TORONTO -- The road to the World Cup final leads through a political entity that no longer exists.
"That's what I've said to people: We basically have to beat Czechoslovakia to get to the finals," said Kevin Lowe, the assistant executive director of Canada's World Cup entry.
"First, we had to beat the Slovaks and now the Czechs. You wonder what kind of a team they'd have if they put them both together." Presumably, pretty good.
The Czechs and Slovaks were joined politically for decades, but now compete independently on the international hockey stage. Similarly, the once powerful Soviet Union team now competes as any number of different republics, four of which (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan) have had some success since the end of the Cold War.
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The Czechs and Slovaks have won the world championship within the past five years and together -- the prospect of merging the two top Czech lines (Jaromir Jagr, Milan Hejduk et al) with the top Slovak lines (Marian Hossa, Pavol Demitra) -- would result in a powerhouse that might rival the squad Canada can put together.
No team has demonstrated as much unity in the tournament as the Canadians, Quebeckers, Ontarians and Westerners alike. Still, it is often said that Canada could enter two teams in the World Cup of Hockey and be competitive with both. What if that had actually happened? What if Quebec had followed a separate course politically in the 1990s and left the country during the height of the separatist movement?
Lowe, who along with Wayne Gretzky, Steve Tambellini and the team's coaching staff, was largely responsible for assembling the current roster, doesn't much like the concept of splitting Canada and Quebec into separate teams, even as an intellectual exercise.
"I am a nationalist, so I don't really like the idea," said Lowe, who grew up in Lachute, Que., and is bilingual. "It's people who have too much free time who think of these things. Why wouldn't we put our best team together as a country? I'm offended by the whole idea."
Canada would feel the effects of an independent Quebec team most in goal, where all three of the current roster spots belong to Quebeckers (Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Jose Theodore).
Theodore joined the team as an injury replacement for Ed Belfour who, along with his former backup with the Dallas Stars, Marty Turco, represent the best of the rest of Canada in goal, although an argument could be made that Dwayne Roloson of the Minnesota Wild joined that elite group in the past two years.
If Canada had to go it alone without Quebec, it would rely on Turco, Roloson and either Sean Burke, if it wanted experience, or Andrew Raycroft, if it wanted youth. Still, none can match Brodeur's experience or accomplishments. Edge to Quebec.
Defensively, Canada would hold a distinct edge. All eight members of the current defence corps hail from the other nine provinces, as do the two preselected players, Rob Blake and Chris Pronger, who dropped out because of injury. Quebec, meanwhile, would have to dig considerably deeper to find eight who could play as this level.
Up front, Team Quebec could boast a strong No. 1 line, beginning with captain Mario Lemieux, and continuing on with three other mainstays of the forward lines -- Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagné.
Meanwhile, if Canada had to replace its four Quebec-born forwards, it can choose from a wealth of alternatives. Rick Nash scored 41 goals as a second-year NHLer and didn't make the cut. Todd Bertuzzi is out because of suspension. Paul Kariya, Brendan Shanahan, Eric Lindros and Michael Peca all played on Canada's 2002 Olympic championship team. Speedy Jeff Friesen, defensive specialist John Madden, up-and-comer Jason Spezza and underrated Brendan Morrison would also get consideration.
According to Lowe, Canada's depth is such that any number of regional teams could be competitive at the international level.
"It's cyclical from one decade to the next," Lowe said. "This year, I think we have the most ever Quebec players on the Canadian team. In past years, some people in Quebec were upset that there weren't more [Quebeckers selected] and it wasn't for any reason other than the best players were from other parts of Canada.
"There's a void of Ontario players this year, based on previous years. We have four from Saskatchewan, almost as many as from Ontario [five]. But it's evenly split, 13 and 13, west and east, west being from Manitoba west. Which is kind of nice."
Unifying too.
Two solitudes?
How Teams Canada and Quebec might look :
CANADA
Goal: Marty Turco, Dwayne Roloson, Andrew Raycroft.
Defence: Scott Niedermayer, Adam Foote, Eric Brewer, Robyn Regehr, Wade Redden, Ed Jovanovski, Scott Hannan, Jay Bouwmeester.
Forwards: Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla, Joe Thornton, Ryan Smyth, Brad Richards, Dany Heatley, Kris Draper, Shane Doan, Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow, Kirk Maltby, Michael Peca, Rick Nash, Todd Bertuzzi.
Missing because of injury: Ed Belfour, Chris Pronger, Rob Blake, Steve Yzerman, Keith Primeau.
Notably absent: Paul Kariya, Brendan Shanahan, Eric Lindros, Jeff Friesen, Steve Sullivan, John Madden, Jason Spezza, Brendan Morrison, Bryan McCabe, Brad Stuart, Derek Morris, Sean Burke.
QUEBEC
Goal: Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Jose Theodore
Defence: Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Dandenault, Phillippe Boucher, Patrice Bergeron, Marc-André Bergeron, Denis Gauthier, Stéphane Quintal, Yannick Tremblay.
Forwards: Mario Lemieux, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Simon Gagné, Vince Damphousse, Daniel Brière, J.P. Dumont, Luc Robitaille, Alex Tanguay, Pascal Dupuis, Mike Ribiero, Eric Dazé, Martin Lapointe, Patrice Bergeron, Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
Notably absent: J.S. Giguère, Jocelyn Thibault, Marc Denis, Martin Biron, Marc-André Fleury, Pierre Turgeon, Stéphane Yelle, Mathew Lombardi, Alexandre Daigle, Yanic Perreault.
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