Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter edition features very few team sports. In those sports, like bobsledding, which do involve teams, the competition is typically turn-based. Teams measure themselves against each other but don't actively face one another head on. This is in part because the Winter games tilt heavily towards events in which men and women are conveyed down frozen hills at maximum speed -- hardly the ideal conditions for face-to-face competition.

The only exceptions to this are curling and ice hockey. As curling resembles beer-league ice bocce, it's only natural that hockey stands as one of the most emblematic and popular sports in the Winter games. Men's Ice Hockey also happens to be one of the sports in which the US and Canada have both invested their highest hopes. And with the Sochi games fast approaching, both countries are running out of time to finalize their rosters.

In a long, detailed report, ESPN's Scott Burnside recently explained the complicated and difficult process by which the United States determined which 25 players will represent their country in Russia. Burnside's access to the decision-making process gives fascinating insight into Team USA's back rooms, into the agonizing task of winnowing down a list of names, balancing the strengths of various players, and trying to somehow determine an ideal roster. Barring injuries, the U.S. roster is now set and can be seen near the bottom of Burnside's piece.

As for who will start and who will star, CBS's Chris Peters has a nice position by position breakdown of the roster. He expects Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel and Zach Parise to be among the top US forwards; Ryan Suter to be their best defenseman; and Ryan Miller to start in goal. However, though the roster is set, the lines are not and any analysis of the roster at this point is speculation.

In Canada, meanwhile, the roster is still a work in progress. Steve Yzerman, Team Canada's General Manager, has said recently that he's making the final decisions this weekend prior to the the Canadian roster announcement on Jan. 7. Yzerman has indicated that his most difficult decisions have revolved around who to keep at the forward position. Whereas it appears that U.S. had the most trouble cutting their defensemen, Canada is home to a surfeit of talented forwards, some of whom will have to watch the games from home.