Team Canada: No need to panic.
It has certainly been awhile since my last post. The NHL has been rather slow and I have had priorities of my own but here we go:
CANADA DOES NOT NEED TO PANIC! Almost immediately after the loss to the US, Facebook and Twitter statuses were condemning Martin Brodeur and Team Canada’s play. A handful of people even suggested that the run was over and the Russians would win Gold. Initial reaction shows that Canadians do not have faith in the management and the team itself.
Let’s backtrack. When Steve Yzerman was tasked with assembling 2010’s version he knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially after a disappointment at Torino 4 years ago. With the Olympic games now in our own backyard the pressure is 100x greater. In fact, it’s like we all expect Canada to win everything. It’s true that Canada should win certain sports and events such as Women’s hockey, Freestyle skiing and curling since we have the most dedicated and talented athletes. But in other sports such as men’s hockey, Canada is not the only country with immense talent. Think Russia and Sweden. So getting back to backtracking, when Team Canada was put through training camp which lasted a whole 3 days I believe (I don’t really care for specific dates), you had the nation’s top players trying out for a spot. The point of the camp was not to identify who are the best players because all of them are on the ice but rather to see who can play what roles on the team. By the end of it when Team Canada was announced, on paper it looked like a Gold-medal team. You have a team that could shoot, score, grind and play physical. All 7 defenceman are over 6’0 ft (with the exception to Dan Boyle, I regard him as an offensive defenseman so it doesn’t really matter). All-star calibre goaltending. On paper, this team is the dream team.
So why did Canada almost lose to Switzerland and lost to USA? It’s because both the Swiss and the US gave Canada quite a matchup combined with the fact no balanced offence was generated In both games, Hiller and Miller stole the show. In both games, offence did not come from the left wing which is why Babcock is mixing up his lines in order to generate more offence from the wing. But the ultimate factor is because Canada just could not beat the goalie.
Enough analysis here. This is exactly like 2002 where Team Canada lost to the Swedes 5-2, tied the Czech 3-3 and won against the Germans 3-2. They had to play an extra game to qualify for the quarters. Team Canada today has to play an extra game against the Germans to qualify for the Quarters. Exact situation. Oh I forgot to mention in 2002 they won Gold. Just a slight minor detail. So without further ranting, Canada needs this extra game to get their game clicking and going full steam ahead because they will face the high powered Russians in the quarters. And the road ahead doesn’t get easier with Sweden or possibly Slovakia in the mix. Either way I think Canada will benefit from this game against the Germans to finally put everything to the test and get it going. They will play in front of Roberto Luongo who will replace Martin Brodeur for the rest of the tournament as indicated by Mike Babcock today.
Cheers and GO CANADA GO!
-WC
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