Olympians boast character, experience
Hockey in Pyeongchang will excite, even without the best players, says Rob Longley.
Before it was all about best-on-best and a collection of professional players taking over the Olympic show, hockey was still a big-time draw for Canadians at the Winter Games.
Sure, young stars Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews weren’t even born when we last saw such a format, but that’s beside the point. Few know such Olympic hockey roots better than Team Canada general manager Sean Burke, who rightfully believes a throwback tournament in Pyeongchang next month still has plenty to offer.
“I was very fortunate to play in two Olympics, in 1988 and ’92,” the former goaltender said on Thursday after the country’s 25-man roster for the 2018 Games was unveiled. “I remember the competitiveness of the tournament, the incredible intensity, the honour it was for myself and all my teammates to put on the jersey.
“All of that is going to be present in these Olympics as well.”
It will be a hard sell to wipe the recent memory of hockey fans, of course. Sure, the buildup will be lacking and the weeks of debate over second power-play units and third defensive pairings will mostly be muted.
But blame the NHL for that. Don’t hold it against the group of 25 that were, to a man, thrilled at getting the call from Burke.
Once you accept saying so long to best-on-best — and remember, coach Mike Babcock’s star-studded gold medallists from Sochi weren’t always easy on the eyes with their defensive domination — there is plenty to look forward to in this tournament.
How’s this for a thought? Canadian fans will get to know the players in the same manner they get up to speed with bobsledders and moguls stars.
In any event, the roster put together by Burke, head coach Willie Desjardins and the rest of the Hockey Canada crew is a mixed bag of professionals, many with NHL experience, most of whom are playing for club teams in Europe.
They are all first-time Olympians, but as a group have played in a combined 5,544 NHL games, led by 2011 Stanley Cup winner Chris Kelly. The players were culled from seven leagues across North America and Europe and include eight who have played in the world championship.
Other notables on the roster include journeyman Derek Roy, who scored 189 goals and had 335 assists in a 738-game NHL career with six teams, as well as Maxim Lapierre, who suited up 614 times in an NHL uniform.
Then there’s forward Wojtek Wolski who, a year ago, was recovering in hospital from a broken neck.
“I look at the picture of me in hospital and can’t help but cry,” Wolski, a 31-year-old veteran of five NHL teams wrote on his Instagram account after the team was unveiled.
“Mostly tears of happiness, but I am filled with so many emotions about what I have overcome. I could never have imagined that I would be so lucky one year later.”
The good news for the unheralded Canadian team is the competition it faces in South Korea will be built from similar restrictions.
With that in mind, Burke and company set about building a team they felt could compete against a variety of opponents. The emphasis was on skill at the forward positions, a mobile defence and some size — or “The Canadian way,” as Burke put it.
“More than anything we have the character throughout the lineup that gives us the opportunity to be a very hard team for everybody else to play against,” said Desjardins, whose most recent gig was head coach of the Vancouver Canucks from 2014-17. “I think all hockey fans are looking at it as a bit of an unknown. I think it’s a challenge, but we will represent Canada (well).”
The selection process was as thorough as it could be with upwards of 100 players getting a look at seven international tournaments the past 14 months.
Hockey Canada execs were keen observers of the recent world junior championship in Buffalo, but opted to go with more experienced players.
“As a staff, we did spend a lot of time discussing it,” Hockey Canada vice-president Scott Salmond said.
“It’s a man’s game. At the end of the day, we felt that experience was going to win out over the unknown. We were more confident (going) with the players we know than hoping with the players that we didn’t know.”