Let’s say it’s Saturday night at the E Center, the United States vs. Russia in Olympic hockey, and the play is behind the Russian net.
Let’s say Russian defenseman Boris Mironov is about to deliver a crushing check on the American skater trapped along the boards, a check the American will feel for a while, maybe even weeks.
Now let’s say the American is Tony Amonte, captain of the Blackhawks, the same NHL team for which Mironov plays.
Now what do you say?
“Of course it’s going to be hard, but we play for different teams,” Mironov said. “He plays for his country and I play for my country. Nobody wants to do bad things, like hurt the guy, but if it’s a clean hit, it’s my job. I have to do that.”
This is one of the quirks of having NHL players participate in the Olympics. One day you are teammates in Chicago, tied for the second-best record in the NHL, trying to nail down a playoff position for the first time in five years, working together to try to win a Stanley Cup.
The next day in Utah, in the middle of a season with great hope, one Hawk is faced with absolutely smashing another in the name of the mother country.
“Of course it’s tough,” Mironov said. “But I think he’d probably do the same thing because he plays for his country, and that’s the biggest point.”
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Indeed, Amonte said he’d expect Mironov to treat him like a garden-variety Red Wing.
“Why would I expect anything less from him?” Amonte said. “If I’m coming across the blue line with my head down, I would expect him to try to knock me off. And I’d do the same to him.
“And when the game’s over, I’d go down the hall and shake his hand, drink a beer with him. I wouldn’t smoke a cigarette, but he might.”
Four Hawks face this problem Saturday night: Amonte and defenseman Phil Housley for the Americans, and Mironov and center Alex Zhamnov for the Russians. Two other Hawks face a similar problem Sunday night when defenseman Jaroslav Spacek of the defending champion Czech Republic plays against center Michael Nylander of Sweden.
Amonte and Zhamnov have been not only teammates but linemates for most of the last four years.
“I’m going to play hard, for sure, and Tony’s the same way,” Zhamnov said. “When we play against each other, we’ll do our jobs for our countries. I won’t try to take his head off. I’m not a dirty player.”
There is another issue in play here: telling secrets. For instance, would U.S. captain Chris Chelios, who plays for the Red Wings in real life, tell Amonte and Housley how to stop Russian star and fellow Red Wing Igor Larionov on Sunday?
Would he share knowledge on how to beat Czech Republic goalie Dominik Hasek, who is trying to backstop Chelios’ Wings to the Stanley Cup. “I’m USA now,” Chelios said. “My heart’s here. I’ll tell them everything.”
But dealing with the physical stuff still ranks first at the Olympics, and once the playoff round begins and teams advance, the intensity is dialed up and whatever hitting there is becomes fiercer.
“It’s just a game,” Amonte said. “Do your job within the boundaries of the rules and there won’t be one word said by me, other than, `Hey, good game, buddy–now where are we going to eat?'”