Iginla excels again eight years later

Post-Olympic blog items that will never grow up to be columns . . .

Jarome Iginla withstood a test of time Sunday. Iginla's assist on Sidney Crosby's winning goal in overtime as Canada claimed the Olympic gold medal with a 3-2 victory over the United States, evoked memories of Salt Lake City eight years earlier, when he scored two goals in another golden triumph over Uncle Sam's team. To play in three different Winter Olympics is an accomplishment in itself. To figure in gold medal wins eight years apart ranks as a rare feat. Iginla, who led the 2010 Winter Games in goal scoring, has another Olympic gold to go along with a world championship at the senior level; two world junior crowns, when he was also a dominant player; and two Memorial Cup crowns. Now, he just needs another Stanley Cup, although he did help his Calgary Flames reach the 2004 finals, only to lose in seven games to Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, the way things are going for Calgary, it might take the Flames another eight years to get back there.

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Women's hockey players can play the game like men, but they are not allowed to celebrate gold medals the same way. The International Olympic Committee pooh-poohed on Canada's gold-medal-winning femal squad after players celebrated by smoking cigars and getting crazy enough for one to try and drive a Zamboni. The celebration was not in public, but a wily photographer caught some of the antics. (Which just goes to prove that the camera, not the pen, is mightier than the sword.) Never mind countless tales of Stanley Cup champions doing zany things with Lord Stanley's chalice when they take it back to their hometowns every summer. The IOC likes to talk about doing its thing for gender equality. (And, a big hello to you, too, lady ski jumpers!) But, when push comes to shove, Olympic power brokers would probably prefer that women athletes just go home, cook and make babies for their men folk after getting this thing for competition out of their systems.

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If you build it, they will come.
Medals, that is.
Canada did not own the podium, because no country truly does. The absurd slogan for an even more ridiculously-marketed program was rightly panned during the Vancouver Games. Some Canadian political types thought a bit of government money (which you can bet your last loonie will not be available for the next quadrennial) would help us conquer the world in just four years. Canadians did set a record for gold medal victories during a Winter Olympics, but only because the athletes had facilities where they could train. Medals (gold or otherwise) in bobsled, speedskating and freestyle skiing, among other sports, can be traced to facilities that were built for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
These facilities also spawned programs and dreams that spawned medal winners. (For proof on the dreams claim, look up Hughes, Clara.) Money always helps, but the truth is that medals take decades to produce.
Alex Bilodeau, the first athlete to win a gold medal on Canadian soil, was right when he said more would come during the 2010 Games. And even more will come in the future, because many of the world-class athletes that you see now will become world-class coaches and world-class sport association leaders that Canada never had before. In addition to them, the legacy will be in the facilities that do not become white elephants like the ski jumps at Canada Olympic Park, since Vancouver will not produce the same athlete-development fund that the profitable Calgary Games did.

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Thumbs down to the IOC for not making more of an effort to raise the profile of Right to Play during the Games. The organization goes out of its way to make sure that kids in wartorn and poverty-stricken regions just have a chance to play pick-up games of soccer and other playground games. Sponsorship politics got in the way of doing good deeds for kids who face more hurdles than even an Olympic champion can imagine. Right to Play has a major sponsor that is a rival to one of the official Olympic supporters. The right thing would have been to highlight Right to Play without playing up the sponsorship angle. Right to Play agreed to such a plan, but the pooh bahs did not.

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Kudos to Hughes for giving her $10,000 bonus from the federal government for winning a bronze to a group on Vancouver's poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside that promotes physical activity. Who's willing to bet that Ottawa probably does not give that much to the group. Her unselfishness again has spoken volumes. Hughes probably has more cash these days than she did when she donated 10 grand to Right to Play from her own bank account four years ago. But most Olympic dream chasers do not have deep pockets at the best of times. Which makes you wonder what the Tories could have done if they had used the money for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's vacation in Vancouver on athletic development instead.

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Quick, somebody give Alex Burrows a Swedish passport. As they did for many years with the Vancouver Canucks, Daniel and Henrik Sedin were in desperate need of a gifted linemate during the Olympics. Burrows has proved to be the answer with the Canucks. Now, if he can just learn a little Swedish and apply for citizenship . . .

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Still in the linemates department: Pavol Demitra showed what he can do when he has real talent (Marian Hossa, etc.) playing alongside him with Slovakia during the Olympics. Despite missing most of the NHL season because of shoulder surgery, Demitra dominated as Slovakia came within Roberto Luongo's glove length of upsetting Canada in their semi-final. The speculation has already started on how long the likes of Darcy Hordichuk, Tanner Glass and Steve Bernier with last as Demitra's linemates with the Canucks. At any rate, Demitra increased his trade value before Wednesday's deadline.

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Calgary Flames coach Brent Sutter is probably wondering who he can get to play with Iginla, too. The Calgary captain proved that his recent struggles in the NHL can probably be attributed to a poor line combination. Let's hope Matt Stajan does a reasonably good Crosby impression.