Wednesday, February 6, 2002
The starting job is Cujo's to lose
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
No official announcement has been made. And none will be forthcoming.
But you can take it as fact that the starting goaltender's role in the Salt Lake City Olympics belongs to Curtis Joseph.
If he isn't in the nets for the meaningful games, it will be because he is injured or because he lost the job in the opening round, neither of which is very likely.
The Team Canada organizing committee hammered out the goaltending decision in Los Angeles last week and, curiously enough, it was Ed Belfour, the now-relegated third goalie, who was the serious threat to take Joseph's starting job, not the second goalie, Martin Brodeur.
In the lengthy debate that preceded the decision, each of the goalies had his backers. But the way the Olympic committee operates, not every vote is equal.
Although Wayne Gretzky has the responsibility of the final decisions and has made it clear on a number of occasions that he is in charge, he always has exhibited a reverence for coaches.
Throughout his playing career, he never would criticize his coach, either publicly or privately, even when everyone else on the team knew he and the coach were at odds.
He has brought that approach to the Olympic committee and when it comes down to player decisions, he allows his coaches the final say.
He himself badly wanted Sean Burke named as the third goaltender, not Belfour. But the coaches, especially head coach Pat Quinn, wanted Belfour, so Gretzky acceded.
The bottom line, he said, was that the coaches have to be able to look down the bench and be comfortable with what they see -- and Quinn felt more comfortable with Belfour than with Burke.
Former Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock also pushed hard for Belfour, who had served him well in so many crucial playoff games. In fact, if it were up to Hitchcock, Belfour would be the starting Olympic goalie.
But there was a strong sentiment for having Brodeur's presence on the active roster for a number of reasons.
This is to be an offensively oriented team, and there is no goalie in the world who contributes more to his team's offence than Brodeur.
Also, the fact Brodeur was on the 1998 Olympic team did him no harm.
When last week's vote was taken and Belfour was dropped to third, Hitchcock no longer had a strong view about the starter. But Quinn strongly felt Joseph should be given the inside track and, as a result, he was.
There is no reason to doubt that Quinn genuinely feels Joseph represents his best hope, but even if he didn't, he still would have to push for him if the decision were at all close.
Even though the people on the committee long ago agreed they would put Canada first and not make decisions for the good of their NHL teams, we'd have to believe in leprechauns and honest lawyers to think such considerations could be put aside totally.
If Quinn were to support anyone but Joseph, he'd be terminating Joseph's career as a Maple Leaf.
Even now, it's not certain Joseph will be back next season. In fact, if it were just a matter of money he would go elsewhere.
Top-flight agents say Joseph easily could earn $10 million US a year if he were to make the most of his pending free agency and place himself on the open market. At least two experienced agents suggest he could get $12 million.
The Leafs are not offering anything close to that amount and instead are relying upon Joseph's obvious comfort zone to keep him in Toronto.
But Joseph is a proud man, and if his general manager/coach were to pass him over as Olympic goalie in favour of Brodeur, especially this year, it would be a slap in the face that would mean the end of Joseph's career as a Leaf.
So for all those reasons, Joseph is now the No. 1 goalie on the Olympic team.
And there's one more factor that doesn't do him any harm.
Phyllis Gretzky thinks he is magnificent.
2002 Games Columnists
