Back to Business

The NHL is back in action tonight, but first, a quick round-up of the rest of the men's Olympic tournament:

-Gold for Sweden, and good for them. Seriously. The #2-ranked hockey nation in 2005, they'd endured an awful lot of disappointment since Lillehammer. As for whether they threw the game against the Slovaks, a coach telling the media that he might like his team to lose, doesn't mean that his players are going to go out and lose. They have their pride to consider, and on an international stage like the Olympics, is a group of professionals really going to pull a stunt like that? You can bet head coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson is breathing a little easier now, too; that gold medal might just have saved his job. It should also help a few of the NHLers - especially Mats Sundin, who was suffering a crisis of confidence - in playing hard down the stretch.

-The Finns are about as bitter a silver-medal-winning squad as you're ever likely to see. And that's okay. Not everybody comes to the Olympics just to do well; these guys play to win. Too bad that mindset would be lost on Jaromir Jagr, who told reporters that this would likely be the last Olympics of many of the Czech Republic players, including himself. "We're not going to play for our country. It's so much pressure. We lose, and they blame us. They blame the old guys again." Makes you wonder what he's doing in professional sports at all, really.


Back to the NHL, though, there's only about a third of the season left to play, and the races for the last playoff spots are wide open. The trade deadline also hits on March 9, just over a week away, so look for quite a bit of swapping to be going on, as big names rumoured to be available are Olli Jokinen, Keith Tkachuk, Mark Recchi, and Brendan Witt; many goalies are also expected to move, a list that includes Sabre Martin Biron, Panther Roberto Luongo, and one of the Wild's Dwayne Roloson or Manny Fernandez.

Teams on the playoff bubble will be waiting until the last minute to decide whether to buy or sell, and one of those teams will be the Toronto Maple Leafs. In truth - and it pains me to say this - it wouldn't be the worst thing for the club if they were to miss the playoffs. A lot of salary would move in an attempt to rebuild, as players like Ed Belfour and Nik Antropov would likely be bidden farewell. Though it might not be the free agent-rich summer that GM John Ferguson Jr. was hoping for prior to Vincent Lecavalier and Joe Thornton signing new contracts in the fall, there will still be some big names available, and with smart spending, the Leafs could be serious contenders again next year.

Also, in one of the more bizarre things I've heard recently, CBS Sportsline is reporting that the Penguins are apparently trying to start a league-wide bidding war for young Russian Evgeni Malkin, who is expected to move to the NHL next season. I'm not sure what the sense in this would be, if the rumour is even true (CBS tends to find trade rumours in their Alpha-Bits, and similarly, in Sun Media newspapers); they would be selling off their potentially lethal one-two punch in Crosby and Malkin, and for what? There is nothing that would be more valuable to Pittsburgh than two young franchise players-to-be. Scoring or defence right now wouldn't help them, they have a young goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury that they're trying to develop, and they certainly don't need high draft picks - they've got the market cornered there. (Never mind that the idea of trading a can't-miss prospect for draft picks makes no sense whatsoever.) Even from the ownership's standpoint, there'd be no upside to any such deal; it makes the team more likely to be moved, as fans lose interest even more, and it makes the selling price much lower. Granted, if Malkin was somehow dealt in a multi-team trade for several young stars-to-be, the Penguins wouldn't be terribly off; since they have so many high draft picks, however, it would be much more advisable to focus on scouting and developing other prospects, to build a team that would be a powerhouse in a few years' time.

I would feel left out if I didn't do a little second-guessing of my own, but I strongly believe that this version of Team Canada had more than enough skill to win the gold, if they wanted it badly enough. And though it's been said dozens of times already, it bears repeating that claiming Wayne Gretzky & Co. picked the wrong players just lets the guys who were on the ice off the hook.

The point has been made by one of the talking heads - I forget which one - that Canada has more than enough scoring talent in the NHL; 12 of the 25 top scorers are Canadian, but some didn't even make the team. Let's look at those players, shall we?

2. Joe Thornton: 55 GP, 21 G - 60 A- 81 PTS
-Scored a goal and two assists in Italy, with a -1 rating. Looked lost on the larger ice surface.

3. Eric Staal: 57 GP, 36-39-75
-Made the taxi squad; his youth and speed would have been appreciated. Many believe he should have made the club ahead of Todd Bertuzzi, and I'm inclined to agree.

6. Marc Savard: 58 GP, 24-48-72
-Plays with some stellar talent in Atlanta, including Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Peter Bondra. One can't help but rack up points with that crew. Has solid playmaking skills, but the guys who made the national team were supposed to be better.

7. Dany Heatley: 56 GP, 34-37-71
-Was supposed to be one of Team Canada's major point producers, but scored only two goals and one assist. Another big disappointment.

10. Alex Tanguay: 58 GP, 24-42-68
-Might have worked well on a line with Joe Sakic, his teammate with the Avalanche. Never really seemed to be considered seriously.

