Monday, January 21, 2002
Shooting down rumours
Gretzky: Lindros, Fleury won't be dumped
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
It is not surprising that in a country as passionate about its hockey as Canada, a fully operational Olympic rumour mill is churning out stories a month before the medal round.
One such rumour is that the Olympic organizers are on the verge of dumping Eric Lindros and Theoren Fleury from the team and replacing them with Joe Thornton and Keith Primeau.
The theory is that Fleury needs time to work out his family problems and Lindros appears to be so afraid of suffering another concussion that he is playing timidly. As a result, he is no use to the Olympic team until he returns to the physical game that gave him the elevated status he enjoys.
It wouldn't be impossible to scratch these two. Every Olympic nation has a tame doctor who will create a feasible diagnosis on request and Lindros could develop headaches. Fleury could be replaced under the Olympic rule that allows for substitutions because of emotional difficulties.
The rumour of their demotion is so widespread that even some of the Philadelphia Flyers had heard it by Saturday -- though not Primeau himself who would probably turn down an Olympic spot were it to be offered.
Be that as it may, the rumour is simply unfounded.
"We would never do that to anyone," said the executive director of the Olympic team, Wayne Gretzky yesterday. "We have no intention of embarrassing any players. Those guys have been named to the team and everyone named to the team will stay on the team unless they are genuinely injured. We won't be dropping anyone.
"These guys have pride and they have agreed to play for their country. We would never do something like that to anyone. It just wouldn't be right."
Another rumour -- one acquired from an NHL general manager on Saturday -- has it that the Maple Leafs' Curtis Joseph has been awarded the starting goaltending position.
That one may turn out to be true but at the moment, it is premature.
During the all-star game weekend in Los Angeles, the Olympic organizers will hold what will be their most important meeting to date. They will discuss, among other things, the goaltending strategy.
At that point, they will designate two of the three -- Joseph, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour -- as the active goalies. The third will not play barring an injury.
They then will determine the order of play for the two remaining goalies. Whichever one starts the opener will be the backup in the second game.
It is a virtual certainty that Joseph will be one of those two and it is highly likely that he will be designated the starter for the later games. But it is not yet a fact.
Another rumour has it that the organizers will find a way to get Joe Thornton on the team.
As one of the great emerging stars, Thornton has solid fan support and many Canadians would like to see someone shunted off the team to open a spot for him.
There are a few factors to consider in this one.
When the organizers made their original selections, they were completely aware of Thornton's ability. After all, people such as Gretzky, Kevin Lowe, Pat Quinn, Ken Hitchcock and so on are fully capable of recognizing talent when they see it.
They also spoke at length with Boston Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell, who is as familiar as anyone in the world with Thornton's play.
But they didn't select Thornton -- not because he lacks talent, but because he lacks experience and grace under pressure.
For an example of this, Toronto fans should cast their minds back to the Jan. 3 game between the Leafs and the Bruins. Around the middle of an extremely tight game -- eventually a 2-1 victory for Toronto -- the Bruins were awarded a power play.
It was not working well and about halfway through, out of sheer frustration, Thornton lost his composure and whacked a Leaf.
That was the end of the power play. And about a minute later, the Leafs had a short power play of their own. If this were an isolated incident, it wouldn't matter. But it's not.
In the NHL, that on-the-edge approach does more good than harm. It keeps the opponents on their toes.
But the Olympics are a world-class, single-game-elimination tournament. One power-play goal can make the difference between early elimination and an eventual run at the gold.
This is the concern of the organizers. They know as well as anyone that on pure skill, Thornton is as good as anyone in the league at the moment. But can he be trusted in a situation that features pressure of the highest order?
Nevertheless, all that having been said, the Thornton rumour -- like all good rumours -- does have an element of truth. Should a forward be genuinely unavailable, it will be Thornton who gets the first call.
2002 Games Columnists
