Let the Games go on

TURIN--Shockingly, they didn't close down the XX Winter Olympics today.

Nope, they decided to keep 'em rolling, at least for another four days, despite the fact that for Canadian hockey fans, they ended yesterday in the tiniest rink ever to host a major Canada-Russia tilt.

The moment the last fan left the Torino Esposizioni, they began the process of shutting down the makeshift rink. They'll never play hockey there again, and years from now, the children of Joe Sakic and Martin Brodeur and Rob Blake will return to the scene and wonder: "You played here?"

Canada could only win at women's hockey, not men's, and maybe it was symbolic this morning when Canadian cross-country skiier Beckie Scott was announced as the newly elected member of the IOC's athlete's commission.

Who did she defeat? None other than Finland men's hockey captain Saku Koivu.

Scott outpolled Finnish hockey captain Saku Koivu, although both will serve on the commision, replacing former Finnish hockey star Jari Kurri and Norwegian speedskater Adne Sondral.

Yes, thank goodness for our women.

Canadian hockey fans, needless to say, are going to chew on this stunning hockey setback for a while. the worst performance by a Canadian Olympic entry since, well, how about 1984 in Sarajevo with the national team lost its final three games all by shutout.

Sound familiar?

In terms of NHLers representing Canada, I been fortunate enough to have covered all or parts of the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups, the 1996 and 2004 World Cups and the 1998, 2002 and 2006  Winter Olympics.

Of those seven events, this year's Olympic squad was the worst, with a close second the '96 World Cup team that wandered through the event and lost the final to the United States.

Just like then, this year's team had no spirit, no elan. No fire. No joy.

It just seemed a struggle from the very beginning. Outside of the goaltending of Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, nothing really clicked or ever seemed suitably Olympian. Their punishment, and for most of us, it would hardly be punishment, is that it appears they can't get out of Italy as quickly as most would like, such as today.

Team Canada flew all the players, support staff and their families over to Europe Feb. 13th on a Boeing 767, set everybody up in hotels and apartments, with the belief that the worse case scenario would have Canada playing for a bronze on Saturday.

Well, apparently there was a scenario worse than that.

Now, they all have to sit tight until the plane leaves Sunday night, unless the logistics can be figured out and an early departure can be arranged. Some players may head for home on their own, others were considering going skiing in the nearby mountains.

Based on the e-mails that have been flooding in, its clear Pat Quinn is going to receive as much or more blame for this defeat as will Wayne Gretzky and the players.

Not sure that's fair, if only because it lets the players off the hook. What I am sure of is that Quinn will return to a struggling Maple Leaf team next week without the golden glow that accompanied him on his return from Salt Lake City four years ago.

GM John Ferguson arrived in Turin several days ago, and certainly he'll be sitting down with Quinn to try and figure out ways to get a moribund Leaf squad rolling quickly when play resumes next week.

Missing the playoffs is a distinct possibility. The NHL standings, after all, haven't changed during the break, and the Leafs are right back at it Tuesday at home against the Washington Capitals.

Imagine how happy Quinn will be to see Alexander Ovechkin again so soon?

Even reaching the post-season might not be enough for Quinn, and this will be the story to watch in the coming weeks. The man's going to have to coach his butt off to get the Leafs on an upswing, and like the rest of Team Canada, he's going to have to hit the ground running when he returns Monday.

The Leaf players remaining in the tournament - Tomas Kaberle, Aki Berg, Mats Sundin and Mikael Tellqvist - are all going to be competing through Saturday. Compare that to the New Jersey Devils, who had a large group - Brodeur, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Brian Rafalski, Paul Martin - eliminated yesterday.

Yes, there will be a post-Olympic effect. How Quinn and the Leafs handle it will be intriguing to watch.

Better. . .best yet to come?

TURIN--The overall performance was better, and about, oh, a dozen or so Team Canada players were demonstrably superior Tuesday in a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic than they'd been in the previous four games.

And they'll need to all be a little bit better again in Wednesday's quarterfinal collision with Russia.

