Pre-Olympic Tournament
November 05, 2005
In sport, you never know what is going to happen. That is the beauty of it. You could work your tails off and hit 5 posts and lose, or show up on the right day and win it all. Last week, I was fortunate enough to compete in the Torino pre-Olympic exhibition tournament with several other nations that will compete in February’s Olympics. If this were the final, I would be devastated. We beat Sweden and Finland 3-0 and 1-0, respectively. However, our new systems and hard last few weeks of double sessions did not pay off in this tournament. We lost to Canada in the crossover and the final game; again. We are 0-6 against our archrivals so far this year.
You would think that I would be devastated. But, as most teams know, it is all about what you do in the final that counts. And in our sport, we have already qualified to play in the Olympics, essentially making this year one long exhibition game. There are a little under 90 days left until the Games. I am sure we will go back to the drawing board, rechecking our conditioning, skating, and hockey basics. That is all you really can do in a situation like this: grit your teeth and work harder. What doesn’t break you makes you stronger.
In the back of my mind, I am reminded of the 2002 Pre-Olympic Tour, where Team USA went 8-0 against the Canadians and then we were the ones who lost in the Gold Medal Game. Canada lost every other game to us that year, and still prevailed in the final. As ironic as it seems, Canada is actually giving Team USA hope. Sport is like that… you never know what is going to happen until the final. And at the Olympic Level, where you can win an Olympic Gold Medal in just one game (unlike 7 for the Stanley Cup) anything can happen.