Hockey

CALGARY - They've got one practice left before the most important hockey
tournament since 1972. And it doesn't happen for five-and-a-half months.

Mark it down: Feb. 15, in Vancouver. One lousy workout.

We'll have to admit though: Team Canada is very nearly up to speed.

"A bunch of very talented players, very excited to play," assessed Team
Canada head coach Mike Babcock, after a 2-2 tie was decided in a
shootout Thursday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome, much to the delight
of 19,289 fans.

"It's the first time anybody ever cheered for a team I had in here, I
can tell you that," Babcock joked.

After a four-day orientation camp, 45 players plied the game plan
Babcock has been preaching to them. It was like an All-Star game on
offence - except everybody was checking like a demon defensively.

"Well, they better be doing that," the coach said. "Every team we play
at the Olympics is going to be very skilled. It's the team that competes
the hardest that's going to win."

Let's hope that Team Canada accomplished its objective this week in
Calgary, because by the time they shake hands and tape a few sticks in
Vancouver, they'll be out on the ice defending this hockey country's
honour at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"I'm hopeful that when the players leave here," said GM Steve Yzerman,
"they'll all have a good understanding of everything that we're going to
be doing. From all the off-ice stuff to how we're going to play, and
what we'll be looking for when the get back to their teams and start
playing this fall.

"We've read a lot about the pace and the intensity of practices - it's
really been set by the players, I don't think the coaches have had to
say much."

When you see 45 of this country's finest players on the same sheet of
ice, as a packed house did in Calgary Thursday night, it is truly an
awesome sight. It seemed a joke that they would fill this barn for an
intra-squad game in August, but by the time it was it was money well
spent.

Even in August, in the first preseason scrimmage of the season for these
players, the pace was electric. And the goaltending spectacular.

Roberto Luongo stopped 17 shots in his one period of work, while at the
other end Martin Brodeur - Luongo's adversary for the No. 1 job in
Vancouver - saw less rubber, but was still spectacular.

"All five goalies made some incredible saves at times," Luongo said.
"Like I've said: We have some incredible talent in that room."

The final score was 3-2 for the Reds, settled in a shootout after a 2-2
regulation tie. The most notable line juggling was when an ineffective
Jarome Iginla was taken off his line with Sid Crosby and Rick Nash and
replaced with Martin St. Louis.

"Well, I didn't like the line," Babcock said plainly, as is the norm
from him. "[The white team] was outshot 17-7 in the first period, and
12-7 in the next one. They weren't doing enough."

It's hard to think that Crosby and Iginla can not find a way to mesh -
they are two players with skills that seem to fit together like pieces
of a puzzle. But it never did happen at this camp, and now we'll see if
chemistry builds through osmosis, from a Conference apart during the
first half of the National Hockey League season.

"Everyone wants to talk about who's going to be the captain, who's going
to play on Sidney's line," Yzerman said. "We're trying some things,
coaches envision certain players in certain roles in certain situations.
But once you get the tournament, things could go in a different
direction after one period.

"I go back to that '87 Canada Cup and next thing you know, Gretzky and
Lemieux are on a line. And it was never talked about before they made
the switch."

Those kinds of decisions will fall to Babcock, who walked in here and
showed everyone who's boss. He is uber-prepared, and any player who
can't match his willingness to work at this thing can book that February
beach holiday right now.

"Having played for Scotty [Bowman], having played for Mike, having
played for Glen Sather going back, these top coaches are very demanding,
and Mike is that," Yzerman said. "It's a short tournament, you have to
do some things differently. His participation in the world junior and
world championships as a coach will help him in understanding that these
events are a little bit different, and some things are out of your
control."

Out of Dany Heatley's control was a semi-hostile Saddledome crowd that
booed him often on Thursday, a sure sign that some transplanted
Edmontonians an Ottawans were in the building. One person, no doubt a
Calgarian, held up a sign before the game that read "Don't Worry Dany -
We Wouldn't Want To Play In Edmonton Either."

As for Luongo, he was trying to discern whether the fans were yelling.

"I wasn't sure whether they were "Lu-ing" me or booing me," he laughed.
"But I think when you put that maple leaf on, all that other stuff is
forgotten."

Yep - those fans will be with you win or tie, Roberto.