Yup, I'm almost certain these two nations have met more than once before in an important hockey game over the decades.

Tuesday, the noteworthy Canadian performances, began with goalie Martin Brodeur, acrobatic as Johnny Bower on the day, and continued with Tampa Bay centre Brad Richards, who scored the first goal of the game early in the first and was a calming, puck control factor for the black-and-red jerseyed Canadians at key points in the contest.

Funny how those guys with Stanley Cup rings seem to raise their games in the big matches, huh?

Brodeur, with three Stanley Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal in his personal treasure chest, allowed an iffy goal to Peter Cajanek but was otherwise spectacular despite suffering a worrisome injury during the game.

"He's a guy who is a captain without carrying the designation on his sweater," said head coach Pat Quinn Tuesday. "Everything says leader about him."

Jarome Iginla was feistier and more involved. Chris Pronger stayed out of the penalty box and scored a goal. Ryan Smyth has found a purposeful home on a line with Vincent Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis. With a lead that needed defending, Kris Draper finally had a role to play. Jay Bouwmeester was much, much more effective.

So after being shutout in two weekend games in which pretty much nobody looked good, even the fact the Canadians had to hang on to win the game by their fingernails shouldn't detract from the improvement in their performance.

But will it be enough, starting with Wednesday's quarterfinals?

"I'm not sure where we are," confessed Quinn. "We're going to find out, obviously. We're going to have to play."

If there was a negative side to the victory, it was that Canada was outshot 33-16, including 26-8 over the final two periods. Rick Nash, benched in the third period against Finland on Sunday, played only a handful of shifts, while Leaf defenceman Bryan McCabe continues to struggle to find his game while getting less than one-third of the playing minutes he usually gets in the NHL.

McCabe saved what looked like a sure goal by Ales Hemsky in the eighth minute of the second, but he took two penalties that simply weren't necessary and showed poor judgment.

Quinn had success grafting Shane Doan on to a line with Joe Thornton and Todd Bertuzzi in the place of Nash, mostly because that line continued to turn the puck over in dangerous place and needed Doan as a defensive conscience. With Doan, not Nash, that was the line that was on the ice in the final seconds when Canada confidently protected its one-goal margin.

After the game, assistant coach Wayne Fleming and goaltending consultant Andy Moog headed off to the Torino Esposizioni to scout Slovakia, a possible quarterfinal opponent at the time Canada's game ended, while Quinn, Jacques Martin and Ken Hitchcock stayed at the Palasport Olimpico to scout Russia and the United States.

Russia, as it turned out, was the team worth watching most for the Canadian coaches. They knocked off the Americans 5-4 with Maxim Sokolov in goal, but it'll be Evgeny Nabokov today.

Canada thus ended the round robin portion of the Olympics 3-2. The regulation win over the Czechs was their first in a decade after a shootout loss in Nagano eight years ago, a round-robin draw in Salt Lake City four years later and an overtime semifinal win at the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.

In the other quarterfinals, the Czechs and Slovaks meet in what promises to be a hugely emotional contest between the two portions of the former Czechoslovakia. The unbeaten, untied Finns take on the U.S., while Sweden plays Switzerland.

The winner of Canada-Russia takes on the winner of Finland-U.S.

Nash and the Boys

TURIN--It seems peculiar that, after two stunning weekend losses, Rick Nash was the only member of Team Canada singled out for punishment.

Nash didn't play a shift in the third period against the Finns last night, and it wasn't because of any injury problems. Pat Quinn and Co. either didn't like his game, or it was felt something dramatic had to be done that would jar the attention of the younger players on the club.

CP PHOTO

Ryan Smyth at practice today: Let's see... how many of our pucks did they stop over the weekend?

And, one supposes, there's nothing wrong with that. Nash is a big boy, and he wasn't cryin' afterwards, to his credit.

But it does let the veterans on this team off the hook, and it tells you something about the design of this team.

Clearly, the intent of Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Lowe and the rest of the Team Canada executive was that the younger players on the roster would carry the majority of the burden en route to a second straight gold medal.

