Canada Keeps a Nation on Edge

So far, the Canadian team expected to bring home a gold medal is bringing on one of the worst cases of nerves in the nation’s hockey history.

And if lowly Germany could inspire the tentative, inconsistent performance given by Canada Sunday night, just wait until the Canadians see Dominik Hasek staring at them from the opposite goal crease.

Joe Sakic scored midway through the second period as Canada struggled to a 3-2 victory over Germany, getting its second troubling performance from a star-laden roster that shows no signs of the cohesiveness necessary to win the tournament.

“This is a tense time,” Canada Coach Pat Quinn said. “We’re having trouble dealing with the tenseness.”

Canada’s team of NHL millionaires traveled to Utah shouldering the dreams of a hockey-mad nation held without gold for 50 years.

The Canadians’ roster is one of the most spectacular ever assembled, but their physical talent hasn’t translated into smooth team play--and they admit time might be running out.

“We’ve got to gain some confidence,” defenseman Chris Pronger said. “We’ve got to relax. You don’t always have to go-go-go and try to make every single play. We don’t have to do everything.”

Canada’s victory sets up a key match against Hasek and the Czech Republic today. The winner likely will face Finland in the quarterfinals Wednesday, while the loser probably will get the daunting task of meeting Russia.

Through all of the struggle, there also was plenty of reason for Canadians to hope their team will find its way. Paul Kariya and Adam Foote scored on chances created by an effective five-minute power play for Canada (1-1)-- a 5-2 loser to Sweden on Friday night.

The Canadians began and ended the game playing sloppy hockey, but during 20 minutes spanning the second and third periods, Canada was in charge. After Sakic slipped a shot past goalie Marc Seliger for the game’s first goal, the Canadians added two more goals in the next 10 minutes.