Gretzky Has Method Behind the Mad Rant

W E S T   V A L L E Y   C I T Y, Utah, Feb. 19 -- "American propaganda."

That's what Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky called the media reports of unrest among his Team Canada troops at a surprisingly animated press conference Monday evening after the Canadians 3-3 come-from-behind tie with the Czech Republic at the E Center.

Gretzky, though, did fail to mention the one simple fact about those reports: almost all of them have come through the Canadian media, which follows its hockey team like a wild animal seeking its prey. (Hey, not that's there's anything wrong with that.)

"Everybody loves to see us lose," said Gretzky, who has lived in the United States since a trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988. "It's a big story. They have the Canadian skaters and the hockey team.

"Nobody wants us to win but our players and our loyal fans," Gretzky added.

Gretzky — if you believe he was really ticked and not just grandstanding to unify his struggling team and his hockey-crazy country heading into the elimination round — was particularly upset at an incident that happened in the final minutes of the game.

The play in question started with a scrum around the net. Canada's Theo Fleury got tied up with Czech goalie Dominik Hasek. Both men fell to the ice. With his usual savvy, Fleury made it difficult for Hasek to get up as the play moved to the corner. In an attempt to separate Fleury from Hasek, one of the Czech defenders jabbed at Fleury while he was still down on the ice. Fleury, still on the ice, poked back at the Czech player.

As the play continued, Fleury regained his feet. In the frenzy of the moment, Czech defenseman Roman Hamrlik crushed Fleury from behind with a vicious cross-check sending the little winger face-first to the ice.

The whistle blew, but NHL/Olympic referee Bill McCreary made no call on Hamrlik. That, of course, is not really a surprise to those of us who watch many NHL games. Seemingly, at least once a NHL game, a player is cross-checked or slashed without receiving a penalty. Usually, this happens — as it did on this occasion — in the final minutes of a close hockey game.