Vinny Lecavalier, don't forget, was the MVP of the 2004 World Cup. Nash was a star at the worlds in Austria last spring. Gretzky and Lowe identified Todd Bertuzzi early on as a player they had to have for these Olympics. Dany Heatley tore up the NHL in the first half. Robyn Regehr was a stud at the World Cup and has been a tower of strength for Calgary this season.

Gretzky seemed to indicate this morning that he isn't expecting captain Joe Sakic, defenceman Chris Pronger or Kris Draper to make the difference.

It's the kids who are going to have to win the gold, says the Great One.

"In ’02 some of the young guys really stood up on the ice, (Jarome) Iginla came through, (Simon) Gagne came through, (Eric) Brewer came through, (Ed) Jovanovski. We need this young group now, they’ve got to step too,” said Gretzky this morning after a Team Canada workout.

        “I’m not trying to put extra pressure on them. We need these young guys to now help take some pressure off the older guys.  . . We need this group of young guys now, we need some of them to step up and pitch in on the ice."

Like, say, oh, Rick Nash?

It's an interesting way to approach the cohesion problem Team Canada is experiencing. Another method, it says here, might be to stop messing around trying to get ice time for seven defencemen.

It doesn't work in the NHL, and it doesn't work here. Sombody's gotta sit, and right now you could pick pretty much any one of the seven.

Up front, the constant scramble isn't helping, but the absence of production means the staff is going to try something. Instead of reworking the lines in practice today, they stayed pretty much the same as they were in the final part of the Finland game, including:

Simon Gagne-Joe Sakic-Jarome Iginla; Ryan Smyth-Vinny Lecavalier-Martin St. Louis; Todd Bertuzzi-Joe Thornton-Rick Nash; Dany Heatley-Brad Richards-Kris Draper.

Shane Doan, who was at least very effective in the physical department against Finland, was the extra forward.

Martin Brodeur, barring a shocking decision by Quinn, will start against the Czechs tomorrow.

Miracle in Turin

TURIN--It will go down as the most important game in the history of women's hockey.

Now, you see, there are three.

With criticism of the women's game having hit new heights during the past week because of a series of lopsided scores, it may well be that Sweden's absolutely shocking 3-2 shootout victory over the United States this evening at the Palasport Olimpico will be the match that saves women's hockey as a viable sport in the Winter Olympics.

For the first time in any major women's competition - world championship or Olympics - it will not be Canada vs. the U.S. in the final. Sweden, having never beaten either country, fell behind 2-0 against the Americans but fought back to tie 2-2, largely on the basis of a breathtaking goaltending exhibition by Kim Martin.

Both Swedish goals were scored by star forward Maria Rooth, and it was Rooth again in the shootout who ripped a wrist shot past Chanda Gunn in the U.S. net to send her country into the gold medal game on Monday.

It was an upset perhaps even greater than that of the 1980 Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid when the U.S. men upset the mighty Russians, for that had happened before. In fact, the Americans had been Olympic champions at Squaw Valley in 1960.

Moreover, the women's game has desperately been hoping that one of the non-North American nations would rise to challenge Canada and the U.S. and blunt growing skepticism about the legitimacy of having women's hockey in the Olympics.

Those criticisms are now gone, at least temporarily, and perhaps forever.

Sweden will now try to ride Martin's brilliance to gold, and just getting to Monday's game will offer enormous encouragement to other women's hockey nations, particularly Russia, China and Switzerland, countries who have been trying to develop the sport.

Martin stopped four straight American shots in the shootout, and while the Swedes poured off the bench after Rooth scored, the U.S. players leaned against the bench in apparent disbelief. After collecting themselves, however, they moved into a circle at centre ice, raised their sticks and saluted the fans in a warm show of sportsmanship.

The U.S. lost today, but even the American players understood that the women's game won. Big.

Toll of the Games

TURIN--The cross-country skiers don't have a grind to immediately return to, the figure skaters will have some down time and for the speed skaters, this is by far the biggest event of their season.

