“The team looks great on paper and every time there’s been a [National Hockey League] lockout we’ve managed to get all our best players back,” Nicholson said Sunday night at Bear Mountain Arena while watching his son Grant compete for the Cowichan Valley Capitals against the Victoria Grizzlies.
“But it’s going to be a process here. They flew off to Finland [Saturday] and now we’ll see how they do as they get prepared to move on to Ufa [Russia].”
Obviously, the NHL lockout will benefit Team Canada, which opens play against Germany on Boxing Day. They’ll be led by captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who already has a year under his belt with the Edmonton Oilers. Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg), Dougie Hamilton (Boston) and Ryan Strome (New York Islanders) were all expected to play at that level this season.
But the NHL’s loss is Team Canada’s gain.
“Everyone wants the NHL to get back playing and I guess from our point of view, Jan. 10 would be a good day,” Nicholson said with a chuckle.
“When you look at our top six forwards — man, I like the way it shapes up, but it doesn’t mean anything until you play the games,” warned Nicholson. “You have to be ready for every one of them. In this tournament, if you have a couple of bad games, you get into a bad position.”
As the last two years have proven. Canada — which has six returners from last year’s squad — will be looking to snap a three-year drought from capturing gold.
“We’ve been real close,” said Nicholson. “Last year we almost had the big comeback against Russia [6-5 loss in the semifinal] and in Buffalo, I thought we should have won [up 3-0 but lost 5-3 to Russia in 2011]. We let that one slip away.
“We’ve been close and now we have to pay well every game. We start against Germany and we have to build from there.”
And gold is what this annual tournament is all about.
“Really, that’s what it is, it’s about putting on the jersey and going after a gold medal,” said Nicholson. “Some people say that’s a lot of pressure, but that’s the colour of medal that the players want and that’s the colour that every Canadian expects.”
Nicholson — a native of Penticton who was also the director of the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association from 1979 to 1989 — will not be in Russia for the event.
“This is the first time in many years that I will not be going,” he said. “I’ve taken on this new role of vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. I’ve been travelling a lot. But we have a great staff and I’ll watch it at home.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to take that, but we’ll see how it goes,” he said with a laugh.
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