Not the way I'd have them, but when you play Italy, Germany and Switzerland off the bat, you have a little grace period. The Italians will provide an intriguing opener as the host team (a much tougher test for the Canadian men than Italy provided for the Canadian women), but Canada should win by several goals. Germany and Switzerland are good, competitive teams, but Canada is likely two or three goals better.
Nash-Thornton-Gagne makes sense after last year's worlds, although they did slow down as the tournament progressed. I think Heatley will eventually find his way on to Sakic and Iginla's line. (They don't need Draper as a defensive conscious, since both are more than defensively aware). I think the TBay players should be together, and Smyth-Draper-Doan would make a dominant shut down line. Bertuzzi, based on his play since the selection, is best suited to the 13th forward spot, since the two things he has to consistently do - play physical and drive to the net - he hasn't been doing. If he does them, he will move up, and deservedly so.
The round robin is nothing more than a determination of the playoff spots. With four team advancing, Canada will certainly advance to the next round, and they will have no excuse for not gelling by the time the round robin is over. Most of the tournaments that Canada has won in the Gretzky era - 2002 Olympics, 2003 and 2004 Worlds - as well as the 2006 World Juniors, Canada has gotten better as the tournament progressed. If Canada is going to win gold again, they will have to be a cohesive unit by the time the playoffs roll around, and they will have to get better each night. If they don't, they won't win.
Putting Richards with two guys who go to the front of the net is an interesting experiment IMO.
