Team USA looking to score with pair of Devils

Team Canada says it won't even wait for the deadline to announce its Olympic roster and will reveal its choices Dec. 31. Team USA, meanwhile, says it will hang on until the Winter Classic on New Year's Day to announce its lineup. But with only a few weeks to go, the choices for both teams are becoming clearer. Here's how the races are shaping up.

Team USA

Zach Parise will likely be tasked to provide Team USA firepower. (US Presswire)

Goaltenders: Barring injury, Buffalo's Ryan Miller will be in goal when Team USA plays its first Olympic game Feb. 16. Miller has had the inside track on the starting job since the orientation camp last summer and has solidified it this season. Miller is not only the best American-born goalie in the league right now, he is arguably the best of them all. Vezina winner Tim Thomas has played himself back into the picture with his work for the surging Bruins, while Colorado's Craig Anderson's chances are in jeopardy because of a neck injury he suffered last week. If he's not ready by selection day that will leave the door open for Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles.

Defense: A month ago, the most important criteria for choosing defensemen was probably good health because nearly half of the top American blue-liners were on the shelf. All but New Jersey's Paul Martin have since returned to their lineups; he'll be back in plenty of time for the Games and should have one of the seven roster spots. Detroit's Brian Rafalski will be there, too, and look for Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik to be in the group of seven, along with Nashville's Ryan Suter, St. Louis' Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson of the Kings and Atlanta's Zach Bogosian.

Forwards: The plan is to have two lines that can score and two that can do everything else. And right now Team USA has some pretty good options. There's no way it will separate New Jersey wingers Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner given the chemistry they've shown, and by dropping Colorado distributor Paul Stastny into the middle, it gets a pretty impressive offensive threat. And having Toronto's Phil Kessel and Chicago's Patrick Kane flanking Tim Connolly of the Sabres won't mean any less offensive pressure on opposing goalies. The battles for the two-way roles have been clearing lately as well. Dustin Brown of the Kings looks like a good fit for the third unit along with Tampa Bay's Ryan Malone and Vancouver's Ryan Kesler, while Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien, Boston's Blake Wheeler and Rangers captain Chris Drury can do the job as checkers while adding a scoring threat. Don't be surprised if Flyers rookie James Van Riemsdyk or Islanders youngster Kyle Okposo end up as the extra forward.

Team Canada

Goaltending: About the only thing that has changed for Canada in the debate about whether Martin Brodeur and Robert Luongo should start is the Devils goalie has made it clear he is still the man. Brodeur has actually raised the level of his game in recent weeks, while consistency has been an issue for Vancouver's Luongo. He will be there too and get a chance to play, but all things being equal, Brodeur will get the key assignments. And thus far, no other Canadian-born goalie has threatened Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury for the third roster spot.

Defense: It was always going to be a challenge to figure out which defensemen should be at Vancouver for Canada. The team had 16 at the orientation camp, and none is having what anyone would consider a bad season, so it's really a matter of team officials striking the right mix. Experience is one factor, but the balance of offensive and defensive skill is important, too. By any of those measures, Philadelphia's Chris Pronger gets in the mix along with his former partner in Anaheim, Scott Niedermayer. Chicago's Duncan Keith, Nashville's Shea Weber and Calgary's Jay Bouwmeester fit the bill as well for the Canadians, while Ottawa's Chris Phillips does the stay-at-home thing as well as anyone. So there's a place for him and for Kings whiz kid Drew Doughty as a seventh man.

Forwards: San Jose's Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley have to be on the team, and obviously as one of the top two lines because of their remarkable stats together. Then pencil in Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Rick Nash of the Blue Jackets for the other scoring unit. That's the easy part. Canada doesn't want players out of position, so a few centers will lose out because of circumstances, but don't expect Ryan Getzlaf to be one of them. He'll be there, and so will Chicago's Jonathan Toews and either Jordan Staal of Pittsburgh or Philadelphia's Mike Richards. Brad Richards of the Stars has played himself into the mix as well. At least one will have to be on a wing to be on this team. But Canada still has a lot of good wings, including automatics like Anaheim's Corey Perry and Shane Doan of Phoenix. If Ryan Smyth of the Kings can get back from injury before the deadline and show something, he'll be there, too.