12. Sidney Crosby: 58 GP, 28-37-65
-The brightest light by far on a dismal Pittsburgh team, his playmaking skills and raw hunger could have been a boon to Team Canada. More importantly, he would have gained valuable experience, looking ahead to 2010, a squad that he should make easily, barring the unforeseen.

13. Patrick Marleau: 56 GP, 25-39-64
-Plays in San Jose with Joe Thornton; is big, fast, and a natural scorer. Wouldn't a Nash-Thornton-Marleau line have been something, if all three played like they can?

14. Simon Gagne: 51 GP, 37-26-63
-One goal and two assists in Torino; a big letdown from a player who was supposed to be one of the team's leaders. His conscientious play in the back end helped a lot, but when he was hurt in the game against Russia, it really seemed to take the wind out of everyone's sails.

20. Brad Richards: 58 GP, 18-42-60
-Led Team Canada in scoring with two goals and two assists. When four points in six games leads the team, that hurts. Still, he played well, at both ends of the ice.

23. Jason Spezza: 43 GP, 14-45-59
-Made the taxi squad in Italy. Solid playmaker, but not great on defence. With a little more work and experience, should be a lock in 2010.

24. Paul Kariya: 58 GP, 19-39-58
-Notched the opening goal in the gold medal game in Salt Lake City (remember, when Mario let the Pronger pass go between his feet?), and is blessed with speed and scoring ability. Still only 31 years old, though it seems like he's been around forever, and his experience at the Olympic level - as well as his wheels - would have come in handy.

25. Shawn Horcoff: 56 GP, 16-42-58
-Can make plays or hold his own in front of the net, and is good on defence. Comes to play with his heart on his sleeve every game, and it's a big heart. He has some World Championship experience which would have served him well, and while Horcoff was far from a lock to make this team, the role he would have played would have been comparable with Kris Draper's. But should he have made the team? Probably not.

No matter whether these guys were in Italy or not, everyone had to produce a much better effort than they did. In reality, the big issue wasn't who didn't make the team, but what went wrong with the ones who did.

Heartbreaker

On a day when Canada's Olympians had already won four medals, one loss overshadowed the rest. Many of Canada's favourites in Torino had already fallen, and the men's hockey team became another casualty, losing 2-0 in the quarter-finals to a fast, skilled Russian squad.

The second-guessing, if it hadn't started already with two straight 2-0 losses in the preliminaries, is surely rolling along now. Were the right players chosen? Was the coaching to blame? Were injuries to Scott Niedermayer and Ed Jovanovski the downfall of the defence? Was the gambling scandal that clouded Wayne Gretzky's aura a distraction? Was the lawsuit filed by Steve Moore against Todd Bertuzzi enough to throw him off his game?

Wayne Gretzky, for his part, has heaped all the blame upon himself, though anyone with a clear head can see that, for the most part, it's not his blame to accept. For whatever reason, Canada's players failed to perform; they didn't work as a team, and they didn't raise their games to that higher echelon that is so vital to success at this level of play. Despite that, an emotional Gretzky told reporters in a post-game news conference, "I feel tremendously responsible that we didn't win. And quite honestly, I'm going to re-assess where I fit and what I'm going to do in the future...Hockey Canada is wonderful, my country is great, and I love it dearly. But I'm also human, too. It's tough and it's nerve-wracking. It's not fun when you don't win." The Great One had even stopped watching the game before the third period had drawn to a close; when asked why, he said he had "wanted to change our luck."

It didn't work.

Those who believe that Wayne Gretzky was a distraction over the last week - I'm looking at you, Brian Williams - may have had trouble on their own part looking past the gambling scandal surrounding the Phoenix Coyotes, but you can be sure that when Team Canada's skaters had trouble setting up on the power play, or keeping their defensive assignments, it wasn't because they were thinking "Gee, that sure is something about that gambling ring." Wayne Gretzky has earned these players' respect, and allegations against Gretzky's wife and friends aren't going to shake that respect.

The lawsuit filed by Steve Moore, on the other hand, may have shaken Todd Bertuzzi just a little bit, as at times he appeared very tentative, unsure of what he could do. While Brian Williams suggested that if Moore was trying to get back at Bertuzzi with the suit's timing, it was perfectly fair, I would argue that "two wrongs don't make a right." Maybe Williams skipped that day in kindergarten; it's an honour thing. But if that was indeed Moore's intention, I hope he feels good about being one of the many pieces of the puzzle in Canada's loss.

One would have trouble arguing that Canada's offence even approached the level of "adequate" in this tournament, as they scored an average of 2.5 goals per game (compare with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 2.80 GFPG), with 12 of their 15 markers coming against Italy and Germany. Veteran forwards that the team was counting on didn't deliver, and the young guys didn't step up either - I won't name names, because it's a long list. On the back end, the team only allowed 1.83 goals per game, but when you're getting shut out in half of your games, defence can only do so much. None of the goals could ever really be chalked up to spectacular efforts by the opposing squads, but they were in the right places at the right times, while the Canadian defencemen weren't.

