Posted by Tim Card: hockeycard123@hotmail.com on 23rd August 2006 at 20:26 GMT
Posted from 80.132.246.211 (p5084F6D3.dip.t-dialin.net)
In reply to Re: Sidney Crosby posted by huselius on 21st August 2006 at 21:03 GMT:
Ok first of all I played hockey in Finland for 5 months, Germany for 2, and Russia for 3 and I’m Canadian. All I can say is that the euros definitely have been blessed with lots of skilled players but the coaching in Canada is superior to Europe. In Europe the players have skill and no heart and they practice more and play less. In Canada the players have heart for the game like no others a game more than life and death in our eyes. We also have amazingly skilled players and students of the game. You see the only Europeans u ever hear of are the good ones while in Canada you hear about both sides (bad/good) because we have a high standard of good hockey players as well the ones who just play for the fun times. Simply Canada has so many players and so much pressure on us to do good at the national level that people forget the fact that there are only two North American teams in the Olympics and more European teams so obviously the Europeans have a better chance of one of there many teams to win.
However I won’t take away the fact that European hockey makes good players and skilled individuals. There will always be different hockey styles everywhere you go.
In conclusion I think Sidney Crosby just happens to be a special talent and if u look back in the record books Canada has produced Superstars such as Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and now Crosby because they all shared the unsurpassed competitiveness and love of the game and took it upon themselves to become the best. Hockey is not how you are coached or where but simply how creative you are and how much knowledge u have of the game. That’s the beautiful thing about it, anyone from any country has a chance to be the best player ever because coaching doesn’t make you the best, it is a god given talent to do things like Ovechkin and Crosby do. You have to be naturally good to play at the next level. Every player has a different style.