Canadian NHLers bring home gold again, but was it their last Olympics?

The 2014 Sochi Olympics have officially ended and the Canadian men successfully defended their gold medal with a 3-0 victory over Henrik Lundqvist and Sweden. While the game lacked some of the excitement from the Vancouver final between Canada and the United States, what this team accomplished was truly amazing to watch; not only did they go undefeated through six games, they never once trailed. Carey Price played incredibly and finished the tournament with .972 save percentage and back to back shutouts, allowing just three goals in five games. Now, as the players make their way back to North America and the NHL season resumes, players, fans and sports analysts alike turn their attention to the 2018 games in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the most anticipated question has to be "will the NHL players continue to play in the Winter Olympics?".

The loudest argument against player participation so far has been that the risk of injury to players is too great. The 2010 Vancouver Olympics were rather friendly to the NHL players, the Sochi Olympics, not so much. Notable injuries included a season ending knee injury to Canadian and New York Islanders Captain John Tavares; a knee injury to rookie sensation and Florida Panther Aleksander Barkov; head injury to Florida Panther Tomas Kopecky; and three hand injuries, one to Norwegian and New York Ranger Mats Zuccarello and two to Americans, namely Pittsburgh Penguin Paul Martin and Vancouver Canuck Ryan Kesler, though Kesler played every game in Sochi and it is not yet known whether the injury will cost him any NHL games. 

The players are not paid to play in the Olympics and the NHL does not directly profit from their participation, it is therefore understandable that some in the NHL feel as though they are taking the all the risk. They are sending their star players overseas to play in a two week tournament that has no bearing on their playoff aspirations and are more or less hoping for the best. Hockey is fast paced, hard hitting game and every time a player steps onto the ice he risks injury, unfortunately for a team like the New York Islanders who have lost not only their best player, but also their captain, the gamble may have been too big. While Tavares has indicated that he does not regret his decision to participate in Sochi even though it has cost him his NHL season, fans will probably always wonder whether their team could have mustered a final playoff push with him in their lineup. In 2018 if the team is a contender for the Cup, does the GM ask the players to pass on the Olympic opportunity? If so, is this overstepping on his part?

Another argument that has often been raised in the great NHL Olympic debate concerns the NHL schedule. A normal regular NHL season consists of 82 games played from the beginning of October to the beginning of April with the playoffs starting mid April. With the Olympic Games in February, the NHL would need to schedule a two week break every four years thereby compressing an already tight schedule. When the NHL resumed following the Olympic break, the teams would be left with tired, jetlagged, potentially injured stars, and any momentum that had been gained pre-Olympic break would be lost.  Teams from the west would likely take an even bigger hit because their regular season already includes long road trips across different time zones. An argument could therefore be made that Olympic years have the potential provide an unfair advantage to teams with either limited player participation or to teams that have younger players as they would be able to better equipped handle the compressed schedule and additional playing time.

The NHL, NHLPA and IIHF seem to have a bit of a strained relationship, or at least that’s how it was portrayed in the media during the negotiations regarding player participation in the upcoming Olympics. They did not sign the agreement allowing the players to go to Sochi until July 2013, almost six months after the New Collective Bargaining agreement was signed. I can't help but wonder then whether the situation with Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom will have any effect on what is perceived to be an already strained relationship. Backstrom wasn’t allowed to participate in the gold medal game because earlier in the week he had failed a drug test. No one seems to be suggesting that Backstrom was purposely doping to gain a competitive advantage over his peers, in fact it seems as though he might have been a victim of circumstances. He suffers from allergies and has been taking medication for seven years to alleviate the symptoms. As I am writing this article, there isn’t a lot of information available, some claim that he was taking Zyrtec-D while others say that it was Sudafed, and no one knows whether Backstrom will receive his silver medal. Unlike Latvian player Vitalijs Pavlov, Backstrom did not take an illegal stimulant, he failed the test because he had higher levels of pseudoephedrine in his system than what is allowed under IOC rules; since he was not disqualified from the Olympics, there is still a chance the IOC could award him the medal.

