Winter Olympics: The flying milkman and the millionaires

THE GREAT ONE will doubtless garner most of the attention but Canada's prospects of finally reclaiming the Olympic ice hockey title are more likely to depend on St Patrick.

The former is the eminently justifiable sobriquet of Wayne Gretzky, the most prodigious player of all time, but the latter epithet is no less deserved by Patrick Roy, who one day soon should become, in the parlance of North American sport, ice hockey's winningest goaltender.

Roy has been elevated to unofficial sainthood during 14 years of active service in the National Hockey League. It is generally presumed that the gold medal in Nagano will go to the team with the safest goalkeeper. Hence, Sweden's chances have been all but written off but the odds on America with Mike Richter and the Czech Republic with Dominik Hasek have been shortened accordingly. Canada are the favourites.

At 32, Roy is perhaps not quite the player he was but nobody doubts his big-game temperament. He has been in three Stanley Cup winning sides and was twice Most Valuable Player. The Olympics, containing players from the NHL for the first time, leave him unfazed. "I know how much people in Canada want this," he said. "But I played 10 years in Montreal and I don't know if there can be more pressure than that. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I want to win."

The Montreal Canadiens are the most successful club in North America. They carry a similar place in the hearts of ice hockey followers to the New York Yankees in baseball. When Roy left two years ago he seemed to be past his peak but his career has been revitalised at a new franchise, Colorado Avalanche. This season he recorded his 350th career victory and will surely pass Terry Sawchuck's all-time record of 423 early in the millennium.

All Canada are expecting their team to bring home gold for the first time in 46 years. The Olympic title used to be all but their permanent property. Until 1956, they had won it at every Games except 1936 when Great Britain lifted gold - with a squad of 12 Canadian-born players.

The Soviet Union then proceeded to dominate proceedings, though the United States registered an unlikely victory at Squaw Valley in 1960 by performing what has gone down in the country's sporting history with characteristic understatement as the miracle on ice. Canada, always competitive, were particularly handicapped by the Olympic rules on amateurism. Professionals from the NHL were simply not eligible to play in the Games. The new code has shifted the balance once more.

Altogether, 125 players from the league are taking part, playing for nine countries. But nobody else benefits quite like Canada. Nobody else has Gretzky for one thing. Like Roy (which is pronounced Wah) it would have been better had the rules been relaxed four years ago but he is not dwelling on that. "Any time Canada lose in world competition it's always devastating," the Great One said last week. "It's a sport that people live and die with. The Olympics are very important."

Sounds as though he means it, then, and the group match which should give an early indication of the destiny of the medals is between Canada and the United States a week tomorrow. The first part of the tournament this week will be taken up with a qualifying event to decide which two countries join the seeded six in the last eight.

It is at least heartening to hear that the hockey players have entered into the Olympic spirit more diligently than their basketball dream-team predecessors. Michael Jordan et al stayed in a luxury hotel; Gretzky, Roy and their pals are living in the Olympic village, four to a room like everybody else.