Canada wins hockey opener, Hasek hurt

By Steve Keating

TURIN (Reuters) – Canada, Sweden and Finland all opened the
Olympic men’s hockey tournament with routine wins on Wednesday
while the Czech Republic’s gold medal hopes suffered a blow
with an injury to netminder Dominik Hasek.

The Czechs also got off to a winning start with a 4-1
decision over Germany but Hasek’s injury left a dark cloud
hanging over the victory with the compact schedule forcing
teams to play five games in seven days.

Hasek, a two-times NHL MVP who led the Czechs to a gold
medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, got the start but was
replaced midway through the opening period by the Nashville
Predators’ Tomas Vokoun after hurting his leg making a save.

“It’s tough to say right now long it will take to get
better,” said Hasek, a six-times Vezina trophy winner as the
NHL’s leading netminder. “It’s not a groin injury, it’s between
my legs, it’s a muscle injury.

“My goal is to get back but if I don’t feel I can play,
then I can’t play.”

The biggest challenge facing powerhouse Canada in their
opener was jet lag.

IGINLA SHINES

Calgary Flames right wing Jarome Iginla had a pair of goals
as Canada opened defense of their gold medal with a convincing
7-2 win over hosts Italy.

With the men’s tournament finally underway the spotlight
shifted from embattled Team Canada executive director Wayne
Gretzky — who has come under intense scrutiny about an illegal
gambling ring — to the action on the ice.

The Canadians, who had arrived in Turin just 24 hours
earlier, got the contest off to a sluggish start against an
energetic and motivated Team Italy, which had spent almost an
entire year preparing for the contest.

After holding Canada to a single goal in the first period,
Italy sparked dreams of an unthinkable upset when Jason Cirone
scored 43 seconds into the second period to even game at 1-1,
bringing the near-capacity crowd at the Palasport Olimpico to
their feet in a flag-waving frenzy.

“We definitely thought we had a chance,” said Italian
defenseman Carter Trevisani. “When it was 1-1 I thought maybe
we could hold them off.”

The celebrations, however, were short lived.

The goal appeared to jolt Canada to life, Dany Heatley
answering just 72 seconds later triggering five-goal second
period burst to put the holders in front to stay 6-1.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist had a pair of
goals as Sweden also cruised to a 7-2 win over Kazakhstan.

Even with forward Peter Forsberg resting an injured groin,
and several other players out, the Swedes ran up a 3-0 first
period lead and never looked back.

Daniel Alfredsson, Mats Sundin, Per Johan Axelsson, Henrik
Sedin and his brother, Daniel, also scored for Sweden, who are
considered a serious threat to dethrone Canada.

Olli Jokinen and Teemu Selanne each had a pair of goals and
an assist to lead Finland past Switzerland 5-0.