head coach: Marc Crawford

roster: F - Rod Brind'Amour, Shayne Corson, Theoren Fleury, Wayne Gretzky, Trevor Linden, Eric Lindros, Joe Nieuwendyk, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Rob Zamuner; D - Rob Blake, Ray Bourque, Eric Desjardins, Adam Foote, Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Scott Stevens; G - Martin Brodeur, Curtis Joseph, Patrick Roy.

game results:

ROUND ROBIN
Belarus          W 5-0
Sweden           W 3-2
United States    W 4-1

QUARTERFINAL
Kazakhstan       W 4-1

SEMIFINAL
Czech Republic   L 2-1 (shootout)

BRONZE MEDAL GAME
Finland          L 3-2

game recaps:
Round Robin: Canada vs Sweden
Round Robin: Canada vs United States
Semifinal Round Canada vs Czech Republic
Bronze Medal Game: Canada vs Finland

Woe Canada
by Michael Dell, editor-in-chief

As if the World Cup wasn't bad enough, now this! Canada's long national nightmare was perpetuated at the Olympics, where the men with maple leafs on their chests were sent home without a medal.

Canada's dreams of gold were dashed by Dominik Hasek and a scrappy Czech Republic squad in a thrilling 2-1 shootout loss. Canada trailed 1-0 after Jiri Slegr broke a scoreless tie in the third period by blasting a point shot past a screened Patrick Roy. Trevor Linden answered for Canada in dramatic fashion, deflecting a shot off the stick of Richard Smehlik and behind Hasek with just 1:03 left on the clock. Canada pretty much controlled the overtime, but couldn't get another puck past Hasek. The Dominator continued to stand on his head in the shootout, stopping all five Canadian shooters while Robert Reichel provided the difference for the Czechs, wristing a shot off the left post and behind Roy on the Czech's very first turn.

Patrick Roy by Kevin Fischer

The loss was stunning. Canada failed on yet another international quest for superiority. But anything can happen in a short tournament. Losing to Hasek in a single-elimination game is no disgrace. However, then proceeding to lose the bronze medal game to Finland while the Finns were without their best player and number one goaltender is, well, a disgrace.

Bobby Clarke was the target of a lot of criticism when he assembled the roster for Team Canada. The team was too slow. They wouldn't be able to compete on the big Olympic rinks. There weren't enough finishers up front. And where was Mark Messier?

Well, sometimes critics are pretty smart.

Canada failed to win a medal in large part because the team was too slow, they weren't prepared to compete on the big rinks, and there weren't enough finishers up front. And not having Messier certainly didn't help matters.

Things looked just fine in the beginning, as Canada came into the tournament with intensity and won its first four games over Belarus, Sweden, the United States, and Kazakhstan. Talk of gold was in the air.

Eric Lindros by Meredith Martini

But the 4-0-0 record was a bit deceiving. For if it wasn't for the superb goaltending of Roy, Canada could have easily wound up on the losing end against the Swedes and Americans. Roy stopped 27 shots against Sweden, including 15 in the third period to preserve the 3-2 win. He was even better against Team USA, stopping 31 shots, with several saves being of the spectacular variety. But even Roy wasn't enough to beat the Czechs.

So exactly why did Canada lose? Was it all Clarke's fault? Well, I wouldn't say all, but damn close.

When we here at LCS Hockey first saw the roster for the Canadian team, the first thing we said was that if Paul Kariya and Joe Sakic didn't provide the goals, the team was going to be in trouble. Kariya and Sakic were the only two players on the roster with the speed and creativity to excel on the big rinks. They were the only two players capable of creating their own chances, as well as distributing the puck to others. The rest of the roster was filled with power forwards like Eric Lindros, Shayne Corson, Trevor Linden, Keith Primeau, and Brendan Shanahan. These guys just seemed lost on the larger ice.

When Gary Suter whacked Kariya Goodfellas style before the Olympics, it crippled the Canadian offense. But at least they still had Sakic. At least, that is, until the third period of the Kazakhstan game. That's when Rob Blake accidentally checked a wacky Kazakhstanian into Sakic's knee, knocking the Colorado captain out for the rest of the tournament. It's no coincidence that Canada lost both games without Sakic. If he was healthy, Canada would have beaten the Czechs. That sounds like a bold statement, but Joe is just that good. If he was involved in the shootout, Hasek woulda got worked. And if Sakic and Kariya would have been around, it wouldn't even have gotten anywhere near a shootout.

So is it Clarke's fault that injuries ravaged his lineup? In a way, yes. Injuries are part of the game. They have to be considered during the construction of a team. If Clarke had more speed and go-to guys up front, the club would have been able to handle the injuries to Kariya and Sakic a lot easier. Once the two superstars were removed, Canada lacked the scoring depth to compete with the Europeans. It was absolutely painful watching them try to break the Czech lock or the trap of the Finns.

