Olympics 101: Ice Hockey

The other night, I was reading the Ice Hockey section in my copy of The Complete Guide to the Winter Olympics by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky and came across some interesting (and not particularly well known) information I thought I'd share.

Canada was a leader in the debate on professionalism and the Olympics. The country withdrew from international ice hockey competition in 1969 because it objected to having to play professionals from Communist countries. The issue on what made a hockey player a professional was a fairly complicated one. The IOC said that any hockey player who had signed a professional contract was a professional while the International Ice Hockey Federation said that a player had to play in a professional game before being considered a professional. Furthermore, these definitions applied only to the NHL; minor league players and players in European leagues were considered eligible. Athletes on Communist national teams received paychecks from their governments as opposed to privately-owned clubs and were therefore still eligible. Sweden joined in this boycott in 1976 and both countries returned to international competition in 1980.

One has to wonder how much these "definitions" had to do with the USSR's dominance in hockey. Would more of their players have defected or refused to play if they weren't receiving paychecks? If Canada and the US had been allowed to use paid players, would they have been more of a factor in the international hockey scene?

The 1928 Canadian team, comprised of players from the 1926 Toronto University team, was so good that Olympic officials advanced them to the medal round after seeing them practice. The team went on to beat Sweden 11-0, Great Britain 14-0, and Switzerland 13-0 in the medal round, justifying the decision.

Canada also produced the first male black gold medalist at the Winter Olympics when Jarome Iginla won a gold medal with the 2002 Canadian hockey team.

Perhaps the most impressive feat of the Soviet Union in ice hockey was not their record, but their ability to bounce back from tragedy. A plane crash killed all but one member of the national team in 1950. The government kept the crash quiet and went on to win the 1954 World Championships with a completely new squad as well as the country's first ice hockey gold medal in 1956.

After losing to the USA in the medal round in 1960, Nikolai Sologubov, the captain of the USSR team, actually helped the American team defeat Czechoslovakia for a gold medal. Down 4-3 after two periods, Sologubov came into the locker room and said that the American players should take some oxygen. The US went on to win 9-4. That never would have happened in 1980!

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Hi everyone. I am going out of town this afternoon and will have a visitor next week, so my apologies if blogging slows down. Here are a few classics to watch while I am gone. Enjoy!

News and Notes

Nodar Kumaritashvili's family received an insurance settlement from VANOC. The amount, as well as when the family will receive the settlement is unknown.

Joannie Rochette will now be able to skate in "Thin Ice." It was confirmed the Polish cross country skier Kornelia Marek officially doped in Vancouver. In other drug news, the case against Andre Agassi for crystal meth usage has officially been closed due to a statute of limitations expiration.

Even in the USA Speedskating shake-up, Jae Su Chun will remain the head coach for the short track team. Russian cross country skier Elena Vedeneeva was given a two-year ban for refusing a drug test. The puck used to score the winning goal in the men's hockey gold medal game will be put in the Hockey Hall of Fame along with Sidney Crosby's stick and gloves.

Usain Bolt will attempt to break the world record in the 300 meters on May 27th in the Czech Republic. Nikita Kriukov beat Petter Northug in today's cross country 1.1K. Anna Olsson won the women's race, followed by Justyna Kowalczyk and Marit Bjoergen.

For an interesting read, click here to learn about the visually impaired biathlon.

Breaking away from the Olympics, congratulations to Washington University's women's basketball team for reaching the Final Four. Bring home a national title!

News Update

Lindsey Vonn crashed in today's World Cup giant slalom in Germany. Maria Riesch finished third and is now only 165 points back on Vonn with two races to go in the season. Tina Maze won the race and Kathrin Hoelzl finished second to clinch the overall giant slalom title. Vonn was officially awarded the overall super-combined title.

