HOCKEY DIARY
The best of times and the worst of feelings
Feb 26, 2006
TORINO, Italy — I’ll just say this about having been at the Torino Olympics: Never before have I seen so many policemen before. There were thousands of carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza and about four other varieties of security people in uniform, including some who wore green uniforms and wore a feather in an Alpine hat.
Anyway, I bring this up only as a segue to Sunday evening. After Sweden beat Finland, 3-2, to win the gold, Peter Forsberg said he and Mats Sundin talked about how they wanted to go to Stockholm right away. Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall was on board: “That,” he said, “would be awesome.”
But it didn’t sound like it could happen. Remember all the police here? Security has been excellent, and so of course that continued Sunday night; specifically, Torino airport was closed from 6 to 11 p.m. If the team had driven to Milan to fly out, it wouldn’t have gotten to Stockholm until around 1 a.m. –- and of course almost everyone on the team has a very high-paying job in the U.S. to return to.
Under any circumstance, it’ll be a much happier homecoming than in 2002, when the Swedish media accused the team that had lost to Belarus in the quarterfinals of treason. Standing with his gold medal hanging on a ribbon around his neck, Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was confident he’d get a warm reception this time around. “With this one, it's going to be great,” he said.
Lidstrom also reiterated that this would most likely be his last Olympics -- and winning the gold isn’t likely to change his mind. “It's an unbelievable feeling to finish on top, to win it in your last Olympic tournament and finally be able to wear the gold medal is just an unbelievable feeling,” he said. The same probably holds true for veterans Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin. “I don't think you'll see us in the next one,” Lidstrom said. “And just to be able to finish the way we did, and I thought it was a perfect fitting, too, that they assisted on my goal, both of them.”
On the goal, Forsberg pounced on the puck off the face-off and fed Sundin, who dropped a perfect pass for Lidstrom to one-time from the left point.
SILVER AND BRONZE: I don’t know if there was a sadder sight Sunday than the Finns after the game ended. No celebration, just disconsolate-looking players standing, kneeling, sitting on the bench. I think it’s just a little bit ironic that a team wins to get bronze, but loses to get silver, and yet silver is the higher medal. A lot was made about the rivalry of these teams –- and for the love of God, I think I was one of three people here who didn’t call it a Scandinavian rivalry because it’s not; Finland isn’t part of Scandinavia, its only members are Sweden, Norway and Denmark -– and a lot was made about how they grow up not liking one another, but this has its limits. Forsberg, who in 1994 got his own postage stamp in Sweden (that’s how Swedish he is) sympathized with their sorrow.
“I feel for a lot of guys on the Finnish team,” he said. “I've played against them so long and they're great guys and it's hard to see them lose a game.”
P.S. He added, “but I’m happy we won.”
FAMILIES FLY HOME: Tomas Holmstrom’s father, brother and cousin left the tournament last Wednesday, while Henrik Zetterberg’s father left after the quarterfinals. Did they really have so little faith in their sons? No, of course not. In Holmstrom’s case he said, “They have to work,” and in Zetterberg’s case, he thought it was best his dad wasn’t at Palasport Olimpico over the weekend. “He gets nervous when he is in the stands,” Zetterberg said, “so it was good for him to be at home in the sofa.”
