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2006 Turin Olympic Coverage
From the author of Legends of Team Canada and creator of 1972 Summit Series.com

Familiar faces lead Team Canada in Turin Canadian Press 6/17/2005 3:10:49 PM If Canada is going to repeat as Olympic men's hockey champion in Turin next February, it is going to have to overcome a serious issue that could potentially lead to division within the coaching staff. ''There's certainly going to be new ground rules in place for Jacques (Martin),'' Ken Hitchcock said on the phone from Philadelphia, trying not to crack up. ''You can't be that neat 24 hours a day. There has to be a level of messiness going on, we can't have that neatness all the time. ''We'll have those serious discussions when we arrive at camp in August. And like all of us, he's going to have to make some changes.'' Told that Hitchcock wanted to see Martin get a little messier in Turin, Olympic head coach Pat Quinn didn't miss a beat. ''No one is better suited to do that than Ken,'' Quinn said Friday from his Air Canada Centre office. Hitchcock got a bird-eye's view of Martin's ultra-cleanliness while bunking with him at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Quinn doesn't see any reason to break them up in Turin. Quinn figures he'll once again hook up with assistant coach Wayne Fleming. ''I think that's what we'll probably do and it's mostly out of self-preservation, I don't think Wayne and I could stand the other two guys,'' Quinn said, laughing. ''We'll leave the Odd Couple together,'' Quinn added. ''They truly are Felix and Oscar. And you can guess which one is which. Jacques is the tidy, neat one and Hitch the other one. But they get along terrificly obviously. Wayne and I were the other group and we were just quiet book-readers and stayed by ourselves. We weren't a problem at all.'' Quinn, Hitchcock, Martin and Fleming are back together for a third kick at the can (providing the new CBA indeed has the NHL going to Turin), having led Canada to Olympic gold in February 2002 and a championship victory at the September 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Quinn (Toronto), Hitchcock (Philadelphia) and Martin (Florida) are all successful NHL head coaches who have managed to put aside their egos and work together as a unit. Credit Bob Nicholson, says Quinn, the Hockey Canada president who long ago figured the three could mesh together despite their fierce rivalries in the NHL. ''Bob Nicholson first put this group together and he, knowing each of us individually, must have had a good feel about us,'' Quinn said. ''There's an unbelievable trust factor that goes on with the coaching staff,'' said Hitchcock, explaining their success. ''We can cross over into each other's fields without consequences. Everybody covers up for each other, helps each other. There is a tremendous feeling that we can cut through any grey area or any situation that arises. ''Pat puts mechanisms in place that allow every coach to do what he does well,'' adds Hitchcock. ''So there's a feeling that we can put out the right information to the players and we can be very direct with it. And it's absorbed the right way, there's no confusion. And after going through two major competitions together, there's a core group of 15-16 guys who know what to expect from us as a coaching staff, too.'' The thinking at Hockey Canada was simple: why fix was isn't broken? While there are many other qualified coaches in the NHL who could have taken a shot at it in Turin, Quinn's coaching team has yet to fail. ''All the way along, Canadian hockey has always had a great spectrum of coaches to come in and look after their teams, whether it's at their junior level or at the national senior level,'' said Quinn. ''For us to have been initially invited in 2002, for us to get a get crack at it then, was an absolute delight. Even had we not won it would have been a major highlight. The fact that we won and suddenly got another change in a different format at the World Cup, and then incredibly being asked again, it's a tremendous feeling.'' That's not to say keeping the peace among the three men has been easy. Their respective NHL teams have had heated encounters over the years, none moreso than when Martin's former club, the Ottawa Senators, combined with Hitchcock's Flyers in a March 2004 game for an NHL-record 419 penalty minutes, the last 1:45 of the game featuring five consecutive brawls. Heated words were exchanged in the days and weeks that followed the game but Martin and Hitchcock had to put that aside come August when camp opened for the World Cup. But it's not forgotten. ''The feeling that I was left with after talking to Jacques and (assistant coach) Perry (Pearn) and especially our staff is that I'm not really sure that the business has ended yet,'' Hitchcock said, not sounding like he was kidding. ''I think both of us know what's at stake when we play each other. We know both teams will be prepared for a physical encounter. As coaches, we know how to leave it and park it for the good of the country, but we also know that the Ottawa-Philly games were incredibly competitive and there's some spillage there. ''Looking at the team that Florida will have, they'll be a good team. So there's going to be an intense competition there, too.'' Surely, for heaven's sake, Hitchcock and Martin won't have their teams brawl with each other before going to Turin together? ''There's no guarantee,'' said Hitchcock. Again, we're not sure whether Hitchcock was serious or not. In the meantime, the NHL has to commit to Turin the upcoming collective bargaining agreement. For Hitchcock, it's a no-brainer given the damage the game has suffered during the lockout. ''My personal opinion is that we cannot afford to pass up any opportunities to market our game and I think this is a wonderful opportunity to market our game. These games will be on NBC on prime time. We'll be coming back and trying to build everyone's trust (in the game), I just don't think we can pass it up.''

GO CANADA GO!

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