@@KennethSchamehorn Good point. There was too much importance placed on who won the Stanley Cup. The same thing is happening in the NHL now. The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Craig Berube, basically because he won a Cup in St. Louis. But what everyone seems to have forgotten was that team was OUT of the playoffs until Jordan Binnington was called up. It would have made more sense for the Leafs to trade for Binnington!!! He is the one who brought that team to the Cup, not Berube. Crawford happened to be the coach of the best team in the NHL at the time. But I think they would have won with just about anyone behind the bench.
@@kenneththorberg6914 I'm not sure if they were in dead last or not. But they were DEFINITELY out of a playoff spot. So Binnington gets called up, they go on a run and win it all...and Berube gets the credit??? Give me a break right??
@wizzerwiser2056 I don't care it was oyr country's greatest player of all time in his last tournament representing Canada.He earned the right to take that shot and Canadians could have lived with him not scoring
@@denisepink8794 Gretzky had experience reading goaltenders and excellent shot placement. Just the slightest lean one way or the other, they were dead. There is no question, with his experience, no matter what ice you put him on, he could score. Gretzy wasn't worried about ice issues, he was working on how the puck bounced off the boards.
Hello, Czech here. I remember seeing in the Nagano documentary for us Czechs the Canadian coach saying on camera that he will have on his tombstone something like: "There lies the guy who benched Gretzky in Canada's biggest need." I thought it was hilarious :D Nice vid man, very well done
@@bukelos2804 nah'..someone had blackmail on him,,,LOL... no way you bench the greatest ever to play forward and Yzerman to boot.... he is an absolute IDIOT....that is all
Knocks Trevor Linden, only guy who scored against Hasek, 5th all time in winner take all games, better PPG than #2 Gilmour and #3 Krejci. He deserved to be on that roster.
What you duffasses canuckleheads?... Do you mean "He shoots he misses Trevor Linden" The guy who is slower than a Zamboni.. that Trevor Linden... lmfao.
I never would question Linden's suitability on that team. Linden was clutch - not because of luck - but because he found an extra gear when everything was on the line.
@@XPOPS2024 Coming from someone strongly pro-Linden biased, I have to agree with you. Oates is built for hockey on IIHF ice. Francis is just more accomplished. But don't count out Linden, he's extremely underrrated - keep in mind, he nearly upset the Messier-led Rangers in 1994.
I am Canadian, so this might be treasonous.. lol.. But part of me DID like seeing Canada humbled a bit. I was happy for Sweden (Just like I was happy for the Czechs in 1998) .
@@trevornott2488 Wasn't it Gretzky? When you look at the lineup it looks strong, but European bigger ice is a different game really. I think he chose more big power forwards than quick transitional players.
@@andrewphilips2457 I have read some analyses of both Nagano and Turin Olympics, made by Finnish hockey journalists, and they seem to come to the conclusion that for both Olympics the "mistake" made in assembling Team Canada was not just picking big power forwards to games which were being played in international sized rinks, but "choosing big names" instead of actually trying to assemble, well, a team. The individual talent Canada could put on the ice was unrivaled, but how well do they play together as a team? The article I read concerning the Nagano Olympics especially pointed out, how the defensemen Canada chose, were on the older side (examples given were MacInnis and Bourque) or big, heavy hitting, but (especially when compared to Czechs, whose entire hockey identity seems to be based on fast skating) slow guys, such as Stevens and Desjardins. Again, in the Turin Olympics, Team Canada's roster looks great, but once again, maybe a bit too many "big names", and not exactly a complete team.
Bobby Clarke is truly a doorknob. 52 years later and he still doesn't apologize for his intentional breaking of Kharlamov's ankle, and his record as a GM speaks volumes about the goon hockey he loves. Problem is, that doesn't win at the international level. People don't give the Czech enough credit though. That was the golden age of Czech hockey and their entire philosophy was built around individual puck possession. I have the puck and you will not get it from me. Regardless, Hockey Canada learned so many lessons from the 98 games.
My beef with Bobby is not taking Eric Lindros' concussions more seriously. And with no helmet, how many did Bobby likely suffer during his playing career??
Great video with great analysis. Yes, 99 admits he is no good at breakaways, and his goal-scoring was in decline at that time. Still, he is the all-time goal scoring leader, has the greatest hockey mind ever and is clutch. Put him on the list; have him shoot.
There were so many management mistakes from the getgo.....Zamuner .?... Corson?.....What the hell were these morons thinking? Imagine having 99 and Stevie Y sitting on the bench watching a defenceman that never scored against anything but a Styrofoam target on a breakaway in his life. Clarke and Crawford can take a whole lot of credit for this fiasco. They tried to show the world they were so so smart. How did that work out?
"czech were just happy to be there". Huh? Czechs went on and won the golden hattrick in three consecutive world championships right after Nagano. No other country has ever achieved that to this day. Those guys were not some middle eastern herders that by some freak accident got into the semifinals, that was one of the best if not the best teams at that time in the world and they more than proved it.
@@talibandit The Czechs had a very strong team but they were coming from their most humiliating defeat ever at the World Cup 96 so there were a lot of doubts even in Czechia. Of course the Canadians underestimated the Czech strength largely due to the fact there were so many non-NHL players on the team. However back then there still used to be a lot of strong players in European leagues so it didn't really hurt the Czechs at all.
@@HOCKEYFILES-sf8gvCzech beat Canada twice in worlds in last two years. 1996 in final and 1997 in group, where Canada show one of most dirtiest plays in hockey history. The core of team was the same, that team knows how to play Canada those days.
@@HOCKEYFILES-sf8gv To be honest, there still are strong players in European leagues, though their numbers have diminished from the 90's and early 2000's. Back then, it was more or less the common practice, that a player could "test his wings" in the NHL for a season or two, and if he came to the conclusion that he would most likely spend the rest of his career going back and forth between NHL and the farm teams, he rather came back to Europe to play the rest of his career closer to home.
A shootout is exactly like a breakaway, only with less pressure because you know that nobody is chasing you. Breakaways are psychological battles. Any goalie seeing 99 with the puck is going to be more worried about it than seeing Bourque. If the players were told to shoot, then why did most of them try to deke Hasek? Lousy coaching.
I agree 99 would've been the smartest out of the whole line up on what to do to beat Hasek...nobody else touched him on experience and skill for something as simple as a shootout
On the other hand (and I know Canadians disagree with me on this) if any goalie in the world is going to make a shooter worried on a shootout, it's Hasek. As stated in the video above,, and countless others like it, there really wasn't a book for beating Hasek, so he could really pull off anything to stop anyone from scoring.
I feel that it boiled down to Crawford having an ego problem. He was completely psyched out by Hasek before the damn shootout even started. But in any case, Gretzky should have been the first guy on a shootout list irrespective of who the goalie on the opposing team was. It was a gaff that will go down in history as one of the biggest coaching goofs of all time.
@@robweis9 Even if he had ZERO it wouldn't matter one bit. It's just insane to suggest that by any reasonable measure, Gretzky was not among the top candidates for a penalty shot/shootout attempt on that roster.
He found a way to score a goal more often than anybody in the history of the NHL. Yet the coaches thought it wiser to use a defence man…. How often did Borque get a breakaway in his career?
@@retrominer5755 That is the ironic part to me. I respect Bourque as much as the next guy, but if he's smart enough and talented enough to be given a shot in a shootout, then surely Gretzky is!!
Bourque was reportedly adept at hitting stationary targets in shooting competitions. How Crawford thought that equates to beating Hasek on a one on one baffles me
I recommend to watch the semi-final game again and you would see that the Czechs were the better team for 50 minutes and had many scoring chances. They went all in on defense after their goal. But maybe your and Fleury's inaccurate comments make you feel better - that you don't have to think about why the all-star Canadian team wasn't able to outplay the Czechs and without Patcick Roy there would even be no overtime ...
More Olympic videos would be great. International hockey in general does not get covered a lot on youtube, and there are a lot of Canadians interested in a retrospective of past Canadian teams from the World Juniors to the Olympics. A lot of great stories to tell and not just limited to Canadian stories. Got a subscriber here! Thank you.
Passing him over for captain was a mistake - but a mistake that didn't matter because he was the leader nonetheless. But leaving him on the bench for the shootout wasn't. He was not the best in shootouts. Someone suggested the real mistake was not putting Linden in for the shootout, because he was the one who scored on Hasek.
Oilers fan here, I loved that it was Linden that scored the tying goal. He deserved to be on that roster. Sure there were players missing on that roster, he wasn't a mistake.
I remember everyone got up early to watch. At the end when a shoot out was becoming obvious, we were compiling our own lists and EVERYONE had Gretzky!! He was pretty much a given. It’s was unbelievable when they showed that list…..WTF Not surprising given Bobby Clark was in charge.
Just my two cents slightly off topic: The Czechs were much better than the clip gives them credit. Probably the dominant International team between 1995 and 2005, regularly beating Team Canada at the Worlds. I was definitly nervous regarding Canada back then before the match. And: being from Germany there were some odd similarities to the Football 1998 World Cup run. A result that seemed extremely disappointing back in the day. A team without injured stars (Sammer for Germany) and lots of older players maybe beyond their peak. Outdated system and coaching. Ah, and I distinctly remember that Gretzky looked awfully slow throughout the tournament, that was kind of surprising to me in the pre International sports streaming era. Anyway, thanks for some 90s memories and I honestly feel your pain.
Not exactly hard, how many 'good teams' did Canada ice during those years in the IIHF World Hockey Championship? Not many, because the best Canadian players were busy in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the World Championship had a shutdown for the NHL like the Olympics did, Canada would have 0 excuse not to win every one.
Dude.. you have to do better.. Zaumner never hurt the team. He had played exceptionally well at the 97 WC... and as a "specialist".. he played very well during the last NHL season
Another Czech here. The ice being messed up after 60mins + overtime thing can be backed up with Reichel's post-game interview, where he said (im paraphrasing this) "The ice was really bad, so i felt like i have to shoot".
He also had the best shot on the Czech team so pretty much a no brainer he was going to shoot. I have nightmares about that shot - just past the blocker and in off the post while Lindros had Hašek beat but clanged it off the post and out.
@@TheBluelineHockey Just take care to not get swindled :). Stick to pay by card, exchange in a bank only if you need cash. Do check the average prices :). Ignore the beggars and ppl that approach you on the street... same as any capital.
