The moment that the groups for the 2014 Sochi Olympic hockey tournament were announced I wrote an article on how they would negatively affect Canada. At the time my reasoning was that the lack of competition would mean Canada wasn’t adequately battle tested when they reached the medal rounds. While this reasoning remains true, there is another equally compelling reason that played out on Thursday: inferior opposition means that simply winning is not enough for the Canadian team.
No Need to be Nervous After Canada’s Narrow Win over Norway
So when Canada beat Norway 3-1 the negative reaction was predictable. Without the team having even lost a game yet there are questions as to whether a Gold Medal repeat is already out of the question. Roster decisions and coaching strategies are already being called into question. But while this reaction is to be expected in a hockey mad Canadian market, mixed with an international hockey community who would like nothing better than Canadian failure, it is completely misguided.
As a result of being the best hockey team in the world, on paper, Canada has the most delicate chemistry situation of any country, something that has played out in past tournaments. Every player on this team is a go to member of their NHL squad, something that cannot be said for any other team in this tournament. This means that the entire team has to adjust to limited ice time, and sharing the puck a lot more than usual.
These kinds of things take time, and Canada’s past Olympic tournaments have reflected this very phenomenon. In 2002, Canada lost its opening game to the Swedes, a match-up in which they were completely dominated. They would follow it up with a narrow 3-2 victory over the Germans, and a 3-3 tie with the Czech Republic to conclude the round robin. Then chemistry developed, and the team outscored their opponents 14-4 in the medal rounds en route to gold.
2010 told almost the same narrative. The Canadians needed the magic of Sidney Crosby in a shootout to get past a pesky Swiss team that almost took away their shot at gold. Then it was the Americans who further dashed Canadian hopes with an emotional win to end the round robin. But once again Canada would find chemistry with their backs against the wall and claim gold on home soil.
Essentially, judging the Canadians before seeing what they can produce in the medal round is pointless. Canada has always been a team who demonstrate their true identity in key match-ups, not in mostly meaningless round robin games. Consider a win a win, and don’t read much more into it than that.
In Canada’s group especially, although not discounting the potential of the Finns, round robin play is almost exhibition. And nobody would judge a team’s Stanley Cup hopes based on exhibition record or performance.
