We all know Jarome Iginla, Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier, and Joe Thornton will be donning Canada’s colors at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  But what about one of the most consistent Canadian hockey players in the last 5 years?  His name of course is Marc Savard.

The knock on the guy has always been “he’s not a committed team player”, “he’s soft”, or “he doesn’t play a 2 way game.”  Well, the team player argument seems to have been dismissed, as all reports have him being very good inside the Boston locker room.  He certainly has shown a committment to playing both sides of the ice in the recent years, and he backchecks WAY more than he ever has.  And as for being soft, well, does that really matter in the long run if you can still be consistent performer?

Consistent is all Savard has been since leaving Calgary in a trade to Atlanta.  In his first season with the Thrashers, he put up 97 points which followed 47 and 52 point half-campaigns.  After signing with the Boston Bruins, he’s put up seasons with 96 and 78 points and has 67 in 61 games thus far this year.  His assist totals have been 60+ in his last 3 seasons (69.74,63) and I believe he fits perfectly with most of the projected Team Canada lineup.

In 2006, I felt Canada lacked setup ability to a large degree.  Yes Sakic was on that team and so was Thornton, but the chemistry was never really there.  This time around, with Thornton and Crosby shoo-in’s for the team, there will be playmakers there already.  But I believe that with as many finishers as this team will have, why not have a legit player who can feed them the puck on a consistent basis? 

Savard has shown he has an incredible ability to elevate players around him.  Ilya Kovalchuk has not been the same player since Savard left his side.  He’s helped turn Phil Kessel into a goal scoring machine, and it’s no coincidence that Boston’s PP has improved since his arrival.  In 2005-2006, the last year Boston played without Savard, their powerplay was 25th in the NHL, clicking at 14.8%.  It went up to 17.2% in 2006-2007, which was 19th in the league and improved to 16th overall in 2007-2008; they were 17.6% that year.

This year, Boston has the 5th ranked powerplay in the NHL at 22.4%…so, since Savard has arrived, they’ve gone from 14.8% to 22.4% in terms of powerplay proficiency.  Yes, some of that has to be attributed to the addition of Zdeno Chara, absoloutely.  But it also has to be credited to Savard, who’s playmaking ability is second to none.

Savard has matured as a player on and off the ice.  I can’t speak to his maturity off the ice, but from all reports, my statement is valid.  And it is not arguable that he has shown a growth in maturity on the ice.  For that reason, I believe Savvy needs to be a 2010 Olympian for Team Canada.

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