For hockey players, male hockey players, however, it's very different. Other than Italy, all the teams participating in the Olympic tournament have players expected back with their NHL teams in nine days.

Some will have played eight games in 12 nights, and some will return in worse physical health than before they left. For those who make it to the gold medal game, they may have to be back in North America 48 hours later to play for their NHL squads.

So while "Operation Slap Shot" and the incredibly poor timing of Steve Moore's latest legal gambit against Todd Bertuzzi have made news, the growing story likely to dominate the men's hockey event is the toll the competition is taking on athletes who are being paid enormous sums to compete in good health for their club teams in North America.

Philadelphia Flyers president Ed Snider has made it clear he would prefer his star centre Peter Forsberg did not play for Sweden because of concern over repeated groin injuries, and so far Forsberg has not appeared.

But the biggest news so far came today when the Czechs were hit by two enormous losses. Goalie Dominik Hasek injured his groin in the first period of the Olympic opener and has been forced out of the Games and back to Ottawa where Senators doctors will determine the damage.

AP PHOTO

Senators fans close your eyes, this is not what you wanted to see in Turin - Dominik Hasek goes down with a leg injury in just his first game with the Czechs at the Olympics.

Not just to Hasek, but to the Sens' season.

Czech Republic forward Patrik Elias has also left Italy after suffering bruised ribs in the opener against Germany and then missing Thursday's surprising loss to Switzerland. Elias, who will be replaced by Buffalo's Ales Kotalik, missed most of the early part of the season recovering from hepatitis, and his return was a big reason why the New Jersey Devils have turned their season around.

Bruised ribs can take a long time to heal. You can bet Lou Lamoriello, always lukewarm about Olympic participation, is not going to be happy.

Anaheim defenceman Scott Niedermayer decided not to come to Turin to play for Canada, and underwent knee surgery instead that should help his NHL season. Calgary goalie Mikka Kiprusoff bailed out a long time ago, and it could well be that the Ducks and Flames could substantially benefit from the decision of their key players not to play for their countries.

It will be interesting to see how baseball deals with the injury question in terms of how it relates to the upcoming World Baseball Classic, which in all likeliehood will see some injuries that will result in players missing the early weeks of the Major League season.

The difference with the NHL, of course, is that there are less than 30 games left in the season, with the long, tough Stanley Cup playoffs following soon after.

Is it reasonable, really, for NHL teams fighting to rebuild their business from the lockout to risk the health of their very best players, and therefore of the potential economic benefit of lucrative playoff dates, just so those players can participate for their countries in the Olympics?

Does patriotism trump the financial concerns of NHL teams?

The answer is mixed. Yes, the Olympics are worthwhile, but it appears the model simply won't work without allowing for a longer break and shortening the season. If, in an Olympic year, the NHL played 70 games and allowed three weeks for the Olympics, the game could still benefit and the toll on the athletes would be far less.

The fans benefit through a splendid, high level tournament, but how will the fans in Ottawa feel if Hasek is lost for the remainder of the season or his play is compromised? What if Wade Redden were to go down as well while playing for Canada?

It's a problem that could become a firestorm by the end of this tournament. Imagine if Bryan McCabe were to suffer a season-ending injury while playing for Team Canada and thus all but ensure the Leafs miss the playoffs, or if Forsberg does suit up for the Swedes and then goes down with another groin injury.

The NHL and NHL Players Association have simply not grappled with this problem in a serious way. It's a big reason why the NHLers will be in Vancouver four years from now, but that will quite likely be it for the league's experiment with the Olympic movement.

Part of the answer may also be dumping the World Cup, and NHLPA executive director Ted Saskin said today that is possible and perhaps likely. The event was held in 1996 and then not again until 2004, with the championship game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

"It's usually the same guys going," said Wade Redden today. "It's tough to ask every two years, and with the world championships, it adds up."

Redden was hoping for the best with respect to Hasek's injury, but said he still thinks its worth it to play at the Olympics despite the risk of injury.

"They're definitely keeping their fingers crossed back home," he smiled. "But I'm going to be a better player for playing in this. I'll get home, take a few practices off, and then I'll be ready for the stretch run."

