There are several players here with extremely bright futures in the NHL (should the NHL actually have a future, thank you, Gary "Weasel" Bettman):
- Jeff Carter was the heart of this team. He's got phenomenal hands and great hockey sense. Philadelphia will be glad to see him suit up.
- Ryan Getzlaf combines offensive talent, a sound two-way positional game, and never-say-die fortitude. What more could you ask of a player?
- Dion Phaneuf, Calgary property, could step into the National Hockey League tomorrow as a top-two defenseman on most any team and not look out of place in the slightest. He presents a wall to oncoming forwards...a hard wall...and he's got a bullet of a shot, to boot. His partner, Shea Weber, is nearly as good. Highly impressive duo.
- Patrice Bergeron: what can you say about a guy who gave a good accounting of himself in Boston last year as an NHL rookie? The man will only improve, and should be a star player for years to come.
- Finally, Sidney Crosby. Wayne Gretzky is on record as saying Crosby could break several of his records. Much as I respect the Great One, he's wrong here. Sidney Crosby is a good player. Maybe even a great player. He's got an edge to his game that Wayne never had, but he lags behind Wayne in skill at this point. Besides, without radical rule changes, we'll never see the kind of wide-open game that Gretzky was able to exploit and bend to his will ever again. Nevertheless, Crosby's eight goals stood him in good stead in this tournament, and there's no doubt he's got moves that many players his age haven't even thought of.
I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fine contributions made by every other member of the team, including coach Sutter, who was the perfect choice to run the bench this year. He molded Team Canada in his own hard-nosed image, and it showed.
Great going, guys. Thanks for making the only hockey I saw this year exceptional.
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