It is a credit to hockey in Canada and the United States,as well as the many coaches and players, that their respective women’s programs are so dominant, compared to the rest of the world. It is a discredit to the Olympics however, that there are countries participating in the Winter Games, that clearly can’t compete with the two best in the world. I don’t blame Team Canada for taking advantage of their inferior opponents, in terms of their 18-0 dismantling of Slovakia, or the 10-1 pasting of Switzerland. Having said that, something at the international level of the Olympic movement, needs to be done to put an end to these games, which become a joke with their lopsided scores. If the Olympics is for the worlds best, then the respective governing bodies must make sure that athletes and countries that can not be reasonably competitive with the very best, are not involved in the Winter Games.
I don’t understand what is being proved by allowing countries to enter teams, that seem to be the caliber of a house league squad. I think it’s an embarrassment to the Olympics and to hockey, that this is supposedly a showcase for the best, but in reality, it has become a stage for some of the worst hockey ever presented in a prestigious event. If women’s hockey is indeed a global sport, why is that year after year, the only question seems to be whether not the champions will be from Canada or America ? To me, the choice for I.O.C. is quite clear. When there are only two truly competitive countries, how do you justify the sport as being one of Olympic inclusion ? Any comparison to men’s basketball in the summer games is completely invalid, because in fact, the rest of the world has been catching up to the United States in this sport, as we’ve seen in recent years, and in the games in Beijing, where Spain gave the U.S.A.’s NBA loaded team, all they could handle, in the gold medal match. The other proof of basketball’s globalization, is the number of international players who have become stars in the NBA , and the more frequent drafting of players, from outside of the American college ranks for talent.
Some people will view this type of discussion as a shot at women’s hockey. It is in fact a criticism of the lack of development of women’s hockey, outside of North America. There’s obviously no problem with the sport on this continent, but elsewhere, judging by the results of games against Canada and the United States, at best, the game has stagnated internationally, or maybe regressed. For the rest of the world,tuning in the Winter Games, what would be the motivation to watch women’s hockey, when you can usually predict the outcome of most of the games, where Canada and the United States are playing against any other country, and when you know that those two, are almost always going to finish first or second ? It doesn’t exactly make for compelling viewing on TV, beyond the North American audience, and may in fact be a turn off for some, in both Canada and the U.S. To refer to this as Olympic, with its frequent ridiculously lopsided scores, makes the sport’s inclusion seem fraudulent.