Friday, January 17, 2014
International Hockey-Juniors and the Big Boys
Last week I shared some information
with you about the Post Cereal Canadian Hockey League cards. Many of those
players spent the holidays in Malmo, Sweden, competing in the World Junior
Championships.
There was a fair amount of weeping
and gnashing of teeth after the dust had settled from that tournament. The
Canadian boys lost the Bronze Medal game to the Russians, for a second straight
year. The Russians had advanced to that game by way of a defeat to the Swedes.
The Swedish team was strong, and the stands were packed with fans supporting
the home squad.
The Russians had defeated the
Americans in the quarter finals, which was somewhat shocking, as the Americans
were the defending champs. The Canadians had also beaten the Americans, in the
preliminary round. The Canadians bested
the Swiss in the quarter finals to face the Finns in the semi-final game.
The Finns won the tournament, to
everyone’s surprise. They defeated the Canadians 5-1 in the semi-final, and the
Swedes in the final.
Canadian teams always fare better
when the tournament is held in North America. Certainly, there is always that
jetlag factor to consider. We fans never really know the extent of injuries to
the players. The kids are thrown together for the tournament. They are in the
middle of the hockey season with their own teams, trying to get to the Memorial
Cup. It is not the best time of year to showcase the best we have, as a
country.
And that is what is expected for the
Olympics. The team has been chosen, and they will depart for Sochi, Russia in a
couple of weeks. There was a good deal of speculation regarding the selection
of players. The chatter on sports television was almost endless. Personally, I
leave those choices in the hands of the people who know what they are doing in
their selections. Steve Yzerman chose to leave one of his own players from the
Tampa Bay Lightning off the team. Martin St. Louis is a very fine hockey
player, and he may be offended by Yzerman’s decision. What comes of that
decision is anybody’s guess.
Most local fans were pleased to see
that P. K. Subban was chosen to play on the Olympic team. The talking heads in
the sports world had Subban “on the bubble” as a member of the team. He did,
after all, win the Norris Trophy last year as the league’s best defenceman. He
scored a winning goal the other night in overtime to give the Habs a victory.
He certainly plays an unconventional style, sometimes throwing caution to the
wind; however, with a sensible choice of a defense partner, P. K. will provide
a spark to the Canadian game.
These Olympic Games have already been
controversial. They are the most expensive yet to date, and have serious
political undertones. The Russian government is not exactly in favour of
same-sex marriage. Well, what did you expect? The Americans boycotted the Games
in Moscow in 1980 because the Russians
had invaded Afghanistan! And the Russians boycotted the games in 1984 in
Los Angeles because the Americans had
boycotted their Games! Around and around we go…..
Here in Fort Myers, I will have to
adjust to American coverage of the games. It may be somewhat slanted. Perhaps a
little!
James Hurst
January 17, 2014
Sportslices.blogspot.com
# posted by James Hurst @ 2:30 PM 
