HockeyKovalchuk focused on Olympics, plus 30 thoughts

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Hours later, Malkin yukked it up, pulling out the prop bag, helping dress Ovechkin in giant sunglasses. BFFs once again.

Why is this relevant now? Because these Olympics are why Kovalchuk wanted peace. As much as the Russian players are prepared for a showdown over participation in the 2014 Games, what they really want is victory in Vancouver.

I was two years old when Paul Henderson beat Vladislav Tretiak with 34 seconds left in Game 8, a moment that energized our country. Almost 38 years later, it is still the greatest moment in Canadian sports history. During that time, the Russians have never erased that home defeat with a win equally as significant in this country. (Don’t tell me the 1981 Canada Cup is in the same stratosphere.) It doesn’t hurt that Tretiak, the team’s GM, is around to remind them.

This is their chance.

The Russians’ biggest weakness may be self-inflicted, as internal politics prevented Sergei Zubov from making the team. One of the reasons they fell short in 2006 was anti-NHL stubbornness, as Maxim Sushinsky was given crucial minutes instead of better players based in North America. They could use Zubov, since the blueline is their biggest weakness.

Then again, it might not matter if their forwards have the puck all the time. No other team will have their scoring ability. Their goaltending? Well, Ilya Bryzgalov’s been unbelievable all season and did you see Evgeni Nabokov make 50 saves against Detroit last week?

Brian Burke kidded Sunday that Steve Yzerman called Russia the favourite to ease the pressure on Team Canada. Certainly, that’s true. You could make a real good argument that this group faces more pressure to win than any Canadian roster since the Summit Series squad.

But, if you look at it honestly, is Yzerman wrong? The Russians can be mercurial. This time, however, their will to win will be as great as Canada’s.

