Sunday, February 24, 2002
Ready for a shootout
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- The image of Wayne Gretzky sitting on the bench in Nagano is frozen in time.
Passed up by Team Canada coach Marc Crawford for the shootout at the 1998 Olympics, Gretzky sat there for a long time just staring at the floor following a 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic.
"The thing I remember most about that day is Wayne sitting on the bench, the rink being empty and him just sitting there with nobody else around because he knew it was going to be his last chance," said his father, Walter Gretzky, yesterday.
"We got home from Nagano that year, a friend of mine picked us up at the airport and he asked Wayne: 'Why didn't you take part in the shootout?' He answered: `There's no I in team' and that's all he would say. He's never really said anything about it since."
If the Canads-U.S. game today comes down to a shootout, it will be after 60 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. At that point, the Canadian coaching staff will have to turn in its list.
You can expect Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman to be amongst the shooters. As GM this time around, Gretzky said the others will be left open because it could depend on who is hot.
"Look, if a guy's got three goals, he's going to be on the list. That's a given. But we're going to have a plan going in. We've discussed it several times and we'll be ready for it," said Gretzky.
North American players would hate to see a game be decided in this fashion but the reality is they have no choice.
Stanley Cup finals are decided on the last shot, however, the international competition uses this style.
"We don't like it because that's not the way we decide things," said defenceman Al MacInnis. "The way we look at it, that's not right. But this is a one-game situation and that's the way they do it.
"You've got to admit it's pretty exciting for the fans. It seems like it's over pretty quick but it's a pretty neat five or six minutes for the fans because of the tension."
Still, most of the heat will be on goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Mike Richter.
"There's a lot (of pressure). It's a tough situation. I don't think it's right to have that kind of system to decide who is going to be the best team, but neither is one game either," said Brodeur.
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2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
