Olympic rosters announced

Even though our Anaheim Ducks are having a hard time climbing out of the Western Conference cellar, seven of them have been called upon to represent their respective countries in this February's Winter Olympics.

Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Captain Scott Niedermayer will be suiting up for Team Canada, Scotty will also captain that team.

For Team Finland, our very own Finnish Flash and Saku Koivu will pair up once again. It's my understanding that Saku will captain that team too.

Team Switzerland will be appropriately represented with Ducks' Jonas Hiller in net and defensive prospect Luca Sbisa.

And finally, our very own Bobby Ryan will be playing on Team USA.

That's seven Duck players on olympic rosters! I believe only the San Jose Sharks are sending more of their own, with eight.

Of those players chosen, Scotty, Getzy, Teemu, Saku, and Hiller were probably shoe-ins. Perry was a bubble player, but definitely tipped the scales in his favor after putting together some record-breaking streaks over the past few months. Yours truly also thinks it will be interesting to have someone that utilizes Perry's gritty style of play out on an olympic team. Look out goalies, Perry's butt is crashing a crease near you.

I'm glad Luca wasn't passed up. Even though he played just a few games up in the majors with our Ducks, I already saw enough to know the kid has a lot of potential. Having olympic experience will only help the boy. He will be amazing when he's called back up.

As for Bobby, I had a feeling my boy would get the call, but I didn't want to be too confident. He has tied for the leading goal-scorer on the Ducks roster, but also he's tied with the leading US-born goal-scorer in the league. Not to mention, USA GM Brian Burke knows and likes Bobby.

The best thing about all these Olympi-Ducks is the exposure they will get. I don't believe our Ducks get as much recognition as they should for the things they do. If we were an East Coast, or Canadian, team, things would be different. I would love to hear the average American, non-hockey fan say, "Oh, that Getzlaf guy is pretty good, doesn't he play for the Anaheim Ducks?"