Had a great chat with my morning man Danny today about the current Winter Games. We heartily congratulated the Canadian women's 3000 meter speed skating relay team on their Silver. And then, just for the sake of a great talk, got off on a tangent.
Word came down this weekend from organisers that women's hockey would remain a Winter Games sport, despite lop-sided wins by Canada and the U.S (who will square off yet again for first place) through the tournament. And then we proceeded to talk about the men's team, and the fact NHL players likely will not compete in 4 years time in South Korea (although no firm decision has been made as of this post).
Danny was aghast at the move, but I'm not so sure it's entirely a bad thing. I agree that we should ice the strongest team possible, but would having professional players absent hurt the competition? I think not.
Don't for a moment think that I'm against Canada doing well (ie: Winning the gold) at the Games. But it seems the whole idea of what they were set up for has gone by the wayside. If my admittedly shaky memory serves, the idea was for amateur athletes to showcase their abilities, not professionals. Yes, it's nice that players like Sid Crosby can compete for the top honor in sport. But I'd rather see young amateurs like Morgan Kilmchuck, Eric Roy or Alex Moodie take part.
And yes, I'm very familiar with how the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia got around the rules banning players getting paid to play by having them instead paid by the Red Army.
Danny said (and I agreed) that junior hockey is more entertaining to watch (with no offence meant to the NHL). Both levels of players are equally passionate about the game they love, no doubt. But junior hockey seems to have just a little bit more.
Will this change anything? No. But it sure made for a great talk this morning!
TTFN
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