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Sporting News, The, Feb 12, 2001 by Larry Wigge

You've probably heard the question when you were looking for a job: Do you have any experience? Well, as funny as it might sound, millionaire athletes get asked the same question.

Last weekend's All-Star Game in Denver gave players a chance to provide a positive response.

"It's like that credit card commercial: Do you know me?" Flyers second-year center Simon Gagne says with a laugh. "I may have only gotten into this game as a replacement (for injured San Jose center Vincent Damphousse), but I look at it as a chance to get my name out there.

"You know, the Olympic Games are just a year away, and if I can show people something on this stage, they might think about me when they sit down and pick the team for 2002."

"That sounds like me, too," says Canucks defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who also went to the All-Star Game as a replacement (for injured St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger). "I remember watching Dominik Hasek stoning all five of the Canadian scorers in the shootout in the last Olympics. I was sitting on the edge of my seat squirming on every move as Canada tried to beat Hasek to get to the gold-medal game."

Jovanovski's not alone. NHL All-Stars have plenty of chances to show off their skills to hockey fans, but the Olympic audience is the missing link for commissioner Gary Bettman and the league's owners.

"The NHL is the most unappreciated league in professional sports, if only because not enough people watch us," Bettman says. "We have long felt that if we could get the casual fan to watch us, come out to the arena to see us, that we'd have them hooked because of all the action and speed you find in our game."

Americans, for instance, marveled at how well Ray LeBlanc did for the United States in 1992 (5-2-1 with a 2.20 goals-against average and two shutouts). In reality, LeBlanc was good enough to only get in one game in the NHL, for Chicago in 1991-92.

And Salt Lake City is primed to give the NHL prime-time coverage in 2002, something hockey didn't have in 1998 at Nagano, Japan.

The thought of playing for Olympic gold may not rival the pursuit of the Stanley Cup, but it's not far behind.

"This is my 22nd NHL season, and I've played for the Stanley Cup twice and the gold medal once and haven't won either," Avalanche defenseman Ray Bourque says. "I've got all sorts of trophies and plaques and certificates in my basement, but I can easily make room for both honors. I'd sprint down there right now and make a place for a Cup or gold medal."

For those who have argued against the North America vs. World format of the last four All-Star Games, I can only say: too bad. I've seen the East vs. West and Wales vs. Campbell. The only other format that created interest was the defending Stanley Cup champion facing a group of All-Stars.

"It's definitely a nice primer for the Olympics," Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom says of the North America-World format. "The only thing missing is the wider Olympic ice surface."

Next year, the NHLs Olympic participants will go directly to Salt Lake City after the February 1 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

And make no mistake, the 2001 and 2002 All-Star tuneups are not just about the first-time players or Bourque or Mario Lemieux getting his first opportunity to play in the Olympics. They serve as impetus for Hasek to play one more season after this one to see whether he can bring the gold medal back to the Czech Republic.

"The most exciting thing to happen to me in my career (which includes successive MVP honors in the NHL) was going back home and seeing how my countrymen responded to us winning the gold medal," Hasek says. "Right now, I'm focused on this season. I will have to sit down after this season and think about whether to play one more season, but I must admit the idea of playing in Salt Lake City is real exciting. In fact, I have goose bumps just thinking about it."

If Hasek puts off retirement and comes back to help the Czechs defend their gold medal in 2002, it means the Flyers' Roman Cechmanek, who made his first All-Star appearance last weekend, and the Blues' Roman Turek will sit back and watch.

But don't think the Americans and Canadians will sit back and let Hasek steal the spotlight at Salt Lake City.

"As a Canadian, you feel there is unfinished business," said Rangers right winger Theo Fleury, a member of the 1998 Canadian Olympic hockey team that lost the shootout to the Czech Republic in the semifinals. "It wasn't a very good feeling after that Czech loss.

"If you asked anyone who participated in that game or watched it, he would resoundingly tell you how much he wanted to get another crack at Hasek and the gold medal."

The line of players who would want the first crack at Hasek would begin with Fleury, Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan, the five players Hasek stoned in the shootout.

"I've seen that shootout on tape a million times and watched the moves we made against him," Fleury says. "And I've tossed and turned at night thinking about what I might do the next time.