KIDWCKED
02-27-2010, 01:46 AM
c\p By Eric Duhatschek, The Globe and Mail Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 10:57 AM ET
VANCOUVER -- So here now is the next test for Canada's men's Olympic hockey team, facing Slovakia tonight in the second of the two tournament semi-finals, with a berth in the gold-medal game on the line: They have gone, in short order, from the highs of facing Russia, their arch-rival and arch-nemesis in Olympic hockey, to the emotional middle-ground, playing a group of likeable overachievers who will gladly play the just-happy-to-be-here card.
From - not underdogs exactly, but a team in tough against a highly skilled side - to heavy favourites against the Slovaks, who were life-and-death to defeat Norway just to get to the quarter-final round.
The trick then is not to stumble, with the prize so close at hand. Thankfully, the Canadian team has enough experience sprinkled with its impressive youth to understand that too.
There is Jarome Iginla, for example, a veteran of the 2002 gold-medal victory in Salt Lake City, who described the monumental win over Russia Wednesday night as a step, but nothing more.
"It was a huge game, an elimination game, but it didn't feel like the gold-medal game," he said.
"It's not as if we went back to our rooms, throwing our gloves around and celebrating. We know there's work left to be done."
Canada played its most complete game of the tournament by going after the Russians with wave after wave of fore-checking pressure. They kept the shifts short. They wore them down with their physical play. They played at a ferocious, perhaps unsustainable pace, that left the Russian bear bewildered and unable to respond.
After playing back-to-back games, coach Mike Babcock granted the team the day off Thursday to prepare. A handful of players turned up in the mixed zone to discuss the challenge that lies ahead.
Eight years ago in Salt Lake City, Canada also faced a heavy underdog in the semi-finals when Belarus advanced by upsetting Sweden
Slovakia is a far stronger opponent, given that they have a red-hot goaltender in Jaroslav Halak and two of the NHL's premier scorers, Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa.
Babcock is particularly familiar with Hossa, who played for the Detroit Red Wings last season, before joining the Chicago Blackhawks, where he normally plays on a line with Canadian centre Jonathan Toews.
"They're got some guys that can flat out fly," said Toews.
"You have to know when they're on the ice and be responsible.
They're opportunistic, so you have to be smart when you have the puck, like we did against the Russians."
Toews' line, which also includes Rick Nash and Mike Richards, will likely get the primary checking responsibility again.
"The way we look at it, the best way to keep them away from our net was by holding onto the puck and making plays in their zone," said Toews.
"Those aren't the type of guys that want to play defence, so we took advantage of that. Hopefully, if we're in the same situation tomorrow, we'll try and do the same thing."
But while they possess a healthy respect for their Slovak opponents, this is a winnable game - and it doesn't contain the psychological baggage that a match against Sweden might have.
"We've been building throughout the tournament," said Iginla, "the tempo, keeping that up, the work ethic, the compete-level - and the confidence too.
"It's like you say, we're trying to be disciplined with our shifts. In the season, we all probably play a little longer; and the tempo is not as high. This is quick. This is full-out - however long the shifts are. It's something we're definitely focused on - and it makes us a quicker team."
The whole issue of Canada's speed has been a red herring in this tournament. Speed in hockey is not defined by a foot race from goal line to goal line, it is a collection of players moving together out of the zone, with quick accurate first passes.
Any team can look fast if the defencemen can hit the forward in stride with an outlet pass. Every team looks slow when the passes are too far in front, or in a players' skates.
Iginla suggested Canada's defencemen have not been getting enough credit for how quickly they have retrieved the pucks in their own zone - and then how efficiently they've turned the play around in the other direction.
"Our d-men are flying back there. We're spending a lot of time in their zone. That's what our plan is. We know it only gets tougher. Every team wants it."
VANCOUVER -- So here now is the next test for Canada's men's Olympic hockey team, facing Slovakia tonight in the second of the two tournament semi-finals, with a berth in the gold-medal game on the line: They have gone, in short order, from the highs of facing Russia, their arch-rival and arch-nemesis in Olympic hockey, to the emotional middle-ground, playing a group of likeable overachievers who will gladly play the just-happy-to-be-here card.
From - not underdogs exactly, but a team in tough against a highly skilled side - to heavy favourites against the Slovaks, who were life-and-death to defeat Norway just to get to the quarter-final round.
The trick then is not to stumble, with the prize so close at hand. Thankfully, the Canadian team has enough experience sprinkled with its impressive youth to understand that too.
There is Jarome Iginla, for example, a veteran of the 2002 gold-medal victory in Salt Lake City, who described the monumental win over Russia Wednesday night as a step, but nothing more.
"It was a huge game, an elimination game, but it didn't feel like the gold-medal game," he said.
"It's not as if we went back to our rooms, throwing our gloves around and celebrating. We know there's work left to be done."
Canada played its most complete game of the tournament by going after the Russians with wave after wave of fore-checking pressure. They kept the shifts short. They wore them down with their physical play. They played at a ferocious, perhaps unsustainable pace, that left the Russian bear bewildered and unable to respond.
After playing back-to-back games, coach Mike Babcock granted the team the day off Thursday to prepare. A handful of players turned up in the mixed zone to discuss the challenge that lies ahead.
Eight years ago in Salt Lake City, Canada also faced a heavy underdog in the semi-finals when Belarus advanced by upsetting Sweden
Slovakia is a far stronger opponent, given that they have a red-hot goaltender in Jaroslav Halak and two of the NHL's premier scorers, Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa.
Babcock is particularly familiar with Hossa, who played for the Detroit Red Wings last season, before joining the Chicago Blackhawks, where he normally plays on a line with Canadian centre Jonathan Toews.
"They're got some guys that can flat out fly," said Toews.
"You have to know when they're on the ice and be responsible.
They're opportunistic, so you have to be smart when you have the puck, like we did against the Russians."
Toews' line, which also includes Rick Nash and Mike Richards, will likely get the primary checking responsibility again.
"The way we look at it, the best way to keep them away from our net was by holding onto the puck and making plays in their zone," said Toews.
"Those aren't the type of guys that want to play defence, so we took advantage of that. Hopefully, if we're in the same situation tomorrow, we'll try and do the same thing."
But while they possess a healthy respect for their Slovak opponents, this is a winnable game - and it doesn't contain the psychological baggage that a match against Sweden might have.
"We've been building throughout the tournament," said Iginla, "the tempo, keeping that up, the work ethic, the compete-level - and the confidence too.
"It's like you say, we're trying to be disciplined with our shifts. In the season, we all probably play a little longer; and the tempo is not as high. This is quick. This is full-out - however long the shifts are. It's something we're definitely focused on - and it makes us a quicker team."
The whole issue of Canada's speed has been a red herring in this tournament. Speed in hockey is not defined by a foot race from goal line to goal line, it is a collection of players moving together out of the zone, with quick accurate first passes.
Any team can look fast if the defencemen can hit the forward in stride with an outlet pass. Every team looks slow when the passes are too far in front, or in a players' skates.
Iginla suggested Canada's defencemen have not been getting enough credit for how quickly they have retrieved the pucks in their own zone - and then how efficiently they've turned the play around in the other direction.
"Our d-men are flying back there. We're spending a lot of time in their zone. That's what our plan is. We know it only gets tougher. Every team wants it."