Forgive me for being a little late, but
after watching the best part of twenty-five of the thirty-six men's
hockey games played at the Oympics as well as the half dozen women's
games, plus the alpine, crosscountry, speedskating, biathlon, and
curling .... well, let's just say that I needed some time to look into
the other rooms of the house to see if the missus had left me and
whether the kitties have have resorted to cannibalism in the
basement.
But, regrouping like Sasha Cohen (who got more praise for going down
twice than anyone since Paris Hilton -- sorry, did that get by the
censors?), I'll now take care of some unfinished business and give out
some metallic hardware:
Gold: Peter Forsberg.
The guy showed up for his country, took his injury rehab cautiously,
and came through big time in the medal round games. True, he
wasn't quite the dominant, bruising figure we've seen before, but he
got the job done -- all while embodying the true Olympic spirit (not
the Visa ® version). He stayed calm while the Flyer brass called
him out, and responded with class on and off the ice with a performance
that should cement his place as the greatest player of the
post-Gretzky/Lemieux generation.
Silver: Team Finland.
The Finns showed that you don't need a baker's dozen of NHL superstars
to build a great team on the Olympic ice. The Finns had a veteran
team which had played together for years, complemented each other
perfectly, played in cohesive units, and came within a hair's
breath of sending the Gold Medal game in to overtime. With gutsy
leaders such as Teppo Numminen, Saku Koivu, and Teemu Selanne coming up
big, the Finns are the envy of countries that couldn't get rosters
twice as talented to play half as well.
Bronze: NBC.
Yes, the missed goals were annoying -- I believe i missed about a half
dozen in the games I was watching -- and the in-game camera work was
simply competent, but otherwise the hockey coverage receives an
A+. Tireless efforts by Mike Emrick and JD, great sideline info
and interviews from Micheletti and McGuire, smooth hosting from
Clement, nice commentary from Ferraro, and a solid job by the secondary
units.
OK, now for all you fans of Standard Model Particle Physics, we must
balance these elemental awards with their opposite, anti-medals...
Anti-Gold: Markus Naslund.
Yes, he had a sore groin. But still the man played six games in
nine nights for the Canucks prior to the Olympics. And at a
fairly high level as well. I would think that the Swedish
coaching staff (kudos to ex-Cap Bengt Gustafsson, BTW, a great 2-way
player in the 80's) would be willing to give Markus some extra time and
work himself into the tournament, ala Peter the Great. Alas,
Markus must instead wait until 2010.
Anti-Silver: Ed Snider
Do you ever get the feeling that Snider's favorite cartoon character
must be the grinch? First popping off on his star player's
Olympic involvement, then leading a charge to have NHLers prohibited
from the games. If I were "Mr. Bottom Line", I'd be more
concerned about a training/medical staff that spun its wheels on
Forsberg's groin for a month, while the Swedish staff seemed to heal it
up after three days of alternative therapy.
Anti-Bronze: Bode Miller.
Let's see... Ski aimlessly by day, party heartily by night, and call it
a great vacation. I guess I was a BODEIST all along... Who knew?!
Look out Vancouver 2010 -- I've got my blueprint down.
Gilles Moncour
[email protected] 
