‘ Character throughout the lineup’
Hockey Canada leans on known quantities to construct Olympic men’s hockey team
Before it was all about beston-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, today’s 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, especially after being spoiled with the NHL component the past handful of Olympics. Sure, the build- up will be lacking and the weeks of debate over second powerplay units and third defensive pairings will mostly be muted.
But blame the NHL for that and 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 Mike Babcock’s star- studded gold medallists from Sochi weren’t always easy on the eyes with their defensive domination — there is indeed plenty to look forward to in this tournament. And how’s this for a thought? Rather than having hockey overshadow everything else at the Games, 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 currently 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 different 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 career with six NHL teams and Maxime Lapierre who suited up 614 times in an NHL uniform.
And 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 I 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 had imagined that I would be so lucky one year later.
“Today I am so proud and so excited.”
The good news for the unheralded Canadian team is that the competition it will face 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 to 2017.
“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 over the course of seven international tournaments over a 14- month period. Hockey Canada execs were keen observers of the recent world junior tournament in Buffalo, but ultimately opted to go with players who had spent significant time together.
“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 that we know than hoping with the players that we didn’t know.” rlongley@postmedia.com twitter. com/ longleysunsport