Kukla's Korner Hockey
The Rivalry Continues
by Paul on 02/19/10 at 08:15 PM ET
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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
The U.S. won the World Cup of hockey in 1996, defeating Canada in the finals.
Canada won the gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, beating the Americans.
And so it has gone: The most recent example being a Canadian shootout win on New Year’s Eve, followed by the gold medal loss at the World Junior tournament in Saskatoon last month.
This isn’t 1980 anymore. This isn’t a pickup team of hungry American college kids taking on the world’s best. This is Patrick Kane and Erik Johnson, first picks in the NHL draft, and this is Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson, second picks. This is more than half a team of first round picks — and most of the rest should have been first rounders.
“There’s a lot of talent in the U.S. right now” said Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman. “This is a legitimate rivarly and they’re a legitimate rival.
“The game is growing in the States and we can bad mouth the NHL that we’re in all these bad markets, but what’s happened in those markets is you’re starting to see hockey players developed. You’re starting to see players from Calfornia and St. Louis and other places where there were no players before.”
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA,
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