Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Italy harbours NHL dream
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- For about a half an hour yesterday, organizers of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics yammered on and on about the construction of venues, Games finances -- mind-numbing stuff like that.
For 10 minutes or so, they even explained how a natural vein of asbestos had been found recently somewhere near the proposed bobsled site. A yawning convention broke out at that point.
But when the subject of NHL players taking part in 2006 came up it was like another light came on in the room.
PLEASE COME
The Torino gang made it crystal clear that one of its top priorities over the next four years will be to push the NHL, the NHL Players' Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation to find a way to ensure that the world's top players compete in Italy four years from now.
While all three organizations have expressed enthusiasm about taking part in Torino 2006, there's an underlying feeling the Salt Lake Games may be the final time NHL players participate in the Olympics.
And that, said Torino 2006 deputy president Evelina Christillin, would be a disaster for Italian hockey.
Christillin said for Italy to be able to organize competitive teams for 2006 -- and as the host nation it will enter both a men's and women's team -- it is important that the NHL take part.
Without the world's best players, it will be very difficult to get Italians interested in the game.
"Frankly speaking, hockey is not a very popular sport in our country, but of course we are aware that we have to improve the culture of hockey and the practice of hockey (in Italy)," Christillin said.
The Italians are so gung-ho about improving the "culture of hockey," the Torino organizing committee, in cahoots with the Italian federation and local businesses, has created a new Torino team that will play in the top Italian professional hockey league next season.
"That's not important news for a Canadian, where hockey is the top sport," Christillin said. "But for us it's very important. Never before have we had a team from Torino in the top league."
Christillin's dream is for Italy to be able to ice a team that will not get blown out of the water in 2006.
"But it will take years to reach your level," she said with a laugh.
"Maybe centuries."
MORE FUN WITH TEST TUBES: For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, some athletes at these Olympics will be subject to systematic blood testing.
No fewer than 848 endurance athletes, competing in biathlon, cross-country skiing and Nordic combined, will be tested prior to the opening ceremony.
As well as the search for the so-called common drugs, such as steroids, diuretics and stimulants, endurance athletes will be tested for erythropoeitin, commonly known as EPO, a drug that stimulates bone marrow to increase production of red blood cells which carry oxygen throughout the body.
The heat definitely has been on cross-country skiing. At the world championships last February in Lahti, Finland, six Finnish skiers -- four men and two women -- tested positive for Hydroxyethyl Starch (HES), a blood plasma volume expander that enables athletes to carry oxygen in their bloodstream. And you thought starch was used just for shirts.
death to mascots: A group of animal rights activists were handing out news releases in front of the Main Media Centre yesterday and the message was interesting. Western Wildlife Conservancy listed animals the Forest Service kills every year on western public lands. The count -- 80,000 coyotes, 2,000 bobcats, 300 black bears and 300 mountain lions. The black bear and coyote are Salt Lake City Olympic mascots, named Coal and Cooper.
"These animals were chosen as mascots because they are part of the nation's natural and cultural heritage," the release said. "Their mascot status is meant to honour them as vital living beings, not as something to kill. The Olympic Games are intended to promote peace among the nations of the earth, yet the U.S. government continues to wage war against the Olympic mascots and other predators."
shot-gun wedding: One of the biggest stories of these Games is expected to be Swedish biathlete Magdalena Forsberg, a winner of 12 world championships medals, including six gold.
Forsberg, 34, was a natural fit for biathlon, a sport that combines cross-country skiing and shooting. When she was young, Forsberg accompanied her father on moose hunting trips in the Swedish mountains. Her job, according to reports, was "to run around and find moose."
On May 26, 1996, Forsberg, nee Wallin, married teammate Henrick Forsberg. Not that this is a major surprise, but the Forsbergs relax by hunting.
2002 Games Columnists