On the bright side, Shane Doan, Kris Draper, and Brad Richards all acquitted themselves well, albeit largely in their own end of the rink. If the NHL returns to the Olympics in 2010, Canada will still be in tough, but they will also be able to challenge a plethora of young stars to step up. Look for a kid named Crosby, at least one Staal brother, Jason Spezza, Dion Phaneuf, and possibly even GM Wayne Gretzky, who closed out his press conference with this:

"This country will be back in 2010 and we'll hold our heads high. I'll be there to answer all your questions, I'm not going anywhere, I'll take the responsibility no problem."


Meanwhile, in the American camp...

Though Team U.S.A. made a game of it in the end, Finnish forward Teemu Selanne remarked after the game that "We know we can beat anybody when we play on our level, and we didn't even didn't have to play that well tonight." Unfortunately for the U.S. team, that's a fairly accurate assessment, and while no one has heard of any trashed hotel rooms yet, there was still some drama from them after the final buzzer, as Mike Modano sounded off on what he thinks is a broken system. "You'd think USA Hockey would be a well-oiled machine, but it's not," said the Dallas captain. "Basically we were on our own for hotels, tickets, flights, stuff like that. Normally we wouldn't have to worry about stuff like that."

The comments from Modano, who spent most of the game's latter stages warming the pine, were at odds with GM Don Waddell, who maintains that "the people at USA Hockey do a tremendous job." Waddell was in tears at the post-game press conference, but truth be told, this team was the weakest on paper of the Big Seven, finishing the preliminaries with a 1-3-1 record, and never really hitting their stride, if they had one to hit (as opposed to Team Canada, who had a stride to hit, but never even approached it).

One thing is for sure: Modano, who will be 39 years old by the 2010 Olympics, doesn't feel like he's closing any doors by badmouthing his country's hockey program; at worst, he's lashing out after feeling that he was unfairly benched, but at best, his comments will lead to an overhaul of the system that could see them successful again. They have a load of young talent that will be developing in the NHL over the next couple years, but will that translate into a medal in Vancouver? Time will tell.


...By the way, Harry Neale couldn't help but compliment Bryan McCabe on his quickness in the third period, after the Leaf charged back to strip a Russian player of the puck on a dangerous-looking rush. Well, that salvaged the game for me...Not.

Sigh...

A day after Swedish head coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson suggested that his team might throw their game against Slovakia, claiming he was "still debating what would be best for the team," those same Swedes were shut out 3-0 by the Group B leaders. The idea was to play the club from Switzerland in the quarter-finals, which according to Gustafsson, "on paper, is the weakest team...I stand behind that. That's a fact."

The players showed up to play, and forward Daniel Sedin got angry with reporters when asked about the coach's comments, but it bears mentioning that backup goaltender Mikael Tellqvist got the start, stopping 28 of 31 shots on goal.

There are no official rules against intentionally tanking a game, but this doesn't look good on the Olympics, on Swedish hockey, or on hockey in general. Either Gustafsson was out of his head when he made those comments, or he's just dumb; whatever the reason, it is sure to enrage everyone involved, and I wouldn't look for him to be coaching the Swedes in 2010.

Sweden and Switzerland face off in the first quarterfinal game at 10:30am ET. It wouldn't be the Swiss' first upset...

Squeaking By

With the pressure applied by the Czechs in the third period, Canada was lucky to get out of the Palasport Olimpico with a 3-2 victory. The Canadians appeared to be working on team defence rather than trying to score, but they still gave up a lot of opportunities that required Martin Brodeur to bail them out, and bail them out huge. Though he made some scintillating saves, Brodeur looked frantic for much of the game, scrambling to get back into position and nearly tripping over his own feet a few times, not to mention being handcuffed on the bad-angle Cajanek goal that brought the Czechs within one. Hopefully playing two games in a row - something he has not done yet in these Olympics - will cause him to settle down a little.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't see Rick Nash step on the ice once in the third period, and his minutes in the first two frames were anything but abundant. This is either Pat Quinn sending a message to the young left-winger, or Quinn is trying to simplify things as 13 forwards makes for lots of line juggling, and thereby presents a challenge to team chemistry. Shane Doan (remember what a good game he had on Sunday?) took Nash's place on Joe Thornton's line, playing on Big Joe's left flank with Todd Bertuzzi on the right-hand side.

