CHL grads savour Olympic gold
By Aaron Bell
It might not have been as dramatic as his golden goal four years ago in Vancouver but when Sidney Crosby beat Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway in the second period of the gold medal game at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Sunday, he did his part to once again seal Canada’s claim as the world’s top hockey nation.
It was Canada’s third gold medal in four tries with the NHL’s best-on-best at the Olympic Games.
“(It was) not quite as dramatic as the other one,” Crosby told media after the championship game. “(We were) just real solid all the way through. We knew the way we wanted to play and the last couple of games, we were solid. With each game, we seemed to build more and more confidence.”
Canada defeated Sweden 3-0 to claim the gold medal and did it in the same efficient – if not dominant – way that they approached the entire tournament.
Crosby’s goal wasn’t the game winner but it certainly put the game away for the Swedes.
“When they got that second goal, I think it kind of took the air out of us a little bit,” said Swedish forward Gabriel Landeskog, a former captain of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.
Canada, featuring 21 CHL graduates, won all six games they played – giving up just three goals along the way – in a style that must have been a dream to the Canadian coaches and managers.
Montreal Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price – who played four seasons in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans – completely shut the door on the opposition. He played in all but one of Canada’s games and closed out the tournament with 164 minutes of shutout hockey.
“That was the hardest-working team I’ve ever seen,” Price said. “I really can’t say enough about that group of defensemen and that overall team in front of me. Our work ethic was what won us this championship.”
Price made 31 saves in Canada’s masterpiece 1-0 win over the U.S.A. in the bronze medal game and then turned aside all 24 shots he faced against Sweden with the gold medal on the line.
Price was outstanding in both games but also benefitted from playing behind one of the stingiest group of skaters Canada has ever assembled.
“Playing behind that group of guys was a lot of fun,” Price declared. “The work ethic that those guys brought to the ice every day really made my job a lot easier.”
Team Canada’s Executive Director Steve Yzerman – a graduate of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes – said that he was one of the greatest Team Canada performances ever.
“Since I’ve been around, it’s the most impressive, the greatest display of defensive hockey,” said Yzerman, who announced that he wouldn’t be returning as Canada’s Executive Director. “It wasn’t strictly playing defence. We weren’t sitting in a shell. Part of our defence was being aggressive and forechecking, and pressuring, and closing gaps, and not letting (the other teams) get the red line or get our blue line.”
It took until the gold medal game for Crosby to find the net but Canada’s captain was the epitome of what made them successful this time around.
Crosby played two seasons with the Rimouski Oceanic, leading them to the QMJHL’s President’s Trophy and a berth in the championship game at the 2005 MasterCard Memorial Cup in London, ON.
He played a near-flawless defensive style throughout the Olympics and was dominant on the puck down low in the opposition zone.
He played to win.
“Sidney Crosby for me was so dominant these last two games,” said Canadian coach Mike Babcock. “Everyone evaluates Sid on scoring and I evaluate Sid on winning.
“That’s what we came here for.”