A familiar feeling

TURIN--Mats Sundin came to Turin to get his scoring touch back and, of course, represent his country one more time.

He also came, you have to believe, to get away from the growing turmoil in Toronto where the Maple Leafs have slipped out of a playoff berth.

Instead, with Peter Forsberg still not yet in the lineup, the Swedes got blasted today by the Russians 5-0, with New York Rangers star rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist torched in the defeat.

Sundin, who has been on the sour side of some lopsided scores this season with the Leafs, scored a pretty goal in the opener against Kazakhstan, but he was minus-2 in that game and minus-1 today with two shots.

"Up until they got their second goal I thought we were doing okay," he said. "But if you turn the puck over in the neutral zone like we did against these kind of forwards, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

"We've seen in previous tournaments we've been perfect and then had a game like today in the quarterfinals, so I'd rather have it now."

Sundin actually seemed to come to life in the third period after looking as sluggish as he has in many Leaf games this season, but he was assessed a goalie interference penalty after undressing Russian defenceman Andrei Markov on a solo rush and then ramming into goalie Evgeny Nabokov.

"I really tried to get out of his way," said Sundin. "I disagreed with the call, but. . ."

With the Leafs, Sundin has only 11 goals in 45 games. After suffering an eye injury early in the season, he donned a visor, and just before the Olympic break he took it off and has kept it that way here. He took a stick to the mouth in the third, a mouth still healing from cuts suffered in the final NHL games before heading over to Turin.

While playing for the Leafs can be a pressure cooker, skating for Tre Kronor attracts intense attention in Sweden. Many of the country's top players were bitterly criticized four years ago after stumbling to a shocking defeat in the quarterfinals against Belarus after beating Canada earlier in the tournament.

"It's fun. I really enjoy playing for Sweden and representing my country," said Sundin. "It's a big honor. Playing in a tournament like this with all the great players in the world is a great opportunity. I see it as a break to get away from the everyday stuff we do in Toronto, and at the same time I hope I can use this as a springboard for the final 25 games of the season.

"I hope to get to get some more goals. That's something I'd like to do more for the last part of the season."

The Swedes and the Swiss are the only two teams in the tournament who have opted not to wear the new, modern Nike Swift uniforms, instead choosing to stick with their traditional yellow jerseys for the most part. The Russians, meanwhile, looked spiffy and dazzling in their new red outfits, particularly youngsters Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin, Maxim Afinogenov and Ilya Kovalchuk, all of whom were featured prominently in yesterday's easy win.

Russian teams don't always give their hotshot kids a chance to shine, but this team clearly will

"We have some young guys. . .and. . .we have some medium guys," said Ovechkin, choosing his words carefully before bursting into a broad smile

Nabokov held the fort early, and then Alexei Kovalev, Ovechkin and Maxim Sushinsky put pucks past Lundqvist in the second and Viktor Kozlov and Afinogenov scored in the third.

"They were so fast, and they got some lucky goals," said a disappointed Lundqvist. "Of course I'm disappointed. I let in five goals. But you have to look at the goals, too. You can't blame yourself for every goal."

The Russians, upset by Slovakia in their Olympic opener, were razor sharp today and appear to have a lot of balance up front, particularly with the 19-year-old Malkin fitting in comfortably after skating for Russia at the world junior championships in Vancouver.

"We can celebrate, but you already see there are a lot of surprises in this tournament," said defenceman Darius Kaspairaitis. "You know, Czechs lost to Swiss today, so we have to be ready to play any team.

"Hopefully this game is going to give us confidence. But not too much."

Bertuzzi back on the world stage

TURIN--If you look really closely on Team Canada's jerseys, both those of the women and men, there's a thin line of gold that traces around the outside of the emblem on the chest and shoulder patches.

Over time, that golden touch seems to wear off on people. That extra little touch of class.