Bobby Clarke played on European ice in the past, starting with maybe the 1972 Summit Series, when the second half was played in Moscow, as well as two games in Sweden in between the two halves. While he was long retired by the time 1998 came around, he should have reflected on those experiences and used them to build a team that could handle bigger surface dimensions instead of picking guys who were (mostly) unfamiliar with the difference in space between North American and European ice surfaces.
@@grahamdamberger7130 I love Clarkie but he held on to that 'grinder beats all' mentality way too long. Even when he was GM of the Flyers. He was stuck in broad street mentality because of his years as Captain of the Flyers.
I must say to The Blueline Hockey channel, you make OUTSTANDING videos. If I wasn't a student, I would seriously consider contributing financially. I remember after 3 minutes of the first video of yours I saw, I subscribed. I'll share these videos and try to bring more traffic. This channel MUST make 10K subscribers. In my opinion, it deserves 100's of thousands of subscribers, but the people will come. Phenomenal stuff, I remember this game as a 13 y/o boy, together with my 12 y/o brother and father, who was as close to being an NHL'er as you can be. I still remember my Dad's commentary, he was livid by the way Team Canada played this game. Thx again for the upload!! Good luck on your journey to 10,000! I'll do what I can do send it around :)
Yeah it is safe to say that despite the 1998 Canada Team reached the final four, misstakes with the roster was made. 1. Making Eric Lindros the captain (?) - Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman & Joe Sakic where all considered more qualified captains. 2. Leaving top Canadians Ron Francis, Scott Niedermayer & Adam Oates out in favour of mediocre players like Corson, Zamuner, and Desjardins? That was just a huge blunder..... 3. Players that was listed as shoot-out takers with Ray Bourque & Joe Niewwendyk over smart players like Gretzky, Sakic, Yzerman and even hardest shooter ever in Al McInnies ??? 4. How could the 1998 Team Canada not been coached by Pat Quinn? He was regarded as a great coach but also a very respected coach!
@@WarioSaysSo Also pat Quinn had just been fired as gm of the Canucks few months earlier and hadn’t coached in 2 years at this point. So that would have been a weird choice.
@@chrisdranfield3828 Hmm weird is possible, but he was still a great coach and was great at mixing things up! Still in all, Canada gave him the shot next time in 2002 OG, and they won the gold! So all ended well!
@@WarioSaysSo He was a great coach, just at that time he had retired from coaching for a couple years to be just the GM of the Canucks . He was fired after they got off to a really bad start in November of 97. So at the time they were picking a coach he would not of even been on the shortlist as he hadn’t coached in 2 years it’d be like Canada giving the job at the next Olympics to Barry trotz.
Excellent analysis. I remember watching the game versus the Czechs and feeling disappointed, but then again it was a close game. Just to add a few things that I don't think were adequately addressed: A big reason that players with "grit and toughness" were picked over more skilled players was that many people were anticipating a rematch of the World Cup of Hockey final in 1996 between Canada and the US, which the Americans won. So, Canada had a more North American style team expecting the US to be their most likely opponent for a medal. When they went up against the Czechs, Canada had the wrong team with the wrong players. As was pointed out, Team Canada was not really suited for the large ice that favoured speed. As far as Wayne Gretzky's presence on the team is concerned, one factor that may have influenced the Great One's selection was a sponsorship tie-in that Team Canada had with McDonalds leading up to those Olympics. As part of the deal, McDonalds started selling limited edition hockey cards at its restaurants featuring players on Team Canada beginning in September of 1997, which was about five months before the Nagano Olympics. This necessitated using players for the hockey cards who were likely to be on Team Canada when the final selections were made shortly before the Olympics. Not surprisingly, Gretzky was one of the players featured in this hockey card series. Now I'm sure if Wayne hadn't truly been good enough to be on the team, they wouldn't have selected him, but given that this particular tournament was really the first one that was open to all players and, as pointed out, the NHL was really looking to grow the game internationally with the use of NHL players, having the most famous player in hockey in the tournament may have nudged Gretzky a little further up the selection list. The video brings up the issue of there being questions regarding Gretzky's effectiveness on breakaways, which also raised questions about whether he should have be in that shootout or even any shootout for that matter. Even though it's a little difficult to find complete statistics on Gretzky when taking penalty shots, I distinctly remember an anecdote about him early in his career when he was a supreme goal scorer in which he was awarded the third penalty shot of his young career. He had missed his first two attempts and apparently asked the referee on the third occasion if someone else could take the penalty shot supposedly because he wasn't that confident in his ability to score on a penalty shot. Well, he did take the penalty shot and he scored, but we can assume, as others did, that this was a weakness in his game even at the height of his scoring abilities. Again, the video does well to point out that he had no goals in the Nagano Olympics and that the choice of the five players that did take part in the shootout was not a rash one done on the spot, but was determined ahead of time and so any hopes that Gretzky had of being the shootout hero were dashed by his declining skills. As for shootouts in general, given that the shootout format hadn't been yet adopted in the NHL, the Team Canada players were far less familiar with the shootout than their European counterparts. Also related to this and not mentioned in the video, Canadian hockey teams have had an abysmal record in shootouts in important games in international tournaments even to this day. I put this down to Team Canada coaches not practicing the shootout adequately enough, which I've never understood since the further a team goes in such a tournament, the more likely it is that games will be low scoring and therefore necessitate a shootout. Remember how the 1994 gold medal game at Lillehammer ended? I felt Tommy Renney was outcoached by Team Sweden's head coach in the shootout. And finally, I think more credit should be given to the Czech team. They had a plan that worked and on that particular day, they showed themselves to be the better team. P.S. You forgot to mention that Canada went on to lose the bronze medal game to the Finns. I know hockey has a special place in Canadian hearts and it's finish first or forget about it, but Team Canada should have won easily against Finland.
Is this your doctoral thesis? The fact that Wayne Gretzky was not chosen for the shoot out vs Czechoslovakia remains an insult to a guy who deserved to be in there. Whatever the rational, the Team Canada coaches fucked up. Especially that dick Mike Keenan whose hockey philosophy dates back to the Neanderthal days of hockey.
I agree mostly with you on this. It was quite widely known that he struggled on breakaways and penalty shots. I remember it being controversial at the time but also I remember the counter argument which you mentioned. Props to you for filling that in 👍
@@frizlaw Excellent analysis. Why the hell Clarke was picked will never be justifiable. He and Crawford seemed to want to show the entire world how much more hockey savvy they had had than anyone else. All they needed was Keenan to complete their totally incompetent management team. Corson? Zamuner?....seriously? Hasek won 2Harts and a truckload of Vezinas !! Did these idiots honesty believe they could beat him with these plumbers while The Great One and Stevie Y watch a shoot out featuring a defenceman that hits targets in an all.-star competition?
Amazing that this topic is still alive in Canada. Great analysis. Otherwise I am still missing the Credit for czechs.This game was not a soccer defensive game like CBS and theoren fleury like to repeat. Shoots Cze 31:30 Can that is tied game for me. When u watch the game again everybody can see that Czechs were better than canada except the OT. Without lucky deflected goal of Trevor Linden there would be never conversation about Wayne no-shootout. Like someone said here, Wayne was not more skilled in shootouts than others and I am glad for him that was not taking part. With probability around 0.961 he would not score against Hasek and his big disappointment would be even bigger. Definitely the best game of century between Canadian teachers and Czechoslovakian (Czechs) very good students of ice-hockey 👏👏👏😁
I’m going to sound like an old guy here, but having watched Gretzky from his rookie season to then and beyond, I can say without a doubt that Marc Crawford was trying to show he’s the smartest guy in the room. But he wasn’t. Gretzky greatest attribute was his vision and understanding of the game and the moment. No one in NHL history was as good at that as Gretzky. Thats why he’s the all time assist leader AND goal scorer (I know Ovi is probably going to catch his goals at some point). Marc Crawford knew this and in a colossal blunder chose to leave him on the bench. I don’t know if he would have scored, but I think I’d have trusted the greatest goal scorer of all time over some of Crawford’s picks.
I agree, Crawford was indeed being a goof ball here and shows that he was bitter about being a plumber in the 80's that never played while 99 was the biggest star around...99 was not only a hockey genius but the most studious of the game, he would've thought better than everyone, what to do to throw Hasek off and it would've worked....
This is what happens when you prop up an over rated undeserving player as a superstar that he wasn't. Eric Lindros is the most over rated hockey player ever! I don't understand how you could make Eric Lindros the captain over Wayne Gretzky! If Mario Lemieux hadn't missed the strike shortened season where there just 40 odd games, when Eric won his only Hart Trophy , Eric would not had a single accomplishment in his entire career. He never performed when the money was on the line, never! This is what Hall of Famers do. The fact that they made this over rated locker room cancer a Hall of Famer makes me sick.
came across this vid and I realize I'm still cranky about this too. To me it's more about an overall realization of my dislike of this type of thinking people that is seemingly logical, seemingly justified but yet very basic and shows lower IQ thinking (Ray Bourque has an accurate shot) - which is a very different intelligence than listening to gut instinct, heart, determination, resilience, ... which are attributes that Gretzky symbolized. As there never was anything rational that he could be one of the best players of all-time in terms of the metrics of speed, skating, puck-handling, one on one, strength - he wasn't a specimen, he didn't pass the eye test - there was something just plan off about the way he moved as a hockey player. Which is what made him that much more special - that he could simply find a way, again and again and again. And here on the biggest stage that Canada had been on, with the highest scorer to have ever laced up his skates, who in his biggest moments had played the greatest -- what instead won-out was the basic, average, low IQ thinking that is world-wide is associated with Canada and Canadian people - that Canadians can do nice things within certain accepted limitations, but that Canadians can't think out of that... putting Gretzky out there, even though, logically among average-thinking people who unfortunately were making the decisions -- it didn't make sense to -- which is precisely why I still feel the burn of this lame-ass decision.
