The Canadian men's Olympic team was announced today and there were a couple of interesting tie-ins to the the Winnipeg Jets. Quentin Howden who had a contract with the Jets last season but finished in the minors and is a local from OakBank MB, just outside of Winnipeg is one of the forwards while former Jet/IceCap Eric O'Dell also makes the team.

Continuing with connections to Winnipeg, former Canucks property and Manitoba Moose player Mason Raymond also made the team too.

As for the roster- it's actually better than I thought it would be and based the experience of various players it makes for an intriguing team. The wild card will be what Wille Desjardins and assistants Dave King, Scott Walker, and Craig Woodcraft are able to do with this group.

Some simple questions that will be answered once the tournament starts.

Was this team built with the same level of understanding of roster that past teams have been built on?

What role will each player be taking on special teams?

How will they determine the starting goalie and backups?

Line combos and defence pairings?

In some ways this 'watered down' version of the team is far more intriguing because it is unknown in so many ways. These are not familiar names from current rosters, they are the past really and while none were stars there are a few who had some promise. Nonetheless I like this team better than the American roster and it will be interesting to see how the two compare.

For reference this was Canada's Olympic roster in the last non-NHL Olympics- 1994.

Mark Astley
Adrian Aucoin
David Harlock
Corey Hirsch
Todd Hlushko
Greg Johnson
Fabian Joseph
Paul Kariya
Chris Kontos
Manny Legacé
Ken Lovsin
Derek Mayer
Petr Nedvěd
Dwayne Norris
Greg Parks
Allain Roy
Jean-Yves Roy
Brian Savage
Brad Schlegel
Wally Schreiber
Chris Therien
Todd Warriner
Brad Werenka

Both Blake Wheeler and Connor Hellebuyck were named to the NHL All-Star roster for the Central division- both are deserved and the right choice and fans should be happy for them. Now catch the 'flu' and get some rest right before then!

As for the Jets they will go into Chicago tomorrow night with the same roster as they had vs Buffalo. Paul Maurice confirmed that both Adam Lowry and Branden Tanev were not ready to return to action yet. That means Shawn Matthias and Jack Roslovic will be in the line up unless something changes and there is a reason insert the recently called up Brendan Lemieux.

The last time the Jets played the Blackhawks it was a home game for the Jets and the Blackhawks out-classed them from start to finish in a 5-1 win. That game other than the one vs the Islander may be the only stinker the Jets have played in some time. That's a good thing but that was with Mark Scheifele.

Speaking of Scheifele he is ahead of schedule on his rehab and expected to be hitting the weight room next week to begin training under supervision.

Go Canada go!

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