This Canadian team was clearly assembled to battle it out on the smaller North American rinks with Team USA. Clarke seemed to build the team for the World Cup and not the Olympics. That was a fatal flaw.

And while we're handing out blame, we might as well talk about the shootout against the Czech Republic. Coach Marc Crawford's selection of shooters left a bit to be desired. He led off with Theo Fleury. No argument there. Theo was a perfect choice to go first. Had he scored, his enthusiasm would have lit a fire under the entire squad.

Crawford picked Ray Bourque second. Hmm ha. While on the surface this selection seems a bit weak, it's not really as stupid as it sounds. Bourque has the most accurate wrist shot in hockey. One of Hasek's few weaknesses is a tendency to drop his catching glove when shooters get in tight on him. So Crawford was probably hoping Bourque could pick his corner. He tried, but he shot a little too soon and the puck grazed off Hasek's arm and just over the crossbar.

The third shooter was Joey Nieuwendyk. Now Nieuwendyk is a brilliant goal-scorer and all, but he's not a breakaway guy. If Joey was allowed to stand in front of Hasek and try and tip a shot past him, then by all means he would have been a perfect choice. But under the current rules of the shootout, we'd have to go with Steve Yzerman. How the hell could Stevie Y not be given a chance? He's one of the greatest one-on-one players of the modern era.

Eric Lindros was fourth and was a no-brainer. But the fifth shooter caused the greatest controversy. Brendan Shanahan is a marvelous goal-scorer during the confines of a game, but, like Nieuwendyk, he isn't known for his great prowess on breakaways. He had no business taking the last shot.

Wayne Gretzky is the only man who should have filled that slot. Sure, Wayne blows on breakaways, but you have to have him shoot. He is Canadian hockey. Even if he doesn't score, people would say "Well, at least it was Gretzky." Instead people are now saying stuff like, "What the hell was Shanny doin'?" Or "What the hell was Crawford thinkin'?" Or "Where the hell our my pants?"

There's also some smart guy out there saying that Al MacInnis should have went first and blasted one at Hasek's head to give the netminder something to think about. That's clever and all, but it wouldn't have worked. The idea of Hasek being intimidated by a high hard one is to laugh. Earlier in the tournament he got ripped in the melon by Valeri Kamensky and Chris Chelios without even so much as flinching. Hasek's no two-bit punk.

What Canada needed was Owen Nolan. We picked him for our Canadian roster and he would have come in handy during a shootout. Can you imagine Nolan busting in on Hasek and pointing at him just moments before piping one top shelf? Aw, that would have been great, that would have been fun.

TURNING POINT: As soon as Sakic limped to the bench against Kazakhstan, the Canadians were done.

TEAM MVP: Canada's two best players were Patrick Roy and Rob Blake. Roy had his image tarnished somewhat by allowing a soft goal to Ville Peltonen against Finland, but he carried this team on his back for the first five games. Without St. Patrick, Canada would have been nowhere near medal contention. And Blake was simply the best defenseman in the tournament. It's ironic that he was indirectly responsible for Sakic getting injured, since it was his hitting and physical play that really highlighted his performance. Blake was exceptional.

Rob Zamuner by Meredith Martini

SURPRISE: More than a few eyebrows were raised when Rob Zamuner was selected to the team. Whether or not he deserved to be there is still open to debate, but he certainly didn't embarrass himself. Zamuner was his usual steady defensive self, while also showing more than a little offensive ability. He created more chances in the final two games than any other Canadian. That deserves a wow...

DISAPPOINTMENTS: Okay, now I heard that Don Cherry said that Wayne Gretzky was Canada's best player. Um, well, no. Listen, Gretzky played hard. His attention to the defensive zone was quite refreshing. But it was kind of sad watching him try to orchestrate the offense. He made a few sweet passes, but they were grossly outnumbered by the number of turnovers he committed. Unless he had all day to make a play, the puck undoubtedly got forced somewhere it didn't belong. Mr. Burns needed some help, and Smithers was nowhere in sight. Gretzky's effort wasn't disappointing, but the cold hard reality of time definitely was.

The other big disappointment for Canada was Eric Lindros. Bobby Clarke left Mark Messier off the roster for the sole purpose of naming Lindros the team captain. He wanted Eric to rise to the occasion and take on the role as Canada's next great leader, thereby helping the Philadelphia Flyers in their quest for a Stanley Cup. The plan backfired. Lindros started out strong and was a one-man wrecking crew against Belarus. But it was Belarus. As the tournament went on, Lindros became less effective. After only showing up for the final few minutes of the Czech contest, Lindros was completely invisible in the bronze medal loss to Finland. This is the second straight tournament that Lindros has failed to lead Team Canada to a championship. Maybe there's a reason for that...

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