As Czech, I'm very happy he was sitting :} it was the tournament of a lifetime especially for us little country in the heart of Europe however everyone knows we have huge hockey base and while small in number of population, the amount of Hockey players Czech Republic produced to NHL is just unreal. Are classes were cancelled so everyone could watch the games as they were in the morning. We sat with our teachers watching the games.. Our Coach Ivan Hlinka was put in as sort of redemption for what was happening during world cups but him and Lener made it big. Dom was a fortress, Jagr and Ruzicka leaders with support of others. Some of the Czech League players that never went to NHL but still with very strong hockey skills. few years after Nagano, Ivan Hlinka the head coach died in car crash. It was very sad. The way our nation stood together was same as they have done during the Velvet revolution.. Canada was better, They had better players but they didn't have better team. You could see the Czechs holding each other during penalties as symbol of unity. I haven't seen anything like this before. In the finals, which was 1 0 for the Czechs against Russia it was symbolic as well, because 30 years later after Russian Invasion of Prague we have shown that small nation can beat the Goliath. Russians didn't lose a game on this tournament, their goalie was superb as well.. but we had Dominator. after 26 years this sill brings huge smile to my face.
and yes what you mentioned the European style hockey rinks were bigger. More room on sides so it allows more open door for faster player to break through and scatter the defense.. we knew that and we knew this was advantage for half of our team that played every day on rinks like so..
Gosh I really miss these days. I was still young and living under my mother's roof while she was still alive and this was when ESPN and ESPN2 aired NHL games along with Sports Center. And I remember every last one of these players' names since I paid very much attention to All Things NHL back then, but more than anything I miss the fact that I was a kid living with my mother and she was still in good health and alive which is no longer the case 😢
Gretzky’s shot was very deceptive and would have been ideal to put in after a couple snipers. Throw two fast balls and then Gretzky comes in with the knuckleball, throwing Hasek’s timing off. Had Gretzky shot, I believe he would have wound up and put a slap shot just under the bar, top corner, as he so often did.
Exactly. He would have taken a slap shot in close or a wrist shot to the top corner like he did against Vancouver that same season (for his 2nd goal of his 50th hat trick).
@@broadstreet21 - Crawford still annoys me to this day for making such a dumb decision. Has Ray Bourque ever scored on a breakaway? He was a defenseman lol
Your youtube page will keep growing. Keep making these videos they are awesome. Ideas for ya. 1.atlanta thrashers 2.whalers 3 patrik stephan 4. TEAMS THAT TRIED TO BUY A STANLEY CUP(predators) cough 5. North stars 6. Florida advantage? 7. NCAA the new standard for prospect?? Hope this helps
1. why Bure left van 2. Suter's career ending hits on stars 3. World Cup 96 Canada vs US brawl 4. Gino Odjick vs Tie Domi tilts 5. Mogilny's 76 goal season
Gretzky was not only looked up to as the unofficial captian of the hockey team ...I saw interviews with other athletes from different sports who considered him the Captain of the entire Canadian Olympic team. Bobby Clarke was a selfish individual who was trying to promote his Philadelphia player Eric Lindross at the expense of Canada. No class or hockey smarts. He should never have been involved. Who hired him?
I remember watching this game live. I heard my whole life we're the best at hockey, yet my first best on best country hockey game said well, maybe by not as big a margin as we thought. But man, Hasek was something else. Any team with him in net had a huge chance at winning. This was peak Hasek time and I still think his peak is higher than any other goalie in history but he doesn't have the longevity.
Hasek doesn't have longevity? Hasek? You sure? Nonsense, his career is as long as that of Roy (they re of same age) or Brodeur. He just couldn't go to the NHL sooner but he came as a legend already. Then lost years of his prime by proving himself to new people. He still holds insane record as the youngest goalie to ever start for national team in 1983(!). At that time every Czech and Slovak goalie was ready to play for any national team game so it's really achievement. He could have been NHL star as soon as Roy was.
Dude what kind of idiot are you ? If Gretzky is in the shoot out Canada wins most likely .... You don't sit out the best player in hockey history , better then all the czevks put together bro. Your delusional to think this isn't a good excuse and it didnt change the out come
@@joshuasmith2814 fair enough. so I guess in your opinion the NHL stars who play for team Canada showed bigger hearts than everyone else everytime the win at the Olympics
Totally agree. The Czechs were unstoppable in the last 4 games I believe they only allowed 2 goals. Canada was lucky to even see the shoot-out. We were on the wrong side of the puck the entire game....
I think it's unlikely that Gretzky would have scored. Hasek was not only the best goalie but he excelled at the shootout, as he showed when the shootout were introduced in NHL. (He went undefeated for a long stretch.) The penalty shot was the weakest part of Gretzky's game on the other hand. Also, Gretzky was well passed his prime. However, he should have been penciled in to shoot instead of Bourque. It would have taken pressure off the other players. Leaving him off showed a lack of confidence. Crawford should have penciled in his most intimidating forwards, including Gretzky, rather than the 4D chess he tried to play by putting in a defenseman who was as old as Gretzky was anyways.
And Gretzky had just scored 2 goals on Hasek before the Olympics as well. One of them was a beautiful shot to the top corner in which Hasek didn’t even move. Here is the last goal just before the Olympics… ua-cam.com/video/iWxSJ1QgSTE/v-deo.htmlsi=fs0hb4iXW6dES2qQ
@@michaelgriffiths8068 Wow. That's pretty remarkable. It makes me reevaluate my position a bit. One thing's for sure: #99 wasn't intimidated going in alone on #39
@@willyupshaw- the thing that Crawford truly underestimated about Gretzky was that he always THRIVED in pressure situations. Has there ever been a better clutch performer than Gretzky? Think back to games 2 and 3 of the 1987 Canada Cup and game 7 of the Stanley Cup that year. Think back to game 7 against Toronto in 1993 when he practically willed a mediocre Kings team (that missed the playoffs the next season) into the Cup finals with a hat trick and an assist. Think back to the 1997 playoffs when Wayne carried an average Rangers team on his back to the semi finals, scoring two hat tricks. Crawford was truly out to lunch thinking a defenseman (who hardly ever had a breakaway, let alone scored on one) would be a better choice than one of the most clutch (Michael Jordan level) superstars in history. As for being past his prime, he still finished the season only ONE point back of 2nd place Forsberg in points. And Fosberg had a stacked Avs team, and Gretzky had, who, Nicholas Sundstrom? Not even Messier (who was in Vancouver). Had Gretzky been on the Avs playing with Sakic, he would have likely finished 1st in points that year. Instead he had no one and still finished tied for 3rd overall with prime Pavel Bure, one point back of 2nd and first in assists.
Personally, I think Marc Crawford saved Gretzky from embarrasment. Hasek was at the top of his game and wayne's career was in decline. It would have been worse if Gretzky had missed and then have that video moment preserved in history. It would have been like the Italian soccer player Roberto Baggio: He was the best player in the game, but the only thing people remember of him was his missed penalty. Gretzky not participating in the shootout is the reason we are all having this conversation on you tube. And about Ray Bourque: it's Crawford's idea of being cheeky; putting that joker in the pile. Had canada won the shootout, it would have been genius.
@ - Gretz had scored on 3 breakaways just before the Olympics. And then there was this, a month before the Olympics on Hasek himself. 99 would have been just fine… ua-cam.com/video/iWxSJ1QgSTE/v-deo.htmlsi=BtVdsCH2i-dqT69k
Honest question - has Ray Bourque ever scored a goal on a breakaway? As a defenseman, how many breakaways did Ray Bourque have in his career? And how many did Gretzky have? I don’t ever recall seeing Bourque on a breakaway, though I’m sure he had at least 2 or 3 breakaways in his career. Gretzky must have gotten a breakaway every other game in his prime.
Ray never shot over 9% although he had 31 goal season. Crawford was just bat --t stupid.A flop at math. Brian Burke, the educated idiot. was the guy who hired him. Very poor judge of character.. and imo not a nice person
Shows you the value of analytics!! Also, Crawford said Gretzky not good on breakaways, but a shootout is not a breakaway. Put the highest scorer in history in for Olympic gold,and he buries it !!!!!
This is the equivalent of not having Messi or Ronaldo on a pk. Or putting the ball in Jordans hands for the final shot. Brady for the final drive. You get it. Unbelievable
I recall that tourney well. The real problem rests in the composition of the team itself. Most of these players were professional enough to play with anyone, but when a player like Lindros (with the most divisive history in the game) is named as captain, the air leaves the room. Canadian hockey history is anchored in the belief in the guy on the bench beside you. Introduce a cancer and it's over.
The guys I would've picked. 1. Nieuwendyk 2. Shanahan 3. Fleury 4. Sakic 5. Yzerman. I don't know what the heck Bourque was doing there I don't think I ever saw him on a breakaway in his entire career.
Scott Stephens would (later) end Eric Lindros' career, after Clark refused to trade him, after a dressing room altercation with Tochett and a subsequent head injury. Lindros was the worst thing to happen for that team.
Messier was 37 at the time and it was a larger ice surface...they probably thought age/decline/not being able to keep up with the Euro's on that ice. For Vancouver Messier was still ok that season production wise but fading...clearly not the same guy he was even 2 years before with the Rangers. Still you can't really defend having Rob Zamuner and not Mark Messier
Almost this whole thread is comments regarding the shootout. The bigger issue is, why did they let it get there. With the players they had, they should have asserted their will on the Czechs and won it in regulation. Rule 1 in Hockey ---- never let a big game get to a shootout.
Also let's just be blunt and acknowledge why Turgeon was left home Piestany. His actions at Piestany disqualified him immediately. Clarke no doubt remembered That Suter cross check to Kariya was borderline attempted murder. And remember it was Suter who messed up Gretzky's back
Let’s not forget that Steve Yzerman, who was Canada’s second-highest scorer and still ranks in the top 10 all-time, was left out of the shootout as well. That’s a pretty big oversight.
The Czechs were missing Petr Nedvěd. Sykora and Elias didn't make the cut though they probably should have. If it weren't for the stupid liberals splitting the country in two the Czechs would have several Slovak stars on top of that.
Mario retired in 97. Would he be in good shape for the Olympics? He came back in 2000 while he was preparing. He was the Captain in 2002 while winning the gold. So yes, Gretzky should have been the Captain instead of Lindros.
