The Russians, Swedes and Czechs will all be trying to crash Canada's party when the men's hockey tournament gets underway at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Canada will be hoping to not only erase the embarrassment of a seventh-place finish at the 2006 Olympics but they will have to deal with the added pressure of trying to win in front of their home crowd.
It won't be an easy task for a team who were never able to get rolling in the Turin Games thanks in part to an anemic defence.
Determined not to repeat the same mistakes, general managers Steve Yzerman and Ken Holland have picked a team that possesses blazing speed on the back end and familiarity up front.
"Because we are Canada we are living it daily and we hear it," said Yzerman of the pressure to win the gold they last won in Salt Lake City eight years ago.
"But I know players from other countries and their goal is the same as ours so everyone has their own pressure."
Veteran Scott Niedermayer and rising stars Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty will help anchor the defence while Yzerman looked for forwards that not only play on the same team but on the same line.
San Jose Sharks linemates Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton, Anaheim Ducks duo Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf bring skill, experience and familiarity to an offence that is loaded with talent.
"We want guys who are responsible," Yzerman said. "Guys that play hard both ways and they back check as hard as they go on offence."
The spolight will also be firmly on Russia and defending gold medallists Sweden who have both assembled superpower lineups for the tournament which runs February 16-28.
Two time reigning world champion Russia will need to come together quickly as a group like they did in Turin.
They open against Latvia next Tuesday and, with superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin, scoring will not be a problem.
The biggest surprise by coach Vyacheslav Bykov was leaving former national team captain Alexei Kovalev off the roster.
Sweden, along with Canada's Martin Brodeur, have the best goaltender in the tournament in Henrik Lundqvist.
Sweden coach Bengt-Aake Gustafsson took the bold step of naming 36-year-old centre Peter Forsberg to the roster despite the veteran having struggled with ankle and foot injuries which have appear to have doomed his NHL career.
Forsberg, who is seeking his third Olympic medal, scored the winning goal in the final of the 1994 Lillehammer Games
Finland, the 2006 silver medallists, have strong leadership from veterans Saku Koivu, Kimmo Timonen and Teemu Selanne.
But they can't afford any injuries, with not nearly as much depth as Canada, Russia and Sweden. Anaheim Ducks forward Selanne will play with a special face mask to protect a broken jaw he suffered in a NHL game last month.
Finland's first game is February 17 against Belarus.
American goalie Jonathan Quick has been one of the hottest netminders in the NHL over the past month. But veterans Ryan Miller or Tim Thomas will have to falter first before Quick is expected to be given a chance to show what he can do in Vancouver.
The Americans chose to go with role players like David Backes and Ryan Callahan passing over talented youngsters such as Flyers' forward James van Riemsdyk and Islanders forward Kyle Okposo.
US general manager Brian Burke has other things things on his mind after tragically losing his son Brendan on Friday in a car smash.

The Russians, Swedes and Czechs will all be trying to crash Canada's party when the men's hockey tournament gets underway at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Canada up for the Olympic challenge

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Canada up for the Olympic challenge

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