Globeandmail.com hockey columnist Eric Duhatschek was on-line Wednesday to discuss the men's hockey team's game against Russia at the Turin Olympics.
Submit questions in advanceRead the transcript of Eric's Feb. 21 chat following Canada's win over the Czech Republic.
Read the transcript of Eric's Feb. 16 chat following Canada's win over Germany.
Read the transcript of Eric's Feb. 15 chat following Canada's opener against Italy.
Read the transcript of Eric's Feb. 10 chat previewing the Olympic men's and women's tournament and Wayne Gretzky.
Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.
A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. He is also a member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.
Editor's Note: The same rules will apply to this live discussion as normally apply to the "reader comment" feature. Globeandmail.com editors will read and approve each comment/question. Not all comments/questions can be answered in the time available. Comments/questions will be checked checked for content only. Spelling and grammar errors will not be corrected. Comments/questions that include personal attacks, false or unsubstantiated allegations, vulgar language or libelous statements will be rejected. Preference will be given to those who ask questions under their full name, rather than pseudonyms.
Scott Deveau, globeandmail.com: Hello everyone. Thank you, Eric, for joining us and taking our readers' questions. In an otherwise great day for Canada at the Turin Olympics, Canada's 2-0 loss to Russia in men's hockey will no doubt hang a dark cloud over the day. Eric, could you let us know what went wrong today against Russia and what went wrong overall for Team Canada in this tournament?
Eric Duhatschek: There is a fine line between winning and losing at this level - and Wednesday's game demonstrated that again. It was a nail biter. It was a thrilling finish. On the last of their many power-play chances, Canada actually put the puck in the net once … but the referee had blown the whistle. Seconds later, Brad Richards made an unbelievable pass to Dany Heatley, through traffic, in front, and Heatley couldn't handle the puck cleanly; it rolled off his stick and into goaltender Evgeni Nabokov's arms. That would have tied it and that would have forced overtime.
But in the end, to specifically address your question, what did Canada in against the Russians is what did them in throughout the entire tournament - an inability to score goals.
They were shut out in three of the final four games. They were shut out in 11 of the final 12 periods of play. They couldn't generate any offence five-on-five; it wasn't just that they couldn't score any even-strength goals; they couldn't even get any even-strength scoring chances. Their best opportunities came with the man advantage, but they couldn't score on the power play either, despite oodles of chances.
For whatever reason, some of Canada's most talented and reliable scorers - Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla, Todd Bertuzzi, Joe Thornton, Vince Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis - couldn't get it going offensively.
Russia, meanwhile, scored both of its goals on the power play. Now, that stat is a little deceptive because the second goal - by Alexei Kovalev, with seconds to go on the clock - was icing on the cake.
