The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Hearing the news Steve Yzerman will be the General Manager for the 2007 Team Canada World Championship team makes you think he just might hold onto that GM job for the 2010 Olympics.

One of the finest players ever to don the skates in the NHL, it makes sense for him to take his knowledge from his 20+ years of experience in the league and mold together what he would think would be the winning formula for Team Canada. Only thing is, where does this leave Wayne Gretzky?

Gretzky orchestrated the 2002 Team Canada gold medal, and perhaps the man most directly responsible for their victory who didn't actually play a single game. The 2006 Olympics, however, were a huge disappointment for Team Canada, mustering out a 6th place finish when it was expected (and rightfully so) Canada would defend their gold successfully.

It was noted Canada elected not to ice the best players, but rather reward those who played on previous teams. Gretzky and the coaching staff picked players like Martin St Louis & Todd Bertuzzi who were having sub-par seasons, and leaving guys like Eric Staal and Jason Spezza off their roster simply because of their age. This was not an issue in 2002, where Gretzky put Iginla on the roster because he played himself onto it. Simon Gagne was creating waves Philadelphia and allowed to play even though he was only 22 years old. These moves all made sense, but were thrown out the door in 2006.

Yzerman in a GM role has the advantage that he would not feel he "owes" anybody a roster spot, the exact opposite of the way perhaps Gretzky feels. It's entirely possible Gretz could go back to his 2002 thinking to create a strong Team Canada, and maybe the two will work together (and maybe throw in Mario Lemieux for good measure. I don't think a management team comprising of Gretzky, Yzerman and Lemieux could have much more prestige & hockey knowledge). It will be interesting to see how Yzerman does in the this Spring's World Championships, because make no mistake, this is pretty much an audition for the 2010 job in Vancouver.