Wayne Gretzky--Mr. Oblivious

[Mad City Mike]

So says Joe Starkey in a good column about why Canada failed in the Olympics.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_427111.html

Crosby, 18, and Staal, 21, evidently were too young to play for Team Can't-ada (and you didn't know there was an age limit).

It's incredible that so many Canadian observers aren't convinced that Staal and Crosby would have made a major difference. Did they not see what Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin did for Team Russia?

[netwolf]

I can't really disagree with the premise of his column, but Rick Nash is 21. That would seem to blow his quip about the age limit out of the water.

[FlyerNation]

I can't really disagree with the premise of his column, but Rick Nash is 21. That would seem to blow his quip about the age limit out of the water.

Agreed but Nash really is still in the mold of the Thortons, Nash's and Bertuzzi. He doesn't use the large ice surface to his advantage like Crosby or Staal would.

Simon Gagne was a great choice no matter what this meatball says. To say he's only scoring because of Forsberg is a joke considering that Floppa has been out for long stretches and Gagne still continues to put up the points. It's not like he was selected for this season due to playing with Forsberg. Maybe Starkey forgets Gagne won a gold in 02 as well. He's one of the fastest skaters in the league, a sniper and even though it is the Olympics being a great defensive forward is as important and Gagne is Philly's best overall player. Don't forget this is the first season since his rookie year that he gets top minutes not only not having to play on a checking line but the first time he's been able to see time on the top power play.

Starkey was lazy to make that statement.

[Mad City Mike]

Simon Gagne was a great choice no matter what this meatball says. To say he's only scoring because of Forsberg is a joke considering that Floppa has been out for long stretches and Gagne still continues to put up the points. It's not like he was selected for this season due to playing with Forsberg. Maybe Starkey forgets Gagne won a gold in 02 as well. He's one of the fastest skaters in the league, a sniper and even though it is the Olympics being a great defensive forward is as important and Gagne is Philly's best overall player. Don't forget this is the first season since his rookie year that he gets top minutes not only not having to play on a checking line but the first time he's been able to see time on the top power play.

Starkey was lazy to make that statement.

I agreed with the premise of the column, but the point about Gagne was stupid. If I recall, he was on the World Cup team a couple years ago. He definitely deserved to be there. Now, as for "role players" like Draper and thugs like Bertuzzi, that's an entirely different story.

[Pitts]

I can't really disagree with the premise of his column, but Rick Nash is 21. That would seem to blow his quip about the age limit out of the water.

Rick Nash was saddled with Joe Thornton and the infamous Todd Bertuzzi on his line. 'Nuf Said.

[Pitts]

Kariya should have been on that team as well...probably lined up with Gange since they had success together last time they went over the boards at the Olympics.

[jmh70]

Like most Starkey columns, it is written on a 2nd grade level. However, he is mostly right.