Yeah but is he better at scoring then that whole shootout list? Always pick the best players don't favour anyone your best players are your best players for a reason
those are all my favorite player growing and now i barley watch hockey i miss old school hockey. my 3 fav goalies aand most my fav def and all my fav winger and forwards. sucks they didnt win
Just a couple of thoughs on this one: 1) Gretzky taking one of the five penalty shots would not change a damn thing as the Dominator was superior and not to be beaten on that night. But I agree 99 should have been given a chance, sometimes coaches outsmart themselves with analytics. 2) Building the best team by finding right players is the right way to win trophies (ask Herb Brooks), this not Fantasy League, but there were definitely some mistakes made (as there always are), S. Niedermayer seems to be the most blatent one. Also you cannot get stuck with certain "winning" strategy if you don't have the right players for it, need to find the balance between best strategy and picking best overall players. 3) Both teams from America were just too cocky and overlooked rest of the world. General expectation was Canada - USA finals, so you can see why the team was built to beat USA, which they acutually did 4) Anyone saying Czech team just parked the bus should rewatch the game, they were the better team until the go ahead goal and only parked the bus at the end of 3rd period to protect the lead which backfired. I would agree that in overtime, they just wanted to survive and liked their chances in shootout. 5) While there were some superstars playing for Canada, some of them were past their prime, while team Czech had two best players in the world those days in Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek and bunch of other studs that can match with Canadiens (Reichel, Lang, Rucinsky, Slegr and many others) 6) Non-NHL players for Czech team were outstanding (many of them actually made it to NHL later in their careers) and were able to take advantage of wider rink 7) Czech team had a better coach in Ivan Hlinka, a natural born leader who always got his team ready for the big games and was able not only to come up with great gameplan but also make in game adjustments. I am pretty damn sure he would not left out the Great One even if he was not on his pre-game list🙂 8) Eric Lindros clearly was not the best leader and captain, but if it was me, I would take Marc Messier to be my captain for the tournament. I know he was way past his prime but I beleive he was that type of leader who just make the others so much better, so you can save one roster spot for him.
Sure, I get that Canada could have made different choices, but Dominik Hasek is one of the greatest goalies who ever lived. I think we forget that fact when looking back at Nagano.
Hazek owning teams just showed how terrible guys were at lifting the puck. Hasek is a gob!!! An absolute master at taking advantage. He didn’t even goaltend. He took the bottom of the net. Today he would give up 8 goals a game
I'm fine with role players being in there (Like Detroit's Draper and Maltby in a later World Cup). Sometimes you need those kinds of players to hold on to a lead.
Scott Neidameyer sorry spelling is the only glaring mistake. No one was as fast or graceful at skating. He was also a great all round defensemen. Trevor Linden and Pronger played great. Can you imagine having those two clogging the middle on the third and fourth line. In a one game knockout anything can happen. 2002 and 2010 were as nervous i have been before a game. I played first class rugby for 13 years. The threat of getting your head knocke off at my position, fullback was real. I was never half as nervous before a game. In 2002 i was 40. I left a party at 9pm as it was what we called game night. The night before the big game. I had planned on watching it alone. Ten friends showed up and two of them came because they wanted me to react badly if we lost . I would never had just as i never did when i played. The players in the games. Back in the day Gretzky was apperently not good on breakaways, what nonesense. Mark Crawford made a mistake. I dont hold it against him. Please try and pronounce players names better. I had to rewind for Martin Broduear.
I just can't believe this. Canadians won dozens of gold medals, yet they keep talking about the one they didn't win? It's like they are the only one entitled to take gold each time.
Tl;dr Canada has won thrice in almost 69 years. Canada hadn't won Olympic Gold in years. In fact, 1952 was the last time they won until 2002, as stated by Wikipedia. 1998 was the first tournament that included NHL players. Many people have criticized the IOC's standard for "amateur athletes", as KHL superstars were able to compete, but not at the NHL level. As a result, the Soviet Union stood first in 7 of 9 events in which they participated. The other two times were decided by the USA in 1960 and 1980. Canada's top players, however, aren't infaillible, as shown in the 2006 Turin Olympics - which Sweden won. Overall, the team has taken 3 of the 6 possible golds (2002, 2010, 2014) in the 2000s. Russia, not the Soviets, earned first-place over Germany in 2018; and 2022 was Finland over the former. By technicality, the Soviets/Russians have won 10 gold medals since 1956, compared to 3 by Canada. Please read history.
Sitting Gretzky for the shootout was beyond absurd. He’d performed as the best ever in multiple situations. He should have been Canada’s first shooter. With the game on his back, he’d have found a way to score. This was no Mickey Mouse roster. One questionable choice didn’t nullify the talent in all positions. The weakest position was the head coach.
Gretzky would have been out there alone, just him and Hasek. He could choose the pace of the run-up to suit his style. Obviously he should've been one of the shooters. His skating wasn't as spry and crisp as in his younger years. But that's not really a factor in a shoot-out. It's Gretzky. If anyone was going to find a way to beat Hasek, it'd be him.
At the heart of the matter, Team Canada was built for the NHL, not the IIHF. Enter the presence of role players on the team. Had they played on an NHL regulation ice, they would have won gold no problem. But on IIHF ice, you need more skill than grit. Big role players don't make this lineup unless they add leadership to the lineup (in this regard, Linden and Shannahan at least check those boxes, Corson, not as much). But outside of those guys, you want smaller skilled players on IIHF ice. A small asterisk, but it's worth noting that Linden was going through a very difficult time, having been unceremoniously traded from his team immediately before the Olympics, still managed to score a crucial game-tying goal in the game against the Czeck Republic at the last minute. I'd like to believe that had the trade never happened (it shouldn't ever have happened), he'd play at an even higher level, score two goals that game (or at least assist on a second goal) and Canada would win in regulation. But that's just me being a Canuck fan, hoping the captain goes down an international hero. But about the shootout, if Gretzky himself were the coach, he too would have passed Gretzky the player over in favour of Bourque, as Bourque was known for winning shooting accuracy contests, while Gretzky was not known for scoring in breakaways.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Let's not forget the second highest scorer Canada had and top 10 all time was left out of the shootout as well, Yzerman.
@@nickk8836 Crawford didn't like the Wings either. They were huge rivals. Crawford was as petty as he was incompetent.
@@KennethSchamehorn Good point. There was too much importance placed on who won the Stanley Cup. The same thing is happening in the NHL now. The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Craig Berube, basically because he won a Cup in St. Louis. But what everyone seems to have forgotten was that team was OUT of the playoffs until Jordan Binnington was called up. It would have made more sense for the Leafs to trade for Binnington!!! He is the one who brought that team to the Cup, not Berube. Crawford happened to be the coach of the best team in the NHL at the time. But I think they would have won with just about anyone behind the bench.
@@canuck_gamer3359 Wasn´t the Blues even the worst team in the whole league before Binnington entered ? I mean in the very last place ?
@@kenneththorberg6914 I'm not sure if they were in dead last or not. But they were DEFINITELY out of a playoff spot. So Binnington gets called up, they go on a run and win it all...and Berube gets the credit??? Give me a break right??
@@canuck_gamer3359Blues were dead last.
Maddest ive ever been watching hockey almost threw my tv out the window when i saw they didn't send Gretzky to shoot.
me too!
wish i had seen that.
I doubt it would've made a difference
@wizzerwiser2056 I don't care it was oyr country's greatest player of all time in his last tournament representing Canada.He earned the right to take that shot and Canadians could have lived with him not scoring
@@denisepink8794 Gretzky had experience reading goaltenders and excellent shot placement. Just the slightest lean one way or the other, they were dead. There is no question, with his experience, no matter what ice you put him on, he could score. Gretzy wasn't worried about ice issues, he was working on how the puck bounced off the boards.
Hello, Czech here. I remember seeing in the Nagano documentary for us Czechs the Canadian coach saying on camera that he will have on his tombstone something like: "There lies the guy who benched Gretzky in Canada's biggest need." I thought it was hilarious :D Nice vid man, very well done
Well, it's nice to know he realized he fucked up, I wonder if he was bribed?
@@mikem9536 Hello, nah, he pretty much said himself what was said in this video. That he had thought others had bigger chances of scoring at the time.
@@bukelos2804 nah'..someone had blackmail on him,,,LOL... no way you bench the greatest ever to play forward and Yzerman to boot.... he is an absolute IDIOT....that is all
That is actually pretty funny
Well it didn't work@@bukelos2804
Knocks Trevor Linden, only guy who scored against Hasek, 5th all time in winner take all games, better PPG than #2 Gilmour and #3 Krejci. He deserved to be on that roster.
Not a player alive I would put on the ice in the final 2 mins over Trevor Linden. He is always doing what's needed when it matters most.
What you duffasses canuckleheads?... Do you mean "He shoots he misses Trevor Linden" The guy who is slower than a Zamboni.. that Trevor Linden... lmfao.
@@Darkhare33 He also ended up being pretty good at shootouts when it was introduced to the NHL a few years later.
I never would question Linden's suitability on that team. Linden was clutch - not because of luck - but because he found an extra gear when everything was on the line.
He wasn't bad, but like Ryan Smyth later he's more known as "heart and souls" guy
Linden is the reason there was a shootout. He deserved to be there. He is a big game player. Tied with Gretzky for most points in game 7s.
@@n0thingisperfect I agree. Linden certainly deserved a spot before Oates or even Ron Francis, really.
@@Boxingbear In Linden we trust. My follow up is why did Linden not shoot in the shoot out?
@@Boxingbear AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ,,,, that was sarcasm right?!!! ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
@@XPOPS2024 Coming from someone strongly pro-Linden biased, I have to agree with you. Oates is built for hockey on IIHF ice. Francis is just more accomplished. But don't count out Linden, he's extremely underrrated - keep in mind, he nearly upset the Messier-led Rangers in 1994.
@@broadstreet21 with broken ribs and torn cartilage
Turin Olympics was probably more shocking to me. That team didn't even show up. You should do a breakdown of that disaster.
I am Canadian, so this might be treasonous.. lol.. But part of me DID like seeing Canada humbled a bit. I was happy for Sweden (Just like I was happy for the Czechs in 1998) .
@@toptenguy1Then you're not Canadian Mr. 11.
Remind yourself who was the GM of that team. Then hopefully connect the dots on that pattern.
@@trevornott2488 Wasn't it Gretzky? When you look at the lineup it looks strong, but European bigger ice is a different game really. I think he chose more big power forwards than quick transitional players.
@@andrewphilips2457 I have read some analyses of both Nagano and Turin Olympics, made by Finnish hockey journalists, and they seem to come to the conclusion that for both Olympics the "mistake" made in assembling Team Canada was not just picking big power forwards to games which were being played in international sized rinks, but "choosing big names" instead of actually trying to assemble, well, a team. The individual talent Canada could put on the ice was unrivaled, but how well do they play together as a team? The article I read concerning the Nagano Olympics especially pointed out, how the defensemen Canada chose, were on the older side (examples given were MacInnis and Bourque) or big, heavy hitting, but (especially when compared to Czechs, whose entire hockey identity seems to be based on fast skating) slow guys, such as Stevens and Desjardins. Again, in the Turin Olympics, Team Canada's roster looks great, but once again, maybe a bit too many "big names", and not exactly a complete team.