30 THOUGHTS

• 1) Cam Janssen’s hit on Matt Bradley is Exhibit A of what needs to be removed from hockey. Don’t give me the excuse Bradley wasn’t looking. Why would he? He was following the play. I love hitting, but come on.
• 2) Canada’s willingness to wait on Ryan Getzlaf’s ankle injury shows how important he is considered to this team. In the aftermath of the 1998 and 2006 defeats, post-tournament debriefings warned against taking injured players into this short-term, high-intensity competition.
• 3) It’s been pointed out that Wayne Gretzky waited on Steve Yzerman in 2002. Getzlaf may be as critical to this team as Yzerman was to that one (although he won’t have the same level of experience). At the beginning of the season, I went to Detroit to do an interview with Mike Babcock. A couple Detroit players asked me who I thought would be the number one centre on Team Canada. I assumed it would be Sidney Crosby. Their response? Don’t be surprised if it’s Getzlaf. “Babcock loves him,” one said.
• 4) Don’t know how Bob Murray really feels about all of this, but Canadian hockey fans should thank him. The Ducks need every point they can get, and, last week, he put his team’s priorities behind Canada’s.
• 5) Same goes for Swedish fans with Ken Holland/Niklas Kronwall, and Belorussian fans with Pierre Gauthier/Andrei Kostitsyn. Can’t imagine either GM really wants those players anywhere near the games – especially Holland.
• 6) Has any hockey tournament ever had better quality goaltending than this one? My overall (not individual) rankings: Finland, Russia, Canada, United States, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia. The first two have the best duos. Even though both Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo’s final starts went poorly, I put Canada third because of depth. If your number one guy goes down, Canada’s next choices (including Marc-Andre Fleury) are better than anyone else’s. Henrik Lundqvist obviously isn’t the sixth-best starter – he might even be number one – but if he’s hurt, Jonathan Quick/Tim Thomas and Ondrej Pavelec are better than anything the Swedes have to offer.
• 7) However, if you took each team’s number one (or projected number one), where would you rank Canada? More than anything, starting goaltending – Dominik Hasek/Tommy Salo – defines this tournament.
• 8) Really, really curious to watch Ryan Miller. Aside from last year, his late-season numbers aren’t great. Is he starting to burn out from carrying the Sabres on his back, again?
• 9) Thought Marc Crawford made a really interesting point about the team with the most fluid skaters being in best position to win. His theory: as the players get exhausted in the later rounds, those who expend less energy while striding will have an advantage. He pointed out two Canadians in particular: Scott Niedermayer and Patrice Bergeron.
• 10) This country’s biggest advantage: Smaller ice surface.
• 11) NBC ‘s decision to carrying ice dancing on its main network instead of Canada/USA on February 21 is why the NHL does not want to go to Sochi.
• 12) Eugene Melnyk deserves a lot of credit for agreeing to put Jonathan Cheechoo in the minors. If he stays there until the end of his contract, that’s a $5 million haircut. (Which is about what Scott Russell pays, I think.) It shows a real commitment to winning. Of course, it gives Melnyk one more reason to stick pins in his Dany Heatley bobblehead.
• 13) It’s a real shame for Cheechoo. The San Jose organization loved him. He worked as hard as he could, did everything the Sharks asked him to do. But injuries put him a step behind, and it didn’t change in Canada’s capital.
• 14) Like Kovalchuk, Anton Volchenkov is represented by Jay Grossman. Is Ottawa worried that Grossman wants Volchenkov to the open market, too? He’s critical to that roster.
• 15) Injuries aren’t Montreal’s biggest problem – it’s a lack of toughness. A couple of opponents were saying that playing against the Canadiens is too physically easy. “No one hits you,” one said. “They’re not aggressive. One guy on the forecheck, so you can go (defenceman to defenceman) and then out.”
• 16) Totally agree with Craig Simpson: when Philly put out Laperriere/Betts/Powe (who had drilled Jaroslav Spacek the night before) to start, the Canadiens needed to respond with a similar trio or a high-scoring line that could attack and control the puck. Instead, Jacques Martin threw out an odd combination of Gionta/Desharnais/Darche. Laperriere beat Ryan O’Byrne in a fight, and the tone was set.
• 17) PK Subban is going to be a great player. Great hands, real skill. His junior coach, George Burnett, said the ankle injury that forced the defenceman to spend half a year in the AHL is the best thing that could have happened to him. Burnett added that Subban is an underrated defender with his stick.
• 18) Not sure Martin is going to like Subban’s gambling nature, though.
• 19) For all this talk about Tomas Plekanec and the goalies, Gauthier’s biggest concern should be getting Andrei Markov signed to an extension this summer.
• 20) If you haven’t read the “Letter to the Fans” the Florida Panthers posted online Friday, take a few minutes (link: http://panthers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=517345&navid=DL|FLA|home). That is one serious public napalming.
• 21) The Panthers have a new ownership group, so it’s possible this is an explanation of its vision. Advice from someone who used to work there: Choose a plan and stick with it. In the past, the front office had floating budgets. Player payroll goals would bounce around. There was never consistency. You can’t build like that.
• 22) Have to say: I’m kind of confused about Dallas’ handling of Marty Turco. I recognize that, moving forward, the organization feels it needs a larger-sized goaltender. That’s where the league’s going. But, if the Stars want to make the playoffs, Turco is their best option, especially since Kari Lehtonen hasn’t played an NHL game in a year.
• 23) Speaking of Dallas, the NHL would love to see Mark Cuban involved. It will probably happen in a minority capacity, since he wants more control over the lucrative arena.
• 24) You hear a lot of coaches say losing streaks are coming when you win a bunch of games you shouldn’t. Couldn’t help but think of that last week while watching Washington. They are exciting, but, in the playoffs, it will not be possible to consistently come back from three-goal deficits.
• 25) Was Brent Sutter surprised by the Kovalchuk trade? “No,” he said. “I knew (Lou Lamoriello) really liked him.”
• 26) Peter Laviolette really credits Jeff Reese with improving Michael Leighton. Reese said all he did was ask Leighton to take a step back, to prevent overchallenging.
• 27) The Philly coach, asked if there were any players he didn’t really know who really impressed him, picked three. Chris Pronger (“of course,” Laviolette added), Kimmo Timonen and Claude Giroux – “He’s going to be a really good player.”
• 28) Tough to tell for sure, but it sounds like Giroux would have gone to Florida last year if the Panthers hadn’t gotten cold feet about trading Jay Bouwmeester.
• 29) Big, big couple of weeks for David Poile. He told Pierre LeBrun he would use this down time to see if he can get his pending UFAs signed – Dan Hamhuis, either goalie.
• 30) Meant to put this in last week, but after Tanner Glass took a beating from Matt Carkner , a couple of Senators players said they thought Glass shouldn’t fight again until he learns to protect himself. They were worried he could get really hurt.

Since we’re not doing the Olympics this year, I’m going to take some family time. This blog will not appear next week, but will return on Monday, March 1. Enjoy the Games, everyone.

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