Norway? No Way!

It unfolded in familiar and predictable fashion.

Canada had a nervous beginning, broke the ice with a second-period power-play goal by Jarome Iginla, and then eventually went on to rout Norway 8-0 Tuesday night in the opening game of the men's Olympic hockey tournament.

Norway, ranked No. 11 in the world, gave Canada a game of it the last time they met internationally at the 2008 world hockey championships, but this was a completely different challenge.

Canada iced a who's who of its NHL stars and even if it took about 20 minutes or so to get in sync, by the end, they were firing on all cylinders.

Iginla was particularly prominent, scoring three times. That Iginla, Nash and Crosby were on the ice together by the end something of a surprise, given that they didn't get much going as a line during the August orientation camp and Patrice Bergeron began the game in that spot.

It didn't last though - and Iginla, a two-time NHL goal-scoring champion and a prominent contributor to the 2002 gold-medal win, filled in admirably in that spot, as if he and Crosby had been waiting a long time to get together. Whatever chemistry might have been missing back in August looked as if it was developing in a hurry last night.

"I thought the chemistry was good in camp," said Nash afterwards. "People just have to remember it was the first time we ever skated together. As we get practicing tomorrow and then into another game, it's just going to get better and better. Towards the end, we started to figure each other's game out."

Not that Norway represented the Grade-A challenge that say the Americans will next Sunday or the Russians might down the road, but it was an important first step on many levels, beginning with the fact that Canada kept the pressure on all the way to the end. The format of the tournament is such that goal-differential could become a factor in the playoff seeding.

"With the different tie-breakers and things, goals matter," said defenceman Chris Pronger. "I don't think you want to completely bury a team, but we're certainly not going to stop shooting the puck, or stop going to the net. We don't want to create any bad habits for our team. They can creep in pretty quickly if you let your foot off the gas pedal."

Coach Mike Babcock used the game as a means to test out different line combinations and defence pairings - and their collective unfamiliarity with one another was clear at different moments early on.

Many times, the players stopped to converse in the face-off circles during stoppages in play to direct traffic out there.

"There are different face-off plays that every team has," explained Nash. "When you get with different players, you want to make sure you're on the same page. In between periods and on the bench, you're always talking, trying to figure things out."

It was Iginla, on a second-period power play with Norway's Mads Hansen in the penalty box, who set the rout in motion and purged the nerves. In short order, Dany Heatley and Mike Richards made it 3-0 and from there, Canada won going away.

"It's tough when you only have one practice to get into the game," said Perry. "It was an hour yesterday to figure out your line-mates. The first period was a feeling-out process and in the second and third period, away we went."

The turning point, if there can be such a thing in an eight-goal victory, probably during a 48-second span of the second period, when Norway held a two-man advantage and was behind by just two. But with Jonathan Toews and Scott Niedermayer leading the way, the Norwegians didn't muster a significant scoring chance. Just as Eric Staal stepped out of the penalty box, Richards banged in a loose puck at the side of the net.

Ryan Getzlaf's power-play goal, early in the third, drove Grotnes out of the net. He was replaced by Andre Lysenstoen, who gave up the remaining goals.

 

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/