CBC-Sports

Winter Games success, influential Canadians may be linked

December 28, 2009 11:25 AM | Posted by   Scott Morrison  

It is not entirely surprising, given our country is hosting the next Winter Olympics and that we are a nation of hockey pucks, that the CBCSports.ca list of most influential Canadians in sports is dominated by folks from both sectors.

To many who voted, John Furlong, the chief executive officer for the 2010 Olympics, was the obvious choice as the most influential – at least until the Olympic torch is extinguished.

Right now there is no bigger or more important job, it could safely be argued, in the sports world. Indeed, Furlong led the bid group to get the Games in the first place and most of the world will be watching how these Games come off. For a fortnight in February, we will be the focal point of the sporting world.

“All Canadians must feel these Games are theirs,” says Furlong on the VANOC website. “This is not about a few of us, but about all of us.”

Perhaps, but know this, if the Games are a bust the Olympic slogan will not be Share the Blame.

It says here Furlong was the right choice overall.

Next on the list was Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby. It is easy to explain his influence through all the marketing and advertising that is focused around him to help sell the NHL game. No other Canadian player gets that sort of attention and none really has since Wayne Gretzky.

Crosby, of course, took his team to the Stanley Cup final in consecutive years, winning it last spring. So he has a different sort of influence. Crosby has also started to be heard with respect to matters involving the NHL Players’ Association, though he has only really scratched the surface in terms of trying to influence the direction of the league and the union.

And if Canada is to win gold in Vancouver, it would figure that Crosby will have a huge influence on whether that happens. If it doesn’t, you can be sure he will be given a yeomen’s share of the blame regardless of how well he plays. A lot of people look at this as being Crosby’s team, just as 1998’s was Eric Lindros’, despite the presence of Gretzky.

Initially, I didn’t see the Crosby as having a large influence, but I have been suitably swayed in my thinking.

Looking back, I saw Jim Balsillie and the Phoenix saga making him a man of influence, whether you agreed with him or not. But over a longer haul and, not knowing Balsillie’s next move, Crosby is an excellent second choice.

Just as Team Canada general manager Steve Yzerman is a good choice for the third slot. Okay, you can argue as I partially did that other key Olympic organizers, such as Keith Pelley, are almost as influential as Furlong and deserve a high rating. I still believe that.

But fairly or not to the other athletes, how Canada fares in men’s hockey in Vancouver is a huge storyline of the Games. As such, Crosby is a key player and so too is Yzerman, who will announce his roster on Jan. 30. In this country it is gold or nothing with hockey and as the guy with the final say on who attempts to win that gold, it makes Yzerman a very influential Canadian sportsman.

Some would say, from the inside looking out, how Vancouver and Furlong and the Games are judged from a Canadian perspective may well be largely influenced by Crosby, Yzerman et al.

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