Olympic Hockey : Soviets Favored, but Not Invincible

The memory of the United States victory at Lake Placid in 1980 makes it tempting to imagine Canada winning the hockey gold medal next winter in Calgary, the hometown of Team Canada Coach Dave King.

Reality, however, indicates that if the uniforms of the winners are red and white, they will not have a maple leaf on the front but the initials CCCP worn by the team from the Soviet Union.

As usual, the Soviets will be favored but, for a change, not overwhelmingly so. With obvious flaws in their goaltending and fourth line, and a recent history of losing big games to Czechoslovakia, the Soviets have had enough reminders since Team USA’s 1980 upset victory that they are not invincible.

“They keep looking for another (Vladislav) Tretiak,” NHL star Wayne Gretzky said of the retired goaltending great, after playing against the Soviet National Team on Feb. 11 and Feb. 13. “I noticed they gave this kid Tretiak’s number (20),” Gretzky added of 20-year-old Evgeny Belosheikin. “Maybe they don’t retire sweaters over there but there may never again be another Tretiak anywhere.”

Furthermore, Belosheikin has no clearcut backup as Tretiak had in Vladimir Myshkin and elsewhere on the squad there are signs of decline.

Vyacheslav Fetisov, considered the best defenseman in the world at the most recent Olympic and Canada Cup competitions, has shown the effects of a broken leg and his brother’s fatal automobile accident.

In the two-game Rendez-Vous ’87 series at Quebec which the Soviets and NHL All-Stars split, the USSR’s top “KLM” line of Igor Larionov between Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov was upstaged by the NHL in the opener and by the USSR’s backup line in the finale.

The overshadowing of the world’s most consistently dominant line may be a signal of Soviet weakening -- or merely a signal that the torch is passing successfully.

The USSR’s best challengers, despite the 1988 hosts’ sentiment for Canada and television’s hopes for the United States, now appear to be the Czechoslovakians and Swedes.

Canada’s age-old liability of being the major supplier for the NHL persists, and the United States will not select its team until this summer’s National Sports Festival, a departure from the successful year-long training of the 1980 team.

“The U.S. made a big mistake in not putting their team together sooner,” said George Kingston, an organizer of Team Canada and Ph.D. in hockey development. “But when they put on the USA sweater, they always play damn well.”

At the recent Calgary Cup tournament, an edition of the preview tournament traditionally held one year before the Olympics, the U.S. and Canada could beat only each other.

Czechoslovakia, behind standout goaltender Dominik Hasek, defeated the USSR for the gold medal.

Two factors to keep in mind, however, when evaluating the Czechoslovakians, are that they usually look ordinary until they play the Soviets, and the nation’s inability to prevent defections. The NHL has ravaged the Czechoslovakian National Team in recent seasons and while the remaining team looks strong enough to contend, it can’t afford for any more stars to follow Petr Klima, Petr Svoboda, Frantisek Musil and Michal Pivonka to the NHL.

But with forwards Jiri Hrdina, Dusan Pasek and Petr Rosol, Czechoslovakia in December lost two games by one goal each at the Izvestia Tournament and won the Calgary Cup.

The NHL also has the potential to influence the Olympics in a positive fashion. With the revolutionary decision to let professional players participate, the NHL is in a position to restore lost resources, particularly to Canada.

However, NHL president John Ziegler sounds pessimistic about massive league participation. He points out that full-scale cooperation would entail a three-week suspension of NHL play--at a cost to the league of $10 million. And if league play continued through the Games, Ziegler said the absence of star players would be unfair to NHL season ticket holders.

So, as enticing as the newly won eligibility sounds, it looks doubtful that Team Canada will suddenly feature its native world-class players from the NHL such as Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy.

King does have at his disposal players the NHL has tabbed as future stars, high draft picks who have yet to begin or have only recently begun NHL careers. Canada’s strengths, in addition to the home ice and crowd, will be on defense and in goal, barring more departures for the NHL such as that of Buffalo Sabres’ top 1986 draft pick Shawn Anderson.

The defense features Pittsburgh Penguins 1986 No. 1 pick Zarley Zalapski, the best blueliner at the prestigious Izvestia tournament in December, and Trent Yawney, who is Chicago Blackhawks property but has committed for the Games.

In goal, New Jersey Devils draft pick Sean Burke has committed.

The problem for Canada, as it was in 1984, should be firepower up front. King has some returnees from 1984 and some NHL part-timers to count on for experience, but they are defensive, checking forwards--Marc Habsheid, Gord Sherven, Vaughn Karpan and Ken Berry. The most skilled threat King has available so far is St. Louis Blues rookie Cliff Ronning, but he is small and can too easily be pushed off the puck to carry an offense.

The Swedes may most benefit from the services of NHL players as some have already left the league to return to Sweden and others, such as Minnesota North Star Kent Nilsson, may be available.

Center Bengt Gustafsson’s value was best underscored by the fact his departure from Washington for home disrupted the Capitals’ offense until recently. He is expected to play for Sweden as are other recently returned NHL players Peter Sundstrom (New York Rangers) and defenseman Thomas Eriksson (Philadelphia Flyers). The latter, with Tommy Samuelsson and Lars Karlsson, gives a solid defense to Sweden, which edged Canada for the bronze medal in 1984.

The United States, to be coached by former Junior National Team Coach Dave Peterson of Minneapolis, will be one of the teams least helped by the change in NHL eligibility -- by choice.

“Once we pick our team, we are not going to add NHL professionals,” said the squad’s general manager, Art Berglund. “It is not fair to the men who have made a commitment to us and played a long training schedule.

“If Rod Langway (Washington star defenseman and New Hampshire native) retires from the NHL at the end of this season (a highly improbable scenario), he would be most welcome--if he played the entire training season with us.

“The pros are used in the world championships and they have the Canada Cup in September whereas the (U.S. amateur) development program is geared around the Olympic team.”

Berglund is unwilling to list U.S. prospects for fear of publicly counting on someone who may end up in the NHL, or of excluding someone.