Golden Opportunity?

Hockey Canada's annual general meeting concluded in Vancouver yesterday with two recommendations for the game's future.

For starters, delegates from across the country decided to hold a second hockey summit that will focus on "the player" and will take place next summer at a location to be determined.

More immediately, however, the membership told Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson to ensure three gold medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver-Whistler next winter. Concerned by a string of recent international results, the message from Hockey Canada's board was simple, according to Nicholson.

"Silver isn't good enough," he said. "We shouldn't be satisfied with silver. I was given an endorsement to do everything in my power to win three gold medals."

Canada finished second to Russia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's men's world championships in Switzerland earlier this month. The women's national team fell to the United States in the gold-medal game at the IIHF's world women's championships in April.

Canada's under-18 men's team finished fourth at the most recent world championships in North Dakota, losing to the U.S. in the semi-finals, and the national sledge team lost to the U.S. earlier this week and took bronze at the world championships.

Nicholson didn't mention it, but Canada's under-20 team was nearly beaten by the Americans at the world junior championships in Ottawa on Dec. 31, needing a three-goal comeback to salvage victory at Scotiabank Place.

"When you look at it, there's a common theme," Nicholson said. "The U.S. is coming. We have to respect them."

Nicholson said his first step will be a full post-mortem of "what went wrong" at the women's worlds, but that he would then turn his attention to the management at all national team levels.

"If we need to do changes or make adjustments, we will," he said. We've got to put our work boots on and get to work."

Meanwhile, Nicholson said a second summit was overdue, and that contemplation of the game's future in Canada from the eyes of the player was worthwhile. The first Hockey Canada summit, titled "Open Ice," was a conference on the future of the game in Canada and the country's performance at international competitions, and came on the heels of the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, where the men finished fourth, and the women second.

Nicholson said the summit would look at rules such as the Canadian Hockey League's "exceptional player" rule, which has only been applied to teen sensation John Tavares, the likely first pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft. It would also examine more provincial issues such as territorial boundaries, the freedom of movement for players, and age groupings.

"We thought it was important," Nicholson said. "And if we lose in Vancouver, everyone will demand it."

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca