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Monday, October 26, 2009 3:24 PM

Stars prepare for Olympic audition

Visits by the Toronto Maple Leafs to every NHL team over the next few months are going to get a lot of attention from some opposing players, coaches and general managers. The players especially are looking to make an impression on the visitors.

But it is not because the Leafs warrant any special notice. What the some of the players want to do is make a favourable impression on Leafs general manager Brian Burke and head coach Ron Wilson because they are running the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in the men’s hockey tournament in Vancouver in February.

When the Leafs play the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, for example, forwards Mike Modano and Toby Petersen and defenceman Matt Niskanen will be looking to impress Burke and Wilson. Modano, of course, was a fixture for years on the U.S. Olympic team. But at the age of 39 he is now a checking centre with the Stars. When he is healthy, that is. Modano aggravated a rib injury in practice a few days ago and probably will not play against the Leafs on Wednesday.

“There is really a lot of attention on the naming of the teams [among the players],” Stars head coach Marc Crawford said. “Players like to play in the Olympics.”

While there is no shortage of tales of woe for NHL teams who see a key player hurt during the Olympics – think the Ottawa Senators and goaltender Dominik Hasek in 2006 – Crawford says there are just as many positive developments. He was head coach of the Vancouver Canucks in 2006 and saw what Sweden winning the gold medal did for his team.

“It did wonders for the Swedish players on our team,” Crawford said. “Daniel and Henrik Sedin, their play just took off.”

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Globe On Hockey Contributors

Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.

A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. Most recently, he was appointed as the newest member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.

 

David Shoalts

David Shoalts, a native of Wainfleet, Ont., joined The Globe in 1984 as a layout and copy editor in the sports section. He attended the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. After graduating from Conestoga with a journalism diploma in 1978, Shoalts worked at the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and later the Toronto Sun.

In 1986, Shoalts went back to the writing side of the business. He was the CFL reporter for The Globe for four years and then switched to hockey. He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL ever since and became a hockey columnist in 2003. Among the most memorable events Shoalts has covered are the final hockey game at the old Chicago Stadium (between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks) and the men's and women's gold-medal hockey games at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He is also the author of a book of humour, Tales From The Toronto Maple Leafs, and co-author with retired Globe columnist William Houston of Greed and Glory, The Fall of Hockey Czar Alan Eagleson.

 
Allan Maki

Allan Maki

Allan Maki joined the Globe in 1997, after spending 19 years as a reporter and columnist at the Calgary Herald. Born in Thunder Bay, Ont., Maki graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1977.

A past president of the Football Writers of Canada, Maki has covered every Grey Cup since 1980. He's been to seven Olympic Games and covered everything from rodeos to the World Series to the Super Bowl.

A regular commentator on radio and television, Maki hosted a sports program for two years on CBC Newsworld. He has won several awards for his writing and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 1995.