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Do the Olympics Impact the Stanley Cup?

January 23, 2010

· World Junior Championships – Gold Medal in 1997

· World Championships – Silver Medal and Leading Scorer in 2005

· World Cup – Gold Medal in 2004

Sure the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin was a disaster, but that disaster can be blamed on many members of that team, not Thornton alone.

In Canada, the national hockey team either wins or loses – silver or bronze is not good enough. In 1972, Paul Henderson led Canada past Russia in the Summit Series. In 1987, Gretzky and Lemieux helped Canada defeat Russia in the Canada Cup. In Salt Lake in 2002, Canada ended a 50-year Olympic drought behind Sakic, Iginla, and Brodeur. Those three teams will forever be known as winners, and Yzerman will attempt to have the 2010 team join that elite fraternity. To do that he must be careful to avoid the mistakes made by his predecessors: the inexplicable decision in 1998 to take Rob Zamuner to Nagano and leave Mark Messier at home, or the decision that Sidney Crosby wasn’t seasoned enough to play in ’06. Both of those moves backfired spectacularly, mainly because the best players available were not chosen.

Joe Thornton is one of the best hockey players in the world, let alone Canada. He deserves to be a member of Canada’s 2010 team. As an emotional leader he might be less than adequate, but as a pure hockey performer he is one of the best in the business. On a team with Iginla, Niedermayer, Pronger, and Crosby, there will be leaders aplenty. Though the pressure will still be intense, with the shackles of leadership not weighing him down Thornton can relax and focus on what he does best – play hockey at a high level. Hopefully Yzerman sees it the same way.