Madferret
2-21-06, 11:29 AM
Canada tries to get back on track
Canadian Press
TURIN, Italy (CP) - The Canadian men's hockey team is looking to rebound after a pair of shutout losses.
Canada (2-2-0) will play its final preliminary game against the Czech Republic (2-2-0) on Tuesday, a team that entered the tournament as one of the favourites but has also struggled.
Win, lose or tie, the Canadians have already locked up a spot in Wednesday's quarter-finals. The players held a high-tempo practice Monday. Executive director Wayne Gretzky said the team's veterans have to step forward and help on and off the ice - and the young players need to relax and show their stuff if the team is to succeed.
"It seems like this Olympic Games is even bigger and the pressure on this group seems to be even more enormous," the executive director of Team Canada said after practice at Palasport Olimpico arena. "They want to do so well.
"You can feel it in the locker-room. You can see it in their eyes. We need to loosen them up. We need to have some fun out there."
Canada has not scored a goal in their last two games, falling 2-0 to both Switzerland and Finland on the weekend. It was the first time Canada was shut out twice in a row at the Olympics since the era before full participation of NHL players in 1984, when they were beaten 4-0 by the Soviet Union and 2-0 by Sweden in their final two medal round games in Sarajevo. The former Czechoslovakia also beat them 4-0 that year.
Canada's disjointed play recalls their struggles in the opening games of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, when they really didn't put a solid effort together until the last preliminary round game - also against the Czech Republic.
Canada then went on to win its first Olympic hockey gold medal in 50 years.
http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20060215/iginla_31762.jpg
Let's go boys, get it together!
http://www.excellerated.com/graphics/Canada%20Flag.gif
Canadian Press
TURIN, Italy (CP) - The Canadian men's hockey team is looking to rebound after a pair of shutout losses.
Canada (2-2-0) will play its final preliminary game against the Czech Republic (2-2-0) on Tuesday, a team that entered the tournament as one of the favourites but has also struggled.
Win, lose or tie, the Canadians have already locked up a spot in Wednesday's quarter-finals. The players held a high-tempo practice Monday. Executive director Wayne Gretzky said the team's veterans have to step forward and help on and off the ice - and the young players need to relax and show their stuff if the team is to succeed.
"It seems like this Olympic Games is even bigger and the pressure on this group seems to be even more enormous," the executive director of Team Canada said after practice at Palasport Olimpico arena. "They want to do so well.
"You can feel it in the locker-room. You can see it in their eyes. We need to loosen them up. We need to have some fun out there."
Canada has not scored a goal in their last two games, falling 2-0 to both Switzerland and Finland on the weekend. It was the first time Canada was shut out twice in a row at the Olympics since the era before full participation of NHL players in 1984, when they were beaten 4-0 by the Soviet Union and 2-0 by Sweden in their final two medal round games in Sarajevo. The former Czechoslovakia also beat them 4-0 that year.
Canada's disjointed play recalls their struggles in the opening games of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, when they really didn't put a solid effort together until the last preliminary round game - also against the Czech Republic.
Canada then went on to win its first Olympic hockey gold medal in 50 years.
http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20060215/iginla_31762.jpg
Let's go boys, get it together!
http://www.excellerated.com/graphics/Canada%20Flag.gif