The hardest aspect of choosing the players for Canada’s team in the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament in February is not necessarily who will make the team, it’s the angst involved in leaving some truly great players off the roster. As an example, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon are slamdunk selections. Should veteran Sidney Crosby be a sentimental pick? Or should he be on the team because he’s still among the Canadian elite? Decisions, decisions.

Will the rookie phenom Connor Bedard make the team based on his reputation and his potential superstardom, or should another Connor, McMichael of the Washington Capitals, who scored 12 goals in his first 16 games, be chosen instead? The 4 Nations Faceoff is a contrived, mid-February competition featuring teams representing Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden and those who follow the NHL know that the largest vacancy is the absence of a team from Russia. Today’s sporting universe excludes the Russians from almost every organized event, and this is no different. But would Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, Alex Ovechkin and Artemi Panarin form a fairly solid nucleus to build a team around? Politics being politics, however, the Russian players get an 11-day break to vacation in some warm, seaside resort while 92 of their colleagues play for a trophy and national pride.

Back to Canada’s team. Don Sweeney and Jim Nill are the co-general managers of the team, ostensibly in charge of selecting the 23-player roster, but they have a battalion of scouts scouring NHL arenas seeking to guarantee the right choices. So, who gets a spot on the team? Mark Scheifele of the Jets or the Leafs’ Mitch Marner? Or both? For the purpose of this analysis, a forward is a forward, whether they’re designated a centre or winger. Canada should be strong up front and on the blueline, but relatively weak in goal.

Teams will consist of 13 forwards, seven defencemen and three goalies.

Forwards (13): McDavid, MacKinnon, Bedard, Crosby, Sam Reinhart, Scheifele, Brayden Point, Marner, Jared McCann, Matt Duchene, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Mark Stone.

Defencemen (7): Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Morgan Rielly, Evan Bouchard, Owen Power.

Goal (3): Stuart Skinner, Jordan Binnington and one of either Darcy Kuemper, Cam Talbot, Adin Hill and Connor Ingram.

So, who gets left home if this roster turns out to be accurate? Well, there’d be no Mathew Barzal of the Islanders, no Dylan Strome of Washington (top 10 in scoring all season so far), no McMichael, no Travis Konecny, no John Tavares. Defencemen on the bubble include Mike Matheson of Montreal, Dougie Hamilton of New Jersey, Travis Sanheim of Philadelphia, MacKenzie Weeger of Calgary and Noah Dobson of the Islanders. Quality players all. It will be an honour for any player to be selected for the Canadian team but come playoff time, when the pace of play is ramped up and the best players are being counted on to produce, will they have enough left in the tank to make a legitimate chase for Lord Stanley’s silver mug?

• Late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon: “Thank you, fantasy football, for letting me know that even in my fantasies, I am bad at sports.”

• RJ Currie of sportsdeke. com: “On Nov. 4, 1963, Ronald Howes marketed the first EasyBake Oven — three years before the start of the Maple Leafs last Stanley Cup-winning season. Since then both have run on the same principle: Replace one dim bulb with another hoping the final product won’t be half-baked.”

• Michael Che on Saturday Night Live’s ‘Weekend Update’: “At one point, Donald Trump was so far ahead in rural Pennsylvania, they put in Bronny.”

• Headline at the onion. com: “LeBron James Denies Son Receiving Preferential Treatment When Being Lifted Up To Dunk”

• Jake Mintz of Yahoosports.com, on Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki, bound for MLB in 2025: “If Sasaki’s fastball is a unicorn, his splitter is a unicorn that breathes fire, speaks five languages and cooks a world-class risotto. There’s truly nothing like it.”

• RJ Anderson of CBSsports. com., on Juan Soto’s free-agent search for an MLB landing spot: “Soto and agent Scott Boras are taking meetings with various teams’ brain trusts to determine which club is the best possible fit. (Spoiler: it’ll be the one that offers the most money.)”

• Vancouver comedy guy Torben Rolfsen: “The Dallas Cowboys have to get back to what made them successful in the ’70s and ’80s: Recreational drugs, driving infractions and strippers.”

• Rolfsen again: “Giants vs. Panthers in Munich. Why does the NFL keep giving Europe these unappealing matchups? This is like sending Nickelback over to the Eurovision song contest.”

• Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: “Tyson vs. Paul is ridiculous. A freak show. Elder abuse? But we can’t not watch:”

• Facebook post from Everett Silvertips’ general manager Mike Fraser, on the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul outcome: “What did you expect?!?! He’s 58. He’s 58! I’m 46 and my knees hurt because it’s raining.”

Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca

-Bruce Penton