On Monday, Steve Yzerman and his staff released a list of 47 players invited to Olympic orientation camp being held Aug. 25-28.

The decision on who makes the team, as always, will be difficult, as Canada is loaded at all positions. But as the Olympics are in Sochi, Russia this year, the international ice will be a huge factor, so skating ability will be a major selection criterion.

"Ultimately, we'll pick the best players available to us," Yzerman said on a conference call. "But playing on a bigger ice surface, I believe there is a priority on being able to skate."

Olympic camp will give the Team Canada brass a closer look at the Olympic hopefuls. There is a chance for a player snubbed from orientation camp to nab a roster spot, like Patrice Bergeron in 2010 and Bryan McCabe in 2006, but it isn't likely.

Here's a look at the camp invitees and how good of a chance they have at making the 25-man Russia-invading squad.

The Summit Series in 1972 is one of the defining moments in Canadian history. 

In many ways it was more than a simple hockey series, it was a battle between communism and capitalism. It was a battle between two very different ways of life.

The Iron Curtain shrouded the USSR in mystery, which led many in Canada to severely underestimate the Soviets' ability, which was evident by the total shock the reverberated from coast to coast after the 7-3 drubbing Canada received in the opening game.

Eventually, thanks largely to Paul Henderson, Phil Esposito, and a tomahawk chop from Bobby Clarke, Canada prevailed, although the myth of Canadian superiority was shattered. In addition to showing the talent gap between East and West was miniscule, the series made it apparent that not all of the best players in the world were in the NHL.

The success of the Summit Series led to demand for a true world championship of hockey, which eventually led to the creation of the Canada Cup in 1976. That year both Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull, two players who were forced to miss the Summit Series for various reasons, helped Canada capture the tournament's inaugural championship.

The Soviet Union won the next edition in 1981, with a 8-1 drubbing of Canada in the final. It was a national embarrassment, and one that was only slightly avenged in 1984 as Canada eliminated the Soviet Union in the semifinal, before defeating Sweden for the gold.

Nothing could compete with the tournament in 1987, however. Canada met the Soviet Union in the final, which Wayne Gretzky described as "the biggest thing since '72." The two hockey super-powers had another chance to determine who was the greatest hockey playing nation on Earth. More importantly, the tournament marked the first and only time that Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, the two greatest hockey players ever, donned the same uniform. The pair didn't disappoint.

Besides Gretzky and Lemiuex, Team Canada boasted nine other Hall of Famers, including Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, and Ray Bourque. The team was so stacked that players like Al MacInnis, Patrick Roy, and Steve Yzerman didn't make the team. It might just be the greatest collection of hockey players ever assembled.

TSN is replaying the classic final (Sept. 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30 PM ET) and it is definitely worth the watch. It might just be the best series in the history of hockey. It's also pretty easy to find on YouTube if you don't want to wait. And if you want to own a piece of hockey history yourself, it is also available on DVD.

Over the next three days I will have a three-part series recapping each game in detail. Here is a running diary of the classic first game, in which the Soviets stunned Canada and put them on the brink of elimination.

I can’t go anywhere on the internet today without being reminded of the ugly scene that occurred in front of me last night. Canada held a 3-0 lead heading into the third period against the Russians in the gold medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship. Just as the Russians were making a charge in the second Canada scored to make it 3-0, which seemingly sealed the deal. However, the Russians came back from a 3-1 deficit in the third against the Fins in the quarter-final to win 4-3 in overtime and they erased a 3-2 deficit to beat Sweden in a shootout in the semi-finals, so Canada should have been wary entering the third.

Instead, the Canadians figured the game was over, sit back, and in less than five minutes the Russians tied the game at 3 and quickly poured it on – ending the game with a decisive 5-3 victory. That’s five unanswered goals in the third. That’s Torontonian (a bit of a stretch to assume the Leafs actually can get a lead).

This is the second year in a row the Canadians have suffered a bitter defeat. Last year John Carlson scored in overtime to win gold after Jordan Eberle scored two late third period goals to force the extra frame and now the Russians throttle Canada in the third.

