Hockey

CALGARY - They have talked before as peers and friends, and in the weeks ahead they will talk again on how to prepare a team for such a colossal event - how to minimize the pressure, sharpen the focus, seize the moment.

Dave King is the only man to have head-coached a Canadian hockey team at a home-ice Olympics and Mike Babcock, his 2010 successor from the Detroit Red Wings, is eager to learn from that experience. The two men have spoken about life and coaching in the NHL, and earlier this month they chatted as participants in a Saskatchewan Hockey Association coaching symposium in Saskatoon.

"He told me, 'Kinger, I'm going to call you when you get back from Europe,' " said King, who is currently vacationing overseas. "One of Mike's strengths is that he seeks out people for information. He does his homework."

It was 21 years ago that King and his band of mostly non-NHL players, skated onto the Saddledome ice shouldering Canada's hopes for a hockey medal. Although he had coached at the previous Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, King understood the enormity of the Calgary Games and the stresses that would be at play. So he decided to do his homework. He went to the best source of information he could find - Herb Brooks, the U.S. miracle-on-ice maker.

Right off the draw, it was clear King was in a precarious position.

Brooks' 1980 U.S. team was dismantled by Russian's Big Red Machinists prior to the Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Americans entered their home tournament as mammoth underdogs. They scored a late goal to tie Sweden 2-2 in their first game then walloped Czechoslovakia before edging the Russians, and later the Finns, en route to a much-celebrated gold medal.

King's crew beat the Russians in the 1987 Izvestia tournament in Moscow two months before the Olympics and thus blew their cover. Sports Illustrated named Canada its gold-medal pick for Calgary. The pressure intensified; the Canadians were cooked.

"Herb talked a lot about the team mentality," King said. "Early into their tournament they won a pivotal game that seemed to swing so much momentum. Our pivotal game was against Finland. We couldn't beat their goalie and lost. Herb told me a lot of his players played better [in Lake Placid] then they had ever played before or after."

King acknowledged his 1988 team was young and limited. The Calgary Flames lent mismatched forward Jim Peplinski. Sean Burke, an NHL draft pick, starred in goal. In their medal-round rematch with Russia, it was clear Viktor Tikhonov's players had learned their lesson. They squashed Canada 5-0 and won gold.

They would win again four years later as the Unified Team in Albertville, France.

"For us to win we had to play so much above our heads," insisted King, who finished fourth in Calgary and second in Albertville. "It's such a different situation now."

King is aware of the changes in and around the Olympics. For one thing, the media scrutiny and public interest has flown off the charts. King said his staff did all it could "to keep things in perspective." They talked about sticking to their on-ice system, blocking out the distractions and "looking at the big picture."

But for the 2010 team that will be even tougher since most everything has been arranged in Canada's favour.

"They're playing on our sized ice. Most games are handled by NHL officials," said King, who noted that wasn't the case in 1988. "Of the top six teams, I'd say 80 per cent of their line-ups now play in the NHL. You know everybody. Guys face-off against guys from the same (NHL) team. Lots of these guys will bring Stanley Cup experience to their teams.

"We saw the top Russian team four or five times. We saw the Russian B teams all the time. It wasn't the same."

And yet, much is repeating itself. King will privately share his keenest thoughts with Babcock the way Brooks passed his along to King. Naturally, there will be talk of strategies and tendencies. But in the end, the Olympics remain an exercise in producing on the day; finding that pivotal moment and exploiting it to the fullest.

For the 2010 hopefuls who are practising this week in the same arena that hosted the 1988 Olympic hockey games, there can be no doubt of the challenge that lies ahead.

"Since the pros have been at the Olympics, Canada has won gold and finished fourth and seventh," said King. "Even with the best players there's no guarantee. Everyone needs to understand that."