The Great One's Great Mistake

OK. Have a feeling that this is going to come up here so I figured that I'd paste what I just posted on USCHO to hopefully avoid too much early morning Canada bashing ( tho I think that you guys are above most of that, esp with half of our beloved team being Canadian! )

ok. don't know how many of the people discussing the Great One's comments are Canadian but from the perspective of a proud Canadian living in the US and watching NBC coverage I'll give my $0.02.

He shouldn't have said what he said about everyone hating Canada ( I mean, come on, we're CANADA!) but I do understand his frustration and why he said what he said. The entire country is riding his a$$ BIG TIME! After the gold medal drought there is no alternative to brinigng back gold, as unrealistic as that might be/seem. Never have I seen so much pressure and so many expectations on one guy.

The Canadian team has been taking their time in coming together as a cohesive unit. I think that there are few who could argue the potential of this team and the abilities of the players as individuals. Unfortunately ther are MANY who have been voicing their disbelief in the crappiness of the team thus far. In Canada, among all the criticism and "what the hell's?" there is still hope but for the team and the fans in SLC they are exposed only to the NBC coverage, which while not necessarily saying WE HATE CANADA (and I don't think that they do but a hurt and fragile ego hears all sorts of unimplied messages - that's being human), has in fact been VERY negative and insulting. On many occasions I have heard myself talking indignantly to my TV saying "Hey, now! Be nice! Don't be so quick to judge!" NBC has been painting a bleak picture and this is not in the hopeful and optimistic nature of Canadians.

IMHO he had to say what he said, tho maybe not in as much of an us vs. them menatality, to keep spirits high amongst the team and the fans. Just as the Americans are hoping that home and fan advantage will help them out, the Canadians, realizing more than 100 years after inventing this great sportthat they aren't necessarily the best at playing it anymore and that many other countries have players just as competent, are hoping that their fans (and don't doubt for a second that there are as many of them as there are Americans with tickets) can give them the same rush.

All that said, I know most Candians have been hoping to see both Canada and the US in the gold medal game, ensuring that North America, home of the greatest professional hockey league in the world, will house the 2002 gold medal. It'd be nice to show the Europeans who is boss when it comes to hockey. Hope that no one takes what was said too seriously.

For those of us who aren't watching any of the Olympic coverage (for whatever reason), What did The Great One say?

I thought it was clear that he was fire up his boys with Canadian pride, so that they can dig down deep and do what needs to be done (i.e. forecheck more aggressively, hound the other teams' forwards on defense).

I don't think there's anything wrong with a big "up yours" to the rest of the world (even if that's not what everyone is saying), if it helps pick up the play of the team.

That said, the Canadians seemed to me to be in a much tougher group than the US, so I wouldn't be surprise to see them win a close, low-scoring one against the Finns, before having to face Sweden again.

here's to hoping. as for what he said, go to
[www.msnbc.com]

i know why he did it but its kinda embarassing for most canadians

I have a lot of respect for Gretzky but:

He had to know the pressure he'd be under when he took the job.

Whats with the "American propoganda" comment? That came out badly and casts him in a bad light.

He said "they love to beat us"...probably true and whats wrong with that?
Doesn't Canada LOVE to beat Russia? and the USA?

Nothing wrong with that!

Here is Terry Jones's (Edmonton Sun columnist) take on Wayne Gretzky's press conference: [www.slam.ca]

I think it's unfortunate that Gretzky believed his tirade was necessary to fire up his team. I found his accusations toward the American media to be laughable; it is the Canadian media that, for at least the last year, has been obsessed with the performance of the Canadian hockey team. But, if Gretzky's comments are what it takes to get guys like Theo Fleury motivated, then so be it. I'd love to see Canada play in the gold-medal game.

IMHO, I believe part of what Gretzky said is correct. Other countries are not
rooting for them to win.

Why? I think it's because the Canadians have for a long time felt that their
teams had superior talent and that they somehow "deserve" to win because of that talent. Statements like: "A gold medal is our goal, anything less is huge dissapointment", show a measure of arrogance. Team Canada's results in international competitions over the last 20 year have shown repeatedly that their talent margin isn't as large as it's perceived to be.

Meanwhile teams like the Czech's in '98 and perhaps Sweden and the U.S this year come into the tournament knowing that they might not have a talent edge and that TEAMWORK and dedication will go A LONG way to deciding the medals. They are HOPING for gold and will be satisfied with any medal as long as they know they've left it all on the ice.

It seems clear to me that the key to winning the Olympic tournament in it's current format is to see which group of "all-stars" will come together as a team and gel. Sweden really seems to have done that. The U.S. may have as well. The Czechs, Russians, and Canadians have not as shown by their inconsistent play.

With all that said, I think the tournament is STILL wide open. In single elimination, one hot goalie can change the complexion of the tournament. I will continue to root for the U.S. (I am a citizen after all) and I will continue to root for perceived underdogs like Sweden and Finland and the Czechs. Until I perceive Canada dropping it's arrogance, I can't root for them. (Sorry Joey).

Actually, I'm secretly hoping for symmetry from the 1980 games with U.S. defeating Russia in the semi-finals and Finland for the gold.

Very well said, Eric! I'm with you almost 100%. My only difference is that I'd rather see U.S.-Russia for the gold, instead of U.S.-Finland (just as, I'm sure, everyone in '80 had wished that the victory over the Russians would've been for the gold).