Lol. Lets sit the greatest player of all time in a shootout. I watched this live. Couldn't believe it
He wasn't the greatest player in 1998.
@@EldestSauce They literally just said he was the highest scoring Canadian in 98
@@coastaku1954 Wayne Gretzky scored 23 goals in the 97-98 season and 9 goals the next season.
@@EldestSauce But how many points? He's a passer more than a shooter as he's a team-first player
@@coastaku1954 90. Not even close to what he used to do. Passing the puck isn't going to help you in a shootout.
Bobby Clarke is truly a doorknob. 52 years later and he still doesn't apologize for his intentional breaking of Kharlamov's ankle, and his record as a GM speaks volumes about the goon hockey he loves. Problem is, that doesn't win at the international level. People don't give the Czech enough credit though. That was the golden age of Czech hockey and their entire philosophy was built around individual puck possession. I have the puck and you will not get it from me.
Regardless, Hockey Canada learned so many lessons from the 98 games.
My beef with Bobby is not taking Eric Lindros' concussions more seriously. And with no helmet, how many did Bobby likely suffer during his playing career??
Clake as a GM
Four cup finals and largely built the Panthers 96 finals team.
@@pumpkinking5174 Clarke as a decent human being:
@@stonecodfish2365 Do you personally know him?
Didn't think so.
@@dnasty312 Not many, he was protected by animals.
Imagine picking Eric Desjardins over Scotty Niedermayer
Great video with great analysis. Yes, 99 admits he is no good at breakaways, and his goal-scoring was in decline at that time. Still, he is the all-time goal scoring leader, has the greatest hockey mind ever and is clutch. Put him on the list; have him shoot.
Clarke and Crawford were the worst choices that led to this mess.
There were so many management mistakes from the getgo.....Zamuner .?... Corson?.....What the hell were these morons thinking? Imagine having 99 and Stevie Y sitting on the bench watching a defenceman that never scored against anything but a Styrofoam target on a breakaway in his life. Clarke and Crawford can take a whole
lot of credit for this fiasco. They tried to show the world they were so so smart. How did that work out?
Crawford had just won a Stanley Cup coaching the Avs. Now Clarke as GM was a major head scratcher.
Lindros as Captain was a worse choice.
@@4613064 That was Clarke's choice, everyone knew it was stupid before the tournament even started.
@@4613064 Lindros wore the C. But that team had Gretzky on it so everyone knows who was the true captain
"czech were just happy to be there". Huh? Czechs went on and won the golden hattrick in three consecutive world championships right after Nagano. No other country has ever achieved that to this day. Those guys were not some middle eastern herders that by some freak accident got into the semifinals, that was one of the best if not the best teams at that time in the world and they more than proved it.
I don´t even have to google that you´re lying. The world championship right after Nagano was having Sweden as gold medalist.
@@kenneththorberg6914 oh, my bad. The three years after that. What a lie. Are you Canadian per chance?
@@talibandit The Czechs had a very strong team but they were coming from their most humiliating defeat ever at the World Cup 96 so there were a lot of doubts even in Czechia. Of course the Canadians underestimated the Czech strength largely due to the fact there were so many non-NHL players on the team. However back then there still used to be a lot of strong players in European leagues so it didn't really hurt the Czechs at all.
@@HOCKEYFILES-sf8gvCzech beat Canada twice in worlds in last two years. 1996 in final and 1997 in group, where Canada show one of most dirtiest plays in hockey history. The core of team was the same, that team knows how to play Canada those days.
@@HOCKEYFILES-sf8gv To be honest, there still are strong players in European leagues, though their numbers have diminished from the 90's and early 2000's. Back then, it was more or less the common practice, that a player could "test his wings" in the NHL for a season or two, and if he came to the conclusion that he would most likely spend the rest of his career going back and forth between NHL and the farm teams, he rather came back to Europe to play the rest of his career closer to home.
Bourque over Gretzky is crazy to me. Even at the end of his career I'd choose him in a shootout.
Not necessarily. Bourque was a winner in shooting accuracy contests, while Gretzky was not great in breakaways.
A shootout is exactly like a breakaway, only with less pressure because you know that nobody is chasing you. Breakaways are psychological battles. Any goalie seeing 99 with the puck is going to be more worried about it than seeing Bourque.
If the players were told to shoot, then why did most of them try to deke Hasek? Lousy coaching.
100% correct
I agree 99 would've been the smartest out of the whole line up on what to do to beat Hasek...nobody else touched him on experience and skill for something as simple as a shootout
On the other hand (and I know Canadians disagree with me on this) if any goalie in the world is going to make a shooter worried on a shootout, it's Hasek. As stated in the video above,, and countless others like it, there really wasn't a book for beating Hasek, so he could really pull off anything to stop anyone from scoring.
I feel that it boiled down to Crawford having an ego problem. He was completely psyched out by Hasek before the damn shootout even started. But in any case, Gretzky should have been the first guy on a shootout list irrespective of who the goalie on the opposing team was. It was a gaff that will go down in history as one of the biggest coaching goofs of all time.
How many career goals does Gretzky have against Hasek?
@@robweis9 Even if he had ZERO it wouldn't matter one bit. It's just insane to suggest that by any reasonable measure, Gretzky was not among the top candidates for a penalty shot/shootout attempt on that roster.
He found a way to score a goal more often than anybody in the history of the NHL. Yet the coaches thought it wiser to use a defence man…. How often did Borque get a breakaway in his career?
@@retrominer5755 That is the ironic part to me. I respect Bourque as much as the next guy, but if he's smart enough and talented enough to be given a shot in a shootout, then surely Gretzky is!!
Bourque was reportedly adept at hitting stationary targets in shooting competitions. How Crawford thought that equates to beating Hasek on a one on one baffles me
I recommend to watch the semi-final game again and you would see that the Czechs were the better team for 50 minutes and had many scoring chances. They went all in on defense after their goal. But maybe your and Fleury's inaccurate comments make you feel better - that you don't have to think about why the all-star Canadian team wasn't able to outplay the Czechs and without Patcick Roy there would even be no overtime ...
More Olympic videos would be great. International hockey in general does not get covered a lot on youtube, and there are a lot of Canadians interested in a retrospective of past Canadian teams from the World Juniors to the Olympics. A lot of great stories to tell and not just limited to Canadian stories. Got a subscriber here! Thank you.
It’s always a good idea to leave the greatest goal scorer in hockey history on the bench 🤦♂️
And not give him the C
@@thebigpicture2032Yeah give the C to a big crybaby
Passing him over for captain was a mistake - but a mistake that didn't matter because he was the leader nonetheless. But leaving him on the bench for the shootout wasn't. He was not the best in shootouts. Someone suggested the real mistake was not putting Linden in for the shootout, because he was the one who scored on Hasek.
Wow, I have been trying to come up with an answer to this question for the last 15 years, this bloke answers it for me in 15 minutes
Oilers fan here, I loved that it was Linden that scored the tying goal. He deserved to be on that roster. Sure there were players missing on that roster, he wasn't a mistake.
I agree, I think linden would've been HOF material had messier not pushed him out of Vancouver and kill his confidence/career
I remember everyone got up early to watch. At the end when a shoot out was becoming obvious, we were compiling our own lists and EVERYONE had Gretzky!! He was pretty much a given. It’s was unbelievable when they showed that list…..WTF
Not surprising given Bobby Clark was in charge.
These are great videos. Like mini hockey docs. Keep up the great work!!!
So sad! Amazing video!!! Great job
Just my two cents slightly off topic: The Czechs were much better than the clip gives them credit. Probably the dominant International team between 1995 and 2005, regularly beating Team Canada at the Worlds. I was definitly nervous regarding Canada back then before the match. And: being from Germany there were some odd similarities to the Football 1998 World Cup run. A result that seemed extremely disappointing back in the day. A team without injured stars (Sammer for Germany) and lots of older players maybe beyond their peak. Outdated system and coaching. Ah, and I distinctly remember that Gretzky looked awfully slow throughout the tournament, that was kind of surprising to me in the pre International sports streaming era. Anyway, thanks for some 90s memories and I honestly feel your pain.
Not exactly hard, how many 'good teams' did Canada ice during those years in the IIHF World Hockey Championship? Not many, because the best Canadian players were busy in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the World Championship had a shutdown for the NHL like the Olympics did, Canada would have 0 excuse not to win every one.
I don't recall Gretzky being strong on breakaways. He is my favourite player of all time though.
I'm sorry, I can't get over Za-moon-er 😂
Ya lol.. this guy is telling me which players should have been selected when he doesnt even know how to pronounce the names
@@Browash Understandable because nobody even knows who Zamuner is lol
he scored in a game that was needed
Dude.. you have to do better.. Zaumner never hurt the team. He had played exceptionally well at the 97 WC... and as a "specialist".. he played very well during the last NHL season
@@bigjacket7934 Are you replying to me? I was just talking about this guy not knowing how to pronounce players' names.
Love your channel bud!! Keep up the quality content and I hope you reach 10K soon!
Another Czech here. The ice being messed up after 60mins + overtime thing can be backed up with Reichel's post-game interview, where he said (im paraphrasing this) "The ice was really bad, so i felt like i have to shoot".
He also had the best shot on the Czech team so pretty much a no brainer he was going to shoot. I have nightmares about that shot - just past the blocker and in off the post while Lindros had Hašek beat but clanged it off the post and out.
Respect from 🇨🇦
I will be visiting Prague next year, really excited
@@TheBluelineHockey Just take care to not get swindled :). Stick to pay by card, exchange in a bank only if you need cash. Do check the average prices :). Ignore the beggars and ppl that approach you on the street... same as any capital.
2 defencemen in a shootout. It was one of the hardest losses I've ever watched.
You wanna check that list again? Only one defenceman.
@@BurtTurbo One too many.
Only one but yes one too many when the Gretz is sitting there
Bobby Clarke played on European ice in the past, starting with maybe the 1972 Summit Series, when the second half was played in Moscow, as well as two games in Sweden in between the two halves. While he was long retired by the time 1998 came around, he should have reflected on those experiences and used them to build a team that could handle bigger surface dimensions instead of picking guys who were (mostly) unfamiliar with the difference in space between North American and European ice surfaces.
