Canadians stay uniform
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- Ottawa Sun
MONTREAL -- Now we know where Team Canada does its shopping.
You didn't know there were such bargains to be had at garage sales in Nashville, did you?
Team Canada unveiled its vintage sweaters last night at the Bell Centre wearing something charitably described as an "antique gold" colour, but appeared to be closer to "antique Grey Poupon."
While the sweaters maybe didn't cut the mustard, they served their purpose of recognizing the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons, the first Canadian team to win an Olympic gold medal.
If that's what they were wearing around Winnipeg in 1920, it is easy to understand why that city did not establish itself as the fashion capital of our country.
The sweaters looked to be pretty close in colour to the Nashville Predators' third jersey (you've got one of those, don't you?)
Opinion, Mario Lemieux?
"They were a little tight," said the Team Canada captain. "That's about it."
Wade Redden?
"They were, ah, vintage, I guess you could say," said the Canadian defenceman. "They're something I've not seen much of before. It's pretty cool, though, when you think that's a sweater a team wore 50 years ago."
"It was definitely different," said winger Jarome Iginla. "It's a good collectible jersey to have on your basement wall. It was cool to bring back a little history."
It was a one-off deal with a 1-0 record now.
It's expected the Canadians will be back in their traditional white tonight when they play the Slovakians here.
SIXTY-SIX UPDATE: Lemieux, enforcer? Lemieux threw off his gloves and mauled Team USA's Steve Konowalchuk after he got tangled up with Team Canada goaltender Martin Brodeur. Then Iginla charged in and grabbed Konowalchuk by the head. It was a pretty physical night for Lemieux, who got a big cheer the first time he touched the puck and another one when he put a shoulder into American Doug Weight. "He competes. He gets in there and battles," said Iginla of Lemieux. "You can tell when he's upset and he was upset (last night)." Lemieux said he thought the Americans were getting too close to Brodeur. "They did a couple of times before. I was the closest guy to Konowalchuk. I had to do my job," he said. Probably not exactly your job, Mario, but good on you.
HEAR AND THERE: It's expected Canada lost D Ed Jovanovski for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury. It's just serious enough to keep him out and D Scott Hannan is expected to go in tonight vs. Slovakia ... The Bell Centre was a special place to be last night with the sellout crowd in full voice during our national anthem. It was a stirring moment in La Belle Province. "It's a great hockey town," said Lemieux of his home town. "The fans were into it from the get-go."
REVELATIONS: Fresh on the heels of Daniel Alfredsson going for the bald dome look comes word Senators teammate Marian Hossa is also contemplating a new coif. "Not like that," Hossa said yesterday after the Slovakian team practised at the Bell Centre. "But I'm thinking of getting it cut shorter." Hossa didn't recognize the bald head in the hotel lobby in Bratislava as belonging to Alfredsson a few days ago. "I walked right by him and then I heard somebody say my name and I saw it was him. Wow." ... The best hit in the first period might have been Canada's Eric Brewer putting his shoulder into USA F Scott Gomez. The force of the hit sent Gomez' stick flying. If this was Athens, he would have had a bronze in the javelin.
SPECULATIONS: Just under the surface veneer of the excitement of the World Cup is the grim reality for some NHL staffers that when this is over, so are their jobs. If there is a lockout, some staff is being terminated and not laid off. They will have to reapply for their jobs when the lockout is over and could lose seniority and vacation time ... Lemieux said he will play tonight. He had often skipped back-to-back games in the past ... With Jovanovski out of the game, Redden said he thought American Jeff Halpern fought with Scott Niedermayer to further deplete the Canadian blue line. "You could see they wanted to take him out of the game," said Redden. The four remaining guys hung tough.
THE BUZZ: Sign in the stands: "If you see my wife, tell her I've gone for milk and bread. Back in an hour."... It took the CBC's Ron MacLean 22 hours to get here from Athens. He looked remarkably well-pressed at the morning skate.
JUST WONDERING: Spotted in the stands: Montreal Alouettes coach Don Matthews and agent Gill Scott. What's the deal with the shades, Don? ... How long will Team USA's Chris Drury be seeing that open net he missed in the second period? Or the puck glancing off his shinpad for the winning goal?
PARTING SHOT: Team USA captain Chris Chelios might be 42, but he can still hack and whack with the best of them. Ask Team Canada's Shane Doan, who took one in the back in the second period ... Nice to see Canadian coach Pat Quinn is in mid-season form. One press conference, one carve job on the officiating.
