Sioux upset, Badger title prove Women’s WCHA parity

Ever since the WCHA sanctioned womenÂ’s hockey, league members have patiently awaited the day when parity would truly arrive, and when the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Minnesota would be challenged by teams throughout the rest of the league.

The time might have arrived, officially, on Saturday, February 11, 2006. That was the day that Wisconsin defeated Minnesota to gain a split of their series, and successfully clinch the WomenÂ’s WCHA championship for Wisconsin. It is the first time someone other than UMD or Minnesota has won the league regular-season championship after six seasons of Bulldog/Gopher domination.

Of course, UMD won the first three of five NCAA womenÂ’s hockey tournaments, and Minnesota won the most recent two, as well. WisconsinÂ’s rise has been evident all season, but the actual mathematic clinching of the crown, outdistancing second-place UMD, made it official.

The Badger title may have been a foregone conclusion, but more specific evidence of WCHA parity came in Duluth, where the leagueÂ’s newest member, North Dakota, defeated the UMD Bulldogs 2-0 to split their series.

“This was definitely huge for us,” said North Dakota sophomore Cara Wooster, who scored the first goal – and the first winning goal the Fighting Sioux have ever registered against UMD. “It’s the first time we’ve put everything together.”

St. Cloud State, Mankato State, Ohio State, and Bemidji State had gotten things together earlier this season, and all had sprung an upset or two this season. Part of that is the superstar players at Minnesota and UMD are off playing with the Olympic teams, or have graduated. That still left North Dakota out in the cold, so to speak, and the Sioux were fresh off two losses to Bemidji State when they came to Duluth with a 2-18-2 league record, compared to UMDÂ’s 16-6-2.

North DakotaÂ’s first-ever triumph against UMD was accomplished under interesting circumstances, not the least of which was that just 24 hours earlier UMD had crushed North Dakota 8-0. That first game came when UMD climaxed a rocky week of turmoil with a flawless performance, and it was one that made observers wonder when North Dakota could ever hope to defeat a power like UMD.

The answer came quickly, the next night. But there was more to the story.

While beating Minnesota 4-2 on January 20, the Bulldogs stormed to a 4-0 lead and then went into neutral. The Bulldog machine started unraveling right then, as the Gophers not only dominated the second half of that game, losing 4-2, but beat UMD 2-0 the next night. That started an unraveling of the Bulldogs, who had stayed in contention with Wisconsin until that weekend.

Coach Shannon Miller had been privately concerned about warning signals earlier in the season. The team had talent, speed, defense and superb goaltending, a blend of skilled veteran players and impressive newcomers, but cohesiveness was rivaled by the threat of attitude divisiveness, preventing the elusive attribute called chemistry. It didnÂ’t seem to matter when the Bulldogs cruised through a 12-1-1 streak, with only Wisconsin able to inflict the tie and loss, in a pivotal December series at the DECC.

But when the first-game fade led to the second-game loss against Minnesota, UMD went to St. Cloud State and lost 2-1 and 3-1, meaning the Bulldogs had scored two goals in 11 periods of play. Next came a trip to Ohio State for a shaky 3-2 victory, then a 1-1 tie. The offense had fizzled, proving disfunctional by scoring only six goals in five games over that 1-3-1 stretch, which led into the North Dakota series.

UMD has always had a nearly cocky attitude under Miller. She is abrupt and mercurial, and one of the best coaches in the sport, and her teams are always confident of being well-prepared. But this team was different. The confidence teetered on cockiness, and where past teams have been occasionally raucous, this one was sometimes a little raw in its demeanor. In past years, the few loose cannons were always kept in check by the prevailing majority with high-level character, such as Caroline Ouellette, Julianne Vasicheck, Maria Rooth, and numerous others.

Miller addressed the situation occasionally, and during between-periods talks, and individually with some players, including captain Allison Lehrke. But nothing changed, and it appeared to worsen into more divisiveness during the recent stretch. Miller said it reached beyond her patience level on the Ohio State trip.

So Miller took action. She took the captaincy away from Lehrke and awarded it to goaltender Riitta Schaublin, with defenseman Krista McArthur an assistant who would also wear the “C” to talk to officials. She suspended junior defenseman Jill Sales and junior winger Juliane Jubinville a game apiece for violating team protocol, with Jubinville missing Friday and Sales Saturday against North Dakota. A spare forward, Becky Salyards, was dismissed from the team, but that was believed to be an unrelated academic issue.

Whatever, the week of turmoil seemed to unite the Bulldogs for an overwhelming effort, resulting in a flawless first game against North Dakota. Freshman Tawni Mattila scored the first two goals of the game, Myriam Trepanier and Karine DeMeule made it 4-0 at the first intermission, and Noemie Marin boosted the lead to 5-0, and Trepanier scored again, for a 6-0 cushion after two. Marin got her 20th in the third period, and Lehrke, who may have played her strongest game of the season, finished the 8-0 rout with the final goal.