Today, in the basement of the Palasport Olimpico after an easy 7-2 victory over the host Italians, Canadian players stretched out along the fence in the mixed zone that separates the athletes from the media. There was the much decorated Marty Brodeur fielding queries, and nearby Shane Doan, a well-spoken member of Canada's 2004 World Cup championship roster.

In between, there was Todd Bertuzzi, only the most controversial playing member of the team, holding court before a number of scribes, sometimes smiling, only once looking mildly annoyed at a query.

It was the first time in almost six years, since he was a member of Team Canada at the 2000 world championships in St. Petersburg, Russia, that Bertuzzi had donned a Canadian jersey.

He seemed to appreciate it.

"I've got nothing to lose here and a lot to gain," he said quietly.

Exactly. Bertuzzi has been given an enormous chance by Wayne Gretzky to alter his largely negative public imagine here at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and he understands that.

Surrounded by class, and wearing a jersey tinged with gold, Bertuzzi played with skill and class today against the Italians, albeit in a game in which it would have been impossible, really, for any Canadian to look bad.

He made a smart, quick pass to Jarome Iginla for the opening goal of the game, assisted on another and helped create two more, once by screening Italian goalie Jason Muzzatti and leaping into the air to avoid another Iginla laser before it hit twine behind the game Muzzatti.

It's been a long, long time since a Canadian team did something truly embarrassing in international play, something that used to happen on an annual basis, and a long, long time since a member of Team Canada messed up  royally on the international stage.

Bertuzzi does not intend to be that guy, although he did chuckle when asked how it felt not to hear boos from the mostly Italian crowd after a season of hearing jeers in every road game he plays.

"I'm sure, sooner or later, as the tournament goes on, I'll get one," he said.

Like other members of Team Canada, Bertuzzi's fighting for ice time, already knowing he'll not likely get anything like the 20-24 minutes he gets on a regular basis with the Vancouver Canucks. He can make errors, but you have to believe he's on a short leash when it comes to nastier stuff. Standing in Muzzatti's crease was easy enough yesterday, but against the Czechs, Finns and other international powers later in this tournament, he'll get a rougher ride and have to stay cool.

"It was good to get off to a good start," he said. "I've always felt comfortable on the big ice. . .it was important to start strong, get out there and make a name for myself."

The most controversial hockey player in Canada, it's fair to say, is off to an encouraging start.

Meantime, head coach Pat Quinn is already making changes, although this one was expected.

Quinn said today goaltender Roberto Luongo will start tomorrow night against the Germans, replacing Martin Brodeur.

With eight games in 12 days, Quinn has said from the start that while Brodeur is his No. 1 man, Luongo and perhaps even third-stringer Marty Turco will play.

"It'll be based on communication with the goalies, particularly (Brodeur)," said Quinn.

Brodeur allowed two goals on 20 shots in the Team Canada victory, one on a deflection by Jason Cirone, the other on a low shot by John Parco off a turnover by Bryan McCabe.

Lines and pairings

TURIN—Finally, some lines and defence pairs.

Let the second guessing begin.

For Maple Leafs fans, as opposed to fans of the Maple Leaf, quarrelling with Team Canada’s lineup might begin with the apparent designation of Bryan McCabe in practice today as the seventh defenceman going into tomorrow’s Olympic opener against Italy.

McCabe wore black just like the rest of the Canadian D-men in practice yesterday, but he was mostly paired with Dan Boyle, who replaced McCabe on the Canadian taxi squad when Scott Niedermayer pulled out. The other Canadian defence pairs appeared to be Chris Pronger with Rob Blake, Wade Redden with Adam Foote and Jay Bouwmeester – added to the team after McCabe moved up from the reserve list – with Robyn Regehr.

Up front, the lines appeared to be (left wing-centre-right wing) Simon Gagne-Joe Thornton-Rick Nash, Dany Heatley-Vinnie Lecavalier-Martin St. Louis, Kris Draper-Joe Sakic-Jarome Iginla, and Ryan Smyth-Brad Richards-Todd Bertuzzi.

Other than Draper as a left winger, there were no surprises, and Team Canada appears set to go with the Thornton line, which was so successful last year at the world championships, in the ’06 Games.