Of Bryan McCabe's two penalties in this game, one was not smart (grabbed his man around the shoulder, but McCabe's hand slid up and got him in the face), and the other was unmerited (called for tripping when Rostislav Olesz tried to leap over him and couldn't clear the hurdle). Referee Don Marouelli is off the hook for both; the first was merited, while his view on the second was obstructed by McCabe's backside, and all he saw was McCabe reaching for the puck as Olesz fell down. Again, however, one could take issue with Harry Neale's interpretations, as he rambled about how foolish the first one was (yes, it was, but how many penalties are smart? You didn't hear him ragging on Rob Blake for his blatant hook that put Canada down two men), and after the video replay showed that the second call was suspect, Neale stopped yammering, simply finished his sentence with a feeble "as McCabe hauls him down," and left it at that. The only reason I can come up with for Harry Neale's apparent love of maligning the Leafs defenceman is that he sees McCabe play almost every NHL game, as Neale also does play-by-play for Molson Leafs Hockey on TSN. Perhaps he feels more comfortable criticizing McCabe than he does guys like Adam Foote or Chris Pronger, whom he seldom watches.

Finally, an addition to my last post: Canadian defenceman Jay Bouwmeester is also sporting a visor for this tournament, something he doesn't usually do in the NHL for the Florida Panthers. It is possible that some of these players have upped their protection under orders from their employers, who want to be sure that their assets will come back safe and sound to help down the stretch.

Back to Basics

At the end of the second period, Canada leads the Czech Republic 3-1. Some quick thoughts:

-Martin Brodeur was bowled over in the second frame by Petr Cajanek, who backed into the goalie and fell on his left leg. No penalty was called on the play. Brodeur appeared to be in a good deal of pain for some time afterwards, though he made a spectacular glove save on a Jaromir Jagr one-timer. This bit of adversity fired up the Canadians for the next couple minutes, as Simon Gagne dug hard to clear the zone past two Czechs; Jarome Iginla then followed the puck into the Czech zone and, after a brief hesitation at the top of the faceoff circle, charged in to take out backup goalie Milan Hnilicka. Unfortunately, this earned Iginla the Canucks' first penalty of the game, and Rob Blake gave the referee an easy hooking call just 1:01 later, leading to the Czech goal on a 2-man advantage. Though it's not a bad thing for the Canadians to get geared up like that, they have to have a little more self-control, lest they find themselves in penalty trouble again.

-After a first period that saw Bob Cole and Harry Neale sounding a little more upbeat as Canada scored three, Neale seemed to derive some satisfaction from telling viewers that in the second, the Canadians "dodged a bullet...having been badly outshot, outchanced, and outscored." (Note that being "badly outscored" means having one goal scored against, during a 5-on-3.)

-If you pay attention to players' equipment, you might have noticed that Bryan McCabe and Jaromir Jagr are both sporting new looks in this tournament. McCabe is wearing a visor, which is out of the ordinary for him. Jagr, meanwhile, has switched helmets again; for the start of the Olympics, he was sporting the old-school, Gretzky-style Jofa, but has switched back to his usual Rbk bucket. The latter change was likely spurred by the hit from behind that he received from Jarkko Ruutu of the Finns, when he remembered just how much protection that helmet provides (try on a cardboard box, and you'll have some idea).

A Swedish forward said before the gold-medal game today that, in her opinion, Canada's defence was its weak point. Apparently she underestimated them. So did I, but hey, a 4-2 prediction and a 4-1 result? Close.

The Canadian women were dominant throughout, though they found themselves in some penalty trouble at the game's end, which actually should have been worse than it was. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but the referee's work was sloppy in the third period, as she seemed to just want to get the rest of the game over with. A few Swedes were mugged with no call in the final few minutes (save a penalty against Hayley Wickenheiser with just under 2 minutes left), and with about 15 seconds to go, the ref raised her arm, signalling a penalty against the eventual champs. The Canadians touched the puck twice before the play was blown dead with two seconds left, but the clock ticked twice more, and the celebration was on.

Why won't I just let sleeping dogs lie? Because it meant my prediction was wrong, that's why! In all seriousness, though, the officials' gaffes have been nonstop, and it should be cause for concern that those mistakes haven't yet been corrected. The calls have been inconsistent at best, and just plain wrong at worst.

Also, WADA president Dick Pound received a fairly warm ovation when he stepped on the ice to present Team Canada with their gold medals. If the Canadian men win some hardware, don't expect such a welcome for him; the players won't have forgotten his accusations that 1/3 of NHLers are on steroids, and the fans might not have either.

Going for Gold

As the Swedish and Canadian women's teams get ready to do battle for the gold medal at 2:30pm ET on Monday, I'm going to make my prediction: a 4-2 win for Canada. Yes, Canada defeated the Swedes 8-1 in the preliminaries, but they didn't have to face goalie Kim Martin, who only allowed two goals against a skilled American team. She did, however, catch a few breaks, as the U.S. had several open-net opportunities in the semi-final game, and failed to cash in; the Canadian women are better on offence, and should be able to take advantage of those kinds of opportunities. At the other end of the ice, Sweden should get more chances than they did the last time around, as fewer goals against will lead to more opportunities to clear the puck out of danger, and likely to a few more scoring chances.

