CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Steve Yzerman still remembers what it was like in Nagano in 1998, the first Olympics with NHL players and an example of Canadian failure on the bigger, international-sized ice surface.
The time-honored strategy of dumping the puck in and forechecking didn't work.
''You can spend a lot of time
skating places and getting there just a second late, taking yourself out
of the play,'' said Yzerman, now Canada's general manager. ''It is a different game.''
It was a different game at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, too, when
Canada finished seventh thanks to a lack of offense and speed and the
wrong mix of talent for the 200-by-100-foot rink.San Jose Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle viewed from the stands as his teammates struggled.
''It was tough to watch, it was frustrating,'' Boyle said. ''Even though every player on that team deserved to be there and was great, sometimes you need certain things and that's where different guys come into play. I just thought we lacked some things.''
Eight years removed from that debacle and four years after winning Olympic gold in Vancouver on NHL-sized 200-by-85-foot ice, Team Canada is determined to learn from what went wrong without abandoning its style. As players gathered this week here for a camp, ice size has been a buzz worthy topic.
''One of the critical things is
to continue to play the Canadian game and not adjust to some of the
spaces that suddenly arise,'' coaching consultant and former Edmonton Oilers coach Ralph Krueger
said. ''But you need to make sure that you don't change your game or
make too many adjustments that will weaken what makes Canada strong.''
What makes Canada strong, Yzerman and the coaching staff hope, is speed and agility. Perhaps that's part of what the 2006 group was lacking.
Judging by the comments of those in charge of making up the 2014
roster, it doesn't sound like that'll be a problem this time around,
even if it's at the expense of some players who won gold four years ago.''The biggest lesson is foot speed, for all players. You have to be able to skate and you have to be able to move the puck,'' Oilers president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe said. ''The team will be made up of players who can skate, think and move the puck. There could be a number of changes form the gold medal team in Vancouver.''
From the standpoint of piecing the team together, Canada learned from its folly in Turin that bringing back the majority of a team that just won gold - in that case the 2004 world championship - doesn't always work. Turnover is to be expected because Yzerman wants a team built for big ice.
Of course it's not as simple as picking 22 speedsters.
''We're not just going to take the 14 fastest forwards and the eight fastest defensemen,'' Yzerman said. ''Hockey sense is probably the most important aspect a guy can have, particularly playing at a really high level, playing with good players around you.''
If it were all about speed, Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, Marty St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins would be locks.
''I think I'd be a great player on big ice,'' Hall said. ''I've
always felt that the big ice would certainly be good for my kind of
game. Hopefully they see that, too. I think they're going to really
determine their team on what it's like to play on big ice.''Boyle, who played in Sweden during the 2004-05 lockout, knows it's about more than just racing up and down the ice.
''You've got to be able to skate, but your angles are a little bit different,'' he said. ''Whether you're a forward or defenseman, I think the angling out there is a little bit different.''
That's where hockey sense comes
in. Because of the high cost of insurance, coach Mike Babcock had to get
creative, putting players through ball-hockey walkthroughs on a
boarded-up international-sized rink at Canada's Olympic Park. What that exercise allowed players to see was the amount of space they'll have to work with.
Having experience on big ice could be valuable, especially for
defensemen. Marc Methot of the Ottawa Senators represented Canada at the
world championships in 2012 and 10 players from the 2013 team are at
camp.
''The game's completely different,'' Methot said. ''Showing that you can keep up and defend properly on that big ice surface is huge. It's an advantage I have, and I'm hoping that it'll help me out.''
