Team Canada

GREAT EXPECTATIONS…
IN THIS COUNTRY THAT IS NOT THE TITLE OF A CHARLES DICKENS NOVEL…
IT’S THE WEIGHT OF AN ENTIRE NATION ON THE SHOULDERS OF TEAM CANADA…
TONIGHT IN CALGARY THE PLAYERS…THE COACHES AND MANAGEMENT WILL GET THEIR FIRST REAL LOOK AT JUST HOW GREAT THOSE EXPECATIONS ARE…
THE ORIENTATION CAMP WRAPS UP WITH A “GLORIFIED SCRIMMAGE”…
NEVERTHELESS…16 THOUSAND FANS WILL JAM INTO THE SADDLEDOME TO WATCH…
THEY ALONE WITH THE OTHER 33 MILLION PEOPLE IN CANADA WILL ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN “GOLD” NEXT FEBRUARY IN VANCOUVER…
ANYTHING SHORT OF THAT…WILL BE CONSIDERED A NATIONAL DISASTER…
THEIR PERFORMANCE…GOOD OR BAD...WILL EITHER BE CELEBRATED OR CRITICIZED…FOR WHAT IS LEFT OF THE 21ST CENTURY…
THINK BACK TO NAGANO IN 1998…AND THE IMAGE OF WAYNE GRETZKY SITTING ALONE ON THE BENCH…
THAT TOOK PLACE 11 YEARS AGO…AND THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY…
DESPITE THE TIME AND DISTANCE…HEAD COACH MARC CRAWFORD WILL TAKE THAT MOMENT TO HIS GRAVE…
NOW MIKE BABCOCK IS IN THE HOT SEAT…
AND THIS TIME AROUND…THE STAKES ARE EVEN HIGHER…
THE 2010 OLYMPICS ARE LITERALLY IN OUR OWN “BACK YARD”…
OH…AND DID WE MENTION???
CANADA HAS NEVER WON AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL IN MEN’S HOCKEY ON OUR OWN SOIL…
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE “STEPHEN HAWKING” TO DO THE MATH…
NEVERTHELESS BABCOCK APPEARS TO HAVE EMBRACED THE CHALLENGE…
ON TUESDAY HE REFERED TO IT AS…”AWESOME”
HE ALSO WENT ONTO SAY…
”I’M CANADIAN…I WAS BORN IN CANADA…THE GREATEST COUNTRY”…
SUDDENLY THE ENTIRE NATION HAD THE UNCONTROLABLE DESIRE TO CRACK OPEN A MOLSON…
TONIGHT WILL NOT BE QUITE THAT EMOTIONAL…
THE SCRIMMAGE WILL BE BROKEN DOWN INTO 3 PERIODS…
IT WILL FOCUS ON SPECIAL TEAMS…5 ON 5 PLAY AND THE SHOOTOUT…
BUT THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL KIND OF ENERGY IN THE AIR…
A TASTE OF WHAT LIES AHEAD…
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY…A REMINDER OF WHAT IS…“EXPECTED”…