Sunday, December 16, 2001
Starting goalie will have to wait
By MIKE ZEISBERGER -- Toronto Sun
Team Canada officials have a message for those who demand to know who will be the starting goaltender in Salt Lake City.
Stop it!
According to the Canadian brass, such inquiries will not be answered until early February, when Curtis Joseph, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour will be informed of their roles.
"We have no definition at this time," Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky said. "We have three goaltenders who can start."
With Patrick Roy having pulled himself out of the running, there is no reason to commit to a starter with the Games still two months away. Brodeur, for example, has struggled at times this season, but why judge him now when the two-time Stanley Cup winner is capable of turning around his season by the time the Olympics arrive?
Conversely, Gretzky, head coach Pat Quinn and the rest of the Team Canada brass don't want to wait too long before delivering the unwelcome news to one of their goaltenders, a mistake team officials made in 1998 when Joseph was informed on the plane ride to Japan that he would not play in the Nagano Olympics.
"I know there were some surprises with goaltenders the last time," Quinn said. "When we talked with the goalies in the summer, they all said that was the type of thing that could not happen again.
"I'm not even sure we'll go with a definitive No. 1. I doubt very much we'll go with one guy, but with goaltending, sometimes you have to go with hunches from the heart."
During a pre-game press conference last night prior to the Maple Leafs-Canadiens matchup, Joseph was pestered about what role he thought he deserved.
"It doesn't matter to me," said Joseph, who was told that he had been named to Team Canada by Quinn after the Leafs' morning skate. "I don't even need to know the night before our games, so it's not a big deal.
"If you are handed the job, you do it."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
