Best league outside of NHL? US Olympic training roster suggests so

July 6, 8:33 AMWCHA ExaminerBrian Pietrzak

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Boston Bruin and Former Minnesota Gopher Phil Kessel (right) / AP Photo

USA Hockey recently released its training camp roster for the 2010 Olympic Games to be held in Vancouver. It is 34 names long and includes a sure-fire Hall of Famer in Mike Modano, a collection of experienced NHL-ers (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Brian Rafalski, among others), and some of the game's brightest young stars (Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, T.J. Oshie).

The list is not final, as participating in the training camp does not assure anyone of a spot on the team in Vancouver. USA Hockey will release a list of 50 additional players subject to anti-doping tests prior to the Olympics at a later date. However, team USA General Manager Brian Burke suggested in the linked piece above that if he and his evaluators have done their homework, the Olympic squad will come from this list of players.

Interestingly, of the 34 players on this list, 13 were products of WCHA member schools:

Of the 13 players on the list above, it is easy to see all of these players on the final roster. No other collegiate league comes close to developing players on this list.

In addition, there are some players with WCHA ties who are not on this list but would be expected to be on the list provided to the anti-doping agency list in a few weeks, including Keith Ballard (Minnesota) and Jason Blake (North Dakota).

As a US fan, I am excited about this team. They will be young, fast, tough, and aggressive. Most of all, they will be a TEAM, instead of the All-Star teams USA Hockey has sent to Olympics past. The WCHA-trained players will serve as the core of the 2010 Vancouver team, and I believe they will be a surprise come medal time. The Canadians will be extremely talented, and will be a tough draw for the US in their pool (along with Switzerland and Norway), but the US will definitely surprise.