Take that, Italy

So, as some of you may be aware, the Winter Olympics are on right now in Turin*, so naturally I’ve been watching an awful lot of random sports on the tube. I always like the Winter Olympics better than the summer variety. I mean, track and field is pretty dull… wow, that guy just ran in a straight line… amazing… oh look, there are some people running in circles… oh, there is someone jumping… and someone throwing a heavy object. WOW. And swimming is pretty much track, but in water. Plus a whole lot of other pointless stuff like equestrian, modern pentathlon, etc. Ridiculous. Winter Olympics on the other hand has cool stuff like ski jumping, luge/skeleton/bobsled, and short track speed skating. Equally ridiculous I guess, but way more cool to watch. And there are some sports that I actually watch when it’s not the Olympics, like curling, and of course hockey.

Hockey! That was going to be the point of this. The men’s competition just got underway today with Canada spanking the host Italians 7-2. But well before that, the women started playing, with everyone expecting Canada and the US to dominate everyone else on the way to the gold medal final. Well, that’s happened… but I don’t think many, myself included, thought the Canadians would dominate quite so much. 16-0 over Italy… Yikes. But Italy’s only in as the host. They can’t be expected to hang with the Canucks. Next: Russia – more of a hockey nation, but a weaker women’s program, but still… 12-0. OK, they haven’t faced anyone good yet. Next is Sweden. One of the two best teams outside of the North American powerhouses. 8-1. Whoa. After the first three games Canada had outscored their opponents 36-1. Shots were 156-30. And Canada’s top line of Wickenheiser, Piper, and Apps already has 33 points combined. Unreal.

Anyway, this complete dominance of their opponents bodes well for the Canadian team for the rest of the tournament, but now some people are complaining they’re winning by too much. ‘Running up the score’, some say, ‘padding their stats’, or thinking that the other countries are just going to run home crying and never play hockey again. Some say this is typical Canadian guilt over success, but now even the Americans are getting in on it. US defenceman* Angela Ruggiero chimed in with some harsh words for the Canadian team, with some of the above criticisms and saying they should play nice against the hosts. Those should provide some fighting words for the inevitable Canada-US final.

Anyway, my thoughts: this isn’t Timbits hockey, it’s the Olympics. People are playing to win. This should be the best of the best, and teams need to be in winning form. That means playing hard and taking your opponents seriously, it doesn’t mean letting up when you’ve got a comfortable lead… that kind of attitude can bite you in the ass later. Certainly Italy’s not going to come back from 10-0, but if Canada gets used to playing half a game and then coasting, they may not be ready to play a whole game when thy face a real opponent. And about embarassing opponents… when I’m playing a game and getting blown out, I certainly don’t feel disrespected if my opponent keeps up their play till the end, rather than coasting or turning the last half into a joke. A team that is playing you hard is taking you seriously, even if they’re giving you a pounding.

So keep on givin’ ‘er, Team Canada. We could use more of this killer instinct in the rest of the Games, and beyond.

* Yeah. Turin. Sure I could call it by the local name (Torino), but then I’d have to do that for everyone. That’s just too much work.

** Defencewoman? Defenceperson? Still haven’t figured that one out.