Gretzky, Quinn address packed press conference in Torino

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006

By Lucas Aykroyd

With about 200 journalists and photographers jammed into the Palasport Olympico press conference room on the evening of February 14, Wayne Gretzky, Team Canada Head Coach Pat Quinn, and the Hockey Canada Olympic executive staff of Steve Tambellini, Kevin Lowe, and Bob Nicholson sat down amid a hail of flashbulbs to offer some insight into the mindset of the defending champions from Salt Lake City 2002.

Despite gambling-related allegations that have dogged Gretzky recently in the United States, the all-time hockey legend dismissed speculation that media interest in the controversy would distract his team from the task at hand.

“First and foremost, we’re here to play at the Olympic Games and represent our country and win a gold medal,” said Gretzky. “The Olympics are a place where, as an athlete, you’re quite insulated. There are really no distractions.

“If we don’t win a gold medal, obviously I’ll get blamed,” Gretzky added. “But I’ve been blamed for losses before. It’s not going to change my life.”

The 45-year-old head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes said this year’s team would represent an improvement in certain respects, at least on paper, over the 2002 gold medal-winning edition: “One thing we have different from in ’02 is that we understand some of the unknowns, things that may happen or come about. The coaching staff and I, we all understand each other, and we’re all on the same page. A lot of the players have played for this country in the past, and we have a little bit more experience than we did in ’02. This is a tough tournament, it’s a great tournament, and the best players in the world play in it. We believe we have as good a chance to win a gold medal as anyone.”

Gretzky defended the selection of a veteran roster despite the impressive NHL performances of youngsters like Sidney Crosby, Eric Staal, and Jason Spezza, saying that the coaching staff wanted to go with “accomplished winners.” He also reiterated his support for Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi, whose inclusion on Team Canada was somewhat controversial due to his March 2004 suspension for an attack on Colorado’s Steve Moore. He described Bertuzzi as a “good person” and said he hoped the hulking winger would have a “great tournament.”

Meanwhile, Pat Quinn announced that Martin Brodeur would start in goal versus Italy, even though the sentimental choice might be Roberto Luongo, due to his Italian heritage. “I don’t know whether he’s Italian or French,” Quinn quipped about the star netminder of the Florida Panthers, who learned his trade in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Quinn, the long-time coach of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and returning Olympic coach from Salt Lake City, voiced his support for flying the entire Team Canada group over together, unlike other Olympic teams: “We got together in the summertime for a short camp, and during that time we discussed a lot of the logistics of bringing the team over here. We believe it was such an opportunity to be here with the people that are important, our families, and bring them along. Hockey Canada with Bob Nicholson stepped up and created a plan to bring us together and get one little short extra practice in [in Mississauga, Ontario].”

The bench boss added that Canada wouldn’t be content to rely defensively on a conventional neutral zone trap: “We’ll play an assertive 1-2-2. We’ll send our second guy a lot more quickly in a forecheck situation. In the middle of the ice, it’ll often be the same sort of thing. We’re trying to use our skating and speed to better advantage. As far as our possession with the puck, we have a basic outline of options off breakouts and mid-ice plays and attack plays. But we’re allowing for some freedom for these talented offensive guys to be creative out there, depending on what defenses we see, and we expect a lot of very passive sort of checking from a lot of the teams.”

How much will the loss of Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Scott Niedermayer hurt Canada?

“What we lost was a guy who not only could take the attack out and take the pressure off,” said Quinn. “We’re going to be facing a lot of teams who play a 1-2-2, and he skates through those. We still have some mobile guys, but not anything like Niedermayer was.”

Quinn added that the Canadians will be better prepared, especially defensively, in terms of playing without the red line, which the NHL introduced for 2005-06. And while Italy, Canada’s first opponent on February 15, certainly won’t pose the challenge that Sweden did in 2002’s opening 5-2 Canadian loss, that doesn’t mean the Maple Leaf men can take anything for granted.

“We’re going to be in an emotionally charged building tomorrow night, and we’re going to have to make sure we can meet the work ethic [of the Italians],” he said. “We’ll have to keep our shifts short. The Italians have been here [in Italy], so they won’t be going through the time lag changes and all those sorts of things. The biggest challenge, as far as the coaching staff is concerned, is pulling our group together. It’s a race to become a team here. There are probably six teams capable of winning the gold medal.”