St. Louis, Giroux left off Team Canada Roster

After much anticipation, Steve Yzerman and his crew finally announced the squadron of players they'll be taking to Sochi. Here's a look at what their roster will look like:

Kunitz Crosby Stamkos
Tavares Getzlaf Perry
Sharp Toews Nash
Duchene Bergeron Marleau
Benn Carter

Keith Weber
Pietrangelo Bouwmeester
Subban Doughty
Vlasic Hamuis

Luongo
Price
Smith

Wow. What a star-studded team. Scoring? Check. Speed? Yup. Size? Got it. Faceoff skill? The best. Can you even imagine what the powerplay is going to look like? Good luck on the penalty kill when you're facing a group featuring Crosby, Stamkos, Tavares, Sharp, and Keith.

One thing that drives me crazy, however, is the lack of respect that Martin St. Louis still gets in this league. He led the league in scoring LAST YEAR with 60 points in 48 games in the lockout-shortened season. He has 787 points in 740 games since the '03-'04 season. To be undrafted and undersized and go on to play in 6 All Star games, 2 Art Ross trophies, and MVP, a Stanley Cup, and a Lester B. Pearson award for Most Gentlemanly Player is absolutely the kind of guy you want representing your team in the Olympics. It's a travesty that he's not there.

Claude Giroux is also top 10 forward in all of hockey and is a leader, so I'm a little baffled to see what Jamie Benn or Jeff Carter offers that he doesn't. Oh, well.

The defense is very well-rounded as well. I'm glad they didn't just pick "sexy" names like Kris Letang or Dan Boyle and got some reliable back-enders who can play good d and log minutes in Vlasic and Bouwmeester. Confused by the lack of Brent Seabrook, as well.

The only possible weakness is the goalie situation, though that could end up being their biggest strength. Truth be told, Luongo was phenomenal on the Olympic stage in Vancouver and it should be his job for that reason alone, and if he loses it then Carey Price is very capable of being the best goalie in the world.

I don't understand the Mike Smith pick, though. He hasn't been too great this year, and I would rather see a guy like Bernier or Crawford, who very might well be their 1-2 next time around, get some experience of at least being there.

All in all, this team will likely win the Gold. I'd be absolutely shocked if they didn't medal in some fashion. But I'll be watching and of course if Bergeron wins it again, who can be angry?