speed and smarts, will be very valuable for Canada. Brodeur was far from the problem. He'll still be thriving. Luongo has shown he can handle clutch situations for Canada before.
We had a much younger roster than 2002. The problem is the guys we needed to step up, those drafted between 1995 and 2000, did not. Doan's the only one I was satisfied with, and he's far from a lock to come back. IMO, Iginla, Thornton, Gagne, Richards, Lecavalier and Heatley all need to show me something between now and 2010 to be brought back. Same thing with defence. Redden went from one of the best defencemen at last year's Worlds to a liability. He needs to do something to be brought back.
Barring a major regression in their development, Staal and Crosby will be on Canada in 2010. They'll both be top 5 or 10 players in the league. Nash will be at his peak by then and likely back, too. Spezza will have hopefully developed some kind of a work ethic and winning attitude. Some of our vaunted 1985-born players - Bergeron and M. Richards and maybe even Carter or Horton - could be on this team. Guys who will be 30-ish in 2010 who weren't on this team - Marleau, Morrow and Tanguay come to mind - might also be there. And the players on this year's team between the ages of 25 and 30 who did disappoint could find their way back onto the team, but they won't be guaranteed spaces. Esposito and Tavares would be wildcards. (Espo will be the same age in 2010 as Staal is now. Tavares missed being eligible for the 2008 draft by just a week).
On defence, as stated before, if Niedermayer's still at the top of his game, he deserves one more tournament. If Pronger is healthy (that foot injury really hampered him) and still among the top five in the game, he'll be back. Boyle will be 34 by then, so we'll see how he holds up. He hasn't played a ton of NHL hockey yet, so he doesn't have as much wear and tear as some other 30-year-olds. Phaneuf will be a lock. Bouwmeester will likely be a lock. Again, a couple of our 1985-born defencemen - Weber and Seabrooke - if they hit a big leap in their development, could be there. Hamhuis and Stuart, with continued improvements, will get a long look. Even a guy like Brewer, who has always been brilliant for Canada, if he regains his form, could be there. Don't rule out Redden or Regehr. Derek Morris would need to regain his 2002-03 form, and then build on that, to gain consideration.
Brodeur and Luongo have earned the chance to come back. That leaves a very large glut of goalies battling it out for the No. 3 spot, including some very impressive 1984-born netminders.
