Monday, January 14, 2002
Primeau miffed
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
PHILADELPHIA -- If the Canadian Olympic team finds itself without a power forward such as Eric Lindros or Owen Nolan because of an injury, a call probably will be placed to Keith Primeau.
Who will get the next call after that remains to be seen. Primeau, apparently, will decline the offer.
The big Philadelphia Flyers forward didn't say unequivocally that he wouldn't play for Canada, but he certainly implied it.
"It wouldn't be that I'd be angry," said Primeau, who produced an outstanding performance in the 1998 Nagano Games. "I respect the decisions that they make, but if I was to be an alternate, I wish they would have shown me the respect to give me a call to let me know.
"I've got four small children at home who know that I have a week off, and I intentionally made a decision to stay in Philadelphia for that break.
"I've got some decisions to make and because I respected their decision, I'm sure they'll respect mine."
After the announcement of the Olympic team on Dec. 15, the organizers said they had designated six alternates -- Sean Burke, Derek Morris, Wade Redden, Anson Carter, Joe Thornton and Primeau -- who would be informed of their status.
But Primeau says he received no such call. That, in itself, was a disappointment. But he was already down because he hadn't been selected to the team.
"I was disappointed in the sense that, one, I wanted to be there," he said.
"Two, I feel that the consistency I've shown, not only in my NHL career but also at the international level, would have had some merit, and three, because I didn't get out of the blocks the way I needed to or wanted to, to impress enough of the committee."
On the numbers alone, Primeau was a difficult choice. But he says there were mitigating factors, including a ligament strain in one of his knees, making it difficult to play in tight areas.
"It happens so easily," he said. "You have some opportunities, but you miss some open nets and hit some posts, and instead of having 10 goals early on, you have three or four, and I've never been a guy to get three or four goals in a game to get the totals back up. But that shows you my consistency."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