Ultimately Backstrom and/or the Swedish doctor who provided the medication are at fault in this situation, but the NHL and NHLPA are upset because he took the test on Wednesday after Sweden’s win in the quarterfinals over Slovenia and they were not informed of his ineligibility utnil a few hours before the gold medal game. The NHL has already issued a statement indicating that this will not affect the young forwards eligibility to play for Washington upon his return from Sochi. What remains to be seen is whether this unfortunate situation will sour the relationship between the IIHF and the NHL or the NHLPA. The next Olympics are four years from now, there is still plenty of time to come to terms on an agreement that would once again see NHL player participation, but negotiations are never easy when begin with anger, mistrust and hurt feelings.

Despite some of the validity of the arguments above, I still think it would be a horrible move on the part of the NHL to keep their players from participating in the Olympics Games. The Olympics are the biggest stage for sports, as Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris said after his bronze medal win, his grandmother has never seen the X-Games (where he has previously won 3 gold medals) but she’s watched the Olympics. For years now the NHL has been trying to grow their market, the last two lockouts were a direct result of lower revenues in smaller markets, so by sending the best players in the world to participate, they are getting free marketing. Dallas is not a hockey town in the same sense that it is a football town, I’m sure many had never heard of captain Jamie Benn before the Olympics, but you can be sure his lone goal during the Canada USA game was seen by millions south of the border. TJ Oshie of the St. Louis Blues became so famous after his ridiculous shootout performance against Russia that his fiancé was interviewed on national television and days later “TJ Sochi” was still trending on twitter. You can’t buy that kind of publicity, and if NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is sincere in wanting to grow the sport, he better do everything in his power to ensure that the best in the game make an appearance every four years to represent not only their countries, but also the game of hockey.

Game On: Canada v USA for the chance to go for GOLD

The United States and Canada are once again be facing off at the Olympics only, unlike four years ago, they are not playing for the gold medal, but are playing for the chance to play for gold. Heading into the game the United States is the heavy favourite to win; they have been outscoring their opponents 20-6 and seem to be improving with every game. Team Canada, on the other hand, has only 13 goals so far this tournament, with 7 coming from defencemen Drew Doughty and Shea Weber. The irony of all ironies is that when the United States left Bobby Ryan and Kyle Okposo off their roster, many people, myself included, predicted they would have trouble finding the back of the net, while Canada, even without the hot hands of Steven Stamkos, was expected to be a scoring power house. Phil Kessel has been lighting it up for the United States, and Sidney Crosby, who is currently leading the NHL with 78 points, has been limited to 2 assists in four games.

Unlike the last few years at the IIHF World Juniors, the United States and Canada have been playing in different groups and facing very different goaltenders, so it is hard to really compare their play so far. While the Americans are certainly playing well, they have, at times, faced weaker goalies than the Canadians, skewing the stats in their favour and, in my opinion, the gap between these two teams is not as lopsided as the scores would sometimes have you believing. 

The United States kicked off the tournament against Jaroslav Halak and Slovakia. Heading into the tournament, Halak had a 0.915 save percentage with a 2.26 goals against average for the St. Louis Blues. His percentages in Sochi were not as kind as the United States lit him up for seven goals against. The only other game he played this tournament was a 3-1 loss to heavy underdogs Slovenia. Halak finished the game with a 0.903 save percentage, making 28 saves on 31 shots. While this is not a horrible save percentage, Slovenia is not a strong team and Anze Kopitar is their only NHL player, it is therefore not surprising the Americans lit him up given their firepower and talent. Apparently the larger ice surface did not agree with Halak, or at least not in Sochi. 

The Canadians faced Norway in their tournament opener winning 3-1, after going scoreless for the first 20 minutes. Almost as soon as the game was over the Canadian media started talking the disappointing team Canada victory and the Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby line combination took a heavy beating on twitter. Apparently in Canada it is only a victory if you pummel the opposing team. While I would have enjoyed a knockout gong show, I don’t think anyone gave Norwegian goalie enough credit. Lars Haugen currently plays for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). This means that not only Haugen is used to playing on the larger ice surface, he has a history of playing quite well. Last season he almost singlehandedly carried Dinamo Minsk to a playoff berth in the KHL, finishing with a 0.933 save percentage in 22 games.  He played in two and a half games this tournament, taking over for goaltender Lars Volden during a 6-1 loss Finland. Excluding the game against Canada, he finished with a 0.871 save percentage while facing off against Russia, Finland and Austria. His numbers are not as good as Halak’s, but he faced more shots and better scoring chances.

