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5 injuries that could shape the Sochi Winter Olympic men's ice hockey tournament

The men's ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games is the premiere showcase for the sport of hockey. And it only happens once every four years.

Actually, this might be the last time NHL players participate in the Olympics, considering that the league has made noise about setting up their own competing event and isn't committed beyond the 2014 Winter Olympic games...

While the two week "best-on-best" tournament is the pinnacle for men's ice hockey at the moment, several injuries to key players have cast a pall over the tournament. Here is a list of five hobbled players who may ultimately compete for their respective national team's in Sochi this month, but they're unlikely to be at 100%. 

The tournament will be less exciting for it.

Steven Stamkos

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos is the world's single most explosive goal scorer, and it isn't even all that close. Stamkos' goal scoring contributions would be key for a nation that has struggled to win tournament's played on international ice in the past. But after breaking his tibia in early November, it's no guarantee that Stamkos will be the player we've come to expect even if he is cleared to participate the Olympic tournament.

Stamkos participated in contact drills - including puck battle drills - on Tuesday morning with his Lightning teammates. While the Canadian sniper continues to say the right things and is hoping to return to the Lightning lineup this weekend, it's hard to imagine that he'll be at full speed even if he is cleared to compete for Team Canada at Sochi.

[UPDATE: Stamkos will NOT play for Team Canada at the Olympics. Follow the latest on Stamkos' health status.]

Pavel Datsyuk

Russian forward Pavel Datsyuk has been battling a leg injury, and it has to be a major concern for the host team heading into the Olympic tournament. After all it's not as if you can just replace a perennial Selke nominee and probably the single best two-way forward of the past decade.

Datsyuk hasn't played a game since the Winter Classic. He's still far from being 100% too. After watching him in practice earlier this week, Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said that "his one leg isn't holding up," which sounds grim. 

The Russian national team is already somewhat light on defensive skill. If Datsyuk can't match his usual form, what is a minor perceived weakness could become a major issue for the host side.

Follow the latest on Datsyuk's health status.

Henrik Sedin

Henrik Sedin is almost never injured. In fact the Canucks captain and the NHL's premiere passer hadn't missed a game in nearly a decade until this past month. But Sedin is currently nursing a thumb injury and a rib injury that caused him to miss six games this past month. 

Though Sweden's ostensibly first-line center returned to the Canucks lineup this week, his mobility has seemed limited and he's clearly avoiding contact while playing through an enormous amount of pain...

"I’m good enough to play and that’s where we are," Henrik told reporters on Tuesday, "If I felt I couldn’t help the team, I wouldn’t be out there." Despite Henrik's brave comments, he left the game briefly following a hit in the first period and is clearly far away from being at the top of his game.

Sedin keyed a Swedish gold medal victory at the World Championships this past May, and was likely to factor into Sweden's top-line and first power-play unit. Whether he'll be healthy enough to assume that level of responsibility in Sochi, however, is very much in doubt.

Follow the latest on Sedin's health status.

Mikko Koivu

The Finnish national team is formidable, but top-heavy. The small Nordic country is inhabited by fewer people than the Greater Toronto Area, and their men's ice hockey team simply cannot afford to lose a player of the caliber of Mikko Koivu.

But Koivu, who broke his ankle in early January and had surgery to repair it, hasn't been cleared to return and may not be available at the tournament. 

Koivu is tough as nails. During the game in which he suffered his fractured ankle he returned and promptly assisted on two Minnesota Wild goals. But as ESPN's Pierre Lebrun explained on Tuesday, the ultimate decision on whether Koivu plays at the tournament or not may be out of the Finnish centerman's hands:

"It's been four weeks since (Koivu's) ankle surgery and it doesn't appear as though he'll get a game in before the break this week. Will he get medical clearance to go to Sochi? 

Talk about a devastating blow to Finland if the Finns don't get their top forward for the Olympics. As it is, it's a team that doesn't have much offensive punch. Losing Koivu would be brutal. You know he's going to do everything he can to be there, but at the end of the day, the word of the team doctors, one assumes, will rule the day. 

If Koivu isn't able to join the club, then Tampa Bay Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula will likely slot in on Finland's top-line. At least Filppula has had some practice filling in for an irreplaceable top-line piece this season...

Follow the latest on Koivu's health status.

Yannick Weber

Hmmm... 

Steven Stamkos, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Sedin, Mikko Koivu and Yannick Weber!? Yes, admittedly, one of those things is not like the others. Of course when you're talking about hockey nations like Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland, the Swiss seem similarly out of place.

The Swiss are still the "little team that could" in hockey terms at the moment, but they're rapidly improving. This past summer the Swiss national team managed to advance all the way to the finals at the World Championships before falling to Sweden. They'll look to build on that success at Sochi, with a team that boasts eight NHL player.

Weber was recently sent home from a Canucks road-trip with an undisclosed injury, and that injury has put his Olympic participation in doubt. On a team with so few NHL caliber players, losing a second pairing puck mover like Weber could prove impactful. 

The Swiss lack offensive punch up front but they possess a relatively deep blue-line. If Weber can participate, then the Swiss side will boast a top-four defensive group composed entirely of NHL players (Raphael Diaz, Mark Streit, Roman Josi and Weber) at the tournament. That's no longer assured, however.

Follow the latest on Weber's health status.

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