We'll find out for sure when the puck drops in 20 hours.

Canada vs. Switzerland, take 2

Just in case you were thinking that the 2-0 loss to the Swiss yesterday would wake Team Canada up, think again. Another game featuring sloppy passing and poor defensive coverage has seen the world's #1 team drop to fourth place in the Group A standings.

The Finns, much more skilled than the Swiss, played an uptempo game with lots of physical play; they jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period, and held it the rest of the way home. The Canadians did not do themselves any favours, as their lack of teamwork allowed for few scoring chances - when they did get an opportunity, goalie Antero Niittymaki was there to stymie the shooters. Having been shut out for the last two games in a row, Canada's offence is no less than snakebitten, as evidenced by Rick Nash's breakaway attempt being stopped, and several glorious opportunities fizzling as the puck slid away from the goal mouth, oh-so-close.

Part of the Canadians' woes with regards to teamwork could be blamed on coach Pat Quinn, whose penchant for line-juggling can't be helping the team's chemistry. The forwards need to learn their linemates' habits, which will make playmaking easier. They also need to trust their teammates more, both on offence and defence; that trust will lead to everyone being in the right position, making set plays more effective. At this point, the Canadians all seem to be looking for that glorious pass, or that spectacular one-man effort, and it just hasn't happened. The defencemen need to look for the quick, easy passes out of the zone instead of waiting for the long-bomb feed to become available, as they are now; the forwards need to pass it to their linemates with the intention of creating chances, not just to keep the play alive when the puck carrier is under pressure.

While good moments for the Canadians were few and far between in this game, a few players aquitted themselves well. Shane Doan showed great hustle on the penalty kill, throwing his weight around and landing some big hits. Rob Blake played a mistake-free game. Rick Nash, before he left in the third after being hit with a shot, also played fast and gritty, which is when he is at his best; he did, however, shoot right into Niittymaki's pads on his breakaway.

One of the quarterfinal matchups has already been determined: Finland (A1) will play the U.S. (B4) in the first game on Wednesday, at 10:30am ET (2:30pm in Torino). The rest of the seedings will be decided after Tuesday's games are finished, with the top spot in Group B still up for grabs, and the Swiss, Czechs and Canadians jostling for second place. All the teams have Monday off as the women play for the gold, and some of them - Canada especially - will need that day of rest to find the antidote to whatever is poisoning them.

"Swiss Cheese": not a great goalie analogy anymore?

Did I suggest that the Germans were a tougher team than the Swiss?

Whoops.

With two hot goaltenders in David Aebischer and Martin Gerber, and two big wins against Canada and the Czech Republic, Team Switzerland is letting it be known that they're for real. They play a tight, well-disciplined trapping style, with an extremely aggressive penalty kill that gave the Canadians fits. For their part, Team Canada had an absolutely awful game on offence, undoubtedly partly due to the clingy Swiss defenders; but this is a team that has yet to gel, and needs to do it quickly. Canadian passes missed the mark continuously, making the Swiss look better when they corralled the errant pucks and cleared them out of the zone, and any time there was a good scoring chance on Gerber, he came up big. Two disallowed goals - one called back because winger Todd Bertuzzi was in the crease, and a Rick Nash offering denied because of inconclusive evidence that the puck crossed the line - should have taken the wind out of Canada's sails, but they kept coming hard; unfortunately, they did not get any good quality opportunities again. The near-goal by Nash absolutely looked like it was over the line from every available camera angle, but it wasn't certain because the overhead goal camera in that rink is positioned over the crease, not the crossbar (the one intelligent statement that colour commentator Greg Millen offered up all game).

Team Canada's next job will be to prepare for the Finns, whom they play tomorrow, and a much better effort will be expected; after all, in the past, nothing has brought the Canadians together like a little adversity. And this should be enough adversity for everybody.

A few other observations on the Olympics thus far:

-The hockey refereeing has been awful, with no exceptions. Both the women's and men's tournaments have been marred at times by terrible calls, either from overzealous officials looking for penalties where there are none, or from negligent refs who seem like they'd rather be someplace else.

-I had almost forgotten how negative CBC commentators Bob Cole and Harry Neale can be when they expect great things from a team; during the Canada/Germany game, they were so down on the Canadians that it seemed as though they wanted the Germans to pull off an upset. Even when the score was 4-1 for Canada, the pair spoke like it was only a matter of time before Team Germany scored four quick goals to win it. Hopefully that doesn't keep up, because few things are more irritating.

-Stemming from Cole and Neale's turn as Negative Nancies, the lone goal in the Germany game was blamed entirely on the shoulders of Bryan McCabe - an accusation that just was not true. Just like their work on Hockey Night in Canada, there are times during games where it seems like the two are watching an entirely different match. This was one of those times. So let's use some diagrams!



