Once more it is proven...the team that truly is a team can beat significant odds. Motivation can be the equal of talent. Guts can beat skill and a big reputation.

I knew as I watched the Czech Republic bounce the limp, lackluster and whiny Yanks from the Olympic tournament that here was a team to be reckoned with. They played as a team. There was no star more important than the lowliest plugger. Hasek and Jagr may have drawn all the attention but it was players like defenceman Jaroslav Spacek who were the heart and soul of this team.

In their next game they took the Canadians to the wall and pushed them through it. Finally, they looked the Russians in the eye and dared them to blink in a 1-0 gold medal match. Before the tournament if you had asked anyone if a team that beat the USA, Canada and Russia would win a gold medal, you would have answered, "Yes! In a New York minute!"

The Canadians came to the Olympics focused on the damn Yankees. Lindros was there to lead the Maple Leaf to revenge over the Stars and Stripes. "Remember the World Cup!" was the rallying cry. The Americans came to defend their title from those self-same Canucks. That was where the threat lay. Beat the Red and White and you would have the gold. Too bad they both forgot about the other teams.

They forgot that the Czechs had embarrassed themselves at the World Cup. They didn't realize that this group of NHL millionaires and central European patriots held a pride in their hearts equal to anything a North American might feel. Witness the shoot out versus Canada. The Czechs were as one as each player skated in on Patrick Roy. They linked arms on the bench and willed themselves and Hasek to triumph over the nervous Canadians. They were a team.

Why do you think Bobby Holik wasn't there? They had no room for his style of self-centred prima donna. The man is not popular with his countrymen. They would not suffer his presence. They were a team.

The Czechs proved an axiom that has long been held true in sports: There is no "I" in team. They played for each other and won. The group was stronger than any one of them as an individual. Sure, I hear you saying that they never could have done it without Hasek. He was a huge cog in the machine but he would have fallen without the stout defence in front of him. Svoboda, Slegr, Spacek, Kucera, Hamrlik...they blocked shots, cleared rebounds and covered the open man away from the puck like men possessed. Jagr could be found backchecking all the way to the net. I bet the Penguins wish they saw that more often.

The Czech forwards played as a team, too. They didn't score a lot, but they threatened offensively and played defence that was guaranteed to drive their opponents to distraction.

The best "team" won.

WHY THEY WON (OR WHY CANADA LOST)

If you are a Canadian and you are wondering how our team lost (yes, I'm a Hoser) look no further than skills and skating.

In Canada we play on the narrow ice surface and have dedicated our style to pressuring the puck. On the small rink there's nowhere to go. Bang! Your face is in the glass and the puck's bouncing out in front of the net where a big guy is ready to sweep it into the net. No matter where you go there's a behemoth ready to plough you under and take the puck. No "chicken Swedes" needed here.

On top of that we have allowed the art of restraining to climb to unheard of heights. Just try to break through centre without the puck. You'll have a stick around your waist so fast you may as well not bother. Dig hard and try to forecheck that defender in the corner who just managed to corral the shoot-in. Chances are his partner is washing your face with his gloves and generally making your life a misery. Remember Super Mario's parting shot at the league?

Our game is based on intimidation, restraint and brute strength. It doesn't matter that Donald Brashear or Tie Domi can't control the puck; they just beat it out of the opponents.

Now, we take that game onto the big ice surface against players who have played on it all their lives. We take our mucking, shoot-the-puck-in-and-get-in-their-face offence up against guys who have spent their youth training in skating and puck control. Guess what happens? On the small rink in the Canada Cup we win. On the big rink in the Olympics we lose.

It was patently obvious that the Czech and the Finns had the Canadians beaten on puck control and skating. The guys wearing the maple leaf were always just a little late in the races for the loose pucks. When pinpoint precision was required to move the puck quickly through a maze of checkers, the Canadians couldn't sustain control long enough to be effective.

Look who was effective in the Olympics. A bunch of guys called Beranek, Ruzicka and Slegr, who have always been suspect in the NHL, were highly successful when allowed to play in their own element. Don Cherry hates those panty-waist, shield-wearing, limp-wristed Europeans but this is their game. It shouldn't surprise us that they beat us at it.

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