Team Canada in 1998 Olympics - What would you change?

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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In no parallel universe did Canada outperform the Czechs, other than in overtime. Roy was just as tested and just as impressive as Hasek in that 1998 game.

I think on paper Canada had the better roster/more star power. But yes the game was close
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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I would have called Mario up and tried to convince him to play

Clarke said that he would select Lemieux even though he hadn't played that year, but Lemieux didn't want to play. Which was probably right for all parties involved.
 

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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which Turkey's are you talking about and who should have been there?

Canada was the superior team that ran into a hot goalie.



probably one of the best defensive dmans or shut down dmans in his generation.

yeah but on big ice?
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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Superior on paper maybe, but on the (big) ice? Czech Republic outshot Canada in regulation. Hasek only really had to stand on his head in OT

And the Czech did better against the team that faced both Canada and them that tournament, Hasek was not particularly hot that tournament he was arguably the best ever in is peak playing has usual. Not really the Caps and Pens running into an hot streak Halak situation.
 

lakai17

Registered User
Aug 10, 2006
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Nieuwendyk Lindros Fleury
Shanahan Gretzky Yzerman
Messier Sakic Recchi
Brind’Amour Francis Linden
Friesen

Desjardins Bourque
Pronger MacInnis
Stevens Blake
Niedermayer

Roy
Brodeur
Belfour


C. Lemieux-Lindros-Fleury
Shanahan-Sakic-Iginla
Messier-Gretzky-Recchi
Nieuwendyk-Yzerman-Brind'Amour
Gilmour

Niedermayer Bourque
Pronger MacInnis
Stevens Blake
Desjardins

Roy
Brodeur
Belfour

Damphousse is a must have boys.
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
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Ottawa, ON
Damphousse is a must have boys.

giphy.gif
 

MadLuke

Registered User
Jan 18, 2011
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Damphousse is a must have boys.

Damphousse being able to play many position and roles make him a good pick for an extra attacker I guess. I remember him playing well during the world cup (one of the few that got to play all the games a good sign) but that could have been the Habs homer descriptors influencing my take of him.
 

whcanuck

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May 11, 2017
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It's not like our team was horrible, Hasek was just unbeatable. Canada was very good in all the other games...just ran into a very underrated team and a goaltender who was in the midst of back to back Hart Trophy seasons. Having said that, there were definitely flaws on the roster. The obvious ones being Zamuner and Corson and I likely would have left off Primeau and Linden as well. Kariya's presence would have made a huge difference for Canada, if he and Sakic are in the shootout I think this is a moot point. Sakic was dynamite on penalty shots (a perfect 5 for 5 in his career) and if you watch old All Star Skills Competition clips he seemed to have Hasek's number, scoring on him more often than not. In fact there's an old anecdote that Sakic was trying to come down from the stands to tell the Canadian bench the secret to beating Hasek in a shootout (come in at a high speed, slow right down. Hasek would come way out to challenge, and the speed change would throw him off and he'd end up too deep in his net...leaving a lot of net to shoot at...I think I have that right). Kariya was simply one of the best players in the game at the time and he definitely would have been a gamebreaker.

To answer the original question though, add Ron Francis and Eric Daze (I expect to take abuse for this one, but he was so big and strong and had a big shot) and I always liked Pierre Turgeon.
 

86Habs

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May 4, 2009
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You may be right. I don't love having Nieuwendyk there as a LW for instance, but he had a solid year in 1998 and he a least put up points at the Olympic tournament.
Nieuwendyk finished 7th in goals in 1998 but was also elite on the face off dot (nearly 60% career winning percentage) and on both special teams. He was positionally sound and a reasonably strong defensive player. He was a very versatile player in his time and was a good selection for the 1998 team. Aside from his face off prowess I always thought he was better suited to the wing than at centre, as playmaking wasn't where he excelled. I don't think he would have been out of place at LW, so long as he was responsible for taking the draws.

Damphousse wasn't having his best year in 1998 but of course would have been a sizeable upgrade over Zamuner, Corson or Primeau.
 

GMR

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Jul 27, 2013
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Can we all agree the shootout lineup should have been much different? No Gretzky, Yzerman or Sakic, yet you have a guy like Shanahan who can't deke to save his life. Ray Bourque was a great player, but what was his experience at breakaways and penalty shots?
 

Howie Hodge

Zombie Woof
Sep 16, 2017
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Rob Zamuner was known as a hard working, defensive minded forward. He twice played on Canada's world championship teams.

His defensive play, along with his exceptional face-off taking ability led to the surprising selection on the 1998 Canadian Olympic Team.

