Todd: Winter Olympics graced us with a breathtaking backdrop for triumph and heartbreak
It was a gorgeous Winter Olympics.
From start to finish, Milano Cortina 2026 unfolded in an unparalleled setting, with organization that was all but flawless. I didn’t hear a single complaint from my colleagues who were on the scene — and knowing that journalists are chronic complainers, that is a feat.
Visually, it was a feast. One of my sons gave me a larger television for Christmas and the setting was unparalleled on the big screen — whether under bright sunshine the first week or during the second week, when many of the events went off in a heavy snowfall.
Biathlon, cross-country, downhill, snowboarding and the brilliant new sport of ski mountaineering — it was all breathtaking. Ditto long-track speedskating.
Much of that went almost unnoticed by Canadians upset that Canada went through eight full days of competition before winning its first gold medal and that the overall totals (five gold medals, 21 in all) did not match recent achievements. Throw in
traumatic silver medals for the men’s and women’s hockey teams,
and you can convince yourselves that there is a crisis in Canadian sport.
There is a problem, but it’s not with the athletes. It’s funding. Look at any nation in any sport, and there is a very direct connection between money and results. When some of our best athletes are talking about giving up their sport when they’re paying for their own flights to Italy, there is a problem.
The government gets the blame, inevitably, but if you want more medals, the first thing this country needs to do is force TSN and Sportsnet to stop largely ignoring our Olympic sports for three years and 50 weeks out of every Olympic cycle. Coverage equals sponsorship, and sponsorship equals medals.
Instead, given a license to print money, our sports channels pocket the windfall and avoid our Olympic athletes like the plague. Hockey and curling get slavish attention. Otherwise, Sportsnet would rather show us poker, and TSN prefers the moronic blather of loudmouth American hosts like Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee.
Only the much-maligned CBC pays the least attention to moguls, ski mountaineering and short-track and long-track speedskating. Unless that changes, you can anticipate more of the same in the French Alps in 2030.
The real heartbreaker?
Not the men’s hockey team losing — the women. The sight of
Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin
weeping after giving all she had was unbearable.
The men? Well, the American millionaires beat our millionaires. By the end of the week, they will all be back battling for Lord Stanley’s Cup while every fortnight, another six-figure payment nestles in their bank accounts.
The women? They’re still on a budget. Lose Olympic gold, and the heartbreak is real. A PWHL title might soothe the pain a bit, but it won’t put a Ferrari in the driveway. That is real and relatable. The men’s disappointment, not so much.
Time to bring back the fun:
It’s time for Lane Hutson.
And Cole Caufield. Juraj Slafkovsky. Ivan Demidov. Nick Suzuki. Oliver Kapanen. Noah Dobson. Mike Matheson. It’s for Martin St. Louis behind the bench.
After that grim Olympic tournament, I’m ready for some fun. Like this entire Canadiens team, Hutson and Caufield are fun to watch. Much more fun than Team Canada. Come right down to it, I’d rather watch them than any combination on the ice for either team in the Olympic gold-medal game.
It’s time we started working on the two dynamic Canadiens stars, people — perhaps with Suzuki making the argument.
Persuade Hutson and Caufield to take dual citizenship
so they can play for Canada in 2030. Bill Guerin made it clear he doesn’t want them, and Canada needs them.
C’mon over, fellas. It’s way more fun on this side of the fence.
Where was Nick, Jon?
Even Jon Cooper grudgingly acknowledged that Suzuki stepped up after Sidney Crosby was injured against the Czechs.
Then he forgot him. On Sunday in the final, Cooper confined the Canadiens captain to a shade more than 10 minutes and 15 shifts — part of a generally shambolic coaching effort on the part of Smug Jon. If Canada wants to get the most out of its superstars in 2030, I have a coach for you: Martin St. Louis.
A vote for Sheriff:
Please, Kent Hughes, whatever you do, do not
I’m opposed to fighting in hockey on principle — but as long as we have it, Xhekaj is as valuable as almost anyone on the roster.
Heroes:
Mikaël Kingsbury, Megan Oldham, Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann, Courtney Sarault, Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, Félix Roussel, Steven Dubois, Danaé Blais, Éliot Grondin, Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier, Brendan Mackay, Laurent Dubreuil, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Macklin Celebrini, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, Nick Suzuki, Marie-Philip Poulin, Francesca Lollobrigida &&&&; last but not least, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.
Zeros:
Marc Kennedy, Bill Guerin, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Jon Cooper, Rick Tocchet, Rachel Homan, TSN, Sportsnet, Ron MacLean, the ninnies who told Marie-Philip Poulin she couldn’t speak French at an IOC news conference, Wayne Gretzky, Bud Selig Jr., David Samson &&&& last but not least, Jeffrey Loria.
Now and forever.
