[OILFAN #81]

Preliminary Game #1 - 2010 Winter Olympic Games - The Quest for GOLD!
TEAM CANADA(0-0)

VS

TEAM NORWAY (0-0)


The teams:

Canada:



Projected Lines for the Game:

Forwards:

Nash-Crosby-Bergeron
Marleau-Thornton-Heatley
Staal-Getzlaf-Perry
Morrow-Toews-Iginla
Richards

Defense:

Niedermayer-Weber
Pronger-Boyle
Keith-Seabrook
Doughty

Goaltenders:

Luongo (starting)
Brodeur
Fleury (not dressed)

CANADA Scoring Leaders (NHL Season)

Points:
Crosby 78
Thornton 75
Heatley 66
Marleau 64
Getzlaf 61

Goals:
Crosby 42
Marleau 38
Heatley 32
Nash 28
Iginla 27

Assists:
Thornton 59
Getzlaf 44
Keith 42
Perry 37
Crosby 36

+/-:
Toews +24
Keith +23
Pronger +22
Seabrook +22
Marleau +21

GAA:
Brodeur 2.32
Luongo 2.35

Save %:
Luongo 0.919
Brodeur 0.915

Wins:
Brodeur 34
Luongo 31

Key players: Canada is lead up front by Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby is currently 3rd in the NHL with 78 points and will be looked upon to provide a big amount of offense in this tournament. Also the San Jose Sharks line of Patrick Marleau-Joe Thornton-Dany Heatley will be heavily relied upon to bring some offense to the table. Thornton in particular who has had some poor playoff performances will really be relied upon as he is perhaps the best set up man on the team and has two wingers who can put the puck in the net. Jarome Iginla will be looked upon for veteran leadership up front. On defense, the Blackhawks pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook should be out to shut down a lot of the oppositions top lines. Keith in particular is a dynamic defenseman that can play in all situations. Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer will be looked upon for veteran leadership on the blueline. In goal, Luongo gets the start but both he and Brodeur are capable of taking Canada far in this tournament. Both goalies will need to play strong for Canada to have a chance in this tournament.

Norway:



Projected Lines (Uncertain) but the roster is as follows:

Forwards:

F: Patrick Thoresen
F: Morten Ask
F: Anders Bastiansen
F: Kristian Forsberg
F: Mads Hansen
F: Marius Holtet
F: Lars-Erik Spets
F: Mathis Olimb
F: Martin Roymark
F: Per-Age Skroder
F: Tore Vikingstad
F: Martin Laumann Ylven
F: Mats Zuccarello Aasen

Defenseman:

D: Ole-Kristian Tollefssen
D: Alexander Bonsaken
D: Jonas Holos
D: Tommy Jakobsen
D: Juha Kaunismaki
D: Lars-Erik Lund
D: Mats Trygg

Goaltenders:

G: Pal Grotnes
G: Andre Lysenstoen
G: Ruben Smith

Key Players: Defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefssen is the lone NHL player on the club so he will be most likely be out against the top line for Canada. With winning all but out of the question for this game and realistically to advance out of round 1, Pal Grotnes will need to have some strong performances to keep Norway within games at a respectable level. Norway has another former NHLer in Patrick Thoresen.

GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!!!