Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Canada's Star power
By RANDY SPORTAK -- Calgary Sun
Every player on the Canadian Olympic hockey team is going to be a star.
Question is, how many are going to be Stars?
When the pre-Olympic orientation camp was held in Calgary in early September, five Dallas Stars were on hand for the festivities.
Goaltender Ed Belfour, forwards Brenden Morrow, Joe Nieuwendyk and Pierre Turgeon and defenceman Richard Matvichuk were among the 37 players at the Father David Bauer Arena.
With less than a month to go before the 2002 team is announced, all five are just as in the dark as the rest of us as to whether they'll be chosen for the squad headed to Salt Lake City.
"I haven't really thought about it," said Nieuwendyk, the former Flame. "I know when you come to Canada all the talk is hockey but we have a responsibility to right our own ship in Dallas and have been trying to concentrate on doing that."
Considering how the Stars have fared so far this season, you can understand why Nieuwendyk said that must remain their focus. With an average record this far into the season (8-7-6-3) heading into last night's game with the Flames, the Stars haven't exactly grabbed much attention.
Nieuwendyk is probably the most likely skater to get a call from Wayne Gretzky and the rest of the Team Canada braintrust, which includes Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock.
He's leading the team in scoring, 12 goals and eight assists in 24 games prior to last night's tilt and riding a seven-game scoring streak, and Hitchcock has said he's been the Stars' most consistent player.
On top of that, Nieuwendyk is one of the holdovers from the 1998 squad that finished fourth after dropping the shootout tilt to the gold medal-winning Czechs in the semifinal.
"I'd love to have another opportunity to play. It was one of the highlights of my career," said the two-time Stanley Cup champ. "I enjoyed the whole experience, not just the hockey part of it. Being in the Olympic village and part of the whole experience is a thrill I'll never forget."
The other skaters have all represented Canada at the international level -- Matvichuk played at the world juniors in '92, Morrow won silver at the '99 world juniors and Turgeon was part of the famous brawl with Russia at the '87 junior tourney.
Matvichuk's selection to the orientation camp was a bit of surprise and he'd be hard pressed to beat out the other defencemen. He hasn't had a top-notch start to the season with two goals, four assists and a surprising low rating of minus-seven.
Morrow has the speed and grit any international coach would like but he too hasn't had the best start with five goals and three assists.
Turgeon had the misfortune of missing a dozen games due to a high ankle sprain, an injury he finally returned from last night, so he'll have to light the world afire over the next couple of weeks to receive serious consideration.
Which brings us to Belfour.
His numbers aren't all that great either, a 6-7-6 record, 2.51 average and .904 save percentage, and his reputation for being surly at times won't help either.
But with Patrick Roy having already pulled himself from the race and Martin Brodeur having a worse season, Belfour believes he can play his way onto the roster.
"Whatever it takes for us to win a gold medal," he said. "It's a great honour to represent your country at the Olympics. It's always been a dream of mine."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
