Olympics: Gretzky shoots wide with off target tirade

Wayne Gretzky is truly "The Great One." He is a man of class, character, and immense talent.

Still, his tirade following Canada's 3-3 tie with the Czech Republic is disturbing.

In a post-game press conference Gretzky said, "The Americans love our poor start. They love it when we're not doing well."

Mr. Gretzky you are wrong. We don't relish your anguish. Other countries don't "hate you." We are simply jealous of your place in the hockey world.

Gretzky's frustration is understandable. Fifty years of national angst rests on his shoulders. A nation's pride hangs in the balance. It was 1952 when Canada, the nation that gave us hockey -- the most glorious of sports-- last won an Olympic gold.

Still, Gretzky's complaints miss the mark. For much of the fifty years in question, the deck was stacked against the Canadians at the Olympics. A hypocritical allegiance by the International Olympic Committee to the elitist notion of amateurism, a concept born of the idle rich, was all that kept Canada from the top step of the podium over the years.

Does anyone doubt that the Montreal Canadiens, let alone an all-star team of Canadian-born NHL players, would have defeated the Soviets in 1956? In 1960, would a team of Canadian pros have beaten the Americans at Squaw Valley? Of course they would have.

By the late 1960s, the internationalization of hockey was moving at a dizzying pace. The Soviets had developed a hockey program that was producing NHL caliber players by the carload. Yet, in 1972 and 1976, a Canadian team with the likes of Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke, Brad Park, Bobby Orr, Rod Gilbert, Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent and Bobby Hull would likely have rested at least one of those gold medals from the Soviets, if not both.

It is shame the world was robbed of the chance to see those players meet Valeri Kharlamov, Boris Mikhailov, Vladislav Tretiak, and Alexander Yakushev of the USSR on the Olympic stage. The exhibition match-ups between Canadian pros and the Soviet National Team of the 1970s were thrilling, but they weren't the Olympics. How much more thrilling would Paul Henderson's goal in 1972 have been, had it come in the Olympics?

Today, Canada's Olympic problems are of a different kind. Our friends to the north still produce the lion's share of top-flight hockey talent in the world, but five other nations (Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Russia, and The United States) produce large numbers of NHL-level talent as well. Still more nations produce high quality players too, but not in the quantity produced by the "Super Six."

Do any of these countries produce as many stars as Canada? No, Canada could field at least two, maybe three, competitive teams at the Olympic level. None of their rivals could do the same, but the top players from the "other five" (enough to fill out one squad), are brilliantly talented.

Today, with foolish notions of amateurism relegated to the dustbin of history, the Olympic hockey tournament is what it should always have been, a meeting of the best in the world on a level playing field. (As Peter Puck used to say, "Wash my mouth out with slush." I should have said a level sheet of ice). The Olympic hockey tournament is now truly competitive, and Canada is but one of the contenders, though still first among equals.

No, Mr. Gretzky, we don't hate you and your Canadian brethren, we envy you. Canada is still the benchmark by which all hockey is measured. We want to beat you, yes, but that is because you and your countrymen have set the standard. To beat Canada at hockey is to know you have beaten the very best. Isn't that what sports at the highest level is all about?