“After what we’ve gone through, we’ve got to hope our team would come together,” said Miller. “This is a new beginning for us this week, and I honestly don’t think it mattered who we were playing, with all due respect to North Dakota. Our whole focus this week has been on looking at ourselves, and the whole emphasis has been on respect. All we have had to learn is to treat each other and ourselves with respect, and I think everybody responded with a strong effort.”
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That was what North Dakota skated into – a whirlwind of emotional fire, as well as a strong array of talent. So impressive was UMD’s first-game attack that North Dakota coach Shantel Rivard pulled starting goaltender Amber Hasbargen after Mattila’s second goal, at 7:59 of the first period, and replaced her with senior backup, Margaret-Ann Hinkley. The onslaught continued, and Rivard sent Hasbargen back in to finish, as UMD outshot the Sioux 45-19.

Overlooked, perhaps, was that while UMD allowed only 19 shots, goalie Riitta Schaublin had to make a half-dozen saves on breakaways, providing a security blanket for some disturbing defensive lapses. Even her home public relations staff overlooked Schaublin’s shutout, giving the “three stars” to Mattila, Trepanier and Marin — the trio of two-goal scorers.

In Game 2, Hinkley started for North Dakota, and blocked shot after UMD shot until she had thwarted all 25 shots for the shutout. Few of the shots were truly threatening, however, because he Sioux teammates pretty much outplayed and outhustled UMD on every shift, from start to finish. It was the most impressive, and most nearly perfect game North DakotaÂ’s womenÂ’s team had ever played, and Schaublin had to play well again.

North Dakota opened with force, and paid for it when Melissa Jaques was called for a penalty at 0:22. The Sioux killed it, and it was Jaques who fired a shot on a later North Dakota power play that led to Cara Wooster converting an unchallenged rebound for a quick shot and goal from the right edge of the net at 9:07.

That didnÂ’t seem very substantial, because it seemed inevitable that the Bulldog offense would take over. The Bulldogs were clearly not as sharp, not as inspired as in the first game, but credit must go to North Dakota, which was playing a game for the archives of the program’s history. When North Dakota got a power play in the third period, Schaublin blocked Christey AllenÂ’s shot from the left side, but the rebound went to the right, where Devon Fingland was all alone to convert at 7:38.

“After last night, we wanted to come out and make a statement,” said Cara Wooster. “We knew they’d come out hard and we had to play well to weather it, but we wanted to show we could play, too. It was our best game, and our biggest win. We just wanted to make a statement.”

That statement was: Parity has arrived in the WomenÂ’s WCHA.

Should make for an interesting playoff.

Video snaps Gopher defense into 1st place form

University of Minnesota hockey coach Don Lucia runs a tight ship, tight enough that a casual observer might think he’s a control freak. But if his defensemen suggest they’d like to watch some videos, Lucia is likely to encourage them to watch all they want – as long as the video is of the final Golden Gophers game of the 2001-2002 season.

That just happened to be the game in which Minnesota defeated Maine in overtime to win the NCAA championship for the first time in 23 years. And even though Minnesota repeated as NCAA champs a year later, the 2002 title game video is No. 1 on Lucia’s “recommended video” list for his defensemen.

It also might be precisely the reason the Golden Gophers have moved within reach of winning the WCHA regular-season championship, are ranked No. 1 in the country, and obviously are now among the elite teams most-favored when it comes to picking this yearÂ’s NCAA championship favorite.

Despite continued protests from Lucia – who insists on saying that winning the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champion is not an objective – his players publicly repeat the coach’s mantra, but privately acknowledge that they wouldn’t mind hanging more than one banner this season. To that end, when Minnesota beat Denver 3-2 last Friday to end the Pioneers 7-game winning streak, the Golden Gophers vaulted past Denver into first place. When they followed up by whipping the Pioneers 5-1 for a series sweep, they elevated themselves to a position two points ahead of Wisconsin and three up on Denver.

With only two weekends to go, the Gophers would have to lose at least two of their remaining four games – against Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota-Duluth, the bottom two teams in the WCHA. The WCHA this season has been its most unpredictable in decades, if not ever, but the likelihood of the Minnesota Express being derailed seems slim for a couple of reasons. First, because they are on a 7-0-1 surge of their own, and stand 14-1-1 since December 3, which has become a day to remember for the Gophers. Especially their defense.

On that night in December, Minnesota hit its low point for the season. Wisconsin had come to Mariucci Arena and the night after the Badgers administered a 4-3 setback, they humiliated the Golden Gophers 4-0 in the rematch. Wisconsin was flying high, No. 1 in the WCHA and No. 1 in the nation, but the worst part of that weekend was that the Gophers defense seemed powerless to cope with the Badgers. Turnovers gave Wisconsin numerous chances, and a stumbling inability to cope with the resulting rushes rendered Minnesota to also-ran status.

