I think it's going to be a fairly young team again, as players jostle for a spot on Canada's Olympic team in 2010.
But I don't know if Ward will play. He'd be a natural, but he has a short off-season last year, got married, and hasn't had the same consistency as last year's playoffs. I think he'll take a pass on the tournament. It's in his best interests to have a nice, long off-season.
When I look at who's missing the playoffs in net (as of right now), the names that jump out are Ward, Curtis Joseph,
Manny Legace, Dwayne Roloson, Martin Biron and Andrew Raycroft. I think two of those guys will play for us. My guesses are Biron and Legace. And we might need a couple Legace-esque miracles at some point in the tournament. I think Alex Auld will be the No. 3. If Marc Denis misses the playoffs, he might also be a suitable No. 3.
The defence will have some of the usual suspects, starting with
Jay Bouwmeester. Has he ever said no to Canada in a non-Olympic year? Chicago has a trio of young defencemen -
Seabrooke, Keith and
Barker. I think one or two will be on the roster.
Andrew Ferrence from Boston would be a good fit for international play.
Brett Clark in Colorado, Jason Smith in Edmonton, Bryan Allen and Mike Van Ryn in Florida, international veteran Jamie Heward in LA, Braydon Coburn in Philly, Derek Morris in Phoenix and
Eric Brewer in St. Louis. If Tampa misses the playoffs, Dan Boyle would be a boon. Great international player. Mathieu Dandenault and Sheldon Souray would be be additions if Montreal misses. Same with Bryan McCabe in Toronto. I don't think Foote will be there, I think he'll rest up in the off-season, and after his performance in the Olympics, I think his days as part of Canada's international program are over. Too bad, he was an international star for us for nearly a decade. I don't think Rob Blake will play, either.
Up front,
Joe Sakic would be a terrific addition. But he's also in his late 30s, and I think he'll use the playoff elimination to rest. Wouldn't surprise me to see him play for Canada, but I'm not holding my breath.
Will this be the year that
Marc Savard finally cracks Team Canada? He's a world class playmaking centre. The question is whether he can do it on the international ice.
Once again, you're looking at the usual suspects:
Patrice Bergeron in Boston. Jeff Carter and Mike Richards in Philly.
Rick Nash in Columbus.
Mike Cammalleri in LA. Others to watch for: Savard,
Shean Donovan 
and Chuck Kobasew in Boston; Martin Lapointe in Chicago;
Andrew Brunette, Brett McLean and Ian Laperriere in
(WOLSKI) Colorado; Manny Malhotra and Jason Chimera in Columbus; Raffi Torres,
Shawn Horcoff, Joffrey Lupul and
Fernando Pisani in Edmonton;
Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss and Martin Gelinas in Florida;
Scottie Upshall and Simon Gagne in Philly;
Shane Doan and Steven Reinprecht in Phoenix; and
Brad Boyes and a slew of responsible grinders in St. Louis.
Carolina missing the playoffs would be a gold mine for Canada, but as I said with Ward, I think most of them would make use of the time off. Eric Staal is the only Hurricane that I think would play, since he could use the tournament as a pitch for 2010.
Other potential forwards on bubble playoff teams are Mike Johnson and Michael Ryder in Montreal; Mike Sillinger and Ryan Smyth on the Islanders; Brendan Shanahan on the Rangers; the Tampa trio of Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Marty St. Louis; and Darcy Tucker and Kyle Wellwood in Toronto.