In the second period, with two Canadians in the box, and one German serving his own penalty, Germany enjoys a 4-on-3 powerplay, moving the puck around the Canada zone. Cole says that it is a 5-on-3.





McCabe's holding penalty expires at 8:59 of the frame, evening the squads up at 4 skaters apiece. Two defencemen are already on the ice for his squad, so he assumes the role of the winger in the four-man grouping, taking the far defenceman on the side boards. Sakic inches closer to the German puck carrier below the goal line, flattening out the defensive triangle. Cole believes the Germans still have the man advantage.



As Sakic cheats lower, the German forward passes to his defenceman (Sakic's man), now in the high slot, who scores far side on Luongo. McCabe's man is well-covered.






Am I sticking up for McCabe because he's a Maple Leaf? Maybe. But there have been too many posts on various sports websites by people who don't know what they're talking about, saying that McCabe doesn't deserve to be a part of this team, and that's just not true. I'm not desperately trying to shift blame, either; Sakic is such a great player that he's allowed to make one mistake, and it didn't exactly cost them the game. The anti-McCabe bandwagon, however, has filled up even faster since the start of the NHL season than the pro-McCabe one, and to hear Neale and Cole hop on board the former irritated me greatly.

-Unfortunately, I will not be able to fulfill Justin's request that I liveblog the hockey games during this tournament. Not only would that require a lot of running (the television and the computer are in two different rooms), but I will be out of town for the semi-finals and the Gold and Bronze medal games. Sorry, Pippy.

-Finally, the three sports commentators I could definitely live without:
3. Greg Millen: Talk, talk, talk, and he doesn't say anything. It's like he's watching a different game.
2. Pierre McGuire: Can this guy get any more excited about absolutely nothing? It's MCGUIRE TO THE MAX! It's MCGUIRE'S MONSTER! It's SOME PRETENTIOUS MORON WHO NO ONE TAKES SERIOUSLY, THINKING THAT BEING LOUDER WILL MAKE HIM CREDIBLE! An actual quote from the World Juniors, after a Russian player took a dive: "That is just the personification of embellishment." (Five second pause) "That is just embellishment personified."
1. Brian Williams: Please, yap some more about how Wayne Gretzky shouldn't be at the Olympics. And when you're on with Don Cherry, roll your eyes constantly; it makes you seem clever. Hopefully for the closing ceremonies, this idiot shuts up and lets Peter Mansbridge do the whole thing...at least Peter can pronounce the countries' names. Who knew Ku-ZAK-uh-stan had a hockey team?

The Italian Job

Canada began their defense of a gold medal today with a convincing-but-sloppy 7-2 win over the host Italians, and amazingly, there's been no word yet from CBC commentator Brian Williams about how it's all Wayne Gretzky's fault. It's all uphill for the Canadians from here, but their play will also improve drastically from this point as the tournament progresses. They have perhaps the best schedule of any of the twelve teams, as they play the rest of their pool in the following order: Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and the Czech Republic. With the possible exception of the German and Swiss games, each match will be more difficult than the last, giving the Canadians ample motivation to improve; starting with three of the five weakest teams at the Olympics will also give them a chance to gel and build up confidence.

Indeed, all the teams with mostly NHLers on their rosters will improve dramatically within the next few days, for three reasons. The first is simply overcoming jetlag; the rest of the teams are based in Europe and have had no such troubles, and that advantage will disappear. Likewise, second advantage belonging to the weaker five clubs - team chemistry - will quickly evaporate as the other countries' players grow accustomed to playing with their teammates. The third reason relates back to the jetlag, in the category of adequate rest - with the wonky NHL schedule this year seeing teams often playing three games in four days, the Olympic schedule will not fatigue them as it may have in the past, with as many as eight games taking place over a 12-day period, or two games to three days.

All teams will need to become accustomed to the refereeing, as the IIHF has instructed the officials to call games as the NHL does. Well, perhaps some of the European refs should have watched an NHL game beforehand, because the differences in the style of play immediately leap out at any observer. During the Canada/Italy game, there were many hits and holds on players pursuing the puck which would have been an easy interference call for any referee in North America's biggest pro league. The clutching and grabbing seems to still prevail here, and it will be interesting to watch the differences between the European referees and those from the NHL. Another area that needs vast improvement is the naming of the various penalties - whether it is the fault of the officials on the ice, or the scorekeepers upstairs (which isn't out of the question, since they seem to have an awful time not only doling out a secondary assist, but figuring out which players wears which number), calls often appear questionable because they are deemed something which they clearly are not. For example, a scrum in front of the net that might result in a Roughing penalty gets a Charging call, and a player who blatantly trips an opponent gets sent to the box for Holding. Two minutes is two minutes, and this is more a frustration than a real issue, but officiating can't be half-assed.