Amazingly, the next weekend Minnesota went up to Grand Forks and swept North Dakota. That sweep got the Gophers rolling, and they have kept on rolling, particularly with a pivotal payback sweep at Wisconsin and then last weekend’s sweep against Denver – their two main adversaries atop the standings.

Lucia doesnÂ’t deal much in superlatives, but the offense has come alive in the last two months. The key triggerman with his scoring consistency is junior center Ryan Potulny, bolstered by the return to health of timely-scoring junior wing Danny Irmen, important goals from surprising sophomore Ben Gordon, smart two-way defensive work from captain and center Gino Guyer, and continued eye-popping set-ups from freshman Phil Kessel. But the performance of those forwards, and goaltender Kellen Briggs, would be comparatively meaningless if the defense hadnÂ’t made a 180-degree turnabout.

So what happened? Did Lucia bring back NHLers Jordan Leopold, Keith Ballard and Paul Martin for that series, and dress them up to impersonate Gopher blueliners?

Almost.

“After that Wisconsin weekend,” Lucia said, “when we went up to North Dakota I had our defense watch a video of the 2002 title game. Specifically, I said to watch Leopold, Ballard and Martin, and how played in our zone, how they used the glass to get the puck out of the zone when they had to, and everything they did.”

Presto! As if by magic, the visualization lesson took hold and the Gopher defense went from stumbling to self-assured. Senior Chris Harrington, who had strayed far from the confident style he showed as a freshman, and fellow-senior P.J. Atherton played better and better. A Minneapolis newspaper columnist who rarely mentions hockey wrote an item that Gopher defenseman Mike Vannelli is the son of Tom Vannelli, a Gopher star of the 1970s – never mind that Vannelli is a junior, but had gone unnoticed for three years.

Sophomores Alex Goligoski and Derek Peltier snapped into focus, Goligoski returning to the confident rookie he had been last year, and Peltier compressing his play into smart and beneficial shifts. And freshman R.J. Atherton now plays with smooth force, instead of the sort of hesitancy that usually leads to the wrong move.

Instead, all the right moves have cleared pucks from danger and ignited Minnesota rushes, instead of opposing forechecks. By chance, Ballard was back at Mariucci Arena to watch the Denver series, because the weather was more hockey-like than his residence in Scottsdale, Ariz., while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes. Leopold and Martin might have been, but they were in Turin, Italy, as part of Team USAÂ’s Winter Olympic endeavor.

Meanwhile, any NHL or Olympic team would have been impressed to watch the Gopher defense calmly kill two five-minute major penalties in FridayÂ’s game, even with Atherton and Goligoski gone as the two whistled for checking-from-behind majors and game misconducts. No problem. Andy Sertich moved back to defense, and no damage was done.

The defensemen are helping out offensively, too. The 3-2 victory over Denver started when AndersonÂ’s whistling point shot was deflected in by Gordon, Harrington assisted on the always-opportunistic PotulnyÂ’s 23th goal to break a 1-1 tie, and Potulny added No. 24 on a power play for the winner.

The next night ended almost as it began. Denver star defenseman Matt Carle drew a slashing penalty in the first minute, and Irmen – just back from a shoulder injury – scored at 1:08 on the power play, assisted by Harrington and Goligoski. The assist was Harrington’s 100th career point. Gordon finished a perfect 2-on-1 rush from Kessel 29 seconds later, and Irmen scored on Kessel’s rebound midway through the first period for a 3-0 cushion.
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When Gabe Gauthier scored, finally, for Denver at 19:06 of the middle period, Goligoski ignited an immediate counter off the ensuing faceoff, resulting in Potulny setting up freshman Ryan Stoa at the goal-mouth at 19:14, nullifying whatever lift the Pioneers might have gained at 3-1.

“I thought we’d get a momentum change on our goal, but eight seconds later, they came right back,“ said Gauthier. “Everything was rolling on our seven-game winning streak, but we hit a stopper, and it was Minnesota.”

GoligoskiÂ’s assist was his 100th point as a Gopher, and when he moved in from the right point to score himself midway through the third period, he started on his second 100.

“We got a couple of lucky bounces,” said Irmen. Somebody asked Irmen if the Gophers could see the WCHA title in their grasp now, and he said that no, that wasn’t an objective, and they had to go up to Anchorage and play game by game.

Yeah, right Danny. But with four games to go and a two-point lead, the Gophers would have to cave in to avoid winning the MacNaughton Cup, wouldnÂ’t they?

“Well, I guess we control our destiny, and if the title is there, we’ll take it,” said Irmen.

