Sunday, March 02, 2014
Pure Gold! Olympic Hockey Victories 2014!
Jonathan Toews struggled to make his
way to the Swedish blue line, and, according to commentator Pierre McGuire,
should have headed to the bench. Toews decided to stay on the ice to forecheck
in the opponent’s zone. Good thing, as well.
The Canadians freed the puck from the
Swedes, shuffled it to Toews, and he scored one of the most important goals of
his life in the final game of the 2014 Olympic Games. Assists went to Carter
and Webber. One for Canada, none for Sweden. That was all that was required.
Gold to Canada…the rest to everyone else.
On his next shift, Toews again
provided an impetus for a Canadian attack. In this case, McGuire was impressed,
stating the Toews was now “in the zone”. Even Roenick recognized Toews’ courage
and skill when he shared with us that the young Black Hawk “moved to a spot in
front of the net, where goal scorers go”.
Due to the fact that we are required
to watch American coverage of the Games, we have been listening to McGuire,
Mike Milbury, and J. R. Roenick. On occasion, this has been painful. The tone
of the dialogue subsided somewhat after the Canadians took care of the
Americans in the semi-final. Some wind left the sails of the talking heads. But
the coverage was quite slanted, with McGuire using the word “We”, when
referring to the American women in their game against the Canadians.
It is interesting that the rest of
the hockey world still has not caught up to the Canadian and American women.
Such is not the case in men’s hockey. There are several nations contesting for
the medals in men’s hockey. You may find the Swedes, the Finns, the Swiss, the
Slovenians, the Czechs, the Slovaks, and, of course, the Russians vying for the
title. I am sure it was a huge disappointment for the Russians not to have participated
in the big game. Such is the nature of hockey: a goal post here, a great save
there, lucky bounces resulting in scoring chances.
The Russians did not catch a break.
But there is no need for Ovechkin to apologize on behalf of himself, nor for
his teammates. Water under the bridge.
Throughout the game, when there were
stoppages in play at the Swedish net, Canadian players gathered like flies
to…honey. Jeff Carter, Martin St. Louis, and Corey Perry mingled in the crease
on several occasions, exchanging pleasantries, searching for errant pucks. No
need to take foolish penalties, just occasions to let the opposition know that
you were serious about the game.
Sidney Crosby scored the prettiest
goal in the tournament to seal the deal. He stole the puck from the Swedish
defender, flew in on goal, and deked Lundquist to put the Canadians up by two
goals. On no occasion did I believe that Crosby needed to do anything
spectacular to justify his existence, and, once again he led the way to
victory.
It is never going to be an easy road
to the highest pedestal in hockey. I commend the authorities for great player
selection, brilliant coaching, superb organization. Steve Yzerman has indicated
that he will step down as the general manager of the team. He has two gold
medals to show for his efforts, and we should be most grateful for his
expertise. There are other brilliant hockey people in this country. One hopes
they will step up to the plate, and follow in the skate marks of Yzerman,
Babcock et al.
A job well done, to say the least.
March 1, 2014.
Sportslices.blogspot.com
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:49 PM 
