Friday, February 22, 2002
CBC sticks with Canada's game
By PERRY LEFKO -- Toronto Sun
It was Hockey Night In Canada last night and Hockey Not in the U.S. The big viewing event -- in Canada, anyway -- was the gold-medal game between Canada and the U.S. in women's hockey. CBC gave the game the prominence it deserved, but NBC sloughed it off to MSNBC.
NBC was too busy following up on a controversy from the men's 1,500-metre short-track speed skating event the night before in which controversial American competitor Apolo Anton Ohno was promoted from second to first after a South Korean impeded his progress.
The hockey game had some classic images: Canadian goalie Kim St-Pierre breaking her stick on a fluke shot and using a regular stick provided by a teammate; the entire Canadian team piling on to St-Pierre when the game ended; Canadian captain Cassie Campbell draped in the flag; assistant captain Hayley Wickenheiser standing in line with her temmates while clutching her son; and the entire American team accepting medals with tears of disappointment while their Canadian counterparts shed tears of joy.
And, it was Wickenheiser who delivered a quote for the ages in an interview with Terry Leibel and Don Cherry.
"The Americans had our flag on the floor of their dressing room. Now I want to know if they want us to sign it."
THE SKATING NETWORK:
Figure skating is huge in the U.S. and NBC played it to the max last night with its coverage of the women's free skate.
The Peacock Network provided unprecedented backstage coverage, including an image of a door in a secluded area where viewers were told Michelle Kwan was behind. Somehow, CBC missed that shot. There was also Sasha Cohen listening to music, or in the words of announcer Tom Hammond, "she appears to be chilling out."
NBC pushed the American angle and, fortunately, 16-year-old New Yorker Sarah Hughes, who looks like a cross between Liza Minelli and Dorothy Hamill, prevailed in an unlikely scenario.
RIGHT ON, RON:
Finally a side of Ron MacLean we've never seen.
MacLean, the resident CBC punny man, showed he can be a legitimate broadcaster, asking tough questions and not backing down. MacLean grilled NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in an interview that seemed like 60 Minutes.
MacLean doggedly pressed Bettman about this Sunday's men's hockey final and how it would be valuable for the U.S., which has some 25 owners in the NHL, to qualify for the gold-medal game, which could sell hockey in America.
"This competition was never about who wins," Bettman insisted. "It was always about the hockey."
MacLean persisted on the owner issue before finally saying: "I'll drop this. You're not going to see it my way -- and I'm surprised about that."
MacLean asked Bettman about the fast faceoff rule used in these Olympics and the absence of the red line and the one-referee system. On the latter issue, he said using one referee instead of the two employed in the NHL could save the owners money.
Overall, the interview showed MacLean can be as inquisitive as Brian Williams without playing the fool.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Both CBC and NBC provided good coverage on the Russian and Ukrainian women's teams pulling out of the cross-country events yesterday and the ensuing controversy.
MORE HOCKEY TALK:
MacLean and Kelly Hrudey had an interesting -- and amusing -- exchange in the Road to Gold segment.
"I heard, in the can, of all places (Teemu) Selanne may be going to the Rangers," MacLean said. "I think a lot of those rumours come from those places," Hrudey said.
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2002 Games News Coverage
