Why Win One When You Can Win All Three

In a little more than a month, Wayne Gretzky and the powers that be in Canada’s Olympic hockey regime will announce the 23 roster players destined for Turin. And while the announcement will surely be met with outlandish proclamations and fevered expectations of gold, it will also be met by indignant reactions over player selection and roster choices. After all, everybody and their dog is a better talent evaluator than the guys at Hockey Canada. Never mind the exceptional run of success they’re on with Gretzky at the helm, it’s inevitable that fans of Dan Cloutier will argue for his inclusion as the third goaltender over Jose Theodore or Marty Turco. When Gretzky announced the 81 players who would be considered for inclusion, the fans on TSN’s comments section lambasted the choice of certain players at the expense of others. One gentleman from the Toronto region complained about the selection of Shane Doan over Darcy Tucker. DARCY TUCKER, I’m not even making this up. Someone actually felt that a marginal second line winger on an adequate Leafs’ team should be chosen over Doan whose exceptional play with Kris Draper and Joe Thornton on the checking line was one of the biggest reasons for our success at the 2004 World Cup (not to mention that he scored the game winner in the final). But, whatever the protestations of the fans there are two truths to the process: First, there is such an abundance of talent in Canadian hockey right now, that choosing who to put on the roster and who gets cut will be a very challenging process. Second, there is such an abundance of talent in Canadian hockey right now, that whomever they select, it will be hard for them to go wrong.

The team will likely bear a strong resemblance to that 2004 World Cup team, but for that tournament, teams were allowed to carry 26 players and four others were last minute scratches who needed replacing, which brings us to 30 guys from 2004 to sort through. Add to them the guys who’ve made giant strides since then (Alex Tanguay), the old timers who’ve gotten themselves back into the discussion (Paul Kariya), and the young players who’ve since entered the league with a bang (uhmm, that Sidney Crosby kid) and I count 46 players who could legitimately be chosen for our national team in December. Which of course leaves 23 cut by the wayside, exactly the number of a second team. Now, it has often been Canadians’ contention that we should be able to field a second squad in the Olympic hockey tournament and while this contention is never considered seriously, it is about time someone in Canada’s Olympic committee pushed for our rights. We need to stand up there, stamp our feet like a small child and say, “we don’t just wont one pretty colored medal, we want ALL THREE.” I’m not kidding, maybe it seams outlandish, but if the Austrians can field multiple downhill skiers, who win gold, silver and bronze in the same event, and the Americans can have three sprinters in the 100 meter final, then we should be allowed to send two, possibly even three teams into the hockey tournament. I don’t care that one is an individual competition, while the other a team, the point is that those other countries rack up multiple medal counts by excelling in the same event. Either a country should only be allowed to enter one competitor (or team) in one event, or we should get another hockey entry (a couple years ago I would have said that by the same argument the U.S. should get a second basketball team in the Olympics, but right now their first doesn’t seem so intimidating, let alone their second). The same euphoria which will greet the naming of our Olympic team with expectations of gold, would mean that we would fully expect to take gold, silver, and bronze in the tournament, which is a lot to expect. Olympic goaltenders are so good that any of the big six (Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and The U.S.) can win any single elimination game on any given night, but the point is that we could win all three medals. If the puck bounced right, or our snipers were just spot on, we could send 3 teams into the semi finals (likely against the Czechs), and hopefully dominate the podium. It isn’t that we definitely would, just as it isn’t that the German bobsled team definitely will win gold and silver, but just as they could so could we.

With that in mind I got to thinking about how one would break up those 81 players into three teams to compete. Do you select the same “top” 23 you would if you had only one team, and then a second team, and third? Virtually demanding that the #1 team come home with gold and hope the others can medal. Or do you sprinkle the talent throughout and hope for gold, but increase the likelihood of winning a couple medals? With that in mind I looked over the list of 81 and thought about how I would organize things, and the most interesting way to split the teams for me, was to split them according to age. Which team would be our best, the babies, the mid lifers, or the geriatrics? So with that in mind, starting Monday Achanceyougottatake Sports will break up Canada’s hockey program into three teams: 25 and under, 26 – 30, and over 30. We’ll designate some lines, anoint captains, and prognosticate about their results, and just to show that once in a while I swoop down out of the clouds and actually work in reality, we’ll finish it off by selecting our own personal (ok, well actually it’s my dog’s selection, but that pooch is pretty hockey savvy…) 23 man Olympic roster. The one that is certain to bring gold home from Turin (and there we go with those expectations again…)