@@grahamdamberger7130 I love Clarkie but he held on to that 'grinder beats all' mentality way too long. Even when he was GM of the Flyers. He was stuck in broad street mentality because of his years as Captain of the Flyers.
@@BoxingbearWhy the Flyers went off a cliff O'Doyle style in 06-07 #odoylerules
damn bro you've been on a hall of fame run the past few weeks, keep it up bro! loving the videos
I must say to The Blueline Hockey channel, you make OUTSTANDING videos. If I wasn't a student, I would seriously consider contributing financially. I remember after 3 minutes of the first video of yours I saw, I subscribed. I'll share these videos and try to bring more traffic. This channel MUST make 10K subscribers. In my opinion, it deserves 100's of thousands of subscribers, but the people will come. Phenomenal stuff, I remember this game as a 13 y/o boy, together with my 12 y/o brother and father, who was as close to being an NHL'er as you can be. I still remember my Dad's commentary, he was livid by the way Team Canada played this game. Thx again for the upload!! Good luck on your journey to 10,000! I'll do what I can do send it around :)
Can we also get Canada vs Finland bronze game analysis from 98 olympics?
Great video!!
Yeah it is safe to say that despite the 1998 Canada Team reached the final four, misstakes with the roster was made.
1. Making Eric Lindros the captain (?) - Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman & Joe Sakic where all considered more qualified captains.
2. Leaving top Canadians Ron Francis, Scott Niedermayer & Adam Oates out in favour of mediocre players like Corson, Zamuner, and Desjardins? That was just a huge blunder.....
3. Players that was listed as shoot-out takers with Ray Bourque & Joe Niewwendyk over smart players like Gretzky, Sakic, Yzerman and even hardest shooter ever in Al McInnies ???
4. How could the 1998 Team Canada not been coached by Pat Quinn? He was regarded as a great coach but also a very respected coach!
Somebody didn’t watch the game. Sakic was injured and didn’t play otherwise he would have been a shooter.
@@chrisdranfield3828 Fair enough, I forgot that!
@@WarioSaysSo
Also pat Quinn had just been fired as gm of the Canucks few months earlier and hadn’t coached in 2 years at this point. So that would have been a weird choice.
@@chrisdranfield3828 Hmm weird is possible, but he was still a great coach and was great at mixing things up!
Still in all, Canada gave him the shot next time in 2002 OG, and they won the gold!
So all ended well!
@@WarioSaysSo
He was a great coach, just at that time he had retired from coaching for a couple years to be just the GM of the Canucks . He was fired after they got off to a really bad start in November of 97.
So at the time they were picking a coach he would not of even been on the shortlist as he hadn’t coached in 2 years it’d be like Canada giving the job at the next Olympics to Barry trotz.
Excellent analysis. I remember watching the game versus the Czechs and feeling disappointed, but then again it was a close game.
Just to add a few things that I don't think were adequately addressed:
A big reason that players with "grit and toughness" were picked over more skilled players was that many people were anticipating a rematch of the World Cup of Hockey final in 1996 between Canada and the US, which the Americans won. So, Canada had a more North American style team expecting the US to be their most likely opponent for a medal. When they went up against the Czechs, Canada had the wrong team with the wrong players. As was pointed out, Team Canada was not really suited for the large ice that favoured speed.
As far as Wayne Gretzky's presence on the team is concerned, one factor that may have influenced the Great One's selection was a sponsorship tie-in that Team Canada had with McDonalds leading up to those Olympics. As part of the deal, McDonalds started selling limited edition hockey cards at its restaurants featuring players on Team Canada beginning in September of 1997, which was about five months before the Nagano Olympics. This necessitated using players for the hockey cards who were likely to be on Team Canada when the final selections were made shortly before the Olympics. Not surprisingly, Gretzky was one of the players featured in this hockey card series. Now I'm sure if Wayne hadn't truly been good enough to be on the team, they wouldn't have selected him, but given that this particular tournament was really the first one that was open to all players and, as pointed out, the NHL was really looking to grow the game internationally with the use of NHL players, having the most famous player in hockey in the tournament may have nudged Gretzky a little further up the selection list.
The video brings up the issue of there being questions regarding Gretzky's effectiveness on breakaways, which also raised questions about whether he should have be in that shootout or even any shootout for that matter. Even though it's a little difficult to find complete statistics on Gretzky when taking penalty shots, I distinctly remember an anecdote about him early in his career when he was a supreme goal scorer in which he was awarded the third penalty shot of his young career. He had missed his first two attempts and apparently asked the referee on the third occasion if someone else could take the penalty shot supposedly because he wasn't that confident in his ability to score on a penalty shot. Well, he did take the penalty shot and he scored, but we can assume, as others did, that this was a weakness in his game even at the height of his scoring abilities. Again, the video does well to point out that he had no goals in the Nagano Olympics and that the choice of the five players that did take part in the shootout was not a rash one done on the spot, but was determined ahead of time and so any hopes that Gretzky had of being the shootout hero were dashed by his declining skills.
As for shootouts in general, given that the shootout format hadn't been yet adopted in the NHL, the Team Canada players were far less familiar with the shootout than their European counterparts. Also related to this and not mentioned in the video, Canadian hockey teams have had an abysmal record in shootouts in important games in international tournaments even to this day. I put this down to Team Canada coaches not practicing the shootout adequately enough, which I've never understood since the further a team goes in such a tournament, the more likely it is that games will be low scoring and therefore necessitate a shootout. Remember how the 1994 gold medal game at Lillehammer ended? I felt Tommy Renney was outcoached by Team Sweden's head coach in the shootout.
And finally, I think more credit should be given to the Czech team. They had a plan that worked and on that particular day, they showed themselves to be the better team.
P.S. You forgot to mention that Canada went on to lose the bronze medal game to the Finns. I know hockey has a special place in Canadian hearts and it's finish first or forget about it, but Team Canada should have won easily against Finland.
Is this your doctoral thesis?
The fact that Wayne Gretzky was not chosen for the shoot out vs Czechoslovakia remains an insult to a guy who deserved to be in there. Whatever the rational, the Team Canada coaches fucked up. Especially that dick Mike Keenan whose hockey philosophy dates back to the Neanderthal days of hockey.
Your ramble was not worth the time you spent. Anecdotes about Gretzky and penalty shots is ridiculous.
I agree mostly with you on this. It was quite widely known that he struggled on breakaways and penalty shots. I remember it being controversial at the time but also I remember the counter argument which you mentioned. Props to you for filling that in 👍
@@frizlaw Excellent analysis. Why the hell Clarke was picked will never be justifiable. He and Crawford seemed to want to show the entire world how much more hockey savvy they had had than anyone else. All they needed was Keenan to complete their totally incompetent management team. Corson? Zamuner?....seriously? Hasek won 2Harts and a truckload of Vezinas !! Did these idiots honesty believe they could beat him with these plumbers while The Great One and Stevie Y watch a shoot out featuring a defenceman that hits targets in an all.-star competition?
Amazing that this topic is still alive in Canada. Great analysis. Otherwise I am still missing the Credit for czechs.This game was not a soccer defensive game like CBS and theoren fleury like to repeat. Shoots Cze 31:30 Can that is tied game for me. When u watch the game again everybody can see that Czechs were better than canada except the OT. Without lucky deflected goal of Trevor Linden there would be never conversation about Wayne no-shootout. Like someone said here, Wayne was not more skilled in shootouts than others and I am glad for him that was not taking part. With probability around 0.961 he would not score against Hasek and his big disappointment would be even bigger. Definitely the best game of century between Canadian teachers and Czechoslovakian (Czechs) very good students of ice-hockey 👏👏👏😁
I’m going to sound like an old guy here, but having watched Gretzky from his rookie season to then and beyond, I can say without a doubt that Marc Crawford was trying to show he’s the smartest guy in the room. But he wasn’t. Gretzky greatest attribute was his vision and understanding of the game and the moment. No one in NHL history was as good at that as Gretzky. Thats why he’s the all time assist leader AND goal scorer (I know Ovi is probably going to catch his goals at some point). Marc Crawford knew this and in a colossal blunder chose to leave him on the bench. I don’t know if he would have scored, but I think I’d have trusted the greatest goal scorer of all time over some of Crawford’s picks.
As a player yes. But Waynes results as an coach don't look that impressive.
GRetzky wasnt that great at the end.. even if he put up decent numbers..
I agree, Crawford was indeed being a goof ball here and shows that he was bitter about being a plumber in the 80's that never played while 99 was the biggest star around...99 was not only a hockey genius but the most studious of the game, he would've thought better than everyone, what to do to throw Hasek off and it would've worked....
This is what happens when you prop up an over rated undeserving player as a superstar that he wasn't. Eric Lindros is the most over rated hockey player ever! I don't understand how you could make Eric Lindros the captain over Wayne Gretzky! If Mario Lemieux hadn't missed the strike shortened season where there just 40 odd games, when Eric won his only Hart Trophy , Eric would not had a single accomplishment in his entire career. He never performed when the money was on the line, never! This is what Hall of Famers do. The fact that they made this over rated locker room cancer a Hall of Famer makes me sick.
for some reason, I still think about this at least once a week. I'm still cranky about it.
You should absolutely spend less than half your life being cranky about this - so unless you are older than 52: time to let it go.
too harsh. that will likely apply to Bobby Clarke
came across this vid and I realize I'm still cranky about this too. To me it's more about an overall realization of my dislike of this type of thinking people that is seemingly logical, seemingly justified but yet very basic and shows lower IQ thinking (Ray Bourque has an accurate shot) - which is a very different intelligence than listening to gut instinct, heart, determination, resilience, ... which are attributes that Gretzky symbolized.
As there never was anything rational that he could be one of the best players of all-time in terms of the metrics of speed, skating, puck-handling, one on one, strength - he wasn't a specimen, he didn't pass the eye test - there was something just plan off about the way he moved as a hockey player.
Which is what made him that much more special - that he could simply find a way, again and again and again. And here on the biggest stage that Canada had been on, with the highest scorer to have ever laced up his skates, who in his biggest moments had played the greatest -- what instead won-out was the basic, average, low IQ thinking that is world-wide is associated with Canada and Canadian people - that Canadians can do nice things within certain accepted limitations, but that Canadians can't think out of that... putting Gretzky out there, even though, logically among average-thinking people who unfortunately were making the decisions -- it didn't make sense to -- which is precisely why I still feel the burn of this lame-ass decision.