Irmen spoke as though he had been programmed by a chip installed in his brain at the Don Lucia Clinic of Proper Responses. No boasting, no predictions, no looking too far ahead, and no controversial statements whatsoever. Remember, this is the same coach who told assistant John Hill not to comment to the media the week before Alaska-Anchorage – the team Hill coached through last season before returning to be an assistant at Minnesota – to avoid anything that might end up inspiring the Seawolves.

However, given Lucia’s “programming” of the Gopher defense, and Minnesota’s No. 1 status in the WCHA and in the national polls, three things are pretty certain: Hill will probably remain silent on this week’s trip to Anchorage, the Gopher defense will continue to impersonate Leopold, Ballard and Martin, and the Gophers – protests notwithstanding – will probably move one weekend away from the MacNaughton Cup.

Sweden tops Russia 3-0 for women’s world bandy title

SwedenÂ’s national womenÂ’s bandy team attacks with the suddenness of a Porsche, and defends with the security of a military tank. But SwedenÂ’s 3-0 victory over Russia in SaturdayÂ’s championship game of the WomenÂ’s Bandy World Championships more resembled a Volvo sedan.

Solid, safe, conservative and technically very sound, just like the cars they make in Gothenburg, Sweden, the yellow-clad Swedish team capitalized on its opportunities for two quick-striking goals by Mikaela Hasselgren in the first half, then concentrated on preventing Russia from getting any clear scoring chances in the second. Johanna Pettersson converted a pass from Johanna Karlsson seven minutes into the second 45-minute half, and Sweden stayed within the speed limit the rest of the way, to skate off the John Rose Oval in suburban Roseville, Minnesota, with the World Championship.

Swedish coach Roger Jakobssen said he enjoyed the comparison to Sweden’s cars, best-known for their focus on keeping everything safe. “It was our final game, and everyone expected Sweden to win so easily,” Jakobssen said. “But we had to work really hard in most of the games, and especially today. Russia challenged us in a tough way, and we had to have a great deal of patience. We are the World Champions, and we played some excellent bandy, and I think we were excellent ambassadors for the game of bandy.”

Bandy boosters are hoping to get their sport into the Winter Olympics, and it would seem a likely candidate, because of its popularity in Scandinavia and Russia, and especially Siberia.

Norway, which had tied Russia 1-1in round-robin play for the highest moment in its century of bandy, but lost to the Russians in the semifinals, came back to defeat Finland 2-1 in the third-place game for the bronze medal. The U.S. earlier had beaten Canada 2-0 in the game for fifth place.

Bandy features never-ending skating, played with a tennis-ball-size ball and short sticks, like 11-player soccer on a soccer-sized rink. The sport is at a pinnacle in Sweden and Russia, where it is played by many, sometimes in indoor arenas, and rivals soccer and hockey in popularity. Crowds of over 20,000 are common in Russia, but the game is little-known in North America. The John Rose Oval is MinnesotaÂ’s only official-size bandy rink, and CanadaÂ’s team, an under-20 Winnipeg ringette team, was put together for the tournament and doesnÂ’t even have a bandy rink to practice on.
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Minnesota’s team averages about 38 years of age, and is hoping to expand with a youth program at Roseville. It wasn’t an attempt to be perfect hosts that the U.S. failed to win a game during the round-robin play – tying Norway 1-1, and losing 1-0 to Canada while also playing very well in a 2-0 loss to Finland, and its first victory in two World Championship appearances came in the fifth-place playoff game against Canada.

Minnesota Nice seemed to extend beyond the John Rose Oval facility, and just in time to make teams from Sweden and Russia feel comfortable, the Twin Cities region imported this winterÂ’s most severe cold snap down from northern reaches of Canada. It was about 5-below zero with a 30-mile-per-hour wind for much of the tournament, and all sorts of outdoor events elsewhere were cancelled, but the bandy went on. One unwitting photographer, bundled well except for his ears, froze his windward ear in about 20 minutes of picture-taking in the Friday sunshine. A woman volunteer minding the southeast corner of the rink tried to stay warm with hot coffee from her Thermos jug. The first time she tried it, all went well; the second time, she found the coffee in the Thermos had frozen solid.

It was less harsh on Saturday, and a rowdy group from Sweden wore yellow and blue hats and jerseys, waved flags, and sang assorted chants to cheer on their team. After the championship game, two-goal scorer Hasselgren said: “Cold? No. Not like yesterday.”

In nearly every game, the rhythmic flow of constant skating was occasionally interrupted by corner pass-in plays, which follow stoppages in play caused by the defending team knocking the ball out of bounds. Most of the tournamentÂ’s goals came off corner pass plays, ball three of SwedenÂ’s goals in the final came off direct attacks.
“We tried to get corners,” said Petterson, who not only scored the final goal, but got off the shot that led to Hasselgren’s second goal, on a rebound.