I don’t have many comments regarding the second matchup for both teams. The United States faced off against Russia and it was the close back and forth game everyone anticipated. Tied at 2 after 65 minutes, the game went to an 8 round shootout where TJ Oshie showed the world that Jaromir Jagr is not the only one who with “Moves like  Jagger”. Canada then faced Austria winning 6-0 and it was the blowout everyone had been waiting for. They dominated play for almost the entire 60 minutes, taking 46 shots and only allowing 23 against. Jeff Carter was able to redeem himself after being taken off the top line by scoring a natural hat trick, and once again the Canadian defence played an important role scoring the first two goals in the first period.

The United States kept rolling as they pummeled Slovenia 5-1, securing themselves the second spot in the standings and bypassing the qualification round of the tournament. This was the only game for backup goaltender Luca Gracnar who finished the game allowing 5 goals on 28 shots against for a 0.821 save percentage.

In their third and final round robin game, Canada faced Finland and the dreaded Tuukka Rask. It was a tight game with Finland doing an excellent job of shutting down the neutral zone, and Rask was yet again solid in net. He finished with a 0.926 save percentage, allowing only 1 goal during regulation, before giving up the overtime winner to defenceman Drew Doughty. Rask played two in two other games this tournament, the opener against Austria and the quarter final against Russia, finishing with a 0.914 save percentage, if you exclude the round robin game against Canada. With the overtime win, Canada slotted in at the third position, also bypassing the qualification round of the tournament.

In their quarter-final, the United States faced off against the Czech Republic where James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring 99 seconds in. Ondrej Pavelec had been having a solid tournament with a 0.923 save percentage in his first three games, but, unfortunately for the Czechs, his save percentage in the NHL drops significantly in back to back situations, and the game against the United States was no exception. He was pulled from the game after 29 minutes, allowing 4 goals on 12 shots for a tournament low 0.667 save percentage. His replacement, Alexander Salak allowed only 1 goal on 13 shots, finished with a 0.923 save percentage.

The Canadians surprisingly had a much harder time in their quarter-final against Latvia, who had surprised many beating Switzerland 3-1 in the qualifier. The Canadians threw an impressive 57 shots at Latvian goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis who allowed only 2 goals in a 2-1 Canadian victory. Gudleveskis had only played in one other game during the tournament, a 5-3 loss to Sweden where he finished with a 0.833 save percentage, making his play during the Canadian all the more impressive. Canada had excellent scoring opportunities throughout the game; they just couldn’t catch a break against the hot goaltender. This seems to be the story of these Olympics for Canadian forwards, and you would have think, and hope, that eventually the dam breaks, and some of the shots start going in.  

This will be the first matchup for these teams during his Olympics, and what happened four years ago no longer matters. While I doubt it will be as exciting as the Women’s gold medal game yesterday, I am hoping for some good, hard North American style hockey with both teams fighting until the end and leaving it all on the ice. Though I would not oppose a Canadian victory!

Playing Hockey to Fight Cancer

 Wednesday February 12, for the second year in a row, various employees from the Ontario Power Authority, and other energy industry workers, took to the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens for a friendly game of hockey, with bragging rights and the OPA Cup on the line. The game was organized by hockey enthusiast Graham Smith as a fundraiser for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Princess Margaret Hospital. When asked why he organized the game, he stated that " Maple Leaf Gardens is a place with a lot of history and people are always excited to skate there. I think it is fun to socialize with colleagues outside of the office and to meet new people as well; it is a great team builder", though he concluded that really he just loves to play hockey. 