Hasek literally said that when saw that Gretzky did not come off the bench,,, he felt relieved! CRAWFORD YOU ARE A CLOWN!!!!!
As Czech, I'm very happy he was sitting :} it was the tournament of a lifetime especially for us little country in the heart of Europe however everyone knows we have huge hockey base and while small in number of population, the amount of Hockey players Czech Republic produced to NHL is just unreal. Are classes were cancelled so everyone could watch the games as they were in the morning. We sat with our teachers watching the games.. Our Coach Ivan Hlinka was put in as sort of redemption for what was happening during world cups but him and Lener made it big. Dom was a fortress, Jagr and Ruzicka leaders with support of others. Some of the Czech League players that never went to NHL but still with very strong hockey skills. few years after Nagano, Ivan Hlinka the head coach died in car crash. It was very sad. The way our nation stood together was same as they have done during the Velvet revolution.. Canada was better, They had better players but they didn't have better team. You could see the Czechs holding each other during penalties as symbol of unity. I haven't seen anything like this before. In the finals, which was 1 0 for the Czechs against Russia it was symbolic as well, because 30 years later after Russian Invasion of Prague we have shown that small nation can beat the Goliath. Russians didn't lose a game on this tournament, their goalie was superb as well.. but we had Dominator. after 26 years this sill brings huge smile to my face.
and yes what you mentioned the European style hockey rinks were bigger. More room on sides so it allows more open door for faster player to break through and scatter the defense.. we knew that and we knew this was advantage for half of our team that played every day on rinks like so..
Gosh I really miss these days. I was still young and living under my mother's roof while she was still alive and this was when ESPN and ESPN2 aired NHL games along with Sports Center. And I remember every last one of these players' names since I paid very much attention to All Things NHL back then, but more than anything I miss the fact that I was a kid living with my mother and she was still in good health and alive which is no longer the case 😢
Gretzky’s shot was very deceptive and would have been ideal to put in after a couple snipers. Throw two fast balls and then Gretzky comes in with the knuckleball, throwing Hasek’s timing off. Had Gretzky shot, I believe he would have wound up and put a slap shot just under the bar, top corner, as he so often did.
Exactly. He would have taken a slap shot in close or a wrist shot to the top corner like he did against Vancouver that same season (for his 2nd goal of his 50th hat trick).
It works when he's obscured by his teammates. But on breakaways, Gretzky isn't as great, and he admits that.
@@broadstreet21 - then why did he score on 3 consecutive breakaways a month prior the Olympics (one of them on Martin Brodeur)?
@@michaelgriffiths8068 Sometimes he gets a lucky streak, but traditionally, that isn't his strong suit. Anyway, tell that to Crawford.
@@broadstreet21 - Crawford still annoys me to this day for making such a dumb decision. Has Ray Bourque ever scored on a breakaway? He was a defenseman lol
Your youtube page will keep growing. Keep making these videos they are awesome.
Ideas for ya.
1.atlanta thrashers
2.whalers
3 patrik stephan
4. TEAMS THAT TRIED TO BUY A STANLEY CUP(predators) cough
5. North stars
6. Florida advantage?
7. NCAA the new standard for prospect??
Hope this helps
1. why Bure left van
2. Suter's career ending hits on stars
3. World Cup 96 Canada vs US brawl
4. Gino Odjick vs Tie Domi tilts
5. Mogilny's 76 goal season
Gretzky was not only looked up to as the unofficial captian of the hockey team ...I saw interviews with other athletes from different sports who considered him the Captain of the entire Canadian Olympic team. Bobby Clarke was a selfish individual who was trying to promote his Philadelphia player Eric Lindross at the expense of Canada. No class or hockey smarts. He should never have been involved. Who hired him?
Question: Was Steve Yzerman available to shoot?
Yes but Borque makes waaay more sense!
I remember watching this game live. I heard my whole life we're the best at hockey, yet my first best on best country hockey game said well, maybe by not as big a margin as we thought. But man, Hasek was something else. Any team with him in net had a huge chance at winning. This was peak Hasek time and I still think his peak is higher than any other goalie in history but he doesn't have the longevity.
Hasek doesn't have longevity? Hasek? You sure? Nonsense, his career is as long as that of Roy (they re of same age) or Brodeur. He just couldn't go to the NHL sooner but he came as a legend already. Then lost years of his prime by proving himself to new people. He still holds insane record as the youngest goalie to ever start for national team in 1983(!). At that time every Czech and Slovak goalie was ready to play for any national team game so it's really achievement. He could have been NHL star as soon as Roy was.
@@laughingbeast4481 I just meant he wasn't a starting goaltender in the NHL as long as some other greats.
@@badmanskill1112 Oh, ok then.
Great job on the video.
Dominik Hašek, who is turning 60 in January, plays a beer league as a defenseman nowadays. I have the honour to play a goalie against him...
Tell him that when the Canadiens goalie,my team, makes a spawling save we say, Hasek...
Mark Crawford is the dumbest coach in NHL history, and that is why 99 was left on the bench in a shoot out!!!
Calling someone dumb while misspelling their name is fucking hilariously ironic.
Baaahahhahaha!
We had him in Vancouver, and i could NOT agree with you more.Dumber than dirt
@@glenw-xm5zf Vancouver also drafted Crawford as well. Haunting you from always back !
@@luccac6247 i remember his playing. Average.
I don't understand the strategy of choosing shooters and not insisting that they shoot instead of deke. Thanks for a trip down memory lane.
Excuses, excuses, excuses... Czechs showed bigger hearts outshine NHL stars.
The Dominator had been in the NHL for a number of years and Team Canada didn't plan that well.
Dude what kind of idiot are you ? If Gretzky is in the shoot out Canada wins most likely .... You don't sit out the best player in hockey history , better then all the czevks put together bro. Your delusional to think this isn't a good excuse and it didnt change the out come
@@joshuasmith2814 fair enough. so I guess in your opinion the NHL stars who play for team Canada showed bigger hearts than everyone else everytime the win at the Olympics
bigger boring hockey u mean lol have to trap entire games so hasek can save their asses
Totally agree. The Czechs were unstoppable in the last 4 games I believe they only allowed 2 goals. Canada was lucky to even see the shoot-out. We were on the wrong side of the puck the entire game....
I think it's unlikely that Gretzky would have scored. Hasek was not only the best goalie but he excelled at the shootout, as he showed when the shootout were introduced in NHL. (He went undefeated for a long stretch.) The penalty shot was the weakest part of Gretzky's game on the other hand. Also, Gretzky was well passed his prime.
However, he should have been penciled in to shoot instead of Bourque. It would have taken pressure off the other players. Leaving him off showed a lack of confidence. Crawford should have penciled in his most intimidating forwards, including Gretzky, rather than the 4D chess he tried to play by putting in a defenseman who was as old as Gretzky was anyways.
And Gretzky had just scored 2 goals on Hasek before the Olympics as well. One of them was a beautiful shot to the top corner in which Hasek didn’t even move. Here is the last goal just before the Olympics…
ua-cam.com/video/iWxSJ1QgSTE/v-deo.htmlsi=fs0hb4iXW6dES2qQ
@@michaelgriffiths8068 Wow. That's pretty remarkable. It makes me reevaluate my position a bit. One thing's for sure: #99 wasn't intimidated going in alone on #39
@@willyupshaw- the thing that Crawford truly underestimated about Gretzky was that he always THRIVED in pressure situations. Has there ever been a better clutch performer than Gretzky? Think back to games 2 and 3 of the 1987 Canada Cup and game 7 of the Stanley Cup that year. Think back to game 7 against Toronto in 1993 when he practically willed a mediocre Kings team (that missed the playoffs the next season) into the Cup finals with a hat trick and an assist. Think back to the 1997 playoffs when Wayne carried an average Rangers team on his back to the semi finals, scoring two hat tricks. Crawford was truly out to lunch thinking a defenseman (who hardly ever had a breakaway, let alone scored on one) would be a better choice than one of the most clutch (Michael Jordan level) superstars in history.
As for being past his prime, he still finished the season only ONE point back of 2nd place Forsberg in points. And Fosberg had a stacked Avs team, and Gretzky had, who, Nicholas Sundstrom? Not even Messier (who was in Vancouver). Had Gretzky been on the Avs playing with Sakic, he would have likely finished 1st in points that year. Instead he had no one and still finished tied for 3rd overall with prime Pavel Bure, one point back of 2nd and first in assists.
Personally, I think Marc Crawford saved Gretzky from embarrasment. Hasek was at the top of his game and wayne's career was in decline. It would have been worse if Gretzky had missed and then have that video moment preserved in history. It would have been like the Italian soccer player Roberto Baggio: He was the best player in the game, but the only thing people remember of him was his missed penalty. Gretzky not participating in the shootout is the reason we are all having this conversation on you tube.
And about Ray Bourque: it's Crawford's idea of being cheeky; putting that joker in the pile. Had canada won the shootout, it would have been genius.
@ - Gretz had scored on 3 breakaways just before the Olympics. And then there was this, a month before the Olympics on Hasek himself. 99 would have been just fine…
ua-cam.com/video/iWxSJ1QgSTE/v-deo.htmlsi=BtVdsCH2i-dqT69k
Honest question - has Ray Bourque ever scored a goal on a breakaway? As a defenseman, how many breakaways did Ray Bourque have in his career? And how many did Gretzky have? I don’t ever recall seeing Bourque on a breakaway, though I’m sure he had at least 2 or 3 breakaways in his career. Gretzky must have gotten a breakaway every other game in his prime.
Ray never shot over 9% although he had 31 goal season. Crawford was just bat --t stupid.A flop at math. Brian Burke, the educated idiot. was the guy who hired him. Very poor judge of character.. and imo not a nice person
Shows you the value of analytics!! Also, Crawford said Gretzky not good on breakaways, but a shootout is not a breakaway. Put the highest scorer in history in for Olympic gold,and he buries it !!!!!
This is the equivalent of not having Messi or Ronaldo on a pk. Or putting the ball in Jordans hands for the final shot. Brady for the final drive. You get it. Unbelievable
Great video
great job
“Ohh he might not have been a good in the shootout”
If the all-time goals leader is on my roster, he’s getting a shot. Period.
I recall that tourney well. The real problem rests in the composition of the team itself. Most of these players were professional enough to play with anyone, but when a player like Lindros (with the most divisive history in the game) is named as captain, the air leaves the room. Canadian hockey history is anchored in the belief in the guy on the bench beside you. Introduce a cancer and it's over.