KarlssonÂ’s passes set up Hasselgren for the first goal of the game, as well as PetterssonÂ’s final goal. The Swedish players will now return to their club teams, three of which contributed players to the national team, and their schedule runs through March.

Russian coach Aleksandr Skirdenko was in good spirits after the game. “It could be better, if we win,” he said. “But we have given everything we could, and Sweden has a very strong team. We knew the Swedish team was very strong, very fast, and that we wouldn’t have many chances against them. So our plan was to defend first, then counter-attack when we could. We had a few chances, but we didn’t score.”

Oxana Pronshina, who had led Russia with two goals to a 7-0 victory over the U.S. and with three goals in an identical 7-0 romp over Canada in preliminary round play, said the first goal was pivotal. “If we had scored early, scored first, anything would be possible,” she said. “We would have put our bodies in front of the net, anything, to stop the Swedish team if we had gotten the first goal.”

Jakobssen, the coach and/or “Volvo driver,” said his team executed his tactics well. “We wanted to be careful in the second half to not lose the ball. A couple of times we lost the ball in the middle of the field, and they got their best chances then.”

But, with the Swedish teamÂ’s figurative shoulder harnesses strapped on, and roll-bars in place, and smooth-running efficiency unhampered by Siberian-like cold, there was never a chance SwedenÂ’s trip to the World Championship would be threatened.

U.S. women top Canada, subzero cold for fifth in bandy

Team USA had age and experience on its side. That, and a good nightÂ’s sleep brought the U.S. skaters back with enough fire to defy subzero cold and beat Canada 2-0 to claim fifth place Friday at the WomenÂ’s Bandy World Championships.

The age and experience didnÂ’t mean as much as young legs Friday night, when the same teams met in what was the second game of the day for both teams, to conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament. In that one, CanadaÂ’s youthful squad, which averages 20 years of age compared to Team USA’s average age of 38, outhustled the U.S. 1-0 for the first victory for Canada in its first World Bandy Championship.

There wasnÂ’t much time between the end of Thursday nightÂ’s game and the 9 a.m. start on a bright, sunny Friday, but it was enough time for the U.S. squad to recharge and match CanadaÂ’s vigor. The Canadian team, which ordinarily plays ringette and came together for two exhibition games over the Christmas holidays, and for this tournament, which was held at the John Rose Oval in Roseville, Minnesota.

While the sun was shining brightly, the temperature was minus-5 degrees Fahrenheit at the start, and the wind was blowing from the north end toward the south at a bone-chilling 30 miles per hour, making a windchill temperature of about 25 degrees below zero.

Skating with the wind at their backs, the U.S. skaters gained the lead off a perfect corner pass play, when Heather Pritchard, the sweeper on Team USAÂ’s stout defense, drilled her shot after 10:28 of play in the first half.

The lead held through a very closely contested half,, then the teams took an extended half-hour break inside to thaw out their body parts. The test was whether the U.S. could maintain its pace in the second half, when it had to skate into that same brisk wind, which kept the various flags flapping straight out on the sidelines.

The question was answered when Team USA did far more than just bunch up defensively, and pressed their attack. When they were awarded possession for a right corner pass-in 6:30 into the second 30-minute half, Janice Klausing golfed a low shot cleanly into CanadaÂ’s goal. On corner passes, the defending team must start on its own goal line, then they disperse as the pass is made, trying to cover the opposing shooters. But Klausing’s right-handed swat drove the ball through the scrambling Canadian skaters and into the lower left of the net.

“We put our thoughts together for today’s game,” said Klausing, after Team USA had claimed the 2-0 victory – its first in two World Championship appearances – for fifth place. “Fast ice helps, and a good night’s sleep.”

Canada’s Chris Delisle said: “The cold really shut us down. And the wind was so strong. When we first cameout, we were frozen. We had more energy last night.”

An interesting comparison was that Delisle is 18, in her first year at the University of Manitoba, while Klausing is 42 years old. As Delisle said, the severe cold seemed to affect Canada more than the U.S., and it didnÂ’t make her feel any better that she and her team are from Winnipeg, the Manitoba city being credited with being the site from where the severe cold front was coming from.

“Give credit to the U.S., they played a better game,” said Canada coach Costa Cholakis. “The U.S. yesterday had some good scoring chances on corners, but didn’t capitalize. Today, they scored beautiful goals on two chances on corners, which meant we were chasing them.”

U.S. coach Paul Meehl said he always hears the talk about tactics involving the wind, and he took the wind at his back for the first half, but acknowledged it might all be more psychological than fact.
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“The thing about the wind,” Meehl said, “is that whichever way you’re going to try to score, you’re going the other way half the time.

