Dave King, retired NHL coach and Team Canada, hails from prairie and has seen the world. When the Calgary Flames released him Japan offered him work. The Olympic Games in Nagano were approaching, and the home team was eager to acquire their expertise.
King signed on as general manager, taking over a national program that knew the merits of owning hockey. Japan was adept with the puck and made clever cuts without it in the open space. King identified two weaknesses of the team: defense and aggression. Politeness and conflict avoidance are cultural norms out there, but he felt that the players were respectful of a foul: “They just don’t hit anyone.”
In the summer before the 98 Olympics, King asked a Canadian college football coach, Tony Fasano, to teach his players how to score. They wore football pads on the grass and performed contact exercises to hone their technique and ease the fright of health-issue. action on the field, King argued, and they would be ready to action in the corners on the ice at home.
“We’ve done things like that,” King said in a recent interview, “to try to make it clear to them that we’re going to play over our heads.”
Japan did not take the last place in Nagano and won a moral victory, avoiding the nightmarish outcome of the host country. Olympic hosts automatically qualify for all events, retrospectively if the Games are held in Canada or the United States, and worry if the host is a hockey stick. The IIHF, which predicts double-digit eruptions, has almost launched China’s emerging program from the Beijing tournament this month.
“Seeing a team 15-0 is not good for anyone,” IIHF President Luc Tardif told Agence France-Presse last fall.
To play, the Chinese team must prove that it has its place. The youngest Olympic outsiders have done it. In Turin, Italy scored twice on Martin Brodeur and at once several teams that had NHL goalkeepers. South Korea lost all games in PyeongChang four years ago but browbeat to upset the Czech Republic and Finland.
Non-traditional hockey hosts are not the same. Turin was the ninth Olympic hockey venue in Italy. The South Korean team was ranked 21st in the world. Along with Spain and Australia, China ranks 32nd in the current world ranking, which shows that it is difficult to build a program from scratch.
China’s first Olympic game will be against the United States on Thursday; Germany and Canada are expecting this weekend. Group A is also loaded without an NHL presence.
However, the fact that Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid are not in Beijing is a source of low hope. Also: there are lessons from past games that China has already heard and that could follow this week. History provides the roadmap of Olympic respectability.
“The main thing was: can we be competitive and not be ashamed?”Said King, describing the priority of Japan in Nagano.
“We knew we weren’t going to win a medal. But we wanted to surprise some teams,” said John Parco, the striker who played for Italy.
“Someone said in Canada that we would smack 120-something to nothing,” said Jim Paek, head coach of South Korea. “This kind of disrespect. For us to compete – and not be embarrassed, as people thought – was a great achievement.”