It was an intense high energy game right from the start with the Dark team, captained by Jim Glasspool, taking an early 1-0 lead, with an assist by none other than Murray Campbell from Communications. The Light team, captained by Rob Edwards, responded quickly with a goal of their own to tie the game. The Dark team scored again to take back the lead, but from that point forward, it was all Light team. Graham, who plays shinny twice a week and in the Downtown Toronto Men's League once a week, tried to keep his team in the game with a hat trick, but they fell just short and the final score was 8-5 for the Light team. 

The game was not without controversy though, Graham's third goal came after teammate Jim Glasspool fell in the corner. While most of the players were distracted by the fall, Graham scored into the empty net. Thankfully Glasspool wasn't hurt too badly and play was never stopped so, despite some calls for the goal not to count, it stood as a good goal and Graham brought his team to within two. Unfortunately it was too little too late and they couldn't get enough pucks behind goaltender Nick "Red Light" Dalziel. 

After the game, Graham stated that "there was a lot on the line and both teams gave it 110%. In tight games like this sometimes bounces go your way and sometime they don't." He seemed to think the Light team had an edge when he concluded that ultimately his team "came out of the gate hard but, I have to give credit to the Light team as their level of conditioning stood out later in the game and made the difference".  

Derek Roldan, who played for the Dark team, also praised his team's strong start, "you know, we came out strong and had some good pressure in the offensive zone early on with a great cycle game. We got into some trouble midway through the game, you know, and had to fight to stay with the other team. You know we weren't able to get enough pucks to the net and our defense stopped moving their feet, you know, which really hurt us". It wasn't all bad though as he concluded that "fortunately we have a great group here and I'm sure we'll rebound for next year". 

Following the game, both teams made their way to Mick E Fynn's for some drinks, laughs and the presentation of the OPA Cup. This is also where the raffle prizes were drawn; tickets had been on sale leading up to the game, $10 for one and $20 for three, with great prizes including donated tickets to the Toronto FC, the Raptors and the Marlies. Team Aline was able to raise $2,825 through raffle ticket sales and hockey player participation. A special thank you goes to Mayuran Srikantha who made a very generous donation, and it paid off as he took home a three course lunch provided by Amy Snook, tickets to the Toronto FC and a NEST thermostat.

As mentioned earlier, this game was first and foremost a fundraiser for Team Aline and the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a grueling 200 km bike ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls taking place from June 7-8, 2014. Team Aline was created in honour of Andrew Pride's mother who won her battle with cancer and consists of Graham Smith, Andrew Pride, Nik Schruder, Katherine Sparks and Amy Snook. While the hockey game may be over, their fundraising certainly is not; you can donate to their team at http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=1513&team_id=64230.

I wish them luck in their training and fundraising for the event, and hope that June 7-8 bring warm weather, clear skies and open roads.

Dual citizenship: The ins and outs of cheering for two Eastern Conference Teams

I can't believe it has been over two weeks since my last post! That is way too long to go without talking about hockey, so, on the eve of the NHL Olympic break, I have decided to make time in my busy work schedule to write about my two favourite teams, the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs and my first loves the Pittsburgh Penguins, and what it has been like to cheer for them both so far this season.

I am relatively new to Leafs Nation, I only really joined midway through last season, not because they were playing better, and certainly not because they made the playoffs, but more so because I finally got cable and was actually able to watch the games. On the other hand, I have been an active member of Pens Nation since 2005. Yes it started because they drafted Sidney Crosby, but, by the time they won the Stanley Cup in 2009, I was hooked on whole team, from superstar Evgeni Malkin, to up and coming star Kris Letang, to role player Max Talbot, and of course to Coach Dan Bylsma who, at thirty-eight, was the youngest coach in the NHL at the time.

On the surface, these teams seem have very little in common, one has been a power house the last few seasons, consistently making the playoffs, and battling bankruptcy a few years ago, while the other finally broke a nine year playoff drought last season and is the wealthiest franchise in the league; but the year 1967 is significant for both their pasts. The 1966-1967 season was the last year with the “original six” teams, the following year six more teams were added to the National Hockey League and Pittsburgh was one of them. For the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, which was part of the original six, 1967 is significant because, sadly for all you die-hard fans, it was the last time the team won the Stanley Cup.

