Team Canada's executive director Steve Yzerman knows the challenges that await his staff. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Steve Yzerman has been consumed with hockey since the future Hall of Famer was named Team Canada's executive director in October.

However, he expects things to get even more hectic in the coming months.

While next week officially marks the one-year countdown of the Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver, it wasn't too early Thursday for Yzerman to outline of his plan to shape the 2010 Canadian squad.

The former Red Wing great knows the challenges that await him and his staff, who include Oilers president Kevin Lowe, Detroit general manager Ken Holland and Dallas boss Doug Armstrong.

Yzerman was part of Canada's team that erased 50 years of misery by capturing gold at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. He's also aware that selecting the coaching staff early will be a crucial first step in a process filled with several difficult decisions.

To that end, Yzerman said the coaches would be named shortly after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup final.

"Kevin, Kenny, Doug and myself were in Montreal in early December to put together a watch list of players, and at that time we had a general discussion on Canadian coaches around the league — anybody we thought would be suitable or be a guy that we should be talking about," he said during a conference call.

"We put together a group of names that we think the coaching staff will come [from]. "We need to know the people we're interested in, and know their strengths and weaknesses."

Yzerman said he wants to "let the season play out" so the coaches won't have to worry about their respective teams.

"I want to make sure when we name the staff that the coaches themselves are comfortable."

'Players are popping up on the radar'

The Canadian braintrust gathered in November in Ottawa to go through an itinerary for upcoming scheduled events. A major priority was to take in a plethora of games in order to gather as much information as possible.

Yzerman will then meet with his staff in March to finalize a list of players to invite to an orientation camp the week of Aug. 24.

'We have to be prepared to make a decision next fall based on availability and who's playing well at the time.'—Steve Yzerman, Team Canada executive director

"It's really a chance to look at that list and go out and really watch [the players]," he said. At the same time, players are popping on the radar screen that are having better years than in early November — [players that] maybe we hadn't really thought that much about or hadn't discussed."

Again, we'll get together in March, really talk about the players — what we like, what we don't like — and that list potential will be fined tuned a little bit."

List of goalies getting longer

Yzerman was leery of getting into specifics regarding the roster, but noted that injuries to Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and New Jersey Devils netminder Martin Brodeur have forced his staff to look at a broader list of goaltenders.

Luongo, a member of the 2006 Olympic team, missed 23 games after suffering a groin injury and has struggled to find his game.

Brodeur, who backstopped Canada to gold in 2002, continues to sit out the majority of the season with a torn left biceps tendon. The three-time Stanley Cup champion does expect to return at the beginning of March.

"If this happens next December, obviously that brings in different goaltenders," Yzerman said. "I think going back to '06, [Canada] had some injuries just before the tournament and [the team] had to bring in a couple of different players.

"That situation reinforces that we really have to be out there, not just watching the guys that many consider obvious, but there's some very good players that people haven't considered," he added. "We have to be prepared to make a decision next fall based on availability and who's playing well at the time."