HALIFAX -- Norwegian head coach Roy Johansen had to think a moment when asked to explain the exceptional performance of his goaltender, Pal Grotnes.
"Back home," he said, "he's a carpenter."
In Halifax, on the other hand, he saves: 51 times in a stunning performance yesterday in which powerful Team Canada barely won 2-1 over a team without a single NHL player on its roster.
There is more to this story, however, than yet another spectacular performance by an unknown netminder. It is a story fast growing stale in Team Canada literature and can be found in other world championship years, in the Turin Winter Games in 2006 and, obviously, once again here in Halifax.
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It may mean nothing more than the usual rhythm of Canadian teams in such tournaments - start slowly, create doubts and answer the doubters - or it may be indicative of something of deeper concern, as it was Turin when the men's Olympic team fell so unexpectedly flat.
At this point in the 2008 world championship, no one knows.
Even so, the International Ice Hockey Federation must have a limit on how many "wake-up calls" one team is allowed in a tournament. The Americans pointed out Canadian weaknesses with their remarkable speed. The Norwegians, much smaller and not as skilled, used a system that continually frustrated the Canadians.
"We can't outplay Team Canada," Norwegian captain Tommy Jakobsen said, "but we can destroy their play."
Norway's special weapon wasn't in net, wasn't in uniform - and isn't even Norwegian.
It was, according to the players, Canadian George Kingston, the guru of European coaching, who convinced the pesky little team it could compete with the NHL players by disrupting "their technical moves," the set plays of NHL hockey.
"We knew our team could beat their individual players," said Mats Hansen, who scored the Norwegian goal on a short-handed breakaway.
Hansen was able to break free late in the second period when Canadian defenceman Duncan Keith bobbled the puck on a power play. Hansen flew up the ice with Keith in chase and came in so fast on goaltender Pascal Leclaire he "surprised" the Canadian goalie.
"I didn't see it," Hansen laughed, saying he was too busy worrying about Keith to concentrate on scoring.
"I saw it on the TV. It looked like I enjoyed it."
Contrary to Hansen's comment that the Norwegians felt they could beat "individual players," it was an individual, Rick Nash, who simply willed the victory when, with only four minutes left and Canada on a power play, he charged up the left side and forced his way to the net for a backhand shot into the far corner.
Defenceman Mike Green had earlier scored on a first-period power play.
"I should have been more aggressive and poke-checked him," Grotnes said of Nash's winning goal. "I'm a little bit disappointed in myself there."
After the game, Nash was looking forward to some sleep as he, coach Ken Hitchcock, Leclaire and Jason Chimera had all travelled to Columbus on Wednesday for the funeral of Blue Jackets owner John McConnell.
So, three games into the tournament, Canada has one superb scoring line in Nash, Ryan Getzlaf and Dany Heatley, and excellent checking whenever Shane Doan is on the ice, whether 5-on-5 or on penalty killing. The other two lines, in a variety of combinations, have offered little but concern.
Canada did win the game and outshot Norway 53-16, but many shots were non-threatening and it is important to note Norway had played the night before, when it beat Germany 3-2 in a tough match.
"The legs were heavy," coach Johansen said of his players in the hard-fought third period. "We were not good enough."
But good enough, by far, to put a scare into Team Canada - and perhaps a timely one with the heart of the tournament about to begin beating. It is now even possible Canada and Norway could meet again in the quarter-finals next week.
"We're fully aware of that," Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock is also acutely aware he has two lines that have yet to form and a power play that sputters, despite two successes in the heavily penalized match yesterday.
"The power play has got to be better," Nash said.
"We're going to have to tinker," Hitchcock added.
The coach does not like the infatuation the power play has with setting up perfect one-timer shots, and he does not care for the way certain players are backing away from the opposition net.
"The ability of the Norwegian team to defend at times was greater than our tenacity to score," he said. "We had a lot of chances. I didn't think we had a lot of second and third chances."
The beauty of this tournament is that, early on, there are second and third chances for everyone - though they will shortly run dry.
"We've been in this exact same position before," said Canadian captain Shane Doan, who has been through these early doubts before, including last year when Canada rebounded from a shaky opening to take the gold medal.
"Everybody was saying we didn't have a good team," he recalled. "As a country, it seems we have another level to go to."
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