Sub View From the Couch - Was
it all worth it?
"The Couch" is on holidays
so this week's column was written by betED hockey correspondent
William Barilko. Don't worry - The Couch will be back
next week!
By now, anyone who was remotely interested
would know that neither the US or the Canadian men's hockey
teams finished in medal contention during the 2006 Olympics
in Turin, Italy. It was supposed to be a classic rematch
in which the US was hellbent on exacting revenge on those
pesky Canucks to make up for the home-crowd loss in the
2002 Salt Lake games. It was, however, not to be.
The dynamic of '06 Hockey, from a North
American perspective, was very different this time around.
The US team didn't seem to be entangled in as much drama
as the Canadians going into the games with Team Canada
Executive Director and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky being
tied up in the Rick Tocchet gambling sting as well as
questions as to his choices for the team (more on that
later) but the US did seem to have some outspoken critics
after the games. What was surprising to most, was that
disparaging comments were coming from within the organization
- on ice level to be specific.
Three time US Olympian Mike Modano ripped
into his country's executive group following the US 4-3
loss to Finland that bounced them from the tournament.
"You'd think USA Hockey would be
a well-oiled machine, but it's not," he said. "Basically
we were on our own for hotels, tickets, flights, stuff
like that. Normally we wouldn't have to worry about stuff
like that."
Perhaps Mr. Mike was a little upset that
he wasn't deemed worthy to even play a significant role
in the third period. US Coach Peter Laviolette made that
call.
"We were down looking for goals
and looking for offense, and it wasn't about Mike Modano,"
he said. "The third period was clearly our best period...
I think some players in general didn't seem to have the
jump, and you do your best to get the players out there
that have the jump."
At least someone came to Modano's defense
- Bill Guerin, teammate on both the Dallas Stars and the
US Olympic teams.
"He stuck his neck out there and
said something uncomfortable for him to say and definitely
uncomfortable for people to hear," Guerin said Tuesday.
"In the end, Mike spoke the truth. We had to deal
with a lot of other issues along with worrying about the
game."
Back in the Canadian dressing room, there
was the glaring absence of two legends - Mario Lemieux
and Steve Yzerman - both who had withdrawn their names
from Olympic consideration due to the fact that THEY ARE
OLD. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise though - just
not an obvious enough one.
Gretzky and co. stocked this year's Canadian
roster with a group who's majority couldn't exactly be
referred to as 'spring chickens' either with 18 of the
starting 25 in the lineup being born prior to 1980. Yes
- the core of this year's team was there to bring home
gold during Salt Lake 2002 as well as the 2004 World Cup,
but 4 years is a long time in sport-years and takes its
toll on an a battered old hockey body (even with a year
off for the lockout).
Pittsburgh Penguins rookie standout Sidney Crosby was
left off the roster completely, despite sitting 12th in
NHL scoring with 65 points in 58 games as were Jonathan
Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau, both standouts with the
San Jose Sharks this season.
"People are going to question who was on the ice
and who was on the team and that's OK," Gretzky told
CBC Sports. "I'm a pretty big boy. I can stand up
[to any criticism].
"[But] obviously we have to do something different
for 2010."
It is indeed, Wayne, a time for the 'changing of the
guard'.
My congratulations to Sweden who did end up winning gold
but even they had a short lived celebration as NHL players
from that winning team were right back on planes heading
to their respective North American club cities after a
few minutes of Stockholm-style celebration.
All of this tied with injuries to several
key players on NHL squads during the Olympics has led
to question whether NHL participation beyond 2010 will
be feasible. What happens if the best players in the world
don't play though? Does it cheapen the event? Let's just
wait and see. From the US and Canadian perspective, the
feelings right now couldn't be much 'cheaper'.
Maybe there is a lot to be taken from
the fallout following this year's Olympics. Maybe the
US program needs a revamping and should seriously consider
Modano's comments as worthy. Maybe Gretzky's history should
be discounted and he shouldn't have the right to decide
who suits up for Canada in Vancouver 2010. Maybe all of
this hulabaloo is really justified afterall.
... or maybe... it just sucks to lose.
Cheers - William
- AKA Sub Couch