Since their inception in 1967, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups going back to back in 1991 and 1992 and more recently in 2009 under current captain Sidney Crosby. A lot of fans have argued that the Penguins have won more than just three Stanley Cups claiming that they have also won two NHL Entry Drafts. The first was in 1984 when they drafted Mario Lemieux with the first overall selection ahead of New Jersey, and the second in 2005, after a season lost to a lockout, when they drafted Sidney Crosby ahead of the Anaheim Ducks. Their success following these drafts has led to what some refer to as the “Pittsburgh Model”, which is to tank for years, get the first overall selection and draft star players, a model that doesn't seem to be working for the Edmonton Oilers who are currently in a race for last place with the Buffalo Sabres, despite selecting first overall three of the last four years.

While the Penguins have done very well in the draft, selecting centres Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, goaltender Marc Andre Fleury, and defenceman Brooks Orpik, I would argue that the “Pittsburgh Model” is much more than drafting star players, it is rooted in the trades that current General Manager Ray Shero has been able to complete. During his tenure as GM, Shero has traded for current star forwards James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Jussi Jokinen, and steadying defenceman Matt Niskanen, while only giving up one first round draft pick, a few later round draft picks, unknown prospects and underperforming defencemen Ryan Whitney and Alex Goligoski. On June 22, 2012 Shero traded his 2006 third overall draft selection Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for centre Brandon Sutter, prospect defenceman Brian Dumoulin and the eighth draft pick that year, defenceman Derrick Pouliot. This was probably one the biggest trades of his career as GM for the Penguins, and one of the few times he traded a Penguins star player, but even then this trade has been fairly beneficial for the Penguins. While Dumoulin is still playing in the American Hockey League and Pouliot is still playing in the Ontario Hockey League, Brandon Sutter has made an almost seamless transition as the Penguins third line centre. He has been less productive than Staal with only thirty-eight points in 106 games with the Penguins, but he has given the Penguins important secondary scoring, and plays a vital role in the Penguins top ranked penalty kill. Shero is like that kid in elementary school who traded you his week old, bruised apple for your fruit-by-the-foot, I am kind of surprised GMs don’t turn and run when he approaches them for a trade.

After another disappointing season in 2012, Brian Burke, former GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was asked about the so-called “Pittsburgh Model”. I will leave out the expletives he used during his press conference, but needless to say Burke did not buy into the idea, he believed that Pittsburgh had won a lottery and was therefore able to draft the greatest player in the game, an occurrence that would be impossible to duplicate without another Crosby like player. I am not saying he is wrong, Crosby's skill and leadership are almost unmatched in the NHL, but it's also not surprising that a GM who, in his four years with the Leafs, only drafted twice in the top 10, would try to downplay the importance of early draft selections. I am not saying that Burke was not a good GM, I actually think the Leafs made the playoffs last year in large part because of him, but he is probably better known for his trades than his draft selections with the Leafs.

By and far the most controversial Brian Burke trade took place on September 18, 2009 when he traded away two first round draft selections, one in 2010 and the other in 2011, for 21 year old Phil “the Thrill” Kessel. Phil Kessel has been an outstanding player for the Leafs, leading in scoring for the team every year since the trade, but Brian Burke overestimated the skill level of his team, and after two disappointing seasons with no playoffs, they handed the Bruins the second and ninth selections in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The Bruins drafted centre Tyler Seguin in 2010 and, after winning the Stanley Cup in his rookie year, it seemed as though the Bruins had won this trade. However, after three seasons, and more negative media than Boston was comfortable with, Seguin, and his eight year contract extension, were traded to the Dallas Stars. Kessel has easily been the Leafs best player, and for the second time in two years they are comfortably in a playoff spot with less half the season to go, leading many to say that, four years after the trade, Toronto is currently winning. I agree that Toronto would not be where they are now without Kessel, but at the same time they are currently playing with Tyler Bozak as their number 1 centre, a move that more often than not draws the ire of many fans. I can't help but think then that they could sure use Tyler Seguin as their top line centre, so, did they really win? The jury might still be out on that one, afterall Seguin, at twenty-two, hasn't even hit his prime yet. 

