Both USA Hockey and the Canadian Hockey Association have difficult decisions to make. So, Wayne, Herb, relax, I'll take care of it. Here are your Olympic teams, line by line. Rosters are not frozen after teams are named on December 22. If a player is injured, he can be replaced. The gold medal game is February 24th:

Team USA

LINE 1
Keith Tkachuk	Mike Modano	Brett Hull
Modano has been flying this year. He's the best talent in the NHL. Tkachuk can put his can at the top of the crease and Hull can play on the perimeter one-timing and play making. Hull's become more of a playmaker, getting more assists than goals. Plus, he played with Modano in Dallas. This is an ideal triangle offense. A skater, a slot guy, and a top-of-the-crease mayhem maker.

Brian Leetch	Chris Chelios
Leetch can free wheel with Modano while Captain Chris plays it safe.

LINE 2
Tony Amonte	Doug Weight	Bill Guerin
This line was outstanding at last year's All-Star Game in Denver. Guerin had a hat trick to win MVP honors. Do you think if they explode at the Olympics, Blues GM Larry Pleau will make a play for unrestricted free agents Amonte and Guerin at season' end or trade for them before that? Pleau is an associate GM for Team USA.

Tom Poti	Brian Rafalski
This may be a stretch for Poti, but he's 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, and while he's not nasty, he can skate and has a long reach. This would be a dynamic five for Team USA.

LINE 3
John LeClair	Jeremy Roenick	Mike York
Two Flyer linemates and Mike York, Mike York. Maybe York can rub some of Eric Lindros on LeClair.

Gary Suter	Derian Hatcher
Hatcher has not had a strong start, but he deserves to be here and I think will come up big.

LINE 4
Adam Deadmarsh	Chrs Drury	Mark Parrish
I think this could be a real sleeper line. Drury is going to be magic on the big ice, Parrish is pure hands and Deadmarsh will be flying like a maniac all over the ice. Deadmarsh has injury issues this year, so maybe Shawn McEachern fits here.

Mathieu Schneider	Aaron Miller
Two King teammates. Schneider recently had hernia surgery, but he should be fine. I had hernia surgery in April of '92 and played street hockey ten DAYS later. Stupid, but medically possible.

GOALIE
Mike Richter	Brian Boucher	Mike Dunham
Richter is one of the best players in the entire league right now. If his knees stay healthy and he keeps his form, the U.S. is a major gold-medal favorite.

Extra D: Jeff Jillson

Extra F: Scott Young

OUTLOOK

There will be no flying furniture this time around. If this team is committed and focused and gets the kind of goaltending Mike Richter provided for the Rangers in November, it will win the gold.

Team Canada

LINE 1
Paul Kariya	Joe Sakic	Jarome Iginla
The "SIK" line, as in sick talent. All can move, especially Sakic and Kariya. All three can shoot. All three are class acts. Like at All-Star Games, when he gets to play with good players, Kariya's enthusiasm and energy is nuclear.

Rob Blake	Adam Foote
With limited practice, the teammate factor could be vital. Three Avalanche among the first five and maybe a future fourth in Kariya.

LINE 2
Theo Fleury	Mario Lemieux	Eric Lindros
The L.L. Mexican Jumping Bean Line. Lindros would take all the faceoffs on this line, and probably carry the puck more, while Mario plays the perimeter. Mario's health has to be a concern, but he has two months to get better. Fleury has been told he's on the team and why would you ever break up him and Big E?

Chris Pronger	Al MacInnis
Another pair of teammates for Team Canada. I don't understand how Pronger was named as an early member of the team and MacInnis wasn't. Captain Happy and Big Al are excellent passers. I see them hitting Mario with 40-foot passes, Mario taking it on his backhand with those fluid right-over-lefts and making a perfect saucer pass to a locomotive Lindros.

LINE 3
Brendan Shanahan	Steve Yzerman	Mark Recchi
The YSR line. As in Wiser. Y'zer is Yzerman's nickname. Recchi has to be on this team. He and Peca would be great penalty killers.

Wade Redden	Scott Neidermayer
Niedemeyer SHOULD flourish in this tournament, but people have been expecting big things from him for years. He's having a subpar year this year. Redden is one of my favorites.

LINE 4
Joe Thornton	Michael Peca	Joe Nieuwendyk
Thornton HAS to make the team. This three-center line would cycle like crazy until Nieuwendyk ended up with the puck 10 feet from the net, unloading a twisted wrister through some unsuspecting goaltender's solar plexus. When I think of someone giving all for their country, I think Peca. Note to Sabre fans: your GM blew it by not signing him. It will take years to overcome it. You deserved better.

Derek Morris	Ed Jovanovski
I love left-right defensive pairings. These two would give Canada three pairs. Morris should beat out Edmonton's Eric Brewer for this spot.

GOALIE
Sean Burke	Curtis Joseph	Martin Brodeur
Since Roy is not here, Sean Burke should be Canada's goaltender. I love Cujo, and Brodeur is in the Top 10 of my favorite players, but if I'm running this team, Burke is in there.

Extra D: Eric Brewer

Extra F: Owen Nolan (I prefer Jeff O'Neill, but Nolan's already been named. If Mario can't go, I put O'Neill with Lindros and Fleury.)

OUTLOOK

More questions than Team USA. How is Mario's health? Will they have the guts to start Burke? There is no question that the pressure on Canada is greater than on any other country. They might name Ryan Smyth to the team, then if his broken leg doesn't heal, they can replace him. But he's already out of his cast. I don't want a U.S.-Canada final. I'd prefer a U.S.-Cave-Dwelling-Religious-Zealot final, but I'm afraid the cave dwellers can't skate forward, only backward.