“But you always want to take the wind,when you can, because you never know if the wind might change by the second half,” Meehl added. “We put a priority on getting the first goal, and once we got it, we played a strong game defensively and shut down the middle of the ice. We clogged up the middle, and then we got a second goal on a perfectly excecuted corner stroke.”

The tournament, which concludes Saturday with a third-place game at 12 noon, and the championship at 3 p.m., will end the season for Canada.

“We have no rink in Winnipeg,” said Delisle, “so our season is over.”
Aside from practicing on a hockey rink, which is tiny compared to a bandy rink, which is the same size as a soccer field, CanadaÂ’s players found a practice site on a water hazard at a Winnipeg golf course. ThatÂ’s at least big enough, although Cholakis said that the ice on the water hazard has a few trees and shrubs on it.

The John Rose Oval is the only bandy rink in Minnesota, but BlaineÂ’s National Sports Center, which has four rinks, is considering a plan to add a bandy rink.

The sport of bandy, using a hard but light ball, with short sticks that can easily be one-handed, has 11 players a side, similar to soccer, and stresses great skating speed and finesse, with no bodychecking allowed.

“Our next goal is to get a rink,” said Delisle. “We’ll never catch upto the Swedes if we don’t have a rink.”

The intention is to aim for getting bandy installed as a Winter Olympic sport. Sweden, Finland, Russia and Norway –the teams playing in Friday night’s semifinals, are the top countries for bandy, but the range of skill levels is similar to women’s hockey, which has been in the Olympics since 1998.

Sweden deserves gold in NHL-dominated Olympics

All across North America, media people are predicting the automatic gold medal for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics. After all, they won it last time, didnÂ’t they? And the team is comprised of the best NHL superstars, so Canada is the automatic pick. And the USA, also filled with NHLers, might be the perfect opponent in the gold medal game, just like last time, right?

Writing this before the menÂ’s portion of the Winter Olympics begins, my pick is Sweden. The Czech Republic will be tough too, and some have said the 1998 gold medalist Czechs might be a favorite.

IÂ’m picking Sweden.

I like Nicklas Lidstrom leading the defense corps, because he’s probably the best defenseman in the NHL. How can you not like goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, a rookie playing sensationally with the New York Rangers. Then there’s Daniel Alfredsson, Markus Naslund, Mats Sundin, and Henrik Zetterberg, and – oh yeah – maybe even Peter Forsberg. Those are among the reasons I like Sweden’s chances, but there are more.

We all can mourn the passing of the “true” amateur Olympic of 1980. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to Lake Placid to specialize in covering the hockey tournament, because there were so many Minnesotans involved. A great assignment became more fantastic than anyone could have predicted when Herb Brooks led his college guys to the miraculous gold medal.

True, the U.S. and Canada were about the only real amateurs, because of social customs around the world. In Sweden, Finland, and other European countries, players held down full-time jobs to play for teams in certain cities, and in the Soviet Union, the best players were placed on the Red Army team, where the only uniform and weapons they used were those of a great hockey team. By international rules, they were amateurs; by North American standards, they were pros.

All of that made the 1980 U.S. achievement more notable, because they beat a Soviet Union team that had beaten the NHL All-Stars 6-0 in the deciding game of their international series earlier that year.

But the Soviet Union is no more, the playing field has been leveled because all pros are now eligible. Never again will an amateur team be able to compete with the NHL superstars that are now scattered onto various Olympic teams for what is, essentially, an NHL all-star tournament. USA Hockey is a proud and capable organization, which used to create the system and select the players for Team USA, but now about all the organization has to do is make sure the red, white and blue uniforms all have the proper colors.

Come to think of it, a few years ago that even got changed — from the stunningly beautiful blue you can see on our nation’s flags to a darker (more macho?) navy blue. I didn’t think you could do that with a flag’s colors, but anything is possible these days.

The NHL runs the tournament, and the tournament’s public relations, and the NHL would most like to see Canada or the U.S. win the gold. Sure, the money and sites for most NHL teams are in the U.S., but make no mistake about it — it’s a Canadian-dominated game, under Canadian influence. It’s a Canadian Fact.

In 2002, the NHL wouldn’t release any players to their countries’ teams until a couple days before preliminary round games. So when the weaker teams, with fewer NHL players, had their own play-in tournament to gain the preliminary round — teams like Belarus, Latvia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, who need those few NHLers more than stronger teams — were allowed to use those players in only one game. Games were decided because coaches chose to hold a star NHL player out, and were beaten in play-in games because of it. If Canada had forfeited all its games for some technicality, and had to participate in the play-in round for the games, do you think the NHL might have let them go a little earlier?

