That could make for some interesting rationalization exercises in a player’s head.
The “devil” side of a player’s brain will have no problem laying anyone on a stretcher, but the “angel” part of the conscience might have a more difficult moral debate if the intended target is someone he shares the same uniform with for 82 regular-season games, over six months of the year.
Because of trades and free agency, there is constant player movement in the NHL nowadays. One year, a guy could be getting dressed in the home locker room at the Garden. The next season, the Bruins could be attempting to knock that player’s teeth onto the ice.
When Phil Kessel is wearing a blue and white Maple Leafs sweater, Zdeno Chara doesn’t have to think twice about checking the sniper into the boards with the force of Category 5 hurricane.
But will Chara hesistate if David Krejci is in his crosshairs when Slovakia is facing the Czech Republic at the Canada Hockey Palace in the 2010 Winter Olympics?
Will the 6-foot-9 blueliner pull up if Team Canada’s Patrice Bergeron is skating toward him in the neutral zone, in a vulnerable position, since Bergeron is an important cog in the Bruins’ playoff hopes?
For the love of country or good of the team that pays the bills?
For a gold medal or Stanley Cup?
These are questions Bruins Olympians — and every other NHL Olympian — could be asking themselves over the next two weeks.
Out of the 276 players on the 12 men’s hockey Olympic rosters, 142 play in the NHL.
Belarus: 4Canada: 23
Czech Republic: 16
Finland: 18
Germany: 7
Latvia: 2
Norway: 1
Russia: 14
Slovakia: 13
Sweden: 19
Switzerland: 2
United States: 23
More than 50 percent of the players in the Olympics are NHLers, so more than just Bruins might be faced with a tough choice at some point over the next two weeks.
Professional athletes are as competitive as they come. A few hockey players, to paraphrase Harry Doyle in Major League, would drop the gloves with their sons in a father-son game. They get upset if they lose a ping-pong game, and take their jobs very seriously. Winning is all that matters.
To think any of them would go less than 100 percent in a game with national pride on the line just because the opponent on the other side happens to be an NHL teammate is more ridiculous than dressing up a dog.
But we’ve all seen Fido sporting sunglasses.
Let’s just hope he doesn’t make an appearance in British Columbia this February — and a Bruin wins gold without having to sacrifice a shot at glory this spring.