Erik Guay won today's men's Super G to clinch the overall title. He was third going into today's race. Ivica Kostelic was second in today's race and Aksel Lund Svindel was third. Svindal also finished third in the overall standings, just two points behind Michael Walchhofer.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won the pairs junior world title in figure skating. Takahashi/Tran of Japan were second and Stolbova/Klimov of Russia were third. Ilinykh/Katsalapov have an eight point lead on the rest of the field following the original dance. Paul/Islam are in second, Monko/Khaliavin are in third and the Shibutanis are in fourth.

Usain Bolt was named Laureus Sportsman of the Year. Serena Williams won the women's award. Sidney Crosby's missing equipment has been found. It was mistaking put in other equipment bags following the game. In the first doing incident from Vancouver, Polish cross-country skier Kornelia Marek tested positive for EPO.

The International Luge Federation is donating money to reubuild the house belong to Nodar Kumaritashvili's family. It was destroyed in a fire several years ago. In Haiti's return to international sporting competition following the earthquake there, the team fell 9-0 to the U-17 women's soccer team from the USA in CONCACAF qualifying.

Women's Sports and the Olympic Games

The Olympics are the biggest stage for women in sports. Women's sports do not have a Superbowl or World Series and the men's World Cup generates far more attention than the women's. The Olympics are the stage on which female athletics get the same amount of attention as that of their male counterparts and, in some cases like figure skating and gymnastics, even outshining them. The Olympics promotes female sports and allows them to progress, or at least the Games are supposed to.

Following Vancouver, there has been lots of talk of removing women's hockey from the Winter Olympic program, mainly because no other countries can come close to challenging the United States and Canada. After seeing scores such as Canada's 18-0 defeat of Slovakia, it is easy to see where that idea comes from. However, more should be done to promote women's hockey throughout the world instead of just axing it. Throughout the world, women's hockey budgets cannot be compared to those of men's teams. Perhaps the biggest thing the women have going for them is that men's hockey is not going anywhere and they share venues.

The IOC eliminated softball from the Olympic program beginning in 2012. This was unfortunate because softball had been a sport that was developing internationally thanks to being a part of the Olympic program. Signs of parity finally began to emerge in Beijing as Japan upset the US 3-1 in the gold medal game. The Americans had easily won the three previous Olympic tournaments. It takes time for sports to develop.

As part of his reasoning for thinking about eliminating women's hockey, IOC president Jacques Rogge has said that the sport has been dominated by two countries and only two countries have won gold medals. Women's hockey has only been a part of the Olympics since 1998, 4 total Olympiads. Men's basketball has been a part of the Olympics since 1936. In 17 Olympiads, the US men have only lost 5 games (3 of which were in 2004) and won all but four gold medals (or 3 if you do not count the 1980 boycott). In fact, the US men won the first eight gold and, to my knowledge, no one suggested removing basketball from the Olympic program.

The IOC seems to hold a double standard. 39 women from 13 countries participated in women's ski jumping world championships last year, but the IOC did not think there was enough female participation internationally to include the sport in the Olympics. Female ski jumpers took their case for inclusion to Canadian courts, but, though the courts thought the women should be included in Vancouver, they decided against forcing the IOC to include them. According to a Sports Illustrated article, world champion Lindsey Van thinks that the IOC does not want to include her sport is because female jumpers jump similar distances to their male counterparts, thereby diminishing their accomplishments. Rogge has said that things look positive for women's ski jumping to be included in the 2014 Olympics. Van says that she heard the same thing in 2002 and 2006. Canadian IOC member Dick Pound has even gone as far as to fear that women's ski jumping will not be added in 2014 because these athletes embarrassed the IOC by suing them.

Women's sports need the Olympics to thrive. Sports like golf and tennis mixed doubles have replaced softball. This decision is particularly unfortunate because an Olympic gold medal will never be the highest prize available for a golfer or tennis player; these sports do not need the international exposure the Olympics provide. Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, a member of the US women's hockey team, was recently elected to IOC athletes' commission. Hopefully she will be another strong voice for women at a critical time in a body controlled by European men.