Saturday, September 8, 2001
Team Canada get-together was worth it
By ROBIN BROWNLEE -- Edmonton Sun
CALGARY -- The Great One has no regrets.
As far as Wayne Gretzky is concerned, if any NHLPA edicts or guidelines were contravened during what turned into a mini-training camp for Team Canada at Father David Bauer Arena this week, well, so be it.
Having just watched four days of spirited drills, skates and scrimmages in what was supposed to be an orientation camp, with only two days of on-ice workouts - terms laid out by the NHLPA - Gretzky, the executive director of Team Canada, wasn't apologizing for anything yesterday.
"Obviously, a get-together like this does nothing but great things for the team, for team continuity," Gretzky said. "Everyone now realizes what they're shooting for here the next three months and how great an honour and thrill it is to play not only for Canada, but to play in the Olympics.
"It's four days. None of the players complained about it for one second. Was there controversy? Maybe there was. Should there have been a controversy? To me, no."
As part of Canada's failed medal bid at the 1998 Games in Nagano as a player, a process in which Team Canada's contingent had no time whatsoever to prepare, Gretzky was unabashed in his praise of what unfolded in Cowtown as 36 invitees gathered in his first foray into the management end of the business.
Gretzky, assistant Kevin Lowe and the rest of the Team Canada brain trust kept close tabs on proceedings daily from the stands and Pat Quinn and his coaching staff oversaw four solid sessions on the ice - another no-no according to NHLPA guidelines.
It was unanimous among members of management, the coaching staff and the players who attended that expanding the scope of the four-day session was a positive move.
"The players were the guys who stepped forward and said, 'We want to skate.' The bottom line is they love playing hockey," said Gretzky. "It's our game and we're proud of it.
"Our guys handle themselves with a great deal of dignity and class all the time. They came here and they did a great thing for Hockey Canada, they did a great thing for their country and, more important, they helped raise the excitement level for kids in this country about how great it could be to one day play on a Canadian Olympic team.
"From that point of view, we're extremely proud of them. A year from now, nobody is even going to be talking about it (the guidelines)."
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
