The Getzlaf Conundrum

It's not just as easy as figuring out whether Ryan Getzlaf is ready and willing to give it a go.

It's whether it's smart or useful for Team Canada for him to even try.

That's the conundrum that needs to be sorted out over the next few days as the Anaheim centre tries to figure out the extent of his injured ankle and whether it will keep him out of the Vancouver Olympics.

Make no mistake about it, Getzlaf and his wingman Corey Perry are an integral part of Canada's plans. But one of the lessons of Turin was the danger of taking injured or partly injured players.

"I won't be making any rash decisions tonight," said Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman today. "Heck, in two days, he may be up and feeling great. But it could be a tough call."

Yzerman spoke to Getzlaf today, and the Ducks pivot is supposed to have an MRI on the ankle later today in California.

Interestingly, Yzerman played in the 2002 Olympics despite a knee that was injured going in and got progressively worse over the course of the tournament.

"I remember talking to Wayne (Gretzky) and telling him after I played two games before the Olympics that I felt fine," said Yzerman. "Two games into the tournament I thought, Oh my God, what did I do?"

Team Canada has until late Sunday night to make a decision on Getzlaf. The leading candidates to replace him are likely Philadelphia forward Jeff Carter and Tampa Bay sophomore Steven Stamkos.

Yzerman said with Dan Boyle now back in the San Jose lineup, there are no other Team Canada injury concerns as of today.

Comments

[Arthur Bailey]

It is clear to me, if he is not 100% then the next guy down on the list will clearly be better for Team Canada. This is not an NHL team, where the talent level between a top line player and sub from the farm team is gaping wide. We are talking about the most elite players in ALL of Canada. Bring up Stamkos.

[other mark]

I agree with Arthur (sort of). But I'd bring Carter on to the team, not Stamkos. Not that I don't think Stamkos is a great player, it's just that if you are trying to replace like for like then Carter is more similar to Getzlaf then Stamkos in terms of what he brings to the dance.

[Jem-Barque]

not the best canadians assembled for that magnitudian olympic hockey tournament