There was cause for him to be there.

Would I have picked him? Would I have named Eric Lindros Captain over Gretzky, Yzerman and Bourque? Would I have left off Neidermeyer and Messier?

Nope; but GM Bobby Clarke did.

So now you know............. the rest of the story.
 

Rexor

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Oct 24, 2006
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In no parallel universe did Canada outperform the Czechs, other than in overtime. Roy was just as tested and just as impressive as Hasek in that 1998 game.

Yeah, probably even more impressive. That "superior team that ran into a hot goalie" narrative totally fits the USA-CZE game in the QFs, the game with Canada was different though.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Nieuwendyk finished 7th in goals in 1998 but was also elite on the face off dot (nearly 60% career winning percentage) and on both special teams. He was positionally sound and a reasonably strong defensive player. He was a very versatile player in his time and was a good selection for the 1998 team. Aside from his face off prowess I always thought he was better suited to the wing than at centre, as playmaking wasn't where he excelled. I don't think he would have been out of place at LW, so long as he was responsible for taking the draws.

Damphousse wasn't having his best year in 1998 but of course would have been a sizeable upgrade over Zamuner, Corson or Primeau.

I was thinking more stylistically, as Nieuwendyk likely had a better year than Damphousse but Damphousse was a better skater and puck handler. Nieuwendyk scored at the tournament though and he did have versatility. As a centre more oriented toward goal scoring yes he likely suited the wing fine. I don't really remember if Canada used Nieuwendyk on special teams in 1998 but Clarke did want players for certain roles so it may have happened.

Can we all agree the shootout lineup should have been much different? No Gretzky, Yzerman or Sakic, yet you have a guy like Shanahan who can't deke to save his life. Ray Bourque was a great player, but what was his experience at breakaways and penalty shots?

Sakic was hurt and didn't play that game. Even when it went to shootout he wanted to communicate some things about shooting on Hasek down to the team but he couldn't get down to ice level. Certainly the shootout lineup was a topic of national discussion at the time. Bourque and Shanahan were nonsensical picks, as was Nieuwendyk. There weren't a lot of shootout types on that team though, and the players weren't all that comfortable with shootouts anyway. Looking at it even in retrospect, with Lemieux/Sakic/Kariya not available I'm not sure who I would pick to be the fifth shooter. Yzerman/Fleury/Gretzky/Lindros/?
 
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seventieslord

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Sakic was hurt and didn't play that game. Even when it went to shootout he wanted to communicate some things about shooting on Hasek down to the team but he couldn't get down to ice level. Certainly the shootout lineup was a topic of national discussion at the time. Bourque and Shanahan were nonsensical picks, as was Nieuwendyk. There weren't a lot of shootout types on that team though, and the players weren't all that comfortable with shootouts anyway. Looking at it even in retrospect, with Lemieux/Sakic/Kariya not available I'm not sure who I would pick to be the fifth shooter. Yzerman/Fleury/Gretzky/Lindros/?

Yeah, I was about to say this too. Sakic would have been a shoo-in if he was not hurt. And still, he was probably only the 3rd best option for Canadian players if you count Lemieux as "active". It was a horrible congruence of events for Canada to end up in a shootout.

To answer your last sentence, i think Gretzky would be a must. Simply because of who he was. That makes four, and then there are a few who could be the fifth... you named them all, IMO.

Lemieux scores, and one of the other four scores too. At least I think so.
 

streitz

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Jul 22, 2018
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Well for starters I wouldn't put Bourque in the shootout. Frankly I wouldn't of went with Nieuwendyk either.



Would of went with Yzerman, I think Sakic was hurt? No idea who after that. Probably Wayne.
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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I remember feeling Fleury being an obvious pick to go first for that shootout, but I am not sure why now. Maybe just the lot of big moments scorer that did seem a bit fearless.
 

vikash1987

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Mar 7, 2004
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New York
I can only wonder what would have been had Kariya been in the lineup in Nagano (instead of being out with a concussion). He had scored a hat trick against Hasek the previous season, and could very well have been that extra spark in the Czech game.
 

GMR

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Jul 27, 2013
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Before shootouts became a thing in the NHL, it wasn't easy to know which players would succeed in shootouts. Of course guys like Lemieux or Bure are no brainers because of how many breakaways they had in their careers, but Shanahan was a head scratcher. You knew he was going wrist shot. How many breakaway goals did Ray Bourque score in his career? Maybe Canada wins if Zamuner would have been one of the shooters. :)

I'm too lazy but there must be a way to track how many of Canada's shooters had actually taken a penalty shot before in the league.
 

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