Fun Facts - Team Canada's Men's Olympic Hockey Team

Saw the highlights from yesterday's press conference and read a few articles regarding our upcoming Canada's Men's 2014 Olympic Hockey Team.  I compiled some fun facts and key dates below! For fun I also proposed the All Snub Team.  Enjoy!

2010 Gold Medal Olympic Hockey Champions

Team Canada Facts:

• Per Capgeek the Canadian Men's Team NHL payroll fo 2014 is $150.9M, USA is $119.8M and Sweden is $98.2M.
• Ontario accounts for 11 of 25 players, with B.C. 5, Saskatchewan 3, Quebec 3, Alberta 1, Manitoba 1 and Nova Scotia 1.
• At the time of team selection Canadian players were 8 of the top 10 scorers in the NHL.  In order: Sydney Crosby, John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Sharp, Correy Perry and Jonathan Toews.  
• 11 players are returning from the 2010 the Gold Winning Olympic Roster.  In alphabetic order Patrice Bergeron, Sydney Crosby, Drew Doughty, Ryan Getzlaf, Duncan Keith, Roberto Luongo, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Jonathan Toews, and Shea Weber.
• 2 players who will now be in their third consecutive Winter Olympics Roberto Luongo and Rick Nash.
• 6 players are NHL Captains.  In alphabetic order Jamine Benn, Sydney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, and Shea Weber. 

Fast Facts and Key Dates:

• 12 Men's Olympic Hockey Teams in 3 groups of 4.  
• Canada plays in Group B with Austria, Finland and Norway.
• Olympic Hockey games commence February 12, 2014.  Canada plays its first game on Thursday February 14 against Norway.
• A total of 30 Men's Olympic Hockey games played in Sochi.  The minimum number of games a team can play is 4.  The maximum they can play is 7 in 11 days.
• The Quarterfinal games occur on Wednesday, February 19, 2014
• The Semifinal games occur on Friday, February 21, 2014
• The Gold Medal Game occurs on Sunday, February 23, 2014.

For the complete schedule of Olympic Hockey games see the IIHF website.

The All Snub Team:

Lastly for fun I complied the all Snub Team.  Depending on the sport some countries have multiple teams/athletes that qualify to be at the Olympics.  I would think that Canada Team B could actually win because of the chip on their shoulder.  Further, on paper they would easily be better than Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Forward Lines:

James Neal - Joe Thornton - Martin St. Louis  

Milan Lucic - Eric Staal - Jeff Skinner

Andrew Ladd - Mike Richards - Tyler Sequin

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Spares: Joffrey Lupul, Brad Marchand and Logan Couture (Injured)

Defence:

Kris Letang - Dion Phaneuf

Marc Giordanco - Brent Seabrook

Francois Beachemin - Dan Boyle

Braydon Coburn - Mike Green

Spares: Marc Staal (injured), and Brian Campbell

Goalies:

Corey Crawford

Josh Harding

Jonathan Bernier 

Your thoughts?  Someone I'm missing from the the All-Snub Team?  Add your comments below.