 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Frustrating fifty Canada has golden chance to make up for 50 long yearsPosted: Saturday February 23, 2002 4:06 PMUpdated: Saturday February 23, 2002 7:15 PM By Bruce Garrioch, SLAM! Sports SALT LAKE CITY -- Team Canada has given itself a golden opportunity. Trying to win gold at the Olympic Games for the first time in 50 years, Team Canada locked up a spot in tomorrow's final with a 7-1 victory over Belarus on what turned out to be an emotional afternoon at the E Center. Now, exactly 50 years to the day after the Edmonton Mercury's won gold in Oslo, this group of assembled NHLers will try to bring home the title on a day all of Canada is expected to stand still and watch. "We've all played Game 7, we've all played in a Stanley Cup final," Team Canada winger Theoren Fleury said. "We know how to play in close games. All we want is that one chance and that one opportunity to win the game and we've got it,"
"You look around the room, and any one of our guys could be that guy who breaks open the game. The emotion is going to be high, the butterflies will be there. To be here, and be a part of it is really something special." Unlike the Swedes, who folded their tent and went home after a shocking 4-3 loss to Belarus Wednesday, Team Canada didn't give the opposition much of chance with assistant captain Steve Yzerman leading the charge yesterday. He opened the scoring for Canada at 6:05 of the first and then completed the night with a goal and two assists. Yes, Belarus tied it up when Martin Brodeur couldn't handle a shot from Ruslan Salei, but that's where any threat to a Canadian victory stopped. Paul Kariya had a goal and an assist while Eric Brewer, Scott Niedermayer, Simon Gagne, Eric Lindros and Jarome Iginla added single goals. "We just keep finding ways to win," Canadian defenceman Rob Blake said. "We know what the people are thinking at home and we know the pressure is never gone up there until you win. That's what we're focused on. "We're playing for a gold medal and that's what we've wanted. They're going to be pretty excited at home and everybody is going to be behind us. We don't have to change anything. We just have to keep improving." After starting off the tournament with a 5-2 loss to the Swedes, the Canadians have been slowly, but surely building momentum However, they must reach their pinnacle in tomorrow's final against the U.S.A., which defeated Russia 3-2 in the other semi-final. "The guys have played together in situations like this a lot and they know what it takes to get the job done," Yzerman said. "This is something that has been building since that first camp in Calgary (in September). We've been moving closer to this. "This is a good bunch of guys. We're relatively quiet guys we haven't really got any flashy personalities. What we have here is people who want to get the job done. The one thing we did well in this game was scored timely goals. That's going to be good for us." Coach Pat Quinn talked a lot about the passion Canada has for the game and he knows that his team has to bring home a title if people are going to be satisfied. "I don't know that we'll win (tomorrow), but we'll be there," said Quinn, who also coaches the Maple Leafs. "That can be an awful albatross carrying the hopes of our nation because somehow in Canada we expect more. It's nothing but gold. "That's the way it is in Canada. If we can somehow get the job done, then it will be a terrific thing for the country and all the proud Canadians, but more importantly for these athletes because they're the ones doing the job." 
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
