by Christian Grenon, Special to AllHabs.net
It seemed everyone on Twitter was writing about their disappointment and embarrassment over the “meltdown” of Team Canada in the third period of the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo. The coaching, goaltending and defensive coverage all got criticized.
In the minutes following the loss, Cameron was pegged as the principal reason for the loss; the opinion of many was that he had coached his team to protect the lead, ultimately failing to do so. Many comparisons to Jacques Martin were made, none of them flattering. Others blamed him for not calling a timeout after the Russian’s second goal. A few experts suggested he should have changed goalies, either after the second or third goal. Later on, I read that goaltending just wasn’t good enough through the tournament, and especially in the third period. This morning, I am reading news stories and blogs filled with the words: shame, embarrassment, disappointment, collapse and failure.
While everyone, including myself, was trying to find the cause for such a turn of events, we all lost sight of the other side of the coin. As Canadians, we expect our team to return with gold, year over year. In fact, we demand that they do. The expectations are clear: gold, or nothing else. The second place finisher is the first of the losers… Those 20 boys have to carry the expectations of an entire nation; 70 million eyeballs are trained on them between December 26 and January 5.
Expectations aside, had Team Canada been behind by three goals after two periods, and then scored five unanswered goals in the third, we would have praised the team for playing with such heart, courage and perseverance. We would have praised the coaching for brilliantly adjusting the game plan to fend off the opposing attack, and play around the defensive system put in place by the other coach. We would have noted the change in the transition game, playing the puck behind the defensemen instead of to trying to play through, which hadn’t worked for the first two periods.
We would have recognized the momentum change that came from changing goalies in the second period. We might even have credited a player that probably exaggerated (faked?) an injury to silence the crowd, take away the momentum from the other team, only to come back stronger than ever in the third, scoring one goal, and assisting on another.
But we expect our beloved team to win, so we must find where our team went wrong. Or do we? I suggest we look at the game in a different way…
We could celebrate the amazing determination of the Russian team, who had come back in two games previously in this tournament (FIN, SWE), and had lost their first two games in the round-robin round (CAN, SWE). Those boys continued to believe that they could win, and would not stop trying until they did. They played with everything they had, and were rewarded for it. Their coaches made the right adjustments, and found the way to motivate the young Russians during that second intermission.
We could also celebrate the accomplishment of a Canadian team, who played without a few of our best players who are so good that they are already in the NHL. A team that had lost only lost one game before the final, to Sweden in a shootout. Those boys didn’t lose the gold medal… they won silver!
(Photo by REUTERS/Mike Cassese)
Well said, Chris! We’ve certainly become a nation of spoiled babies when it comes to hockey. It’s almost as if we have an inferiority complex about everything, but we’re good at hockey so we damn well better win it all, every time.
Nicely done!
Thanks Kyle!
I appreciate the feedback! We seem to have defined ourselves as a hockey nation, and feel this is the only way to be great.
Transferring that onto 18-19 year-olds is a bit much, IMHO.
Nice job, Chris.
In retrospect, I was an excellent job by the Russians, starting at the end of the second period, of stretching out the Canadian forecheck, and opening up the neutral zone, that allowed them to attack with too much speed for Team Canada to handle.
All the experts said this version of Team Canada was a blue collar team, and they were. But heart and effort can only do so much to counter a Russian team that attacked with tons of speed through the neutral zone, and the hunger to defy all odds.
I think they made the adjustments necessary to take control, and we never were able to gain back that control. They wanted it, they knew they could do it, and they did it.
You nailed it Chris! We have become a nation that cries with every loss, and there is no reason to feel that there are no other teams out there that can’t show us up.
Canada has nothing to be ashamed of. We have been in the position to win the Gold 10 times in the past ten years. That’s a heck of a statement.
Yeah – there are things that we could criticize regarding the game we played, but to be proud of the accomplishment should take precedence over anger at the loss.
Being a die-hard Habs fan, I witness this daily, and it frustrates me. Look for the good, make sensible criticism where it can be made … but get off the anger train.
Congratulations Canada! You did us proud once again!
Thanks, Iain! I think we all want to win every game so badly that we scrutinize every move our favourite teams make. It is always easy to criticize from the comfort of our home, especially after the game is over. Somehow, it’s a different game when your’re on the ice or behind the bench.
Thanks for your comments, and let’s stay positive for the Habs this season!
Good job Chris!
Although I generally agree with you, I still believe that when you blow a 3 goal lead, in a third period, when you’re playing for the “ultimate”, it has to be considered a collapse or fail in some sort of fashion.
Not to down play the fact that the Russian did in fact provide an amazing come back.
Good job again!
It’s true. Right or wrong, the country seems to expect that Team Canada always come home with gold, and if we get anything less than that, it’s not because the other team had heart or spirit or superior skill. It’s because our boys somehow failed.
People forget how very hard it is to even get silver because everyone is so accustomed to expecting gold.
Of course things could have been done differently both at the coaching and playing level, but making good or bad game time decisions is also part of the game.
I’m proud of our team’s accomplishment even though I know in my heart they could’ve done better. There is no shame in striving for gold and winning silver. There is only shame in not trying.
GO CANADA!!!!
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