Those alignments appeared to leave Shane Doan as the 13th forward, but he wore red along with the other members of the Richards unit, so that could be subject to change. Jason Spezza and Eric Staal, the other members of the Canadian taxi squad, were also on the ice.

When Canadian practised the power play, the top unit appeared to be Pronger and Blake on the points, with Heatley, Lecavalier and St. Louis up front. The second group had Richards and Blake on the points, with Iginla, Sakic and Bertuzzi as the forwards.

That was a strong indication that Quinn plans to feature Bertuzzi perhaps even more than had been expected, with the Vancouver forward making his first Olympic appearance this year. During the power play practice, McCabe was paired with Redden as a point tandem.

All three goalies were on the ice, but Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo got most of the work.

Executive director Wayne Gretzky, meanwhile, was expected to appear at a post-practice press conference. During the practice, he sat on the team bench alongside Kevin Lowe and Bob Nicholson rather than in his usual place in the stands, probably to more easily sidestep reporters. Dozens of cameras parked on the opposite side of the Palasport Olimpico, snapping as many photos of Gretzky as the playing members of Team Canada.

Waiting for Gretzky

TURIN - When it comes to the Winter Olympics, you can't accuse the IOC of always picking the prettiest girl at the ball.

My goodness, Vancouver is sure going to stand out from the crowd of its predecessors when the Games arrive four years from now. There was dullish Nagano in 1998, nondescript Salt Lake City in '02 and this year, a visit to Turin, a place of history, chocolate, coffee and wine, but not exactly breathtaking to behold.

Vancouver, of course, is arguably Canada's most attractive city, and won't that be nice for the world's athletes, doubly so when you start looking at the motley crew of burgs bidding for the 2014 Games. Other than spectacular Salzburg, it's not dazzling unless you like the idea of Almaty in February.

NHLers, needless to say, probably aren't going to bubbling over with superlatives when they arrive here. That's happening in dribs and drabs. On my flight in from Frankfurt this morning, the assembled including Aki Berg of the Leafs, U.S. assistant coach Mike Sullivan and defenceman Hal Gill, Swedish forward P.J. Axelsson and Russians Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Gonchar.

Team Canada arrives tomorrow in time for a 6 p.m. local time practice, and just so you know, the world is waiting for them. Well, specifically waiting for Wayne Gretzky. Journalists from around the world were curiously and eagerly asking about a scheduled press conference at the Palasport after the Canadian practice, so The Great One, it's fair to say, better bring his game face.

One suspects this could be a bumpy ride for Team Canada's executive director, even with reports coming out over the past 24 hours (wonder who leaked this stuff?) suggesting the wiretapped Gretzky talk with Rick Tocchet came last Monday, not weeks before.

Gretzky's a big boy and doesn't need any advice from this corner when it comes to handling himself before a large group of journalists. He's done it a million times.

But if he's intending on tossing out a few "no comments" and a couple "ask my lawyers" and then inviting questions on the health of third-string goalie Marty Turco, he might want to rethink the strategy.

At some point, the Phoenix coach is going to have to make it plain just what he knew about the gambling-related activities of Tocchet, and if anything, when he knew. Given that the other Coyotes assistant, Barry Smith, has said he was aware of Tocchet's extensive betting on football, it will be interesting to see if Gretzky will indeed say he didn't know anything about this business until last week when the cops swooped in.

If he can answer those two questions, this story could die quickly, providing there are no new revelations.

But if he chooses not to confront the basics, you can bet "Operation Slap Shot" will come up again and again and again.

You have to believe, by the way, the happiest person in the world has to be Team Canada forward Todd Bertuzzi, who might have been anticipating more than a small degree of interest in his hockey activities over the last couple of years from the international media, but now may be able to come in under the radar.

Given the manner in which Canada unconditionally cheered on Steve Downie at the world juniors, essentially developing short-term amnesia on the ugly incidents earlier in season involving Downie and hazing while he was with the Windsor Spitfires, Bertuzzi might reasonably expect the same, particularly if he gets off to a good start. The Vancouver winger has been up-and-down statistically over the past 25 games or so, going goal-less for nine games, then picking up a hat trick against the Islanders, then scoring once in six games before finishing with three goals in his last seven games before the Olympic break.

