MILAN, Italy — We are just a couple of sleeps away from the preliminary rounds of the Men’s Ice Hockey competition at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, and the storylines are heating up!
Team USA and Team Canada are the clear favorites and fiercest rivals in this tournament, and that’s the foundation that shapes their mentality heading in. It’s gold or bust for Jon Cooper and Team Canada, and the same is true for Team USA.
“Would you rather be in a situation where, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait to win the bronze’?” Canada head coach Jon Cooper said. “No way man, I want to be the team that is gold or bust.”
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the Maple Leaf have adopted this approach and expectation, given that the country invented hockey, but Team USA is also chomping at the bit and eyeing gold in Milan. Something they haven’t achieved since the 1980 Miracle On Ice team, and as we all know, that tournament didn’t feature pros (except for the Russians, who weren’t allowed to be pros).
Team USA General Manager Bill Guerin put it simply to the American group: “We have to win.”
Cale Makar is fully aware of the expectations and pressure facing Team Canada and is seemingly locked in for this international tourney.
“You look at our country, and everyone is looking at us to do something special.”
“Hockey is such a unique game in that every little thing matters, and you have to win those battles and gain those inches. And if you gain enough inches, you should be successful.”
It will, in fact, be a game of inches, and a grueling test for these players who have come from all around the world to test their mettle against the world’s best.
“The intensity will be really high,” Canada’s Makar said. “It is the best players in the world.”
The stakes are as high as can be, and Team Canada is focused on maintaining their identity as the world’s hockey powerhouse.
As Jon Cooper put it, “If you are not the team being chased, I do not want to be the chaser.”
So who will be the chaser and who will be the chased?
Let us know in the comments who you think will take gold and why!
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