The Thornton-Heatley Connection And Team Canada

Hockey-obsessed Canada has a penchant for premature prognosticating, and the Olympics have been a topic of choice in that respect. As early as last Christmas or even earlier, hockey pundits were already publically hypothesizing about the next Canadian Olympic hockey team roster, which will take to the ice in February of 2010.

Some names (Crosby, Nash, Iginla, Getzlaf, Brodeur, Luongo) have been on every list, while those on defense and the bottom-two lines have varied.

The Ballad of Baby Joe

Joe Thornton, who has made a habit of scoring 90 points or more (doing so 3 of the last 4 years), has not been mentioned in the same breath as the other top Canadian centres in the pursuit of a roster spot. And although centre ice is the deepest position for Canada, you’d expect Joe’s name to be a larger part of the discussion.

Sidney Crosby is the obvious choice for your #1 role, while Getzlaf and Richards have appeared on most projected lineups. Toews, Lecavalier, Staal (x2), Savard, Carter and Thornton have appeared on others.

Perhaps it’s Thornton’s playoff woes and San Jose’s lack of post-season success that’s causing the public to perceive him as a loser non-winner.

Dany Heat-Sauce and the Summer of Controversy

The 28-year-old native of Germany has never been among the most popular superstars in the NHL, and he did nothing to reverse that when he publically demanded a trade from Ottawa and refused to comment on the matter until the Canadian Olympic camp.

After nixing a trade to Edmonton (presumably because it’s too cold there or because the Oilers aren’t contenders), Bryan Murray was able to coordinate a trade with the Sharks, who were the team originally suspected to be Heatley’s destination of choice.

Heatley’s performance last year was below standard, as he scored only 72 points and 39 goals in an overall messy year with the Sens. His inclusion on Team Canada’s 2010 roster has not been absolutely unanimous amongst the hockey community thus far, though he is a probable choice. Although Heatley has twice scored 50 goals, the names Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Jarome Iginla have been ahead of him in the discussion of top-line wingers to play beside Crosby and Getzlaf.

Synergy in San Jose

Team Canada management has been clear about the fact that orientation camp was just a first step in choosing a team. They’ve also told the Marc Savard’s of the NHL that a close eye will be kept on the opening months of regular season action, to assess who is performing and who is failing to. Certain players that seemed like no-doubters a month ago can be reconsidered and replaced by those who are tearing it up heading into Christmas.

And in the spirit of ‘what have you done for me lately?’, Dany and Joe have leapt to the front of the pack and made themselves noticed. Lining up as a forward unit along with Devin Setoguchi, Heatley and Thornton each have 10 points in 6 contests, and Heatley was additionally named the NHL’s First Star of the Week.

Think for a moment about the 2006 edition of Team Canada, a team that failed to gel and could barely muster offense versus lesser talent. The ‘name’ players were in the lineup, yet there was no spark between them — as a result, Canada left the games hanging their heads, and without a medal.

Now consider the value of chemistry — an asset that cannot be undervalued in short tournaments. The way Dany and Joe are producing in tandem, Yzerman & co. are surely taking note.

Heatley has never played with a playmaker as skilled as Joe, and Joe has never before had the privilege of setting up a sniper of Dany’s calibur. It’s an intriguing pair, one that could conceivably do even more damage with an upgrade on right wing. Nobody’s knocking Devin Setoguchi, but a Heatley-Thornton-Iginla line might not be bad.

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