It feels like last year when hockey fans around the globe heard the rumblings that Canadian hockey dominance was all but over and that the rest of the world had all but caught up to us talent wise. Hell, it’s still crystal clear in my mind seeing a dejected Wayne Gretzky sitting on the bench in Nagano as Team Canada came up a little short to the Czech’s. Yet despite all the criticism and so called end to Canadian hockey dominance here we sit again on top of the world winning three of four major International tournaments.

There was a spurt there where one started to wonder whether the people in the media actually knew what they were talking about. Aside from the women Canadian hockey hadn’t won a major tournament in years. Over those years it was if Canadian hockey had hit an all time low with the media ripping into the program and frankly it seemed as if people just didn’t give a damn anymore. Ask the average Canadian hockey fan if he thinks winning the Stanley Cup is more important then winning the World Championships and I guarantee 9.9 times out of ten they will say the Stanley Cup. It somewhat surprises me to see that we as a nation put more stock in our favorite clubs then we do in our Canadian program. Not having won a gold medal throughout those years certainly didn’t help the countries cause.

Enter Wayne Gretzky and the 2002 Olympics.

I truly believe that the Salt Lake Olympics had something a little more on the line then just a handful of medals and bragging rights for 4 years. It almost felt as if this was the year Canada hockey would be made or broken. God knows the Torino Olympics last season didn’t compare to the anticipation and excitement of the 2002 Olympics. In Salt Lake it felt as if a whole country was rallying behind both the women’s and men’s hockey clubs. After all the negative press written about Canada not being able to dominate push came to shove and the country was given a golden opportunity to prove any nay sayers wrong. As the roster was announced the hype began to build leading up to Canada’s first tournament game. Fans were excited and expecting big things. Then it happened. The dreaded blowout Canada was handed from Sweden in the opening game of the tournament. The game wasn’t even close and Team Canada looked like a fish out of water. With all the disappointment from previous years thoughts of a gold medal were quickly dashed and the thought of making it to the gold medal seemed like it would end up being more or less a dream.

What a dream it became. Canada vs. the U.S.A in both the men’s and women’s Olympic final. I have to confess that I don’t watch a lot of women’s hockey but remember that year’s final as well as the men’s. I can still see the parade to the penalty box the women’s team was taking from what seemed a very one sided ref and despite everything going against them they shook it off and played one of the most spirited hockey games I’ve seen in my life. The women’s team exemplified that year what it should feel like to play for your country and still with all the emotion surrounding the womens game that night we as Canadians still had another job to finish. You could tell by the look on some of the men’s teams faces that night that it was exactly what they needed to see. The following day was all buildup, an article was written by a U.S. writer about how this game wasn’t going to be close in favor of the States. He was right about one thing, it wasn’t close. I don’t think I need to go into much detail, we all know what happened…I don’t know one person that didn’t watch the game that year.

It was at that point where the tide started to turn. To me personally it just seemed that having that stretch of a bad spell only made us stronger. The preparation today for each tournament is taken with the up most importance and urgency. Now we have some of hockey’s greatest minds and players getting involved no matter how big or small there role is. It’s paid off to say the least. As hockey becomes more globalized it becomes harder and harder to win and yet here we are on top once again. The World Junior program is hands down the best in the world. Canada has won three consecutive gold medals not to mention been in the final game six years straight and counting. The women’s program continues to be strong having won yet another championship this year. The under 18 program, the only championship we didn’t year still continues to show dominance at the international level. And then we have the men’s.

Three gold’s and one silver in five years in what could be the toughest tournament for our country to win. But does anyone in Canada care? Of course everyone is proud of the players and its country for capturing gold but you know full well that Canadians are far more focused on the conference finals and the NHL playoffs. I watched Hockeycentral today and seen nothing more then a blurb about Canada’s win as the over analyzed both conference finals. Hell, the world juniors get more press then the World Championships.

Thankfully next year should be a different story as it should open the eyes of millions of hockey fans. For the first time in its history the IIHF World Hockey Championships comes to Canada. With it on our national spotlight maybe just maybe people will realize the greatness of this tournament and give it the appreciation it deserves.

Until then we need to congratulate ourselves on being the best once again in the Hockey world. The only thing left to do is have the Canadian Geese actually win something!

Walks