betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
- 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 nor 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 hullabaloo is really justified afterall.
... or maybe... it just sucks to lose.
Cheers - William - AKA Sub Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com!
- 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 nor 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 hullabaloo is really justified afterall.
... or maybe... it just sucks to lose.
Cheers - William - AKA Sub Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com!