All the attention that gets paid to this tournament is a little overblown considering these are just teenagers. This isn’t the end of the world. The Russians get some revenge for the Jordan Eberle magic a few years ago and we Canadians get to feel the sting of defeat. I guess that’s just sports.

Losing two straight gold medal games hurts, but Canada has been in ten straight finals and recently strung together five straight gold medals. It wasn’t always like this.

How do you put a game like that into words? I’m at a loss. It was easily the biggest hockey game I have ever watched and that is a major understatement. Everything was on the line. The Olympics being held in Vancouver put such enormous pressure on everyone. Olympic Gold wasn’t just on the line, but our national identity as well. I’m not exaggerating. Canadians love hockey more than anything else. Is there another nation that loves anything as much as Canadians love hockey? Hockey is so intrinsically tied to our national identity. Paul Henderson’s goal in the ’72 Summit Series is probably a top-5 moment for Canada as a nation. I’m serious. It matters that much to us. So, being challenged so fiercely in our own game, in our own country, that certainly felt like an attack on our identity.

Failure was not an option. This was the most stressful sporting event I have ever witnessed. They couldn’t lose. I don’t know how I would react. The nation would be in a daze. Our collective spirits shattered. I had such a nervous energy this whole morning. My friends and I went to the local bar early to ensure we had good seats, but that was almost worse than waiting around at home. Waiting for the game to start was excruciating. Watching the game was almost torture. Every American rush down the ice was frightening. Jonathan Toews’ opening goal was the biggest relief. There was such a stress coursing through my body and that goal helped calm me down. It was certainly a huge relief for the Canadian team. It made Miller seem beatable. They didn’t have to play with the added pressure of rallying from behind under the collective tension of 17,000 + fans.

It’s a bit of an understatement to suggest that the men’s Olympic hockey tournament is important. It’s especially important for Canadians, not only because it’s in Canada, but because of the absolute debacle in Torino four years ago. Too bad USA Basketball already coined the Redeem Team. There is a lot at stake for the Russians as well. This is a chance at the ultimate retribution for the game 8 loss incurred in Russia over 30 years ago during the Summit Series. Teams like Sweden and Finland are being overlooked by the media as serious contenders for the Gold medal, despite being the two finalists in 2006. They have motivation to defend their national honour and prove that Gold isn't just a two-nation race.

There is not only a lot at stake for each country, but there is a lot at stake for certain players. Of course we all understand the pressure on players like Crosby and Ovechkin, but it’s highly probable that these players will perform to our expectations regardless of how high they are. We know how good these guys are. It's unlikely they will change our perception of them, barring some cataclysmic collapse. But there are many players throughout the tournament that have something to prove. 

Who will use this tournament to catapult themselves into national superstardom like Jarome Iginla did in 2002? Who will elevate their game to the next level and prove their critics wrong? Who will become this year’s Tommy Salo and have their career self-destruct before our eyes?

Here is a list of the players with the most to prove and those with the most to gain from these Olympics.

It’s time to introduce a new segment here at 5 Minutes For Fighting. We’re calling this Point/Counterpoint (What? 60 Minutes already has that? Who cares about that two-bit operation, it'll never catch on). We’ll have a debate on certain subjects. Sometimes the debate will be between Rick and I (hopefully these don’t descend into me calling him stupid for all my counterpoints) and other times we’ll have special guests on to give their opinions. This time the point/counter-point will feature only myself. This is because I’m having an internal battle over one topic of importance: Russia’s vast superiority at the 2010 Olympics. One side of me is examining their team rationally and finding overwhelming evidence to suggest they will cake-walk to the gold medal. The other side of me is desperately grasping at any sort of counter argument to this. My Canadian patriotism is taking over. I’m about ready to go Joseph McCarthy on everybody’s ass. Ring the bell.

Well, it’s almost Christmas and that means I’ll be taking a brief hiatus to focus on family party time. That means lots of food, lots of beer, a little gambling, and most importantly, lots of sports. Since Christmas falls on a Friday this year we get the gift of sports from Santa Claus. The weekend is full of football, which even includes a NFL game on Christmas Day. However, I live in Canada and in Canada Boxing Day isn’t just a day for fighting with old ladies over marginally discounted goods. Boxing Day means the World Juniors.