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

Gretzky Has Tough Decisions Canadian Press 8/15/2005 8:08:00 PM VANCOUVER (CP) - Hitting the ice in the middle of August some six months before the Olympics many not seem like a critical juncture in Team Canada's preparation for defending its gold medal. But think again. This week's five-day camp, which kicked off with a practice Monday night at GM Place, is crucial to Canada's chances of repeating Olympic glory. ''It's a chance for these players to get together and become a team,'' executive director Wayne Gretzky said Monday. From learning the system to forging bonds with teammates and perhaps finding some chemistry with a linemate or a defence partner, this week's camp sets the stage for the Feb. 15-26 Games. After all, Canada will likely only have time for one practice before its opener Feb. 15 against Italy. ''Time is our enemy here,'' said head coach Pat Quinn. ''This small amount of time that we have here this week is the start of putting this team together. These guys have to find a way to come together and it starts here.'' And this time, Quinn and assistant coaches Ken Hitchcock, Jacques Martin, Wayne Fleming and Marc Habscheid want their team better prepared for the opener. While Canada won gold in Salt Lake City it was far from a smooth ride. The Canadians were overmatched by Sweden 5-2 in the opener. ''The big thing is that we want to do things this week at a very high tempo,'' Quinn said. ''We found that we weren't playing at a high enough tempo in the early games in 2002 - not high enough for us to win. We're going to try to push that on our players right now. And hopefully we can take that mindset into the Turin Games.'' The pace wasn't too bad Monday night at GM Place but will improve as the week goes on. More than 11,000 fans voiced their support - mostly for reinstated star Todd Bertuzzi of the Canucks - as the 37 skaters srimmaged and performed drills. These were the lines combinations: - Joe Thornton between Simon Gagne and Rick Nash; - Brad Richards with Bertuzzi and Shane Doan; - Mike Peca at centre with Alex Tanguay and Dany Heatley; - Joe Sakic between Brenden Morrow and Steve Yzerman; - Vincent Lecavalier with Kris Draper and Martin St. Louis; - Patrick Marleau between Brenden Morrison and Jarome Iginla; - Keith Primeau with Ryan Smyth and Kirk Maltby. On defence, Robyn Regehr played with Scott Niedermayer, Wade Redden with Adam Foote, Chris Phillips with Ed Jovanvoski, Jay Bouwmeester with Rob Blake, Chris Pronger with Dan Boyle, and Eric Brewer with Scott Hannan. The defending Olympic champions didn't get off to a great start over the weekend when captain and superstar Mario Lemieux informed them he couldn't make the camp because of his hectic schedule with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He'll be in Turin, to be sure, but his presence will be sorely missed this week. He set the tone at the orientation camp in September 2001, especially in the dressing room. ''Obviously you don't replace a guy like Mario, not only what he does on the ice but his presence on the locker-room, how much the players respect him and how much they look up to him,'' conceded Gretzky. ''But he's been here the last two tournaments, the World Cup and the Olympics. He's such in a unique situation, he's an owner, he's trying to put together an organization, he's playing, he was fortunate enough to win the lottery and get one of the best players to come along in a long time - so he's got a lot of responsibilities that other players here don't have. ''I talked to Mario on Friday, he explained the situation, and I fully understood it. If there's a player that has tonnes of commitments, he's the one guy.'' Lemieux took some heat in Pittsburgh in 2002 for putting Canada ahead of the Penguins. He played through a serious hip problem in Salt Lake City and then missed of the rest of the NHL season after having surgery. So perhaps it was time to put the Penguins ahead of Team Canada for now, but he told Gretzky he definitely wants to be in Turin. ''Mario has been around this so much that his influence, even though he's not here, it's still felt in the locker-room,'' said Gretzky. Sakic also won't be around when the camp shifts to Kelowna on Wednesdayas he will be hosting hiw own charity golf tournament in Denver. ''It's my charity tournament, we're helping to feed hungry kids so that takes precedent over everything,'' explained Sakic. In the meantime, the battle for the final 23 jobs began Monday night. With a wave of young stars joining a core veteran group, everyone seems to agree that Gretzky and company will have a tougher time this time around selecting the final roster. ''There's more depth this time, no question,'' Gretzky said, adding that the likes of Paul Kariya, Sidney Crosby and others could also throw their name in the mix if they have great early seasons. Just looking at the forwards, the likes of Bertuzzi, St. Louis, Lecavalier, Richards, Thornton, Nash, Heatley, Morrow, Draper and Doan are all looking for first-ever Olympic assignments, but they can't all make it. Compare that to four years ago, when few of the names that made the Salt Lake roster surprised anyone. Then the likes of Eric Lindros, Theo Fleury, Joe Nieuwendyk, Owen Nolan and Al MacInnis were mainstays on the national team. Now they're gone. ''Definitely four years ago, you had the names and you went with them,'' said Sakic. ''Now some of those guys got older and a lot of young guys are coming in, and it is tougher for sure. But I'd like to think that's a good thing for Canada, you can't really go wrong. There's going to be great players left off the team.'' Knowing how tough it will be to select the team, Gretzky is lobbying with the NHL and NHLPA to have as much time as possible to select his roster. Last time around he was forced to name a team on Dec. 8, which he feels hurt the process. ''I don't want to get into a situation like 2002 when we picked the team so early and then some players got hot later and we got criticized,'' Gretzky said. ''I'd like to wait until mid-January this time. ''The more games players get to play the more chance they have to make the team.'' Notes: The NHLers posed for a photo with the 44 world junior hopefuls who wrapped up their camp with a scrimmage at GM Place on Monday night ... Team Canada won't be on the ice Tuesday but instead will partake in a charity golf tournament in Surrey with the junior players.

GO CANADA GO!

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