One of the other biggest changes to the Olympics of the 1980s is in tournament format. Back then, every game in the preliminary round was vitally important, because only the top two in each of two pools advanced to the medal round. Now, all eight preliminary-round teams play in the quarterfinals, so the entire round merely determines seeding. A team could go 0-4 in the preliminary round, then play well three times and win the gold medal. A team also could be the best through an undefeated preliminary round, then get upset in the quarterfinals and be deprived of playing for any medal.

That’s why, when I let only a little bit of sentimentality crowd my basic sense of fair play, I’m pulling for Sweden. Because I was at Salt Lake City in 2002, when Sweden and the United States were the best two teams in the tournament. Then, just like now, everybody in the North American media picked Team Canada. It was the best international team ever assembled, it had Wayne Gretzky running the team back before his wife placed illegal bets with his assistant NHL coach, and it had Mario Lemieux as the biggest-name of a galaxy of NHL stars.

The U.S., meanwhile, under the brilliant hand of Herb Brooks, stalked through its preliminary round, playing well and improving every game. After a scoreless first period in its opener, the U.S. beat a potent Finland 6-0 for a remarkable start. The U.S. then tied powerful Russia 2-2, with Brett Hull scoring to tie it in the closing minutes, after goals by Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov gave Russia and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin a 2-1 lead. Then the U.S. crushed Belarus 8-1 after trailing 1-0 through one period.

Finland came off the devastating 6-0 loss to the U.S. to bury Belarus 8-1, then the Finns shocked Russia 2-1. That meant the U.S. (2-0-1) was No. 1 in its pool, with Finland (2-1) second, Russia (1-1-1) third, and Belarus (0-3) fourth.

In the other pool, all of those Team Canada superstars played as if they really weren’t sure they could be bothered by showing up. They were flat out blitzed by Sweden, 5-2 in a game that sent shockwaves coast to coast — Nova Scotia to British Columbia. By the narrow count of 3-2, Canada barely slipped past Germany – Germany! Canada had all it could manage to get a 3-3 tie against the Czech Republic, being outshot 36-23. Sweden, other than a close 2-1 call against the Czech Republic, eased to the top seed in the pool at 3-0, followed by the Czech Republic in second, Canada third, and Germany fourth.

Before 1984, the round-robin pools would determine the top two on each side to advance to the medal round, so any loss could make a difference. In the medal round, teams were cross-scheduled, 1 vs. 2 and 2 vs. 1 against the other side, then they’d play 2 vs. 2 and 1 vs. 1. Usually, the final game would decide the gold medal. But 1980 caused a rise in U.S. arrogance level both on the ice and in media boardrooms, so U.S. television booked hours of hockey coverage, and every newspaper sent Olympic specialists to cover the Winter Olympics, and particularly the anticipated next miracle.

The U.S., however, lost its first two preliminary round games, precluding any chance of making the medal round. Hours of television coverage of medal-round games was basically unwatched in the U.S. Stung by that scenario, U.S. television paid huge sums to coax the Olympic Committee to change to a full-bracket tournament of eight teams in elimination games — quarterfinals, semifinals, and a gold-medal final.

The change was made, and evolved to where the full round-robin eliminates nobodyand no more meaning than pro sports preseason exhibitions, except to determine pairings for the “medal round” quarterfinals. Few people realized that in 2002, when, based on preliminary round play, the final looked likely to feature the once-tied U.S. against undefeated Sweden. Finland and the Czechs were potential spoilers, as were Canada and Russia, but if 2002 still used the historic round-robin concept, Canada and Russia would not have even made it to the medal round.

Winless Belarus, having lost 8-1 to both the Finland and the U.S., seemed to have no chance as No. 4 seed against the opposite bracket’s No. 1, Sweden. But goaltender Andrei Mezin, playing with a ragged, old catching glove, and a memory of his six-year trek through the low minor leagues of North America pro hockey that peaked at the International Hockey League, pulled it off. Mezin stopped 21 shots in the first period, facing 47 shots in all, and Belarus stunned Sweden with a 4-3 upset. “They’re way better,” Mezin said. “I didn’t expect to beat them, but you always try to win.”

Mats Sundin had tied the game 3-3 on a breakaway at 7:54 of the third period, but you almost had to be there in the E-Center, or watching slow-motion replay, to appreciate the game-winner. Vladimir Kopat crossed the blue line and fired a slap shot. The puck hit Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo on the top of the facemask, and as Salo flinched, the puck popped straight up, and when it tumbled downward, it hit Salo on the back and bounced into the net at 17:36.

With only 2:24 remaining, Sweden was collectively too shocked, and had too little time, to respond, and Belarus had the biggest victory in its history, 4-3.

With one No. 1 seed out, the other No. 1 came through when the U.S. won a carefully efficient 5-0 victory over Germany to gain the semifinals.

