Sunday, December 16, 2001
Tobans give team two thumbs up
By KIRK PENTON -- Winnipeg Sun
Yesterday's announcement of the Canadian Olympics men's hockey team started yet another great debate that can only happen in Canada.
Two Manitobans who have vast experiences in the game of hockey put in their two cents yesterday and, for the most part, gave a thumbs up to the team that will try to win gold in February in Salt Lake City.
Hockey Manitoba executive director Peter Woods, who coached Great Britain's national team for the past five years, believes the team will have all the tools.
"I thought they've done a good job," Woods said. "There's a good mix there. They've got some youthful players, they've got some good speed and some guys that can move the puck on defence.
"I think they've accented that and complemented it with a good selection of forwards."
Meanwhile, Brandon Wheat Kings general manager Kelly McCrimmon was feeling disappointed yesterday after one of his former stars -- Ottawa Senators defenceman Wade Redden -- was not selected to the team.
"Knowing him as well as I do, I have an appreciation for the type of game that he plays and I felt he would have been a real good player on that team," McCrimmon said via telephone from the Wheat City. "... It's not that you can necessarily fault those that did (make the team). It's a pretty impressive line-up top to bottom, but certainly from a Wheat King perspective we're disappointed for Wade."
ON TAXI SQUAD
CTVSportsnet's web site was reporting yesterday afternoon that Redden is one of the six players who are on the team's "reserve" list, which is needed in case of an injury.
If McCrimmon had been in charge, he said he would have named Florida's Roberto Luongo as the team's third netminder, but he was particularly impressed with one move made by Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky and his staff.
"I was happy for Joe Nieuwendyk," McCrimmon said. "He's had a real good year and the type of person that he is -- he's such a respected player just as an individual."
Over the past several years, Woods was able to see many of the players that Canada will be facing in Salt Lake City and he believes Gretzky has found a winning combination with younger, offensive-minded defencemen and its usual collection of talented forwards.
"We played a lot of the (European) national teams," said Woods, whose Great Britain squad missed qualifying for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano by a single goal. "... I'm familiar with a lot of those players and how they play, things of that nature. And yeah, Canada's picked a good team."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
