Thank you world! It was one hell of a two week party

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Mar 012010
 

With the Olympics and a whopping 80% of the country watching at least part of yesterday’s gold medal game it’s going to be a bit of a culture shock going back to watching games like Tuesday’s Leafs/Hurricanes match-up, but it was one hell of a two weeks. One thing I heard at the end of yesterday’s matchup is that although Canada won the game the real winner was the sport of hockey. I can’t agree more with this, but not because of the gold medal game only.

One thing that stuck out in my mind was that this was the first international hockey tournament I’ve seen in which every team was competitive. With the exception of the 8-0 Canada win over Norway, and Finland’s collapse in the first 10 minutes of their semi-final game against the US losing 6-1, there wasn’t a single blowout in the mens bracket. Teams like Latvia, Belarus, and even the Germans were competitive in every game. The fact that Latvia got two (very good) goals past Nabakov is huge in my mind. What about Belarus playing the defending Olympic Champion Swedes, being down 3-1 in the 3rd, bringing it within 3-2 and then ringing one off the post moments after their second goal nearly tying the game. There was also the Latvians who down 2-0 in the 3rd period of their qualifier who completed a 3rd period comeback only to fall just short in OT.

There were a handful of moments at this Olympics which demonstrated just how far the sport has come internationally. One last such example was Norway who almost beat a Swiss team that the game before had taken Canada to a shootout. Norway a team made up of KHLers, SELers and other European league players with only one NHL player to their roster. They lost to the Swiss 5-4. Belarus also almost made it out of their qualifier game and in what was probably the biggest upset of the tournament, the Slovaks beat the Russians in a shootout capped by the Canucks own Pavol Demitra.

After watching two weeks of some of the best hockey we’ll ever get to see in this city one thing’s for sure, the sport we love to watch is becoming more competitive which only spells good things for the future. It’s only a matter of time before we see other teams entering the mix. Japan has a hockey league that saw Claude Lemieux’s presence for a number of years before he returned to the Sharks for one last stint. Heck, we all know if the Chinese want to be good at something they will find a way to be. The presence of China’s womens hockey team at this Olympics in my mind means it’s only a matter of time before the sport becomes even more global than it already is.

The reigning champion Swedes lost in what is now a changing of the guard for Sweden as it was likely the last Olympics for a number of Swedish greats like Lidstrom and Forsberg. It also saw the Slovaks tie their best finish in an Olympics ever. While this sport is Canada’s game, and while we still get over the Olympic hangover and the first gold rush in BC in over 100 years, the rest of the world wants to play and I for one love it!

Hey Brian Burke, this isn’t 1980

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Feb 272010
 

I love Brian Burke, he’s a character and I would have him back as GM of my Canucks any day but I’m getting sick of him perpetuating this “underdog” nonsense. This isn’t 1980. For those that don’t know In 1980 the Americans were a bunch of amateur and collegiate players that beat the Russians and ended up winning the gold medal at those Olympics in their next game against Finland. That game against the Soviets was named the “Miracle On Ice”.

Now I know Burke is notorious for two things: great quotes, and mind games. This whole Olympics he has perpetuated this label that the Americans are some sort of under dog and what’s frustrating is how everyone just eats it up. Has anyone taken the time to look at their squad? In hindsight it’s a very smart move by him. It eases the pressure on the team, and gets them emotionally into the game if they buy into it. The interesting thing though was the overwhelming response by the media and writers who in some cases reacted like the American win over Canada was on par with the second coming of Jesus. The reactions that I saw about beating Canada at “Canada’s Game” just blew my mind.

The Americans while not having as deep a pool of talent to select from as Canada, have put together a team that’s on par with Canada’s in almost every facet. The Americans have an all-star cast of their own that have donned the red white and blue and the notion that they are some vast under dog is just absurd. Belarus in an elimination game, Latvia, Germany, those are under dog teams. A team that boasts Ryan Miller, Phil Kessel, Chris Drury, Patrick Kane and Zach Parise amongst others is not some sort of under dog.

When the USA and Canada face off on Sunday in a rematch of the Salt Lake City gold medal game one thing’s for sure – we are going to be witness to the best hockey game played in North America, ever. May the best team win and if that does turn out to be Canada, I hope Brian Burke’s underdog label makes Team USA feel better about second place. This is Canada’s game and to quote Swiss alpine Olympian Didier Couche “second is the first loser”.

The Grant Fuhr Method to Goaltending

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Feb 262010
 

If you’ve even had a glance at highlights of Men’s Olympic Hockey, you’ve probably developed an opinion on how the tournament has gone so far.

Some of you were likely concerned – whether it was a tough first period against Norway, a scare against Switzerland where it took a shootout to win, and then a near complete FAIL in losing to the US. In fact, you probably felt that a Hockey Congress needed to be convened to figure out what ailed the sport in Canada.

Then there were others that pointed out that Team Canada is like fine wine, that it gets better with age and simply needed time to breath. You preached faith and devotion, knowing that at some point in time Canada would open up a can of whoop-what-what and take a few names.

And then there is me – the guy who thinks it comes down to Grant Fuhr, goaltending, and whether or not we could get that “one” save.

For those of you not old enough to remember the halcyon days of the 1980s Edmonton Oilers, they were a young team that had quite a bit of firepower in an age where the team that actually scored the most goals won – key word, goals. Although Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Anderson and others put up the points, there were a number of other teams in the league who had players that could do the same thing. So what was it that gave the Oil success? Goaltending.

