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Wilting leafs Struggling Canada sneaks past Germany 3-2Posted: Sunday February 17, 2002 11:28 PMUpdated: Monday February 18, 2002 1:18 AM
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- So far, the Canadian team expected to bring home a gold medal is bringing on one of the worst cases of nerves in the nation's hockey history. And if lowly Germany could inspire the tentative, inconsistent performance given by Canada Sunday night, just wait until the Canadians see Dominik Hasek staring at them from the opposite goal crease. Joe Sakic scored midway through the second period as Canada struggled to a 3-2 victory over Germany, getting its second troubling performance from a star-laden roster that shows no signs of the cohesiveness necessary to win the tournament. "This is a tense time," Canada coach Pat Quinn said. "We're having trouble dealing with the tenseness." Canada's team of NHL millionaires traveled to Utah shouldering the dreams of a hockey-mad nation held without gold for 50 years.
The Canadians' roster is one of the most spectacular ever assembled, but their physical talent hasn't translated into smooth team play -- and they admit time might be running out. "We've got to gain some confidence," defenseman Chris Pronger said. "We're really squeezing our sticks out there. We've got to relax. You don't always have to go-go-go and try to make every single play. We don't have to do everything." Canada's victory sets up a key match against Hasek and the Czech Republic Monday. The winner likely will face Finland in the quarterfinals Wednesday, while the loser probably will get the daunting task of meeting Russia. Through all of the struggle, there also was plenty of reason for Canadians to hope their team will find its way. Paul Kariya and Adam Foote scored on chances created by an effective five-minute power play for Canada (1-1), which lost 5-2 to Sweden on Friday night. "I just don't think we're in sync right now," Kariya suggested. "I just think you've got a lot of guys who haven't played a lot together, but it's starting to come. I think we just need a few days." Canada showed nearly equal parts brilliance and incompetence against Germany, a qualifier with just two NHL players. At times, the Canadians dominated play; at others, including the game's frantic final minutes when Germany scored twice, they were completely on their heels. "You've got to be honest -- it's a dream come true to play against a team like that," said German center Stefan Ustorf, who had a brief NHL career with the Washington Capitals. "We are not talking about just NHL players, which are great, but these are All-Star teams. I mean, you take a faceoff against Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic, that's awesome." As star-struck as some German players might have been, injured goalie Olaf Kolzig said they were at an advantage because they were looser than their Canadian counterparts. "There is no pressure on us," Kolzig said. "The guys were having fun before the game. They were joking about taking pictures with Mario while he was on the exercise bike. When you're a relaxed team, that's when you are usually playing your best." Thanks to that strong stretch, Canada outshot Germany 37-20 despite the absence of captain Mario Lemieux, who took the night off to rest his sore hip. Quinn hopes to build on that period of dominance by somehow getting his players to relax. "Our guys were at least ready, and maybe too ready," Quinn said. "Anybody who wants to suggest they weren't ready to play better line up in the alley, if they want to say it to some of their faces." Canada's Olympic trip began with a dispiriting loss to Sweden in which the Canadians' NHL-style game couldn't cope with the Swedes' "torpedo" offensive system on the wider international ice. The Germans have no such innovations, relying on defense and Seliger, but they still gave the vaunted Canadians all they could handle. "I'm very, very proud of our team, particularly to come back after being down 3-0," German coach Hans Zach said. Quinn shook things up against Germany. He started Martin Brodeur in goal in place of Curtis Joseph, shuffled all four Canadian lines and added seventh defenseman Ed Jovanovski to the mix. With Wayne Gretzky, the architect of the Canadian team, watching pensively from the press box, Canada played a dismal first period, never threatening to beat Seliger or the Germans defense. Things changed nearly halfway through the second period when Canada's persistent forechecking finally produced results. Simon Gagne grabbed a loose puck and found Sakic all alone in front of Seliger for an easy goal. The Canadians thought they could breathe easily after German defenseman Daniel Kunce got a game misconduct for dangerously boarding Ryan Smyth late in the second period. On the ensuing five-minute power play, Kariya slammed home a rebound; Foote then flipped a long wrist shot past Seliger, who was completely screened, just as the penalty ended. But Seliger, the star of the preliminary round with three victories, made several outstanding saves to keep Germany in it -- and early in the third period, Germany again took over the flow of play. Brodeur's shutout bid ended midway through the third period when Andreas Loth slipped the puck underneath him on the Germans' first shot in nearly 15 minutes. With 6:09 to play, Jochen Hecht ricocheted a shot off Brodeur's goal stick and into the top corner of the net. "We came here with nobody expecting us to do anything," Ustorf said. "People back home thought that we are going to lose every game. But you know what, we are proud hockey players, we are not coming here to get slaughtered by everybody."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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