CALGARY, Alberta -- Tampa Bay forward Martin St. Louis' résumé is as fat as they come, with a Stanley Cup ring, Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award. He was also a member of Canada's 2004 World Cup of Hockey team and the ill-fated 2006 Olympic team. He insists he still gets tingles of excitement at coming to an event like this orientation camp.
"Oh, for sure. It's an honor to be here," he said Tuesday. "You look around the room and see the talent and to be part of that, you get excited. You want to be part of something like that, especially these Olympics in Vancouver and having a nation behind you. It's something that I think everybody is going to try hard to be on that team."
The sting of the team's poor performance in the 2006 Games remains a motivating factor.
"For me personally, yeah, of course. I want to redeem myself and have another chance at winning a gold medal," St. Louis said. "There's no better time to do it. Did I enjoy my time in Torino? Absolutely. It was an honor to be on that team. But do I want to be on the team that has a chance to make history? It's a thing that you think about all the time."
No bitterness here
Don't look to Ken Hitchcock to be upset that he didn't get a shot at the head coaching job for Team Canada. An assistant at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, Hitchcock said Tuesday he didn't deserve the job now held by Mike Babcock.
"I don't think you can be the head coach unless you've been in a recent winning program," Hitchcock said.
The Columbus Blue Jackets coach noted the last time he coached a team to the conference finals level of the playoffs was before the lockout (2004, when he was in Philadelphia) and that doesn't cut it.
"I think in fairness to coaches, the guys that are coaching in intense environment, they can bring a sound message and they're used to the level," he said. "For me, I think I'm lucky to be here. I know why I'm here [as an associate coach], to bring the experience from '02, '04 and '06, which I think can be really valuable. But I think, in fairness, you've got to bring people that have recent experience of that intensity of competition."
No shock, no awe
Babcock was asked if some of the younger players might be intimidated by being at the camp and the depth of talent on display here. He wasn't buying it for a moment.
"I don't think they think like that at all. I think they all think they're pretty close to the best player and I think that's why they're here," Babcock said. "I could be wrong. But to be at this level, to be at the top of your game like most of these guys are, they're pretty confident people. If you take a back seat at this camp to someone, you're going to be separated quickly. I don't see that happening."
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