Trottier
Very Random
TinCanCommunications said:I'm as disappointed as the next guy. But we'll be in the hunt in 2010. Cheer up. And stop acting like such babies in front of the world.
Yep, I must admit to being somewhat dumbfounded by many of the comments on this board recently. (When one is motivated to visit the Trade Board for more sensible reading, you know something is wrong. )
Yes, I'm an American, but not some naive myopic Johnny Come Lately who doesn't acknowledge or understand Canada's great history with hockey...which remains to this very moment.
But in addition to all of the excellent points you raise (namely, that you cannot throw names together in less than a week and expect success), the scapegoating and finger-pointing seem to lack a basic appreciation of international hockey history.
That is, while Canada dominated amateur hockey through the mid-50s, the game evolved in other countries over time...and through the 60s and up until recently, Canada's amateur "dominance" decreased, no? The Canadian professional teams of '72, '76 and '87 fame beat their world counterparts, but again, evolution has taken over and the overall talent level and hockey acumen of other nations has increased since.
Taken in that context, Canada's Gold Medal in '02 was a great accomplishment...but should not be confused with "the norm," blind patriotic pride notwithstanding. That is, expecting to medal every Olympic is somewhat unrealistic, to be kind. (Only surpassed by the naive notion among some US fans that it's Olympic team "disappointed" and that heads should roll as a result.)
Lest anyone accuse this poster of piling on when a country is down, the analogy can be made between Canadian Olympic hockey teams and US Olympic basketball teams. It took many decades for the world to catch up with the US's amateur basketballers. They did, finally, in '72....and again in '88. The result: the US went "professional" with the Dream Team of '92 and regained it's Olympic dominance. Fast forward 12 years later and the world has once again caught up with our professionals.
It happens.