"Course, if things don't go well for Bertuzzi, or if he should do something, ahem, unfortunate on the ice, that'll be just another hot potato for Gretzky to handle and explain, won't it?

The Golden Gamble?

For starters, Wayne Gretzky didn't exactly put out the fire last night.

Not that he could have.

His comments pertaining to the Rick Tocchet gambling mess after his Coyotes lost another one, 5-1 to Dallas last night, reflected more exasperation than an intent to set the record clear:

"Well, before I start first of all I want to say that first and foremost I’m not going anywhere. I am still going to coach the Phoenix Coyotes.

I did nothing wrong, or nothing that has to do with anything along the lines of betting; that never happened.

I’m going to Italy on Sunday to be with Team Canada and be a part of the Olympic games. . .I’ve felt like the last three days I’ve defended myself over something that absolutely, unequivocally, I was not involved with. . .In saying all that I hope you appreciate that the last three days have been horrible. I’m just too tired mentally and physically to talk anymore about it.”

Whether he could have said more, or that his wife, Janet, is going to have to say a lot more to clear the family name, is open to debate. Certainly, Gretzky is going to need to explain at some point what he knew, and when he knew it. His initial comments, that he "wasn't involved," were at least disingenous and probably evasive, and ultimately, he's going to have to do a lot better than he did last night.

But No. 99 is going to Turin, and, based on what we know, he damn well should be.

I mean, who is honestly willing to argue Wayne Gretzky is not a good representative for Canada at the Winter Olympics? We are, after all, sending Todd Bertuzzi, and gosh, I'm so very proud of that. Can't imagine Steve Moore is going to enjoy watching Canada's games very much.

That said, there are those who would already argue that Gretzky going to Turin could prove to be a huge distraction for Team Canada.

Always love that one. It suggests that NHL players compete in a bubble, never thinking about anything else than their love of the game and determination to win Stanley Cups and gold medals. It suggests they are such delicate creatures that getting the wrong kind of dressing on their salads will plunge them into a day-long funk and make it impossible for them to perform.

Baloney. These guys are professionals who deal with "distractions" every day of the week, from bumps in their private lives to ongoing business deals to organizing vacations for their families to getting their cars fixed.

Do you really believe Joe Sakic, or Martin Brodeur, or Chris Pronger is suddenly going to get knocked off their game because Ol' Wayne has some problems back home?

Not a chance. See, what's happening to Gretzky isn't happening to them, and unless there's a player or two who have a betting connection with Tocchet, you can imagine they've spent the last few days watching with detached bemusement as leaks, speculation and rumour have run rampant.

They may at some point find it to be a pain in the ass, but they're not losing a wink of sleep over it. Sakic looked just fine scoring the winner against Minnesota last night. Brodeur was brilliant with 37 saves against Boston. Goodness gracious, even Kris Draper managed to find the net for only the fourth time this season last night against Nashville, putting him only 30 behind Team Canada reserve Eric Staal.

Sure, the media heat could be white-hot by the time Team Canada rolls into Italy with Gretzky at the helm. But it was going to be like that anyway, particularly with Canada going in as defending champs and favorites to win again. In fact, if Gretzky were to stay home, the players would be left a lot more uncomfortable having to deal with questions and issues about something with which they likely have absolutely no knowledge.

The absence of Scott Niedermayer, the adjustment to a higher calibre of play by Bryan McCabe or the continuing struggles of 2004 Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis could impact Team Canada, but "Operation Slap Shot" isn't likely to, not unless there is a revelation coming in the next day or so which puts the entire affair in a much different light.

This tournament will be won or lost by the players, primarily, with the assistance of the coaching staff.

The controversy swirling around Gretzky over the activities of his banished assistant coach and the betting habits of his wife won't influence whether Canada comes home with gold. So let's not set it up as an easy excuse going in.