HockeyPrimeTime.com feature on NHL players participating in the Olympic Games

What difference does a uniform make?

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Written by Denis Gorman

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 05:27

Some react with jokes or incredulity, but the reality of NHL teammates becoming Olympic opponents – or NHL opponents becoming teammates – presents a unique scenario in sports. It was a little after 11 in the morning of February 5. The press conference room at Newark’s Prudential Center was packed. Ilya Kovalchuk, one of the NHL’s premier talents, was meeting a media horde and testifying to the thrill of joining the New Jersey Devils, one of the NHL's premier teams. A world-class athlete had become a member of one of professional sports’ blueprint franchises. A marriage made in heaven – or, at the very least, on Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello’s phone. During his first press conference as a Devil, Kovalchuk was told that Martin Brodeur, a rival turned teammate – and soon to be opponent – had said with a smile that he was going to “look” at his new left wing for the upcoming Olympic Games. Kovalchuk, a 26-year-old unrestricted free agent to be, did not miss a beat. “That’s OK," he said. "We got a lot of guys who can score goals. He should scout all of them. I won’t help him with that.” The reporters laughed. While being light-hearted, Brodeur and Kovalchuk touched on a topic that may make organizations uncomfortable. How will The Games affect the NHL? Or, perhaps more accurately, will what transpires in British Columbia carry over into NHL dressing rooms following the Olympics? Brodeur and Kovalchuk are two of the 140* NHL players commissioned to play for 12 countries in Vancouver’s Olympic Games. Brodeur is expected to be Team Canada’s starting goaltender on Thursday and perhaps beyond, while Kovalchuk skated Tuesday on Russia’s top line. The Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks have sent eight players to Vancouver. Only one of the 30 teams, the New York Islanders, sent one. With the possible exception of American football, no team sport has as many high-speed collisions in an average game as hockey. Outside of baseball, cricket and lacrosse, no other sport uses sticks as a key piece of equipment. Finally, no other sport's fan base elevates the concept of rivalry, between individual players and organizations, to hatred. So will it be difficult for the remaining 139 NHL players to look at their respective teammates in the final six weeks of the regular season or during a critical playoff juncture during the playoffs and not remember, perhaps, a slash or a cross-check from a teammate during The Games? It depends upon who is asked. “No, it’s not difficult. It’s the job we have. Playing for your country is an honor. You have to represent (your country) in the right way,” Boston Bruins and Slovakian defenseman Zdeno Chara said. “If someone wants to look at it that way, that’s his problem. It’s just the job we have to do.” “It’s a little weird at first. Still it’s a business. Still of course, there’s a respect, you know. When I play against Getzy (Ryan Getzlaf) I want to make sure I can give him a hard time after the game. You better win,” Anaheim Ducks forward Teemu Selanne told HockeyPrimeTime.com on the verge of his fifth Olympic appearance for Team Finland. “You don’t think about that stuff too much anymore. When you play, you’re so into it, you don’t think about it too much. It’s quite fun too. It’s very special.” In the Jan. 10 edition of the San Jose Mercury News, columnist Mark Purdy quoted Red Wings coach Mike Babcock as saying, “I don't think there's anything awkward about it,” and “You guys are thinking way too much,” before his team beat the Sharks 4-1 at HP Pavilion. The NHL Western Conference-leading Sharks sent a quartet to Team Canada, which is coached by Babcock. If anyone can conquer the awkwardness of the situation, it's Babcock, whose locker room is a model United Nations. Future Hall of Fame defenseman Nick Lidstrom, the captain of the Red Wings and Team Sweden, agreed with his coach that there should be no uneasiness in the dressing rooms during and after the Olympics. “I’ve been part of that in the past, where you have a lot of players from a lot of different countries. It’s exciting. It’s fun when you have different players getting ready for different teams and different countries. I think it’s great that we have a chance for so many players from different countries to be a part of this,” Lidstrom told HPT. There are players who, while proud to wear their country’s sweater, recognize that they are accountable to the NHL organizations that pay their salary. Following his New York Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Devils on Feb. 6, Slovakian Olympian Marian Gaborik told reporters, “Everybody is focused on the season here. The Olympics hasn’t started yet. When the day comes we will focus on that, but the main focus is the season right now.” *Anaheim (Luca Sbisa), Montreal (Yanick Weber), the New York Rangers (Andres Ambuhl), Ottawa (Kaspers Daugavins) and Tampa (Martins Karsums) also had minor league talent selected to represent their countries in Vancouver. http://www.hockeyprimetime.com/news/features/what-difference-does-a-uniform-make