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Crosby out, Bertuzzi in as Canada announces hockey team

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 21:18 CST

TORONTO (Reuters) - Rookie sensation Sidney Crosby was left off Canada's Olympic hockey team while controversial forward Todd Bertuzzi was selected to make the trip to Turin as the defending gold medallists unveiled their Winter Games lineup on Wednesday.

Suspended for 17 months for a brutal on-ice attack that left Colorado Avalanche's Steve Moore with a broken neck, Bertuzzi's inclusion on the Olympic squad was one of the few mild surprises as Canada opted for a mostly experienced lineup to defend the title it won in Salt Lake City.

The makeup of Canada's men's team had been the subject of national debate for weeks leading up to the announcement that was carried live on the country's three sports networks.

That debate is sure to continue among hockey-mad Canadians in the final weeks leading up to Turin with Crosby, the most hyped rookie since Wayne Gretzky, being overlooked despite a superb debut season and a personal endorsement from Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame captain and owner Mario Lemieux, who made the 18-year-old the number one pick in this year's NHL draft.

"It's never an easy task," said Kevin Lowe, Team Canada's assistant executive director, while making the announcement at Vancouver's GM Place. "We talked this morning and there's a good chance that it could be Sidney leading this team in 2010.

"But this time we wanted to go with proven veteran players."

Lemieux, who captained Canada to gold four years ago, was among those left off the squad having ruled himself out after being admitted to hospital earlier this month with an irregular heartbeat.

TEN HOLDOVERS

The 23-member team will include 10 holdovers from the 2002 Olympics, where Canada ended a 50-year gold medal drought with a win over the United States in the final.

Goaltender Martin Brodeur, defencemen Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, and forwards Simon Gagne, Jarome Iginla, Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth will form the nucleus of the squad.

Problems could lie ahead for Canada's management team even before they arrive in Turin.

A story in the Toronto Globe and Mail on Wednesday, said that the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), which has final say in all team selections, was disturbed at the possibility having Bertuzzi, Shane Doan and Dany Heatley being named to the men's squad and could keep all three from playing at the Olympics.

According to the Globe and Mail report, the COC has concerns about Bertuzzi's attack on Moore that led to the power forward pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm in a British Columbia court and one-year probation.

Heatley has also had well publicized brushes with law, pleading guilty to multiple charges in a vehicular homicide case stemming from a car crash that resulted in the death of his then Atlanta Thrashers team mate Dan Snyder.

Doan has recently come under the microscope for allegedly uttering a racial slur at a French referee at the end of a game between his Phoenix Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens.

Much of the festive mood surrounding the ceremony was diluted by the absence of Gretzky, the man widely regarded as the architect of Canada's win in Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup.

Gretzky was unable to attend the announcement, the 'Great One' remaining at his family home in Brantford, Ontario, following the death of his mother Phyllis on Monday.

Source: REUTERS

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