The New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur made 32 saves as the Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 in a showdown of the Atlantic Division's two best teams on Wednesday night. The shut-out was Brodeur's second in a row against the Penguins and the 105th of his NHL record-breaking career. It came on the same day he and the Penguins goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, who was rested for Wednesday's match, were named in the Canadian squad for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The 23-man roster was announced by the Team Canada executive director, Steve Yzerman. "At the end of the day, you have to make a decision on which 13, which seven, and which three you like," he said. "It wasn't an easy decision and we didn't take them lightly." Canada won the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 and world championship in 2003 and 2004, before losing to Russia in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Turin Games, where they finished a lowly seventh.
For Canada's rabid hockey fans, anything less than gold in Vancouver in February will be a disappointment, but Yzerman warned them that the host nation would face a difficult task. "We're very confident in the team we've put together, but by no means is this going to be easy," he said. Pittsburgh's captain, Sidney Crosby, was selected for his first Olympics after being overlooked in 2006. "You are talking about representing Canada and being a hockey player in a sport that is so important in Canada and having the Games in Canada, so I feel pretty lucky to have that opportunity," he said.
The Anaheim Ducks defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who won Olympic gold in 2002 with Broduer, was named captain and will anchor a young Canadian blueline. The hosts have four first-time Olympians in defence - Chicago Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, the Nashville Predators' Shea Weber and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings. * With agencies