Canada, still underachieving, got past Finland 2-1, while Russia edged the Czech Republic 1-0 in the other quarterfinals. All across Canada, writers were ripping the Canadian players for poor play; Wayne Gretzky angrily lashed out at them by somehow calling it an “American media plot” to discredit Canada.

The first semifinal pitted a fourth-seed, Belarus, against a third-seed, Canada, and the magic in MezinÂ’s glove was obliterated as the Canadians cruised to an easy 7-1 romp.

That led to perhaps the best game of the entire Salt Lake City games, as Team USA got goals from Bill Guerin, Scott Young and Phil Housley to lead 3-0 after two periods, only to have Russia storm back. After being outshot 38-11 through two periods, the Russians got a goal from Aleksei Kovalev at 0:11, and Vladimir Malakhov at 3:21 to close it to 3-2.

That’s how it ended, bringing to mind a shot by Sergei Samsonov that had beaten goalie Mike Richter, struck the right pipe, caromed across to hit the left pipe, and twirled above Richter, who was flat on his back. The Russians were sure it went in, and after a late penalty called on the Russians, defusing their chances, a post-game discussion led to Markhov being given a gross misconduct for his choice of words to NHL referee Bill McCreary. Acting properly under international rules, McCreary suspended Markhov from playing for the bronze medal in the third-place game, in which the Russians beat bedgraggled Belarus 6-2.

In the gold medal game, Canada finally found its form, although in some ways the gameÂ’s form met Canada more than halfway. For the full pre-game day, CanadaÂ’s officials, from Gretzky to coach Pat Quinn, to NHL executives, and to the Canadian players, repeated the insistence that since the game was Canada vs. the U.S., both teams could forget about the international quirks and play a good old NHL game after all.

Brooks tried his best to dispute that, insisting it still had to be called as an international game. But NHL “style” won out.

Meanwhile, across Canada a patriotic fervor attacked Brooks. He was asked about Canada’s favored NHL style of dump-and-chase, and he said that was a good tactic for some, but he chose to coach a different style. He was pressed, repeatedly, by Canadian media, but he was careful to say he respected that style, but prefered a different style. The story broke in Canada that Brooks had insulted Canada’s style, and it was carried nationwide. Canada’s nation, as well as its team, were properly inflamed by the artificial hype.

There were a lot of hits, a lot of up and down passion, but numerous penalties that were commonplace throughout the tournament were not called in the final game. McCreary let them play, as they say in sports. It’s a Canadian fact. Try as they might to regroup and play puck-possession, the U.S. was kept off-balance by the physical Canadian attack, but Canada did play well.

The U.S. led 1-0, but Canada took a 2-1 lead on goals by Paul Kariya and Jerome Iginla by the first intermission. Brian RafalskiÂ’s goal tied it 2-2 for the U.S., but Joe Sakic regained a 3-2 lead for Canada. In the third period, Steve Yzerman was called for tripping, and on his way to the penalty box, he fired off a loud and hostile tirade at McCreary. It seemed so out of character for Yzerman, who would make everybody’s good-guy list. Not to worry, there would be no additional penalty — no misconduct, and certainly no suspension. So Yzerman stewed for two minutes, then stormed back onto the ice at 15:43, and 18 seconds later the supercharged Yzerman set up Iginla for a goal to make it 4-2, puncturing the tension. Iginla set up Sakic for another with 1:20 to go, and it ended 5-2.

Canada, a team that didnÂ’t play well enough through the preliminary round to even make the medal round under the old rules, caught a huge break when the quarterfinal bracket left them with an easy semifinal against Belarus, then played one game that would be considered up to the form everyone had anticipated, and went home with the gold medal.

Flash forward to 2006. Canada doesnÂ’t have Mario Lemieux, or Steve Yzerman, and, in my view, is not be as strong as in 2002. The Canadians could, of course, overachieve this time. Most of the media expects it.

Team USA doesnÂ’t have Brett Hull, or Jeremy Roenick, or Mike Richter, and it also doesnÂ’t have Herb Brooks. Team USA has Mike Modano, and Brian Rolston, and several Minnesota NHLers such as Bret Hedican, Mark Parrish, Jason Blake, and former Gopher Jordan Leopold, but it does not have former Gopher Paul Martin, who is on something of a reserve squad in case of injury, while Chris Chelios, at age 44, and Darien Hatcher presumably play regular defense. So Team USA doesnÂ’t appear to be as strong as 2002, in my opinion. Fedorov, Samsonov, Bure and others are gone from RussiaÂ’s team, so they, too, don’t look as strong.

Ah, but Sweden – arguably the strongest team at Salt Lake City in 2002 – not only returns the best players from that team, but adds several of the new and younger Swedes who are tearing up the NHL. They’re my pick, and I’m sticking to it. Besides, it would only be justice, after what happened in Salt Lake City.

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• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.