I think we can all say with some certainty, that in no other country is hockey as important as it is in Canada. Canadians eat, drink and breathe the sport, Canada produces more NHL players than any other part of the globe. So it is easy to imagine the debate raging in the great white north over who Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman will select to take part in the 2010 Olympics.

You can't get very far these days without turning on a TV, radio or opening a newspaper and being bombarded with which players a particular columnist/host thinks should make the team. Hell, watch a game for a couple of periods and by the end you likely will hear a coach or player making a plea for their teammate to be included on the roster.

So, being that this is a fantasy hockey blog, I thought this might be an ample opportunity to try a little experiment. If we went by fantasy rankings only, which players would make the team and which ones would miss the cut? For this exercise, we will use the typical 5x5 scoring system which includes goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes and power-play points for skaters. We blended rankings from several sites to come up with a composite fantasy ranking system to determine who should really lace them up come February.

Centers

Sidney Crosby, Pit

Joe Thornton, SJ

Ryan Getzlaf, Ana

Mike Richards, Phi

Notes: I'll be surprised if Yzerman's group of centers looks much different when they take to the ice in Vancouver. Crosby, Thornton and Getzlaf were early favorites to fill these roles before the season began and have all but locked up those spots thanks to strong play to start the season. They form a big, strong and talented group down the middle that will be unrivaled in the tournament. The only wrinkle amongst my “fab fantasy four” is Richards. He's included here because we count penalty minutes and plus/minus as equally as goals and assists in the fantasy world. In reality, he has likely played his way off the real team Canada with his relatively poor offensive showing to start the NHL campaign.

Left Wingers

Rick Nash, Cls

Dany Heatley, SJ

Patrick Marleau, SJ

Dustin Penner, Edm

Notes: Once again the top tier of players at this position were nearly locks heading into training camp in the summer. Nash and Heatley, aside from being great players in NHL games have performed admirably for Canada in international competition. Nash has a host of highlight reel performances in World Championships and Heatley is Canada's all-time international scoring leader. Our fantasy list starts to alter a bit from reality with the last two men on our LW roster. Patrick Marleau has most definitely played himself onto the Olympic team, but not likely as the left winger he is listed as in fantasy. Team Canada coach Mike Babcock will almost definitely move Marleau to the right side and place him on a line with Heatley and Thornton. In a two week tournament instant chemistry is important and these three Sharks will be able to provide that. Finally, Penner is another who, from a fantasy standpoint should be on this team, but likely won't for other reasons. He is currently tied for ninth in the NHL in goals and has a healthy amount of assists, PIM and power-play points to go along with a strong plus minus. He has been your typical five category stud. The only issue is experience and he has never played this well before.

Right Wingers

Jarome Iginla, Cal

Corey Perry, Ana

Martin St. Louis, TB

Nathan Horton, Fla

Notes: This has to be the toughest position to predict and in reality only Iginla is a lock to make this team. He has represented Canada at the Olympics twice already and will provide strong leadership amongst a group of relatively young forwards. Following that, the group of “real” right wingers is a crap-shoot. We probably will see Marleau move over to RW and at least another center (likely someone with a shoot first mentality like a Jeff Carter) play on the right side. That leaves only one other spot open for Team Canada. But, for our fantasy purposes we'll settle with three players who have had strong seasons thus far and would be good enough to play on any other team in the tournament. Perry has the best chance to make the team and could well be lined up beside fellow Duck Getzlaf.

Defensemen

Mike Green, Was

Dan Boyle, SJ

Drew Doughty, LA

Chris Pronger, Phi

Duncan Kieth, Chi

Stephane Robidas, Dal

Notes: This is where our list will differ greatly from Yzerman's. In fantasy we, of course, give greater value to defensemen who are able to contribute offensively and generally ignore those who eat up a large amount of minutes and have defense first mentalities. That obviously wouldn't fly on the ice and would add up to a quick exit from the tournament. For that reason only one or two of Green, Boyle and Doughty will be named to the team depending on how much offense Yzerman wants on the blue-line once Scott Niedermayer is factored in. In reality Kieth and Robidas are long-shots to make the team since Jay Bouwmeester and Robyn Regehr are so strong defensively.

Goalies

Martin Brodeur, NJ

Roberto Luongo, Van

Notes: Surprise, surprise, I guess we can determine the value of goalies pretty well in the fantasy world!

Now we can wait and see how closely our fantasy based roster will be to the real roster once it is announced after Christmas. Let the experiment begin.