Olympic Hockey

To be honest, I like the Winter Olympics. I find the summer games interminable and boring. But the winter games are packed with sports that I actually like to watch- albeit I only like to watch them every four years: luge totally rocks, bobsleigh- and of course, the best two-week tournament in sports- men’s ice hockey.

What do I think of our team?

The United States will be pretty weak on defense. Only Brian Rafalski strikes me as a true world class player. Plus, they are so small. I realize it is the "new rules"- but one canard that is spreading through the league is that “skating” is now all-important for defensemen. That is simply not true- defensemen still need to clean the front of the net and control play in the corners first and foremost. Sure, it is nice if defensemen can lead or start the rush- and with the power play becoming all-important, points from the blue line are surely appreciated. But you gotta contol your end first- and since you can't grab people anymore, you gotta be big to move'em.

I was glad to see US Hockey pick Chris Chelios. He is USA Hockey- and he'll be a great locker room guy- and if necessary he'll cripple Joe Sakic or Vincent Lecavalier to win. If he acccepts a role and limited ice time; who else on the team can complain about their roles? One funny thing is- I think Canada is only okay on defense. Rob Blake, Ed Jovanovski and Adam Foote all have international track records, but they are simply not elite players anymore. McCabe is the only realistic option if one of these guys falter- and he’s not that great either.

Canada is simply loaded up front. The USA isn’t even close depth-wise. But against everyone else, the USA wingers should be fine. There is enough here to put two great lines “scoring lines” together and a grit group (definitely- some good role guys who skate thru walls here). Obviously, the scoring Canada has is absent. And gosh- Canada has some tough guys too- people up north are questioning his selection, but I think Ryan Smyth is wonderful. But the USA group will be solid in their own end- and might score more than imagined prior to the NHL season starting.

Goalie- sigh... to be totally candid, I am not sure I'd be comfortable taking one of these guys into the regular season, let alone a world championship. DiPietro was benched in a game the other night. Esche is good- but not world class. I guess the USA has got to play'em all early in the tournament and play the hot hand. Not a plus- arguably the worst situation in nets among the Big Six.

Lastly, you can put me in the category of people squarely sick to see Todd Bertuzzi make the Canada roster. Look, I love hockey- and I hate when people dismiss it as boring or violent. But Bertuzzi is a violent criminal. Period. Read here a good account of the NHL's (indicative of Canada's position) of this evil thug. Add Todd Heatley, another guy with a series of questionable life choices, and Hugh Adami in the National Post has a point:

With a player of Bertuzzi's calibre in Canada's lineup, perhaps we will be seen as a nation in which morality plays second fiddle to winning. Maybe Bertuzzi's presence will reinforce the image that Canadian hockey is all about thuggery.

I read the Canadian papers religiously- and everyone kind of “knows” that Bertuzzi is probably not the best idea. But Gretzky gets a pass on everything hockey in Canada, even more so now with his recent personal tragedy. He could probably add a donkey & Gary Bettman to the roster, claim they were “character guys” and not only get a total pass but columns in the Toronto Star praising his insight.

Look, I am not saying this is a national scandal on the level of Abu Ghraib. But as where a cherished cultural institution- the US Army- immediately publicly moved to fire, investigate and hand-wring over absolutely everything- Canada hockey took these two guys and elevated them to the cherished national pantheon. And it isn’t like Canada had no other options for Turin. They only have like a thousand skilled front-line players to choose from with similar capacity: Marleau, Tanguay, Savard.

So I don’t get this. It is a mistake. Canada has a lot of players who both can play at this level and who deserve it more. This Canada team will get to Turin- and the number one off-ice story will be Bertuzzi. What a shame.