Now we’re not talking about the goaltending we’re used to today. We’re talking about the flop around, pad stacker, red-light variety. So how does this come into play? Well, the Oilers had a guy by the name of Grant Fuhr who could make that one “great” save which allowed the team in front of him to maintain pressure and momentum. True the final score might be 6-5 or 5-3, but by making that one “great” save, he gave his team a chance to win.

So how does this have anything to do with Team Canada you ask?

If there were one consistent issue for debate, it’s been the position between the pipes. The rightly celebrated Martin Brodeur was anointed the number one keeper by the start of the tournament and relieved Roberto Luongo of his duties after the first game against Norway. But things didn’t go too smoothly for Marty. First there was some suspect goaltending in regulation against Switzerland where he couldn’t provide that “great” save until the shootout – where he stopped all three to redeem himself. And then there was that shocker against the US where he had trouble determining that baseball is not a demonstration sport in the 2010 Winter Games and again, couldn’t provide that “great” save when called upon. So after some deliberation, the decision was made to have Louie head back to the blue paint.

And the team took off.

Now I agree that a win against Germany isn’t something we should run to the streets to cheer about, but what about that slobberknocker against Russia? Here you had a Canadian team taking it to the opposition without having to expend even more energy playing catch-up because they had a guy who could provide that one “great” save. Roberto wasn’t perfect in either game, but he gave the team some belief that when it counted, he’d come up big. Case in point was the Malkin breakaway – Louie made that one “great” save.

It’s obviously Louie’s time to shine for the remainder of the Olympic Games and how he goes, the team will go. But if anything has been discovered is that with the firepower that Canada possesses, all the team will need is someone who practices the Grant Fuhr method to Goaltending.

And provide that one extra save, one “great” save.

Should There Be a Mercy Rule in International Hockey?

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Feb 182010
 

One thing Canada’s always been on the fortunate side of has been the blow out games. After the womens team beat Slovakia 18-0, the debate on whether or not there should be a mercy rule was brought up again. We watch the womens team dominate most countries except the US, we spent our Christmas and New Years watching the Canadian World Junior team slaughter teams, and even in the mens opener against Norway, Canada stomped them 8-0. So that raises the question, do we need a mercy rule?

What is winning a game by 18 goals doing? I for one, am a proponent that no matter what the score, if you’re up by one goal or up by six goals you shouldn’t let up the offense. I’m all for running up the score in an NHL game because in NHL games there are different things at stake. It’s not a regular occurence in the NHL and it’s welcome and exciting when it happens. But when you watch the Canadian juniors romp 16-0 over the Latvians, or the Canadian women put up 18 over the Slovaks there’s little exciting about that. The irony is that the Slovaks, to qualify for the Olympics, beat the Bulgarians 82-0. That’s not just excessive, that’s completely unnecessary.

When approaching this question, people have to look at it from the perspective of the sport as a whole. Teams like Bulgaria, Belarus, China, Latvia, etc. don’t come into the games with hopes of a medal. Their expectations are slightly different and so their measure of progress is developmental. Their goal as a team is to bring knowledge of the sport to their country through playing at that elite level. When a Canadian kid watches Team Canada beat the USA he thinks “One day I want to make Team Canada” and it starts there. I guarantee that a kid from Bulgaria doesn’t think “When I grow up, I want to lose 81-0 instead of 82-0″. They’re most likely planning on avoiding the sport all together at that rate.

When you look at hockey as a fan of the sport, there is no good that comes from shelling a team that badly. At an international level the tie breaker has to be a result of head to head play, not goal differential. There’s no good that comes from Canada, or any team winning by such a substantial margin. When a team is down, or up by such a large margin the game loses its’ competitive nature. International matches are meant to be about competition to showcase skill, not a method of embarrassment.

Luongo as Canada’s Goalie

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Feb 182010
 

Today we get to see Brodeur play for Canada against the Switzerland after Luongo got the nod for Canada versus Norway. I understand trying to see which goalie does better, and I understand giving them both some ice time, but at the end of the day I think it’s going to be Brodeur who’s going to backstop Canada the whole way.

Brodeur has the ability to play behind the net and eliminate any team’s forcheck, something Luongo lacks at best. A lot of the players on some of the more dangerous teams, in my mind, come from the East. Brodeur sees them all the time and he’s probably more likely to stop them. That being said, almost no one can stop Ovechkin. And thirdly, Brodeur comes to play in big games, and as much as I try to avoid bashing Luongo, the bottom line is he’s not a big game player. The “Luus” were great to hear at GM Place or as it’s known for the Olympics, Canada Hockey Place, but Luongo’s going to get many more turns to back stop this nation and right now Brodeur is the man of the hour.

Speaking of “Luus” I also came across this pretty wicked shirt which you can get from Pucking Hilarious. It’s a play on the Canucks logo, and I liked it! You know when the Canucks decide to do another jersey change (aren’t we due for another sometime soon?) I’ll throw my vote for this logo. They’ve got limited quantities and their order deadline is coming up soon! Check ‘em out, I know I have my shirt ordered and it’s some neat one-of-a-kind Canucks gear to add to your fan gear collection! If you want to follow them on Twitter, they’re @puckingfunny. Luuu Tshirt