Tim Wharnsby - Gold - How Gretzky’s Men Ended Canada’s 50-Year Olympic Hockey Drought

To my cherished love, Kathy

My late parents; brother, David; sisters, Liz and Cathy

And to the dearly missed Canadian treasure Christie Blatchford

Contents

Foreword by Chris Pronger

On my draft day in Quebec City in 1993, I was selected second by the Hartford Whalers after the Ottawa Senators chose my Canadian world junior teammate Alexandre Daigle first overall. Alex told reporters that day, Im glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers No. 2.

For that remark, my stick accidentally ran up and down the back of his legs a few times when the Whalers met the Senators. I finished first enough in my career to know the wonderful feeling of winning, including my first of two Olympic gold medals, in 2002.

A frequent question Im asked is where my Olympic gold in Salt Lake City ranks compared to the other successesa Stanley Cup win, a rare double-win of the Norris and Hart Trophies, a world championship title, and a world junior title. My response is always that each accomplishment is exceptional, and each feat plays an essential part in my Hockey Hall of Fame career.

Im proud to be a member of the Triple Gold Club. I became the 19 th member of the prestigious group when the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup in early June 2007 to go along with my 1997 World Championship and Olympic gold in 2002. I won another Olympic gold medal in 2010.

Suiting up for Canada in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics was extra special for so many reasons. While its cool to be singled out with individual honours like the Norris Trophy and Hart Trophy in 2000, team championships are what the sport of hockey is all about.

To be part of the 2002 Canadian Olympic team was exceptional because we finally brought the gold medal back to Canada after 50 long years. We were able to overcome the heartbreak of the shootout loss to the Czech Republic four years earlier.

The 2002 team was such a star-studded group. How many Hall of Famers? Fourteen, and that number easily could expand with outstanding players like Curtis Joseph, Theo Fleury, Adam Foote, and others who have been overlooked.

When I glance up and down the Canadian roster, there are so many memories and connections that come to mind. Al MacInnis was a mentor and longtime teammate with the St. Louis Blues. My first championship wearing the Canadian maple leaf happened a few days into the New Year in 1993 at the World Junior Championship in Gavle, Sweden. We had a young team. Five of us went first (Alexandre Daigle), second (me), third (Chris Gratton), fourth (Paul Kariya), and fifth (Rob Niedermayer) in the NHL draft six months later. Paul, of course, was a teammate in Salt Lake City.

How could anyone predict my pass off the rush to Mario Lemieux in the slot that he let go through his legs to Paul in the gold medal final would wind up being such an important goal in the 2002 tournament?

I was traded for two of my 2002 teammates. In July 1995, I went from Hartford to St. Louis in exchange for Brendan Shanahan. In July 2005, I moved from St. Louis to Edmonton in a multi-player deal that sent Eric Brewer the other way.

I even played with Wayne Gretzky, our executive director and leader in 2002, for 18 regular season games and 13 more in the playoffs in his brief stop in St. Louis to finish the 199596 season. We also were teammates for Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and 1998 Olympics.

I played with Rob Blake, Jarome Iginla, and Owen Nolan when we captured gold at the 1997 World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. I performed with many of these guys with Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey: Blake, Martin Brodeur, Theo Fleury, Foote, Joseph, Jovanovski, Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer, Joe Sakic, Shanahan, and Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman broke our hearts in St. Louis with that blast to give the Red Wings the win in double overtime of Game 7 in the second round in 1996. Belfour was at his best for Dallas to beat us three times in overtime in the second round in 1999.

I played in four Olympic Games with Martin Brodeur, the only two players to turn the trick. I played with Ryan Smyth in Edmonton, Scott Niedermayer in Anaheim, and Simon Gagne in Philadelphia. We went to the Final with the Oilers in 2006 and Flyers in 2010, overcoming a three-games-to-zero deficit in the second round.

But who would have thought after rooming with Scott in Salt Lake City, playing alongside him in the first game, we would wind up together in Anaheim and bring a Stanley Cup championship to California for the first time? Just one day, I wish I could skate like him.

Scott and I both ended up in Anaheim without warning. Scott signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Ducks to play with his brother, Rob, in 2005, 16 months after the pair won a world championship together for Canada. I followed Scott to Anaheim a year later, and in our first year together, we won a Stanley Cup to go with our gold medal from Salt Lake City five years earlier.

The three of us carpooled in the spring of 2007. Scott drove a Toyota Prius in those days. He would pick up Rob and me, and the three of us would talk about life and the game and joke around. It was the perfect way to prepare for the pressure of playoff hockey.

We won Olympic gold again in Vancouver in 2010. But Im kind of jealous of Scott and how many trophies he has in his possession. He was our Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2007 as the playoff MVP and won three Stanley Cup titles with New Jersey before arriving in Anaheim. He also won a Memorial Cup with the Kamloops Blazers in 199192, while my Peterborough Petes lost to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Memorial Cup final 12 months later.

I could not have imagined that nine years later, I would be in the Olympic Games. Growing up in Dryden, Ontario, I dreamed of winning a Stanley Cup. Olympic gold became a possibility in 1998 and a reality four years later. With Gretzky leading and talent like Lemieux, MacInnis, Niedermayer, Sakic, and Yzerman competing, we had a good feeling in Salt Lake City.

Winning gold was magical, and being part of one of Canadas most historic hockey moments was a privilege.

Chris Pronger played 18 seasons in the NHL, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL MVP for the 19992000 season and the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. With Team Canada, Pronger won gold at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics.

Introduction

My phone rang at approximately 9:40 pm on the evening of March 23, 2001. I was sitting at my desk inside the Globe and Mail newsroom in downtown Toronto. We were putting the final touches on the first edition. In my role as assistant sports editor back then, I oversaw the evening production. But with skillful night editors like Chuck Corley, Phil King, and Wayne Walters, I left most of the decisions up to these capable newspapermen.

The area code 403 phone number was familiar. It belonged to Brad Pascall, then the media relations guru for Hockey Canada. I found it odd that Pascall would be calling so late. He had stickhandled his way through a long day. As part of the NHLs attempt to whip up publicity and interest for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Hockey Canada introduced its first eight players to the mens teams roster.

Timmy, do you have a minute? Pascall asked.

Yeah, sure, of course I do, I replied. Whats up?

Wayne Gretzky is here, Pascall said. He wants to say hi and congratulate you.

For what? I asked.

You were the only guy to get the eight players correctly, Pascall answered.