One trade Burke definitely won was when he sent defenceman Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, 2012 in exchange for forward James Van Riemsdyk. JVR is currently second in scoring on the Leafs behind Kessel with many of his goals coming off tip ins because, at 6ft3in and 195lbs,  he is nightmare to deal with in front of the net. He has not only provided the Leafs with important scoring, he also provided invaluable leadership and playoff experience to the young group last season, and this season has played exceptionally well on the left wing with Kessel and Bozak. Both these Leafs stars will be competing in Sochi later this week for Team USA. 

Generally speaking, it is much easier to be a Penguins fan than a Maple Leafs fan, at least during the regular season. The Penguins are once again leading their division by a large margin, sixteen points to be exact, and they are seven points ahead of the Boston Bruins for the lead in the Eastern Conference. They have only lost three regulations games in a row twice this season, and haven’t lost two in a row since an overtime loss to Boston in November 2013. While the Penguins regular season stats are usually phenomenal, their collapses during the post-season are truly epic and, for us die-hard fans, they are extremely heartbreaking.

The problems seem to have begun during the 2010-2011 playoffs. The Penguins definitely overachieved during the 2010-2011 regular season finishing fourth in the East with 106 points, one back from the conference leading Washington Capitals, despite playing almost half the season without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Unfortunately their luck dried up during the post-season and they loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, blowing a 3-1 series lead.

Things only got worse the following year when they faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round for the first time since 2009. The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, despite the Penguins having the home ice advantage, and they would eventually lose in six games setting new records for goals scored during a single series. In case there were any doubts, this playoff series proved that the Battle of Pennsylvania is still going strong.

Last season the Penguins were able to rely on veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun when Marc Andre Fleury eventually turned to Swiss cheese in game 4 against the New York Islanders. Vokoun finally broke the Penguins curse of being knocked out in the first round and carried them all the way to the conference finals against the Boston Bruins, where they were quickly eliminated in a four game sweep. The truly tragic part of this series loss is that at no point during any of the four games, including a game 3 double overtime loss, did the Penguins even hold a lead, they were tied or trailing the entire time. It is almost unthinkable that a team with the combined firepower of Malkin and Crosby would only score two goals in four games, but alas, that is exactly what happened. 

I am not sure what to expect this post-season. Vokoun has been out since training camp due to a blood clot, and while he has been taken off the blood thinners and has been cleared to skate, he has not returned to practice and still might not return before the end of the season. If he doesn't return, the Penguins will need to rely heavily on Fleury, and I am not sure what to expect from him. He has been solid in net this year, but then again, he is always solid during the regular season. As the Los Angeles Kings proved in 2012, you never know what might happen in the playoffs, and the team that squeaked in at the number eight seed might just go all the way, but with the Penguins, the one thing you can be sure of, it bound to be epic.

As a new Leafs fan, what I noticed most this season is the constant roller coaster ride for the fans. Spirits were high this year heading to the season, the Leafs had made some great acquisitions during the summer, and despite the game 7 loss to the Bruins, they had made the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. The high continued through October as the Leafs started the season 10-4 despite being out-shot almost every game. Things started to falter in November before crashing in December and then the trade rumours started swirling. Fans and the media were packing Nazem Kadri's bags for him, giving up on the young inexperienced centre, #fireCarlyle was trending on twitter and the Leafs dropped out of a playoff spot for the first time this season. Things picked up again when a win on January 12 against the New Jersey Devils kicked off a six game winning streak and fans were planning the parade route. As a newly devoted fan of my hometown team, I can honestly say I hope the boys can find consistency and finish the season strong, not only so they make the playoffs for a second straight year, and for the first  time in an 82 game season since 2004,  but also so that the fans don't end up with heart attacks and heartbreaks. Leafs Nation is definitely devoted, enthusiastic, encouraged, at times frustrated, and, while my heart will likely always bleed black and gold, I couldn't be more proud to join this great fan base.