|Joe LaCour stated:
|
|However, my sincerest regards for Dean Blais
|for letting Jason Blake play for the US National team this weekend in
|Austria.  I wish more college coaches had let their US superstars (Cole,
|Gionta, etc.) play for the US.
|
|Actually, Boston College's Brian Gionta played for the US World Junior team
|last season, and probably will this season as well (missing the Denver Cup
|and the two games with Minnesota, at least).
|
|BC has a long history of having their players play for the US in many
|tournaments, including the Olympics (when the US hockey team was still
|taking amateurs), both in season and out of season.
|
|Linda
|
 
 
Yes, but as Joe insinuated (and I also had suspect), very few teams are
letting their players go for "only" a qualification tournament. This
tournament is not nearly as prestigious as the Junior World Championships
that BC has allowed its
players to compete in. I wonder if USA Hockey feels embarrassed in having to
compete in such a tourney.
 
I suspect that BC and many other schools have forbidden their players to
attend if invited ... and its likely that all the NHL
teams (and most AHL/IHL teams) have done the same. Although, the NHL also
has the added incentive of keeping their players from embarrassing them
further with their off-ice activities.
 
The situation is so bad that USA hockey is forced to resort to "retired"
hockey players. Although I like the idea of letting some of these retired
"stars" represent their country especially since most were never given that
opportunity before.
 
So, we should all extend respect to coach Blais for allowing Jason to
compete with Team USA.
 
Paul Gentile
 
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