Hockey

On the night that Mike Babcock assembled his Canadian men's Olympic coaching staff for the first time, a one-hour get-together turned into a five-hour bull session about the prospects for the team and the various duties that the members of his staff - Ken Hitchcock, Jacques Lemaire and Lindy Ruff - will be assigned.

Ruff, of the Buffalo Sabres, will run the defence and concentrate on special teams. Lemaire, formerly of the Minnesota Wild, will handle the penalty killing. Hitchcock, the Columbus Blue Jackets' coach and a holdover from the past two Olympic teams and the 2008 world championship team, will provide the benefit of his experience.

Babcock, 46, will lead Canada internationally for the third time as a head coach after winning gold medals at the 1997 world junior championship and the 2004 world championship.

Babcock spoke with The Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek after Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman officially appointed Babcock to the position yesterday in Montreal:

1 "When Steve and I sat down to talk about the coaches, there wasn't much of a debate, only agreement. The experience is a real comforting factor. Hitch has been through it three times. Lindy's been in one situation for a long time, and found a way to make it work, with all kinds of teams and all kinds of players going out the door. Jacques, in my opinion, has done the same. They've all been about winning.

"The last two days. I said to Jacques, what do you do on the fore-check? I said to Lindy, what do you on the penalty kill? We all had our go at it. It's not going to be the Mike Babcock way or the Detroit Red Wings way or the Minny way, it's going to be the best way - the best way we can find for this group to have success."

2 "Is there going to be a time when we disagree over a player? Absolutely.

"That's why it's fun. You're not surrounding yourself with people to say, ‘Yes, that's a good idea.' You're looking for the debate. That's how you get better. And that's why we have strong personalities, with good experience. They're not going to give in easily - and I like that.

"We know what we need to have success. We want to play a 200-foot game.

"If you can't do it as a player and you've shown you can't do it over a period of time - in other words, if we can't trust you - you're not getting out there. It's simple. There'll be no trying to turn an apple into an orange. That's not going to happen."

3 "I had a chance to go to the Olympic camp in Calgary [in 2001] when I was coaching in Cincinnati [in the AHL]. The tempo was so high, some players couldn't keep up. So they're going to decide who's on the team, not us.

"They're going to decide by how they play, not at the [orientation] camp, but on what they did in the playoffs, on what they did in the world championship, and on what they're going to do from September until they announce the club.

"Now, that's not exactly a thrill for me as the coach of the Red Wings - that every time a [visiting player] comes in, they're trying to show you something.

"I always said to Stevie, make sure nobody sees you when you come into the building. Even this past year, I don't need them seeing you and thinking they're trying out for the team and seeing their best effort."

4 "Six or seven years ago, I don't know if I would have been ready to take this on. But [Red Wings general manager] Ken Holland always talks about how you build a résumé over time and you keep working and eventually, you're prepared for things and you're comfortable in those situations.

"The best part [of the Olympics] is you only hear your anthem once - if you've won the gold medal. I have the picture of the national junior team in 1997 in my office, of them all hugging. I had the same for 2004, when they presented the [world championship] trophy to Ryan Smyth.

"Those are as good as memories as I have."

5 "I remember what a fine line it is [between winning and losing]. In 2004, we were 2-2, going into overtime against the Finns, with the possibility of going home with nothing. I'm not a big walk-down-memory lane guy, but ... that's how tight it is. It's the Stanley Cup playoffs jammed into 13 or 14 days and you can't afford a mishap.

"Kevin Lowe said it's the fear of losing, with enough courage to get out there and win. I liked that. You understand that things can go wrong, but your will and your preparation and your skill level is going to make it go right.

"I think we have a really good group and I'm not talking about players, I'm talking about people. That's so important - the leadership group has to grab this team and say, this is what we're doing and this is how we're doing it. It's not about individuals. It's about this team. Let's face it, if you do well together, everybody gets the credit."