Before the men's hockey began, IIHF president Rene Fasel complained publicly about NHL players who pulled out of the Games with injuries, but continued playing for their club teams. Fasel would rather see all the world's best players in Torino, in order to showcase the sport's best talent and build a wider fan base. He should just consider himself lucky that he's not a part of basketball's governing body, which would surely give him fits - some American ballers have griped about not being paid to play for their country, and would rather see a monetary compensation than a piece of metal hanging from a ribbon. Now that's patriotism.

Finally, U.S. defender Angela Ruggiero lashed out at Canada's women's team for demolishing Italy and Russia by a combined score of 28-0, saying, "I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation...there was no need for that." She also accused the Canadians of "trying to pad their stats . . . Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons - personal, short-term." Perhaps no one's filled her in on the tie-breaker for home ice advantage in the elimination round: the team with the best goal differential gets home-ice advantage, meaning choice of jersey colour and the final line change. To leave something that crucial to chance, knowing that the rival Americans are essentially the only team with a chance of beating the Canadian women, would be downright stupid. The trash-talking between Team Canada and Team U.S.A. has been ongoing for some time now, but Ruggiero's two cents just come across as bitterness. To paraphrase one of the Canadian players, there would be less class involved in not taking advantage of scoring opportunities; better to give every team your best effort than to be condescending and play like they aren't worth your time.

Ladies' (hockey) man

The Olympic sporting events in Torino got started today, with Women's Hockey among the first. This is a sport that's often criticized by the casual fan, usually because it's not men's hockey. Because open-ice hits aren't allowed, it's seen as softer, and the skill level is admittedly lower than on the male side of the sport. But it's still fun hockey to watch, especially on the big ice surface, where skilled teams like Canada's entry get a chance to shine. They currently lead the Italians 5-0 after the first period of play, with the versatile Caroline Ouellette, who plays both defence and forward, already notching a hat trick. Team Italy is clearly outmatched, and as the CBC commentators said, rank 17th in the world; if they were not hosting, they would not be in this tournament. They are playing their hearts out, however, and it should be remembered that they are a small and inexperienced team - one of their defensive pairings features two 15-year-olds.

If there is one facet of the sport worthy of criticism at this early stage in the tournament, it would be the officiating. The referee seems to be trying to help out the Italians, letting a great deal of interference and hooking go on their end, while Canadian forward Danielle Goyette has already been penalized twice on phantom calls. Yes, Italy needs some help in this sport, but was it not just 24 hours ago that one of the Italian judges took an oath on behalf of all officials to be completely fair and impartial? By the way, this referee is an American, and as everyone knows, the U.S. team is really the only other entry in this tournament that can compete at Team Canada's level; the two are bitter rivals. No, that's not a conspiracy theory, just an observation...

And just a quick FYI: Gillian Apps, the granddaughter of former Maple Leaf and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Syl Apps (and daughter of the Leaf's son of the same name), is one of Team Canada's forwards. But one burning question that I know is on everyone's minds as they watch these Olympic Games:

Why didn't her parents name her Sylvia?


Updated (a couple minutes later): As Canada goes up 6-0, CBC's colour commentator is gushing about how smart goaltender Kim St-Pierre was to recognize a delayed penalty call and go to the bench in favour of an extra attacker. Maybe the women's game would be met with more respect if the commentators - and this particular one is a woman - didn't sell them short.

7-0 Canada. Rollin', rollin', rollin'.

Another Rough Day

If you didn't think the Rick Tocchet business was bad enough, a report in a New Jersey newspaper is now saying that police wiretaps intercepted phone calls between Tocchet and Wayne Gretzky, and seem to confirm that Gretzky knew about the gambling ring. This should come as no surprise, really - what were the chances that both his wife and one of his close friends would be involved in something of this magnitude, and he wouldn't have known about it? There is still nothing to suggest that Gretzky placed any bets, and it is downright foolish to think that he would have reported it to the authorities, given that his loved ones are involved. This still will not look good on Gretzky or on the NHL, however, and there's just no way around that.

If the unveiling of Bryan Berard's positive steroid test a few weeks ago surprised you, raise your eyebrows a little higher. According to a recent report, an unnamed Canadian player has now tested positive, but is currently appealing the results, and thus will remain unnamed for a little while longer. The only clue is that he was named to the Canadian Olympic team's 81-man long list, but did not make the final cut. This narrows it down to a possible 53 guys, with nearly twenty of those having represented Canada at a past Olympics or World Cup, and nearly all being past participants of a World Championship team, be it Men's or Junior. Here are the possibilities:

Goaltenders - Ed Belfour, Dan Cloutier, Curtis Joseph, Andrew Raycroft, Jose Theodore, Cam Ward.

