Sweden Gives Canada Rude Wake-Up

Once again, the Canadians showed why they aren’t worldbeaters at the game they consider their national property.

Playing under international rules, with a wider rink and no red line to cut down on long passes, the Canadian men’s hockey team was thumped by Sweden, 5-2, at the E Center on Friday night.

“We have to take this as a lesson,” Canadian Coach Pat Quinn said. “We got hammered.”

This might serve as a reminder why Sweden (1994) has won an Olympic gold medal more recently than Canada (1952).

The Swedes put together a textbook display of what Swedish Coach Hardy Nilsson called “Big Ice Hockey.” They got the puck to their forwards hanging out on the blue line of their offensive zone and got behind the Canadian defense for easy shots on Canadian goalie Curtis Joseph.

“We just can’t get so spread out,” Canadian defenseman Rob Blake said. “As a group of five, you tend to wander a little bit, and when you do, they have guys darting through the middle to make those plays.”

Blake scored the first goal, 2 minutes 37 seconds into the game. But Swedish captain Mats Sundin got behind the Canadian defense three minutes later and beat goaltender Curtis Joseph, his teammate on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin scored again in the second period, when the Swedes fired 11 shots at Joseph and got four goals.

When the Canadians tried to make the long pass, Sweden usually intercepted.

“It really isn’t our game,” Canadian forward Mike Peca said. “You’ve got to find a fine line between what’s going to be effective for us and how you can best use the open ice out there.”

Even though the Swedish roster is loaded with NHL players as well, they had a much easier time making the adjustment to the larger rink.

“They grow up together, they learn together, they play on the Olympic ice,” Quinn said. “Some of the things that work tactically on the big ice, they learn.

“Many of the Canadian kids aren’t trained that way. We’re trained to shoot the puck in, knock somebody down, get the puck and put it in.”

The Canadians did create some great scoring opportunities in the third period and ultimately outshot Sweden, 35-25, but Swedish goalie Tommy Salo kept turning them away.

Canada got its second goal with only 4:21 to play from Eric Brewer, then appeared to score again on a goal by Eric Lindros 25 seconds later. But referee Dennis LaRue ruled that Peca was in the crease when Lindros shot.

Although it might have magnified the absence of Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy, who choose to stay home rather than join Team Canada, the loss did more damage to Canadian national pride than its medal chances. Every team in the final round advances to the playoffs; point totals merely determine seeding. This game showed why a team such as Sweden, with fewer NHL All-Stars than Canada, has just as good if not a better chance of winning the gold medal.

“We haven’t been talked about that much, but going into the tournament we knew that about five or six teams could win it,” said Swedish defenseman Mattias Norstrom, the Kings’ captain. “You saw it tonight.”

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Russia 6, Belarus 4--Sergei Fedorov and teenage sensation Ilya Kovalchuk each had a goal and an assist as Russia beat Belarus in their opening match of the final round.

With the exception of its backup goaltenders, Russia’s roster is composed entirely of NHL players. Once the dominant power of Olympic hockey when the Soviet Union existed, Russia is many observers’ favorite to win in Salt Lake City.

Through most of their first game against the weakest team in their group, the Russians clearly showed their superiority--but also made enough mistakes to keep Belarus in it.

Nikolai Khabibulin, perhaps the NHL’s hottest goaltender this season, allowed two soft goals in a shaky first Olympic appearance, while the defenders in front of him also struggled.

Belarus is the only remaining team with no NHL forwards in its lineup, but it managed 33 shots--18 in the second period as Russia got a brief scare.

Sergei Samsonov, skating on a potent line with Fedorov and Kovalchuk, scored the game’s first goal just 1:45 in. Russia also used brothers Pavel and Valeri Bure together on a line with Alexei Zhamnov, while Alexei Yashin--who scored in the second period--centered a line with Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Nikolishin.

Russia dominated the flow of play and took nine shots in the first eight minutes, but Belarus evened the score when Igor Kravchuk left the net unguarded after a faceoff, allowing Oleg Antonenko to score.

Zhamnov put the Russians back ahead with a power-play goal late in the period, and 18-year-old Kovalchuk got his first Olympic goal 21 seconds before intermission when his centering pass banked off a defender and into the net.

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Women

Russia 4, Kazakhstan 1--At Provo, Utah, the Russian women’s hockey team, already out of the medals round, scored its first victory of the Winter Games.

The Russians dominated their winless opponents, outshooting Kazakhstan, 52-11. Ekaterina Pachkevitch scored first for the Russians, now 1-2. Kazakhstan, which was also out of the medal round, lost its third straight game.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.