The funny part is that soon after that Clarke ended up tearing the Flyers C off of Lindros jersey😂
The guys I would've picked. 1. Nieuwendyk 2. Shanahan 3. Fleury 4. Sakic 5. Yzerman.
I don't know what the heck Bourque was doing there I don't think I ever saw him on a breakaway in his entire career.
I would’ve picked Sakic too but as the video said he was unavailable due to injury. For sure Bourque should not have even been a consideration though!
🤣😂🤣 best of all time, nahhhh. 😆
@@ryangaskin4938 i didn't know about the injury
🙄
Amazing Video, I'll love to see more international hockey related videos if you're able ofc
Great history lesson...
Ray Bourque on that list is a bigger head scratcher....
Bourque himself said the same
Yeah I immediately think Gretzky and yzerman would have been better.
Crawford goes down in history as the only coach to pick a defence man for top 5 shootout choices. Way to go Mark!😢
Quality content bro. Keep up the great work! Subscribed
Great analysis of the game that I lost sleep over
Scott Stephens would (later) end Eric Lindros' career, after Clark refused to trade him, after a dressing room altercation with Tochett and a subsequent head injury. Lindros was the worst thing to happen for that team.
If I remember right Theo Fleury was 3 for 3 in the NHL on penalty shots. Nearly scored too.
Great stuff here
Why not use Yzerman in the shootout too?
Clarke and Gainey's priority was sending a message to the Oilers clan not winning gold. Messier's lack of inclusion was a huge controversy, as well.
Messier was 37 at the time and it was a larger ice surface...they probably thought age/decline/not being able to keep up with the Euro's on that ice. For Vancouver Messier was still ok that season production wise but fading...clearly not the same guy he was even 2 years before with the Rangers. Still you can't really defend having Rob Zamuner and not Mark Messier
Almost this whole thread is comments regarding the shootout. The bigger issue is, why did they let it get there. With the players they had, they should have asserted their will on the Czechs and won it in regulation. Rule 1 in Hockey ---- never let a big game get to a shootout.
except the Czechs were better, Canada was lucky to get to the shootout.
Dominik Hasek is why
I like the way you said za-moo-ner lol
Was Jagar on the Czech team?
Yes
Yes, he hit the post on the shootout
Healthy Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya were the missing pieces of that '98 team. Sakic, Lemieux and Kariya should have been in that shootout.
not just Canada's greatest shooter, hockey's greatest shooter
Also let's just be blunt and acknowledge why Turgeon was left home
Piestany. His actions at Piestany disqualified him immediately. Clarke no doubt remembered
That Suter cross check to Kariya was borderline attempted murder. And remember it was Suter who messed up Gretzky's back
And to some extent, messed up rest of Gretzky’s career
Came here to write Piestany 2:17
Can you explain what the tocchet system even is? I'm so currious
Let’s not forget that Steve Yzerman, who was Canada’s second-highest scorer and still ranks in the top 10 all-time, was left out of the shootout as well. That’s a pretty big oversight.
no oates, neidermayer and turgeon on that bigger ice surface is insane. Kariya injured was also very painful. The Czechs were so lucky
The Czechs were missing Petr Nedvěd. Sykora and Elias didn't make the cut though they probably should have. If it weren't for the stupid liberals splitting the country in two the Czechs would have several Slovak stars on top of that.
The best players in the world find a way to get it done in biggest moments so I'm putting him in..
Well, it was just the tournament of the century. But nice to get the gold anyway. Made lot of people in my country happy!
Mario retired in 97. Would he be in good shape for the Olympics? He came back in 2000 while he was preparing. He was the Captain in 2002 while winning the gold. So yes, Gretzky should have been the Captain instead of Lindros.
Gretzky's autobiography said he's not good at breakaways.
that must be where I read that, but who reads books anymore 🤣
Yeah but is he better at scoring then that whole shootout list? Always pick the best players don't favour anyone your best players are your best players for a reason
Is Borque a defence man better?
those are all my favorite player growing and now i barley watch hockey i miss old school hockey. my 3 fav goalies aand most my fav def and all my fav winger and forwards. sucks they didnt win
Just a couple of thoughs on this one:
1) Gretzky taking one of the five penalty shots would not change a damn thing as the Dominator was superior and not to be beaten on that night. But I agree 99 should have been given a chance, sometimes coaches outsmart themselves with analytics.
2) Building the best team by finding right players is the right way to win trophies (ask Herb Brooks), this not Fantasy League, but there were definitely some mistakes made (as there always are), S. Niedermayer seems to be the most blatent one. Also you cannot get stuck with certain "winning" strategy if you don't have the right players for it, need to find the balance between best strategy and picking best overall players.
3) Both teams from America were just too cocky and overlooked rest of the world. General expectation was Canada - USA finals, so you can see why the team was built to beat USA, which they acutually did
4) Anyone saying Czech team just parked the bus should rewatch the game, they were the better team until the go ahead goal and only parked the bus at the end of 3rd period to protect the lead which backfired. I would agree that in overtime, they just wanted to survive and liked their chances in shootout.
5) While there were some superstars playing for Canada, some of them were past their prime, while team Czech had two best players in the world those days in Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek and bunch of other studs that can match with Canadiens (Reichel, Lang, Rucinsky, Slegr and many others)
6) Non-NHL players for Czech team were outstanding (many of them actually made it to NHL later in their careers) and were able to take advantage of wider rink
7) Czech team had a better coach in Ivan Hlinka, a natural born leader who always got his team ready for the big games and was able not only to come up with great gameplan but also make in game adjustments. I am pretty damn sure he would not left out the Great One even if he was not on his pre-game list🙂
8) Eric Lindros clearly was not the best leader and captain, but if it was me, I would take Marc Messier to be my captain for the tournament. I know he was way past his prime but I beleive he was that type of leader who just make the others so much better, so you can save one roster spot for him.
100% Bobby Clarke's fault. He was not a good office guy. Those chess pieces were used incorrectly.
Sure, I get that Canada could have made different choices, but Dominik Hasek is one of the greatest goalies who ever lived. I think we forget that fact when looking back at Nagano.
Dominator was just simply unstoppable and Wayne wasn't known to get the puck past him often.
How often did Borque get the puck past Hasek?
Hazek owning teams just showed how terrible guys were at lifting the puck. Hasek is a gob!!! An absolute master at taking advantage. He didn’t even goaltend. He took the bottom of the net. Today he would give up 8 goals a game
1. Ice some of the most talented offensive players in the world. 2. Dump and chase. 3. Profit ???
I'm fine with role players being in there (Like Detroit's Draper and Maltby in a later World Cup). Sometimes you need those kinds of players to hold on to a lead.
Scott Neidameyer sorry spelling is the only glaring mistake. No one was as fast or graceful at skating. He was also a great all round defensemen. Trevor Linden and Pronger played great. Can you imagine having those two clogging the middle on the third and fourth line. In a one game knockout anything can happen. 2002 and 2010 were as nervous i have been before a game. I played first class rugby for 13 years. The threat of getting your head knocke off at my position, fullback was real. I was never half as nervous before a game. In 2002 i was 40. I left a party at 9pm as it was what we called game night. The night before the big game. I had planned on watching it alone. Ten friends showed up and two of them came because they wanted me to react badly if we lost . I would never had just as i never did when i played. The players in the games. Back in the day Gretzky was apperently not good on breakaways, what nonesense. Mark Crawford made a mistake. I dont hold it against him. Please try and pronounce players names better. I had to rewind for Martin Broduear.
I just can't believe this. Canadians won dozens of gold medals, yet they keep talking about the one they didn't win? It's like they are the only one entitled to take gold each time.
Tl;dr Canada has won thrice in almost 69 years.
Canada hadn't won Olympic Gold in years. In fact, 1952 was the last time they won until 2002, as stated by Wikipedia. 1998 was the first tournament that included NHL players.
Many people have criticized the IOC's standard for "amateur athletes", as KHL superstars were able to compete, but not at the NHL level. As a result, the Soviet Union stood first in 7 of 9 events in which they participated. The other two times were decided by the USA in 1960 and 1980.
Canada's top players, however, aren't infaillible, as shown in the 2006 Turin Olympics - which Sweden won. Overall, the team has taken 3 of the 6 possible golds (2002, 2010, 2014) in the 2000s. Russia, not the Soviets, earned first-place over Germany in 2018; and 2022 was Finland over the former.
By technicality, the Soviets/Russians have won 10 gold medals since 1956, compared to 3 by Canada. Please read history.
To be fair, this was late in Wayne's career, and he was prominently an Assists guy at that point.
Gretzky tied for the league lead in assists in '96-'97 and '97-'98.
"you miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
They shoulda gave him the shot.
I lived it live. I don't need a 15 minute video to tell me Crawford overthought the situation.
Sitting Gretzky for the shootout was beyond absurd. He’d performed as the best ever in multiple situations. He should have been Canada’s first shooter. With the game on his back, he’d have found a way to score. This was no Mickey Mouse roster. One questionable choice didn’t nullify the talent in all positions. The weakest position was the head coach.
Gretzky would have been out there alone, just him and Hasek. He could choose the pace of the run-up to suit his style. Obviously he should've been one of the shooters. His skating wasn't as spry and crisp as in his younger years. But that's not really a factor in a shoot-out. It's Gretzky. If anyone was going to find a way to beat Hasek, it'd be him.
Exactly
At the heart of the matter, Team Canada was built for the NHL, not the IIHF. Enter the presence of role players on the team. Had they played on an NHL regulation ice, they would have won gold no problem. But on IIHF ice, you need more skill than grit. Big role players don't make this lineup unless they add leadership to the lineup (in this regard, Linden and Shannahan at least check those boxes, Corson, not as much). But outside of those guys, you want smaller skilled players on IIHF ice.
A small asterisk, but it's worth noting that Linden was going through a very difficult time, having been unceremoniously traded from his team immediately before the Olympics, still managed to score a crucial game-tying goal in the game against the Czeck Republic at the last minute. I'd like to believe that had the trade never happened (it shouldn't ever have happened), he'd play at an even higher level, score two goals that game (or at least assist on a second goal) and Canada would win in regulation. But that's just me being a Canuck fan, hoping the captain goes down an international hero.
But about the shootout, if Gretzky himself were the coach, he too would have passed Gretzky the player over in favour of Bourque, as Bourque was known for winning shooting accuracy contests, while Gretzky was not known for scoring in breakaways.