Defencemen - Adrian Aucoin, Nick Boynton, Eric Brewer, Eric Desjardins, Scott Hannan, Barret Jackman, Kyle McLaren, Derek Morris, Dion Phaneuf, Chris Phillips, Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios, Brad Stuart.

Forwards - Jason Allison, Jason Arnott, Patrice Bergeron, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, Marc Chouinard, Sidney Crosby, Shawn Horcoff, Paul Kariya, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, Joffrey Lupul, John Madden, Kirk Maltby, Patrick Marleau, Brendan Morrison, Brenden Morrow, Glen Murray, Rob Niedermayer, Joe Nieuwendyk, Jeff O'Neill, Michael Peca, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, Michael Richards, Michael Ryder, Marc Savard, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Sullivan, Alex Tanguay, Scott Walker, Wes Walz, Steve Yzerman.

It is fairly safe to say that no matter which one of these players produced the offending test sample, Hockey Canada is feeling some pain right now. It seems like Dick Pound's warnings about steroids in hockey, though obviously exaggerated (a third of all players, he said, were on performance-enhancers), contain a few seeds of truth.

17:49 - The Montreal Canadiens have scheduled a press conference for this evening, presumably to discuss the positive test. Sources have told TSN that the test did not pick up an anabolic steroid, but a masking agent, one that is commonly found in hair-restoration drugs like Rogaine. If, as was previously reported, the player is one from the aforementioned 81-man list, but a non-participant in Torino, then the possibilities are Jose Theodore, Mike Ryder, or Sheldon Souray.

18:03 - Canadiens physician Dr. David Mulder has announced that Jose Theodore was the player who tested positive for the banned substance, which was Propecia, a drug used to grow hair. He has been taking it for eight to nine years, according to Dr. Mulder, and was unaware until recently that it was a banned substance. Read TSN's coverage here.

I've been slacking off again...it's been far too long since my last post. Let's see...what's new...what is new...

Former NHLer and Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet has been accused of running a sports betting operation out of New Jersey; charges against him include money laundering and conspiracy, as the operation had strong ties to the mob in New Jersey and Philadelphia. According to many sources, including Tocchet himself, the betting had nothing to do with hockey, and had only to do with other sports. Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet Jones is also under investigation for placing bets, but Gretzky insists that she did not place any on his behalf, and he is not involved in any way. Several other individuals (the number ranges from three to a dozen, depending on what report you're reading) are apparently being investigated as well, and that number may include current NHL players. As long as the betting was indeed not related to hockey, the NHL will survive; otherwise, it will be another black eye to a league that has had more than its share of troubles over the last few years.

If you're looking for a good game review, and over-politicization has a tendency to make you ill, stay clear of Sun newspapers, if you're not doing so already. In the two weeks since the Conservatives' victory at the polls, it is nearly impossible to read an editorial about the Leafs in the Toronto Sun that doesn't allude to the election ("Toronto has lost more defencemen than the Liberals lost seats to the Tories," etc). Of course, looking to the Sun for an unbiased political opinion is like looking to Exxon executives for advice on whether to buy a hybrid car or a Hummer, but when the politics start leaking into the hockey coverage, I think it's time to stop reading. Fortunately, the work of Al Strachan and Steve Simmons is downright stupid at times, so you won't miss much.

As for the upcoming Olympic hockey: are you excited? You should be. I am. Of course, many big names will be missing due to injury - Kiprusoff, Niedermayer, Jovanovski, Lidstrom, Khabibulin, and Zhitnik, to name a few - and some players just weren't asked to the show, and it doesn't sit well with them. Take Jeremy Roenick. He was furious when the U.S. team didn't select him, and has decided that they are harbouring some kind of grudge against him. But really, what reason would anyone have to dislike Jeremy Roenick? Hmmm...

Back to Scott Niedermayer and Ed Jovanovski, they have pulled out of Turin (or Torino, depending on who you're talking to) due to a knee injury and abdominal surgery, respectively. Bryan McCabe and Jay Bouwmeester will replace them on the squad, while Dan Boyle will take McCabe's place on the taxi squad. Many chesterfield GMs will complain that Dion Phaneuf was not selected as a replacement, and even more are up in arms that Bryan McCabe was picked to go at all. It's not hard to tell who's not a Leafs fan in the latter debate, but the fact is that McCabe has been having a career year, and has improved dramatically at both ends of the ice. Granted, until he hits the ice in Italy his skill set on the bigger ice surface can't be fairly judged, but in case anyone is interested in the opinion of Scotty Bowman, the greatest hockey coach of all time, he simply said, "He's having a breakout season and I think he deserved to be on the team." Case closed.

Finally, a classic quote from Thrashers coach Bob Hartley:
"Ilya's goal was a big goal as well as an important goal."
Either he just said two things that mean the same thing, or the goal was actually physically larger than average. Of course, I've never heard anyone accuse Bob Hartley of being a genius. A headhunter, yes...genius, no.