A US-Russia matchup for the gold is not possible. If they meet, it will be in the semifinals.

Well, that just shows how much I pay attention to the groups 'n' brackets 'n' such. (Hell, I don't even have the schedule of games -- I just toon in and see what's on!)

Well, since I publicly said on this forum before the games started that I was going to be rooting against Canada, I should chime in here.

Gretzky has an "aw shucks" naive type personality, so this sort of outburst is definitely out of character. It's difficult to tell what his motivation for the comments is. Could be him trying to fire up the team. Could be that he's frustrated with the play. Could be he wants to start an isolationistic Canada vs. the World crusade. I watched the NBC coverage, and I heard nothing that suggested the analysts were biased against Canada and the rest of the world wanted them to lose. In fact the cross-check that Gretzky mentions was met with "oh, that was a dirty hit" by the NBC broadcasters. The only negative Canadian comments I've heard have been truths: "Canada is off to a slow and disappointing start". With the expectations at home, I'd hate to read what the Canadian press had said after the first 2 games. In addition, due to their exposure and constant contact with all of the Canadian and American NHL talent, I'm sure all of the American press have been and are on familiar and friendly terms with a lot of the players. No reason to show any bias against them if they wear the Mapleleaf.

Another reason for me to hope Canada doesn't win? There are many Americans who have said "I hope the US wins the gold, but if it's not us, then I'm rooting for Canada." Want to take a guess as to the percentage of Canadians who would say the same about the USA? In fact, I think that having to endure yet another US Gold Medal would be Canada's worst nightmare. Canada's party line is that they want to prove that the North American style of hockey hasn't been overtaken by the European style. Read between the lines, and I see the fine-print of "as long as that North American team is Canada." Gretzky may say there's a lot of anti-Canada sentiment in the American media, but I think there is a good amount of anti-US feeling in Canada. More than they let on.

Sidenote: it was interesting to know that the "winner" of last night's Canada-Czech game would go on to face the more dangerous Russian team. But it was a credit to both teams that they were both playing hard for the win.

You want craziness? Think of the mayhem that would surround a Canada-US Gold medal game. I have a feeling that Canadians snapped up many tickets, so the atmosphere would be nuts.

I really don't think it is that hard to tell what the motivation was... as a Canadian guy I play pickup with put it:

Gretz is taking care of business now, so looky out - its Canada versus the Evil Axis of Russia, Czech, and Sweden (and Finland).

LGR!

Gretzky made the mistake of attacking the media, which is always dumb, considering it's the media who will filter his comments and opine upon them. It's like calling a radio talk show host an idiot -- guess who wins that battle every time?

Hockey people came into this Olympics thinking about the Russians, the Swedes, and Dom Hasek. Nobody gave a damn about the Canadians or the Americans -- we're irrelevant until we prove something (and for the US, until we finally win on non-US ice in front of a non-US crowd, we won't have proven anything but that we can win with a stacked deck).

These games have nothing to do with the Olympics and everything to do with cranking up the music and flying the flag. I'm sure on 9/12 everybody in Europe even remotely connected with the Games woke up, rolled their eyes and wrote off anything resembling an actual international competition until the US gets its panties sufficiently unbunched.

Which is not to say we don't deserve our 15 days of self-stroking-- we do. But I don't think the rest of the world finds it rivetting watching us do it every night. I've heard they get the real stuff on public access TV in prime time, anyway.

The media is even less likely to react well when the criticism is stupid.

I think you're wrongly exaggerating your point about what "hockey people" were thinking prior to the start of the games (Canada is NEVER irrelevant when it comes to hockey; e.g. see 1992 and 1994 Olympics).

I've read media from around the world and corresponded with Swedish friends regarding the tourney and although everyone ranked the Czechs highly, there were lots of question marks about the Swedes (due to Forsberg's absence and concern that Tommy Salo might not be able to continue his Olympic success). Similarly, Russia was a big question mark, because of the turmoil within the federation and the absence of Zubov and Mogilny. Similarly, there were questions about the Canadians (were they going to change their style of play, did they pick the right players and concern about goaltending due to the absence of Roy). The US was full of questions marks as well -- which group of players would show up, the '96 or '98 crop?

In other words, there was no clear cut favorite and I think prevailing opinion was that Canada had as good of a shot at gold as anyone else (if not better).

As for the US, we did manage to win the World Cup in '96 AGAINST a stacked deck.

As for our "self-stroking", how is this different from 1984 or 1996? Or from any other of the recent Olympics hosted by other countries? Should we consider you to be a self-hating American?

Greg Berge wrote:

Which is not to say we don't deserve our 15 days of self-stroking-- we do. But I don't think the rest of the world finds it rivetting watching us do it every night. I've heard they get the real stuff on public access TV in prime time, anyway.

You should have been in on Saturday's Lynah Chat.

> As for our "self-stroking", how is this different from 1984 or 1996?

Well, I won't disagree with you that we're as ignorant, blindly parochial, and xenophobic as most other bunches.

Well, he didn't really help his case much by stocking his team with older players and ignoring the younger studs (like, I don't know... Joe Thornton?). Did anyone else really think that a team that old could keep pace in the Olympics? I know they could still win it all, but the Great One seems to be merely a Good One when it comes to being a GM.