Chris Osgood on Team Canada?

From the Canadian Press:

Chris Osgood and Marc-Andre Fleury are the only Canadian goaltenders playing meaningful hockey for the second straight June and neither has previously found his name as part of the Olympic conversation. However, given some difficult playoff performances from Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, both seem like more of a possibility.

At the very least, they will probably be invited to the orientation camp.

Osgood joked earlier this week that he’d be lobbying Yzerman and Red Wings GM Ken Holland at the lake during the off-season. He firmly believes he’s up to the task.

“Could I do it? Oh, for sure I could do it,” said Osgood. “I could play there. I think I have the mental makeup and I think I’m skilled enough to play there. But whether or not that happens, I have no idea. I’d have to have a better regular season in the first half than I obviously did this year. …

“If I’m there or not, it’s great just to be mentioned and to be considered.”

Last month, The Canadian Press had Brodeur, Luongo and Cam Ward as its three goalies for the 2010 team. We’ve chosen to sub in Osgood as the third man and would now rate Fleury above Ward in the pecking order after beating him in a head-to-head playoff matchup.

Read the entire article here.

First off, I think it is amazing how much attention the topic of the third goalie on the Canadian Olympic team is getting.  I mean, this guy has about a 2% chance of seeing any game action.  Anyhow, I can’t say I agree with this at all.  Give Osgood credit, he has played very, very well in the playoffs; that said, he is not the third best goaltender from Canada.  Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward are better netminders than Osgood and if you put either of them on Detroit, I’m sure you could argue they’d be champions too.  With all respect to Osgood, he should not be invited to this summer’s camp.