Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots January 11th Edition

By Hartley Miller

After qualifying for the gold medal game, Swedish star forward, St. Louis Blues first round draft pick, Patrik Berglund, publicly stated that Sweden wanted to play Canada again.  His rationale was clear, “we want to beat Canada twice”.  Call it arrogance!  Call it cockiness!  Call it naïve! Or, just call it “Swede redemption”.

The 2008 Canadian Junior Team wasn’t the best team in Canada’s glorious history.  However, the team’s celebration of gold was more gratifying, in light of Berglund’s comments and Canada’s 4-3 round robin loss to the highly skilled Swedes.  Yes, sometimes it takes a loss, to really enjoy the thrill of victory.

During the rematch, when the Canadians were leading 2-0 after 40 minutes, I didn’t think the Swedes would rally (again). When Sweden tied the gold medal game 2-2 with 38 seconds left, all of a sudden, the previous game flashed in my mind. However, Kitchener Rangers’ Matt Halischuk scored at 3:36 of overtime, resulting in jubilation.

It is time to face the facts. Countries world wide need to accept reality; Canada is in a class of its own at the World Junior Tournament. Most Canadians believe that not only will Canada win gold, but by how much will they prevail.  Recent history supports this sentiment as Canada won five straight times in the mid-nineties, and now is riding a four year streak. Canada has also qualified for the gold medal game for a record 7 straight years.  Moreover, Canada has won a total of 14 gold medals, while Sweden remains stuck at one (1981).

In the late 1980’s, and 1990’s, Hockey Canada implemented the Hockey Program of Excellence. In short, the top Under-18 Canadian players are invited annually to national selection camps.  Players then participate on provincial teams, regional, and Under-17 teams.  As well, the Program of Excellence allows Hockey Canada to identify, evaluate and develop young hockey players to represent Canada on the international stage at events such as World Championships and the Olympics. 

Historically, hockey has been entrenched in the fabric of Canadian culture.  In 2008, in a scene reminiscent to the 1972 summit series, nearly four thousand loyal hockey fans travelled to the Czech Republic to cheer on their beloved heroes.  Back home, millions of Canadians were glued to the “bube-tubes”.  What other hockey country can boast like this?  Needless to say, it is virtually impossible to consistently beat a country that displays such deep rooted nationalism in a game. 

In 2009, in Ottawa, Canada will again, emerge as favorites. The question that will emerge is:  Will Canadians dominate, or just win? And doesn't that say it all?

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A quick comment on the Ty Wishart-Evan Fuller deal. I was surprised a team like Moose Jaw (not in the top six in the East) would give up so much future to take a run this season. It was a no-brainer trade for the PG Cougars with the playoffs not in sight.  However, the Cats should never have been so low in the standings in the first place a predicament which forced them to write off the rest of this season.

Receiving a first round bantam pick was a necessity, and only time will tell if 16 year old centre Justin Maylan, and 18 year old right winger Brad Riege are as good as GM Dallas Thompson thinks they will be.

Wishart, a much maligned skilled player, knew that games in Kelowna, Chilliwack and Portland last weekend were his final ones with PG. "It kind of hit me in the Kelowna game. I had a couple of interviews before that game and I really didn't think about it too much until then. Obviously it was tough playing those games knowing that it was the last time I was going to see a bunch of the guys, said Wishart.
What really pleased the point a game blue-liner was that he had company in the trade "I was just happy that Evan was coming with me. It happens. It's part of the business and you have to deal with it".

Another 19-year-old headed to the prairies is Jesse Dudas, the often injured blueliner, who never lived up to the Cougars expectations. He is now property of the Swift Current Broncos as a result of a deal for 17 year old goalie Ian Curtis. Dudas, like Wishart, knew the Portland game would be his last in a PG uniform. “I wasn't surprised at all. I knew something was going to happen. By the sounds of it they wanted to go younger” said Dudas.

These were trades (going for youth) the Cougars needed to make, but by discounting the on ice product for the rest of this season, the team should now follow suit by offering a price reduction to their dwindling fan base.

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Thank goodness for Jordan White or there may not be any storyline at all when the Portland Winterhawks play a double-header at CN Centre Tuesday and Wednesday. These are by far the two worst teams in the WHL Western Conference. Even though there's over two months left in the regular season, the Hawks and Cats, are simply playing out the season, and counting down the days until the mercy killing is over March 16th.   Moreover, it's not like there is a rivalry between the teams. White is an ex Cougar, but better known in Prince George for his 91 save performance for the Spruce Kings in the RBC five overtime, six hour marathon  3-2  semi-final victory over Camrose last year. His first win this season for the Winterhawks came in a 41 save performance this past Sunday when Portland scored a 3-1 victory over PG.  Jordan will obviously be given another chance at CN Centre, one he relishes. It's safe to say his performance will be a case of Black and “White”.

From the quote rack:

“There was a lot of concern when John Daly was tested and doctors found blood in his beer stream.”Comedian Argus Hamilton, on the PGA Tour's new drug tests this year.

“The new scouting report says: Throws left, bats left, injects right.”Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post, on the steroid era in the majors.

“Roger Clemens is suing his former trainer for defamation of character. I hear Charles Barkley tried to tell him that he had no character.”Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

“Panasonic has unveiled the world’s largest flat screen TV. Company officials say the picture quality is so good you can see the needle marks on most professional athletes.”Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)

“The San Diego Chargers won their first playoff game since January 1995. To give you an idea how long ago that was, the Raiders were still in Los Angeles, the Titans were still the Houston Oilers, and Vinny Testaverde was just beginning to think about retirement.”Comedy writer Janice Hough (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com) of Palo Alto, California.

And in case you missed it:

Headline at CBSsportsline.com, following the Pittsburgh Steelers season-ending loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars: "Jax all, folks!"

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

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