Blood match

Barbs fly as Canada, U.S. prepare for hockey showdown

Posted: Sat February 14, 1998 at 11:27 PM ET

U.S. hockey captain Chelios (left) looks to have his squad duplicate the results of the 1996 World Cup victory over Gretzky (center) and Canada   AP

NAGANO, Japan (KRT) -- Gary Suter was kicking back last week, sitting in a bar here with some of his teammates from the U.S. men's hockey team. He was trying to get away from the controversy about his crosscheck that left Anaheim star Paul Kariya with a concussion and left Canada without his abilities in the Olympics, and suddenly Suter was approached at his table.

"It was a moron who was a little drunk," said Brett Hull, who was at Suter's table.

And the "moron" had a question.

"He asked him if Gary still wore No. 20," Jeremy Roenick said.

And Suter said yes.

"He said, 'I'll tell Eric (Lindros, the hulking captain of Team Canada)," Hull said, "and Suter said, 'Eric who?'"

Must be time for the much-hyped and overheated United States-Canada men's hockey game featuring NHL stars as Olympians, a game, Roenick said, where both teams will "try to inflict as much pain as possible in the first game to set the stage for the next game -- hopefully there will be a next game."

Indeed, Monday afternoon's street fight in the Big Hat Arena merely closes the three-game exhibition segment of the tournament. It will only finalize the tournament seedings, not eliminate anyone. The one-game knockout round begins Wednesday.

STATS

Olympic Medal Standings By Country

ALSO

In the words of Jim Kelley: Snowboarders yearn to be free, but you better pay 'em for it Viewpoint from CNN/SI's Leigh Montville: Try not to think about these games Sports Illustrated's Winter Olympics Photo Gallery

MESSAGE BOARDS

Who do you like to win the Canada-U.S. game? Cast your vote on CNN/SI's Winter Olympics Message Boards!

SEARCH CNN/SI

But don't kid yourself. This matters.

"Let's be honest," U.S. captain Chris Chelios of the Blackhawks, "we've had bragging rights the last couple years and it's killing them."

Canada wants revenge for the 1996 World Cup tournament that it lost to the United States despite having home-country advantage. The United States, meanwhile, wants respect, trying to show that the World Cup wasn't simply this generation's Miracle on Ice.

"We understand the importance of this game to Canada and Canadians because of the World Cup result," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "At the same time, we want to prove to ourselves and anybody else who's watching that the World Cup wasn't a fluke."

Chelios said that Canada is doing most of the stoking in this border war, and Canada certainly has all kinds of reasons to hate the United States.

In no particular order after the World Cup upset, Canadians resent the United States for swiping two Canadian franchises, with Quebec moving to Denver and Winnipeg going to Phoenix; many Canadian kids are skipping junior hockey in Moose Jaw for a free ride at U.S. universities; and the commissioner of the league is a hoops guy.

Most recently, there's the Kariya conflict. Suter's here, Kariya isn't, and Team Canada general manager Bob Clarke has spent the week yammering on about how it was a malicious hit.

"He's going to stir the pot as much as possible," Roenick said of Clarke. "It's probably pretty smart to let Bobby be the bad guy. If anybody can be the bad guy, Bobby Clarke can."

Which makes the whole thing a little hypocritical.

USA's Gary Suter (left) and teammate Bill Guerin sandwich Sweden's Daniel Alfredsson   AP

"No kidding," Roenick said. "(The former captain of) the Broad Street Bullies, and now he's all of a sudden turning Pope on us."

And with both teams staying in the athletes' village -- and with the United States' wing in the tower next to Canada's -- they see a lot of each other. Everytime Wilson passes a Canadian player from the Capitals, he asks them how they like silver.

"They've been giving it to me, too," Wilson said.

What really makes Wilson sick, though, is all the Canadian excuses about the 1996 World Cup victory by the Americans because the Canadians didn't have Kariya then, either.

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda," Wilson said after rolling his eyes. "We were a better team than Canada. That's the difference. That's what this is all about. It's not about the best individuals."

Then Wilson took a swipe at the Canadian team's choice of players.

"Why isn't Mark Messier here?" Wilson asked mockingly. "If we win, is everybody going to say, 'Well, Mark Messier wasn't there'?"

There is a great sense that Canada's finish in this tournament -- and even the result of a seemingly meaningless game against the upstart Yanks -- will validate their national existence.

Unlike the U.S., Canada didn't let Sweden push them around   AP

After all, these are the same people who attended World Cup games while holding signs that read: "It's our game."

"We have a great team and, as always, a great deal of pressure," Wayne Gretzky said. "That's the way it always been for Canadian teams. That's the way it always will be."

The American have pressure, too. Pressure to prove they belong among the world elite.

"Being Americans," U.S. power forward Keith Tkachuk said, "we are always looked at as second best in the National Hockey League and we want to beat them again so there won't be any controversy."

The United States finds itself in the odd situation of defending a hockey championship of some sort, which it hasn't handled particularly well in a loss to Sweden and an ugly victory over meager Belarus, and the Yanks are having to do it on the unfamiliar big ice of international competition.

So, this blood rivalry will mean nothing unless the Americans hurry up and skate smarter and with greater patience against the elite teams in this tournament. Otherwise they will have no chance to win the United States' first gold medal in hockey since 1980 if they continue with this bland and unimpressive mixture of ingredients.

Which would change the Olympic hockey question to: Do you believe in Miracle Whip?

Copyright 2003 Knight-Ridder. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.