Sunday, December 16, 2001
It'll be 'Oiler hockey'
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
Team Canada is going to play 'Oiler Hockey' at the Olympics.
In an earlier era it was known as 'Firewagon Hockey' in Montreal.
In the end Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Lowe and Co. made their final Canadian Olympic Team decisions with the idea of playing the game like you want to watch it in mind.
"I said from Day 1 that this team would be about talent, speed and emotion,'' said Gretzky on the phone a couple of hours after the announcement of the 23-man team yesterday.
"This team is going to be like the '60's Canadiens or the '80s Oilers. It's going to be a super hockey club with so many elements. To beat us, you're going to have to be really, really good and be able to really, really skate.''
Yes, they're going to play Oiler Hockey. And they came oh-so-close to playing it with three Oilers.
Anson Carter was the last cut, his spot on the team lost in a debate between Brendan Shanahan and Simon Gagner. He'll be offered the chance to be first alternate on offence today when Kevin Lowe catches up to his team in Philadelphia. One injury and it will be the Oiler winger ending up on the team.
FIRST FORWARD ON WAITING LIST
Like Sean Burke in goal, Carter will be the first forward on the waiting list in case anybody is injured. A couple of Alberta kids, the Senators' Wade Redden of Lloydminster and the Flames' Derek Morris from Edmonton, lost to Ed Jovanovski in the 11th hour discussions for the final spot on defence.
"I'm guessing it took us about five hours,'' said Oilers' GM Lowe of the Friday night session to make the final decisions.
Gretzky said the discussions were lively and Lowe certainly played his part.
"We were down to the last minutes and we were debating about a couple of players when Kevin looked at me and said 'I know who Glen Sather would take.'
"That's who we took.''
The biggest adjustment to the big ice surface is on defence. And the final selections on defence to this team - Eric Brewer of the Oilers and the Canucks' Jovanovski - said it all.
"Brewer and Jovanovski are big guys who can take the body, knock guys off the puck in their own zone, and then bring it up the ice,'' said Lowe.
"One of the things I really wanted on this team was to have offensive threats on defence,'' said Gretzky when he called a couple of hours later.
"We wanted guys who could jump in the play and make good, quick passes.''
Gretzky had veto power for all decisions made by Team Canada. But he didn't use it to get one of his own guys on the team.
COULD BE AN UNHAPPY CAMPER
Because of his history and the potential for Eddie Belfour to be an unhappy camper as the No. 3 goalie (not to mention the potential to be an international incident), many of hockey's so-called experts figured Sean Burke from Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes, a goalie who'd answered Canada's call many times before, would make the team.
"That was the hardest decision to make,'' said Gretzky.
"Sean's well-deserving as a player and even a better person.
"Sean deserves to be there based on his loyalty to Canada and all the international games he's played. And he deserves to be there based on his work ethic and what he's done for our hockey team in Phoenix.''
Lowe explained the thinking of going with Belfour in addition to Curtis Joseph and Martin Brodeur in goal and it makes nothing but sense.
"Goaltending was a big discussion. In the end we decided that in the beginning we'd started with what we believed to be the four best goalies. We lost one when Patrick Roy decided not to play.
"If the Olympics were tomorrow, we'd probably have picked Burke. But Belfour was one of the guys we took to camp as being one of our best and he could be the best of the three by the time the Olympics get here in February.''
Up front the selections showed the original philosophy Gretzky and Lowe took to the table at the git-go.
"We want to keep the puck and not give it up as much as Canadian teams have done in the past,'' said coach Pat Quinn.
POSSIBLY CONTROVERSIAL
The closest thing to controversy on offence was probably the decision to pick Edmonton's Ryan Smyth despite being out of the lineup with a busted ankle.
Smyth probably had the team made way back last spring when he ended up as captain of the Canadian team at the world championships. To take the spot away from him when there's now every chance he might be back before Mario Lemieux is one thing. But the key is that if he comes back and picks up where he left off and hadn't been picked to the team, then what do you do?
Smyth says he's not going to try to pretend the ankle is good to go in the Olympics if it's not.
"There's no question I have a huge responsibility here,'' he said in being honest.
"I'm fortunate that it's the Oilers support staff, that our trainers are part of the Olympics too. Obviously they'll be monitoring me every day along the way.''
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
