Canadian women's hockey team announced

Canada's women's hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games was officially set at a press conference in Calgary Monday afternoon.  

At first glance, the squad has a great amount of leadership. 

There are fourteen returning players from the squad that won gold at the Olympics in Torino four years ago. 

Jayna Hefford, Meghan Agosta, Caroline Ouellette, Cherie Piper, Charline Labonte, Kim St. Pierre, Carla MacLeod, Becky Kellar, Sarah Vaillancourt, Colleen Sostorics, Gillian Apps, Jennifer Botterill, Hayley Wickenheiser and Gina Kingsbury all received golden hardware the last time the Winter Olympics were staged. 

In fact, for Hefford, Ouellette, Wickenheiser, St. Pierre, Keller, Sostorics, Piper and Botterill, they have two gold medals each, as they won in Torino and Salt Lake City in 2002. 

The team also has some impressive youth, or as some are calling them, Olympic rookies. Goaltender Shannon Szabados,  defencewomen Meaghan Mikkelson, Catherine Ward, Tessa Bonhomme and forwards Rebecca Johnston, Marie-Philip Poulin, Haley Irwin will make their Olympic debut.

The pressure for this team to succeed again on Canadian soil is gigantic. 

Canada did not win an Olympic gold medal in Montreal for the Summer Olympic Games in 1976, and when they hosted the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988, they only won gold medals in demonstration sports. 

With the United States being Canada's only real threat, expectations are astronomical at the current time. 

Despite losing the last two World Championships to Team USA, Canada currently has some momentum. They have won five of the last six meetings between the two countries, including an impressive 6-2 win over the United States in Calgary on December 15.

One line that has been clicking as of late has been the Ouellette-Hefford-Agosta line, who combined for 9 points in their latest victory.

On defence, Catherine Ward may be playing in her first Olympics, but has great puck handling ability that will be counted on for the red and white come February.     

Wicklenheiser will be the team captain, with Hefford and Ouellette as her assistants.  I agree with the choice of Wickenheiser as captain, because there will be a little less pressure for her to put up big numbers offensively, with the production of Agosta, Poulin and Ward on the rise. The intangible of leadership is where Wickenheiser should be concentrating this time around. 

Team Canada also has two players that have won the Patty Kazmaier Award for the top NCAA Women's Hockey Player of the Year. Jennifer Botterill took the honours in 2001 and 2003 and Sarah Vaillancourt won in 2008. Both Botterill and Vaillancourt went to Harvard. 

Team Canada will be coached by Melody Davidson. Davidson was the head coach for Canada at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, when Canada beat Sweden in the gold medal final 4-1. Her assistants are Doug Lidster, who played 15 years with the Rangers, Stars, Blues and Canucks, and Peter Smith, who coaches the McGill University Women's Hockey Team in Quebec. 

Canada's first Olympic round robin game will be against Slovakia on February 13. Canada will also play Switzerland (on February 15) and Sweden (on February 17).   

For more information about Team Canada Women's Hockey Team, please go to www.hockeycanada.ca.