With Gretzky Gone, Will Team Canada Change?
Source: By JAMES DEACON, AOL Sports
Posted: 09/18/08 10:22AM
Filed Under: Columnists
The cultural icon has declared himself out of the running to head Canada’s entry into the men’s hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Gretzky’s not entirely removed from the mix. Hockey Canada head Bob Nicholson has been coy about who will run the 2010 team, but he did say in an interview that Gretzky will remain as an advisor. “He’ll be a part of it,” Nicholson assured.
As he should. Gretzky has a wealth of Olympic experience, as a player in 1998 in Nagano (no one took the medal-less performance harder), as the victorious general manager in 2002 (no one was more relieved) and as the buck-stops-here GM in 2006 (no one took more responsibility).
Gretzky's Mixed Olympic Legacy |
Wayne Gretzky has declared himself out of the running to head Canada’s entry into the men’s hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. As player and manager, the hockey legend leaves behind a mixed Olympic legacy - one that includes a euphoric gold medal win in 2002, and painful medal-less results in 1998 and 2006. Here, Gretzky shows his disappointment after Canada lost to the Czech Republic in a shootout at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. |
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The most intriguing development for fans of the national team, though, is that Gretzky’s departure opens the door for a philosophical shift. The men’s program hasn’t been a roaring success — Canada has finished out of the medals in two out of three trips to the Olympics with all NHL hands on deck.
And when it won in 2002, Canada got a little lucky: Sweden, which beat the Canadians in the first round in Salt Lake City, was knocked out by a fluke second-round loss to Belarus. So Canada never had to face the favoured Swedes in the medal round. It easily dispatched Belarus and then, in the gold-medal game, faced an American team that was no match for the Canadians.
Gretzky is truly passionate about international hockey, and he is, arguably, the greatest player ever, so he brought real authority to the post.
But there have always been questions about the roster selections. Even in 2002, there was a sense that the team he and his management team assembled wasn’t the best that Canada could muster for that style of game. And a few selections appeared to be more out of loyalty than on merit.
Canada’s best forward line in Salt Lake was, not coincidentally, its fastest — Joe Sakic between Simon Gagne and Jarome Iginla. Beyond that trio, the team’s greatest assets were its big, mobile defence corps and its athletic goaltender, Martin Brodeur.
Its liabilities were its slower forwards. Among them were two banged-up veterans, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman, whose injuries pre-dated the tournament, but there were others who had great NHL stats but appeared adrift on the international ice surface.
And ask yourself: what was Theo Fleury doing on that 2002 team? In an every-game-is-a-must-win tournament, the decision to include an undisciplined player with major off-ice issues was mystifying. No surprise, he played recklessly and took stupid penalties. Also no surprise, on the night before the gold-medal game, Fleury — not far removed from a spell in rehab for alcohol and substance abuse — attended a party sponsored by Labatt.
The roster was assembled by the entire management group — Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini and the coaches all had their say, too.
But Gretzky had the top job, and he’d have taken way more heat for his choices had the Canadians lost. Fleury did not deserve to be there. Despite a bum knee, Yzerman was able to play a meaningful role, but Lemieux was seriously hobbled and well off his peak form.
Some of the same issues arose again in 2006. The Fleury role was played capably by Todd Bertuzzi. Just back from his too-short suspension for breaking the neck of Steve Moore, Bertuzzi did nothing to reward Gretzky’s nomination — he was undisciplined and unsuited to the big-ice game in Turin.
If anything, in fact, the Turin team seemed slower all around than the ’02 squad. The defenders were older and less mobile, and stars such as Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley were outplayed and/or outhustled by lesser lights from opposing countries.
It is difficult to win any major international hockey tournament these days; there are half a dozen strong contenders every time they lace ‘em up. And it isn’t easy choosing 25 players from Canada’s pool of talent. Success in NHL play doesn’t always translate in international play.
The 2006 Canadian team had plenty of stars, but too few of them used the extra space in Turin to their advantage — the big-ice game is all about speed and puck control. Did they have the wrong skill set? They lost to Switzerland, for crying out loud.
That loss puts huge pressure on the 2010 team, since it’ll be competing on home ice. Yzerman, now a vice-president in Detroit, is the front-runner to head the next management team. His boss, Ken Holland, would be an ideal choice too, but no NHL owner wants to share his top hockey exec with another country’s national team. Yzerman, then, is the likelier candidate.
Yzerman has the playing CV — scoring records, Stanley Cup rings, Olympic gold medal — and is better trained for the job today than Gretzky was back in 2001. As a player, Yzerman thrived under the Machiavellian master, Scotty Bowman, and in retirement he has worked closely with Holland in Detroit. He has also served in executive roles on previous national teams.
So Yzerman has done his front-office apprenticeship and he is tough-minded and competitive — he isn’t likely to let loyalty or sentiment skew his vision. That by itself would change the previous culture.
Gretzky, meanwhile, has done his bit and deserves the kudos. He restored lustre to the national team after Canada’s 1998 disappointment, he helped turn Hockey Canada’s business fortunes around, and he guided the 2002 team to Canada’s first gold medal in men’s hockey in 50 years. For a generation of fans, that gold-medal victory was their Game 8 of the Summit Series.
If Canada’s men hope to win hockey gold on home ice in 2010, a few things will have to change. The general manager is part of that, but, more importantly, Team Canada needs some different players, and it has to play a much different game.
Contact James Deacon at JamesDeaconCA@aol.com
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