Team Canada Loses to the Russians in Ice Hockey

At the end-of-the day, Canadian Hockey fans expect their Olympians to win the Gold Medal in Ice Hockey. Silver and Bronze Medals are okay, but are generally perceived as failure when it comes to the National Game.

Of course, the navel-gazing is about to start, and in fact started 60 seconds after the conclusion of the game. My own contribution to the analysis will be seen by some as trite, but I contend that it is the real story behind the Team's failure to deliver.

We did not include young scoring stars like Sidney Crosby and Eric Staal on the team - something many of us do not quite understand. Team Canada lacked offensive punch, and also seemed to lack the "legs" required to excel on the larger Olympic ice surface. I guess Wayne Gretzky valued experience more so than Youth this time around, but the fact remains that the only way Crosby and Stall could gain the requisite experience would have been to include them on the Squad. They certainly would have provided the scoring punch that this Year's edition so sorely lacked.

Given that Gretzky was once a young scoring phenomenon himself, and was included in the 1981 Canada Cup at the tender age of 20, it astounds me to think that he thought of both of these Players as being too young to be a positive force in the drive for the Gold Medal.

Wayne Gretzky was one of the top five players of all-time, in my opinion, but I think his record as a Manager/Coach is proving to be a mixed one. Not too many Superstars make the grade as Managers/Coaches and I think that the very nature of athletic exceptionalism has something to do with this evolving record.

Kudos to Cindy Klassen however !