King Gordie

Is it just me, or does this image of N.Y. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist from the Sports Illustrated NHL season preview issue look a lot like the illustrationof Gordie Howe from the Simpsons episode “Bart the Lover”?

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Canada, Standing On Guard for Thee

I read an interesting New York Times article today about VANOC and the Canadian government’s resolve to “Own the Podium.”

It seems that Canada is not playing nice with other nations in regard to the use of Vancouver 2010 facilities for practice runs and training. John Branch reports that the status quo for many sports that have structured runs (luge, skiing, bobsled) is that every nation may practice on those runs prior to the Games. Although VANOC officials are allowing competing nations small amounts of practice time, it is nowhere near the norm for what is expected from the host nation in Olympic preparation. And what’s more is that the Canadian government and the VANOC organizers recognize this fact. It is all part of the Own the Podium plan to help Canada reach its goal of 35 medals. It is “home-field advantage,” as they say.

Foreign nations are not happy. But, is Canada wrong to exercise its home-field advantage?

I’m on the fence about the subject.

Hockey teams in the NHL get to learn the bounces of their home rinks and take advantage of those. What’s the difference here? If it is your home, you’re going to know it better. Intimate knowledge of a playing surface/building is definitely an advantage, so why give that away? Because it isn’t fair? Maybe? But then shouldn’t the Olympics always be held at a neutral site that no one sees until the event happens? It’s assumed when a nation gets its day in the Olympic-hosting sun, that they are going to win some medals — and familiarity with the playing space is a part of that whole deal.

But, at the same time, to go against time honoured traditions seems cheap. It seems to go against the Olympic spirit, in a way. The “gentlemen’s agreements” made over practice runs for Olympic preparation have been upheld for a long time, and while not written in stone, I see this conflict opening up a whole pile of problems for Canada in international circles, sporting and otherwise, down the road. These are the Olympics, lets not forget. Nations take this seriously, and a snub now could have consequences that reverberate for years to come.

I also think that the policy Canada/VANOC has adopted puts our athletes at a disadvantage. They will be considered with scorn by their competitors, which may mar the otherwise great medal haul we could win. Not only that, the stance we have taken undermines the talent of the Canadian athlete. The message being sent to the world is that our athletes need this advantage.

Then again, in a world where winning is becoming increasingly difficult and all athletes are looking for that extra edge, maybe the home field is the ultimate competitive advantage?

Thoughts?

Five Reasons I Love Hockey

Steve Cameron. Goalie, 1991-92 Carelton Place Kings

For my first post I’m going to borrow a summertime feature idea from Puck Daddy, an NHL blog on the Yahoo network. Over the month of August, Puck Daddy posted “Five Reasons” from all kinds of different people throughout the hockey spectrum, from TSN personalities to dudes in hockey novelty bands. As I read each individual take on the best game you can play, I felt it would be fun to put out my top five. Here goes nothing…

5. The Last Name

This really goes for all sports, but it hit home with me as a seven-year-old kid who lived, ate and breathed Wayne Gretzky. I, like many kids, bore out my NHL fantasies playing road hockey, and one day in particular while shooting around by myself, I announced, “Steve shoots, Steve scores!” Speaking my name aloud in celebration didn’t really have the desired effect I had hoped for, and as a result, the top-shelf goal I’d just potted to win the Stanley Cup didn’t really seem all that great. A little bummed, I put my stick away and went inside. Later that day I asked my older cousin Amy why it was when Bob Cole would say, “Gretzky shoots, Gretzky scores!” it sounded cool, as opposed my name, which sounded lame. Amy opened my eyes by saying, “try your last name.” That was all I needed to be brimming with pride and confidence as I won the Stanley Cup  — “Cameron shoots, Cameron scores!” was music to my ears.

4. Rooting for the sports-market underdog

Calling the NHL a sports-market underdog is borne of the fact that mainstream sports media, like ESPN and Sports Illustrated, largely push hockey to the periphery. Whenever I come across a sports fan that doesn’t get hockey, I immediately want to convert them into a passionate hockey fan: I want to force them to watch the most amazing plays of the year; I want to take them to a live game; I want to take them to the Hockey Hall of Fame and show them the Stanley Cup. Nothing makes me happier than seeing hockey skeptics fall in love with the game. And for this reason, I root for hockey to get all the good publicity it can. I love it when NHL paraphernalia is worn in hollywood movies or television shows, and I secretly enjoy it when David Letterman is spotted at the Rangers game. I also love reminding American sports fans that both ESPN and SI have called “Miracle on Ice” (the 1980 US Olympic hockey victory over the Russians on home soil) the greatest American sports moment. 
Go, hockey!

3. Hockey tournaments when I was a kid

I was talented enough to play on the travel team when I was growing up, and lucky enough to have parents who scrimped and saved to pay for all the costs associated with playing travel hockey. Some of my favourite memories were the road tournaments that would take an entire weekend to play. These travel tourneys are the kid version of the adult road trip: You get to go to some unknown place (maybe even on a bus!), you get to stay in a hotel, you get to eat out at restaurants and you get to play a minimum of three hockey games. Perfect. From playing mini hockey in the halls of the hotel, to spending time in between games at the local mall buying crap that wasn’t needed, to crushing the poor American host team in the semi-finals, it all added up to a magical time. I am still swept with romance at the notion of the travel tournament, which is why, today, I love playing in the Canadian National Pond Hockey Championships; it is the Beer League equivalent of a kids hockey tournament.

2. The Live Game

Have you ever witnessed a shot ring off the post? The sound of frozen rubber slamming into steel pierces through a cheering and jeering audience of 18,000 strong as clear as if it were you alone in the building. It elicits sighs and despair from some, cheers and relief from others, as the play continues on with the promise of more chances. Have you ever heard 18,000 people collectively hold their breath when a player is sprung for a break away? It is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. And the inevitable exhale, regardless of the outcome, is always a marvel of acoustics. Live hockey is pretty damn exciting. It is rough and tumble and skilled and beautiful all at once. It is a team game where superstars take shifts and grind in the corners like everyone else. And it is because of moments like those listed above — the moments that capture not just the excitement of sport, but the thrill of the unknown — that the uninitiated, and initiated alike, exist on common ground.

1. The Stanley Cup Presentation and Ensuing Celebrations

The Stanley Cup is possibly the most unique thing about the game. It predates the NHL, has more good stories than F. Scott Fitzgerald and is the only major sports trophy to be engraved with every player’s name from the winning team. But the presentation of the Stanley Cup, and the ensuing laps around the rink with players passing the Cup to one another and sharing the moment with the fans is, I think, the best part the game. The Cup wasn’t always passed around. It was in the 1980s that the iconic celebration started, when Gretzky became the first player to go from simply hoisting the Cup, to skating with it and passing it off. The tradition is something special, and it allows each player a moment to revel in victory and live the childhood dream of hoisting the Cup. It also provides hockey fans a chance to see their favourite player hoist the Cup, even if your favourite player is kind of obscure, like Jiri Hrdina — and he hoisted it three times! Who knew? The presentation and the ensuing celebrations where each player gets to have the Cup for one day is yet another layer to the great Stanley Cup legacy. This didn’t become common place until 1995, and it has now become the unmistakable right of those who win it. In no other sport is a championship trophy so loved. The gesture of bringing the Cup down from its mantle endears fans of hockey to the trophy and the majesty of the game even more. I was in Cole Harbour when Sidney Crosby brought the Cup home this summer. There were multiple thousands in attendance, and I bet many in attendance were as excited to see the Cup as they were to see Sid the Kid. As Sidney described it best, “I think there are a few people here today that are Cup crazy!”