Oh Canada!
Well, all the hype, all the press, all the attention and the best hockey team ever assembled came up short against Team USA. What happened to Team Canada eh?
Try this on for size. The Canadian Olympic Hockey team was playing with all they had; they wanted to win as much as any Canadian fan. But they were playing “not to lose”. The American Olympic Hockey Team was doing the opposite. They were playing with nothing to lose.
Some call it pressure but I don’t buy that. These are professional, NHL, multi-million dollar players who play for things like money and the Stanly Cup. So what made them play not to lose?
Well, there is the debacle in Torino, Italy where the Team Canada came in 7th, beaten by that mighty hockey nation of Switzerland. And so this Olympics in Vancouver, Team Canada had talent, motivation, and drive BUT they had the memory of Torino and the embarrassing loss that they suffered there.
If you’re on the rink and you are okay winning, you are okay wiping out your opponents, you are okay in front of your adoring fans BUT you are not okay if you lose, well, you know the results of that.
That is Team Canada’s emotional block, and it causes them to try too hard, to hold their sticks too tightly and to focus on the loss.
In the 92 summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, American athletes worked with a NET specialist, Dr. Greenberg to remove all the emotional blocks to winning their races. The major block they removed was on being OK to lose their races. Once that was done they ran their races, got Gold medals, and set world records.
I think it’s around time Canadian athletes start playing like Americans. What do you think?
Go Canada Go.
Tony
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The Intention Experiment with Lynn McTaggert
Congratulations to the mens Team Canada for their victory over the Russians. Looks like Team Canada is not just starting to jell as a team, but living the moment and letting go of the past.
Just two more to go. We know who’s the best, so just do it!
Tonight’s Olympic gold medal men’s hockey round with Canada against the U.S. should be a good one.
I find that in any kind of competition, it’s often hard to decide whether to play aggressively or defensively. For me to decide, I need to know my own ability and how to plan strategically against my opponent. I tend to play defensively against stronger players.
I remember when I was a teenager newly arrived in Canada, a tennis coach saw me playing at the municipal tennis courts and asked me whether I would be interested in joining his tennis club since I had potential, but needed to correct faults in my technique. I joined, and within a few weeks, my team mates and I were signed up to play in the Montreal tennis championships.
Soon, I found myself at the semi-finals playing against the number 2 seed in Quebec. She was a powerful player and scared the bee-gee-bees out of me. Every time she served, I would think, “Please let me hit this ball”, and I would hold out my racket while barely swinging. Her powerful ball would hit my racket and just barely make it back over the net where she couldn’t reach it because she was at the baseline waiting for a powerful hit.
She continued to play as though I was a powerful player, staying mainly at the baseline, while I kept racking up the points with my weak returns to her powerful serve. In frustration, she started hitting the balls harder and harder, while I stood there watching her balls go out (yea, I was happy I didn’t have to hit them!). When she threw her racket over the net in anger, that’s when I smiled to myself because I then realised I had her mentally. A few shots later, I was off to the finals.
In the finals, I played against the number 1 seed in Quebec. We both had similar styles of play and strategies, and I enjoyed playing against her. We did several tie-breakers in our sets, and in the end, I got my two points over her to win the championship. Her name was France (cool eh!).
When I won, there were two members from my tennis club who had stayed to watch me play, and they jumped up excitedly with big smiles on their faces. My very small cheering section was priceless to me!
On that day, I realized that I didn’t have to be the most talented or strongest to win. I just played strategically. As my mom would say, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt”.
I just remembered that my tennis coach’s name was Tony. Humm… that makes it two people named Tony who have been mentors to me. Pretty cool!
What a great story Francoise. That really shows, it’s more than just hard hits that win the game!
Tony
Yea Canada!!!
Way to Go !
What an exciting hockey game!
I particularly liked watching Scott Niedermayer play since he seemed to be the glue that kept the Canadian team going… always at the right place to get the puck out of the Canadian zone… always reliable… like a strong foundation upon which you can depend.
Hey, the way Scott Crosby hustled in overtime… yeah, his hustle paid off with the winning goal.
Now that’s good hockey
Oops, I meant to say Sid Crosby!
A slip on the keyboard probably because Niedermayer is my favourite player.