Sakic, Kariya poised to strike for Canada

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002

By Lucas Aykroyd

Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya are dangerous men to underestimate.

Both Team Canada forwards hail from Vancouver, a rainy West Coast city of 2 million inhabitants that does not rank in the all-time Top Ten birthplaces for Canadian players.

Both stand less than six feet tall and speak in quiet, diplomatic voices. Unlike Eric Lindros, Owen Nolan or Chris Pronger, they can walk along any street unnoticed.

In fact, both seem like regular guys you might see buying lattes at Starbucks.

Neither Sakic nor Kariya profess an interest in individual trophies, although their mantelpieces are stacked with them. They are consummate team players.

That attitude is just part of what makes them so dangerous. You can add tremendous speed, ultra-accurate wrist shots and crisp passing skills to the list.

Sakic and Kariya have been anointed as two-thirds of Canada’s top offensive line at these Olympics. Featuring the magnificent Mario Lemieux on left wing, the line consists entirely of players who did not participate in the 2-1 shootout loss to the Czechs in Nagano.

If they gel as a unit, this could be one of the greatest Canadian lines ever seen in international hockey.

Canadians hope that their combined firepower will make the repeated assertion, “It’s our game,” resonate in the hockey sanctums of Prague, Stockholm and Moscow.

“It’s going to be fun for me,” Sakic said with a grin. “Both guys are great playmakers. They’re two of the best in the game. We’re a team and we’re going to go out and try to win as a team.”

Even though Slava Fetisov is aiming to reinstill pride in Russian hockey at these Games and the United States is primed for a repeat of 1960 and 1980, no country takes quite the same gold-or-bust approach as Canada. The feeding frenzy of Canadian journalists after the team’s first full practice testifies to that fact.

“We expect to win gold,” Sakic said. “That’s our goal. That’s what we want. Guys deal with pressures every day, so it’s really no big deal. We have that all the time.”

Injured in Canada’s first playoff game versus Kazakhstan, Sakic missed the pivotal Czech game. But it’s evident by his tone that even though he downplays the aspect of “revenge for Nagano,” he’s been awaiting another crack at Hasek and Company.

“We remember what happened. It was a shootout loss.”

Kariya’s recollections of that period are fuzzier. To his great disappointment, in light of his Japanese heritage, he couldn’t go to Nagano. He was suffering from post-concussion syndrome after being cross-checked in the head by American defenseman Gary Suter of the Chicago Blackhawks.

“I was trying to think at that time,” said Kariya. “I was more concerned about having a brain! But I tried to watch as much as I could. It was terrific hockey and hopefully these Olympics will even surpass that. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Canadian Head Coach Pat Quinn hates defensive systems like the neutral zone trap, and based on the way he runs the Toronto Maple Leafs, we can expect to see the most freewheeling Team Canada in years. That suits Kariya just fine.

“Pat’s said from day one that he’s going to let us go out there and play,” said Kariya. “I think with the skill that we have on this team, with no red line and guys like [Chris] Pronger and [Rob] Blake back there passing the puck, we’ve got to open it up and let it go.”

But they won’t throw defense out the window, a policy which was the Achilles heel of Team Slovakia in the Preliminary Round. Especially not against Canada’s first opponent, Sweden, coming up at 16.00 local time Friday.

“They’re going to play a very good defensive game,” said Sakic. “At least that’s what [Peter] Forsberg told me. It’s going to be tight. We’ll have to create a lot of space and skate. They’ve got a fast team.”

Is there extra excitement for Kariya in terms of getting to start against Sweden, the team that denied him Olympic gold when Tommy Salo stopped him in the 1994 final game shootout?

“No. It’s a totally different situation.”

And, Canada hopes, a totally different result.

Here are Team Canada’s offensive and defensive combinations for its February 15 opener:

Mario Lemieux-Joe Sakic-Paul Kariya
Brendan Shanahan-Steve Yzerman-Jarome Iginla
Joe Nieuwendyk-Mike Peca-Theoren Fleury
Owen Nolan-Eric Lindros-Ryan Smyth/Simon Gagne (one winger TBD will sit)

Adam Foote-Rob Blake
Chris Pronger-Scott Niedermayer
Eric Brewer-Al MacInnis

Curtis Joseph