Team USA Announces Their Captains For The 2010 Olympics

Brian Burke has announced his primary and alternate captains for the US Olympic team for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Jamie Langenbrunner of the New Jersey Devils will wear the C for Team USA while Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Brian Rafalski and Dustin Brown will rotate the alternate captainship throughout the games.

The one thing of note is that three current or former Devils are captains for the United States. Brian Burke had this to say about why that was the case:

"A large part of it is that when we were going through the selection process and the captaincy, that kept coming up," Burke said. "You know, ‘This is a guy that played in the New Jersey system. Brian Rafalski cut his teeth as a Devil. Jamie Langenbrunner has gone through that whole process, watching guys check their ego at the door and do their job. So, yes, a lot of this team selection and captaincy selection is a tribute to Lou Lamoriello, who, of course, has been a giant with USA Hockey. So, no question that’s a factor."

Congratulations to all five of the players for the great honor of being a captain for your country.

With the national stage of the Winter Classic, USA Hockey takes advantage and becomes the final country to announce their roster for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They are looking to improve their eighth place finish in 2006 and head coach Ron Wilson and General Manager Brian Burke are going to use their specific style to bring a level to truculence to the Olympics. Here is the breakdown:

Goaltenders

Ryan Miller, Tim Thomas, Jonathan Quick

Ryan Miller has been the consensus number one goaltender for the Americans and is going to be a good foil for the Canadian duo of Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo. Miller has been one of the best goaltenders in the league thus far into the season, with a GAA of 2.05 which is third in the league and .933 SV% which is good for second in the league. Tim Thomas has resurrected his career in the past few years and has been a key component to all of the Boston Bruins success in the past few seasons. Jonathan Quick has been playing very well for the Los Angeles Kings, going 21-13-3 for them. His youth, at 23 years old, will help USA Hockey for the future. 

Defensemen

Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter

The one things that the defensemen for the United States have in common is that they are young. Only Rafalski has any Olympic experience but all of the defensemen have some sort of international experience. Erik Johnson has recovered from his season ending knee injury last season to led his Blues defensemen with 21 points this season. Jack Johnson has had some solid seasons for the Los Angeles Kings with 16 points in 40 games this season. 

Forwards

David Backes, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Phil Kessel, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stasny

The youth of the American lineup continues through the group of forwards that were chosen. Only Chris Drury and Jamie Langenbrunner have played in Olympic games, but neither have much production as Drury has three assists and Langenbrunner has no points. Patrick Kane, Paul Stasny, and Zach Parise are part of the youth movements that have helped their respective teams in Chicago, Colorado, and New Jersey. Ryan Callahan is a Brian Burke type of player that is more of an agitator but does have a scoring touch with nine goals and 19 points on the season for the Rangers.