• hockey
• Meagher

Monday, April 14, 2008

Canada has insatiable appetite for hockey gold

posted by jmeagher at 17h17

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Peter Smith coached Team Canada to a silver on Saturday in China (Gazette, Allen McInness)

Coaching the Montreal Canadiens is arguably the toughest job in professional hockey.

Win big and the fans and media are behind you - lose a few and they’re calling for your head on a platter.

But coaching one of Canada’s national hockey teams might be the toughest task in all of amateur sport.

Just ask Peter Smith of Lachine, who coached Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2008 Women’s World Hockey Championship in China after a 4-3 loss to the archrival Americans in Saturday’s final.

There is a kind of “Win gold or go home” mentality in this country when our reputation as the world’s supreme hockey superpower is on the line.

Anyone old enough to remember the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union will recall Phil Esposito’s televised post-game rant following a defeat in Game 4 in Vancouver. Espo’s impassioned plea for support rallied the country behind the team as it headed to Moscow for a showdown for the ages.

Although we have come to expect no less than gold since the great comeback ‘of 72, the law of averages dictates Canada can’t win ‘em all.

Canada had won nine of the previous 10 women’s world championships, so Saturday’s result will be interpreted by some, fairly or not, as losing the gold rather than winning a silver.

Smith shrugged off the weighty expectations prior to leaving for China, saying the focus is always “on process” rather than results. In other words, play your best and results will follow.

But Canada lost twice to Team USA at this year’s tournament, so there is no denying which country has some catching up to do.

It will be interesting to see what a silver medal does to Smith’s chances of landing the head coaching job at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Second chances are rare in a country where anything less than gold is considered a major disappointment.
We’re a ridiculously tough crowd, and shamelessly proud of it.