Charron, Hartsburg have golden memories

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Officially, it is the IIHF World U20 Championship. Over here, we call it the World Juniors.
Whatever you call it, it is chock-full of memories.
Mention it to Guy Charron, the head coach of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, and he talks about what must have been the longest 90 seconds of his life.
It was Jan. 4, 1990, and Charron, on the final day of what was then an eight-team round-robin tournament, was standing behind Team Canada’s bench in Helsinki as his players nursed a 2-1 lead over Czechoslovakia, including Jaromir Jagr.
One day earlier, Canada had lost 5-3 to Sweden, which had counted three times in 96 seconds.
It all meant that in order to win gold, Canada had to defeat the Czechs while the Soviets either lost or tied their game with Sweden. The Soviets did their part by coughing up a 5-3 lead, with Patrick Englund getting the equalizer at 19:59 of the third period.
“The most memorable moment was probably when (we heard that) the Swedes had just tied the Russians and if we win, we win gold,” Charron said Tuesday, before the Blazers met the Everett Silvertips at Interior Savings Centre. “I looked up at the clock and there was about 1:30 left in the game. The kids had heard it and everyone was so excited, and yet we had 1:30 to kill with a 2-1 lead.
“How jubilant we were!”
Canada and the Soviet Union finished with 5-1-1 records. Canada won gold on the strength of its 6-4 victory over the Soviets on New Year’s Day.
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Everett head coach Craig Hartsburg was twice the head coach as Canada won gold — in 2007, in Mora and Leksand, Sweden, and 2008, in Paradubice and Liberec, Czech Republic. He also was an assistant coach under Brent Sutter with the team that won gold in Vancouver in 2006.
Hartsburg said all three experiences were different — with one exception.
“The best memory of all three of them is the minute we know we’ve won the gold. To see the kids . . . the faces, the expressions, the cheers,” Hartsburg said. “The thing that sticks out in every gold medal was the minute that buzzer went and how the kids were so happy.”
Some of that joy no doubt is created because of the huge release of pressure, like air coming out of a balloon.
“You can’t describe the emotion or the pressure of the whole tournament,” Hartsburg said. “And it’s not just the Canadians. Everyone thinks the Canadian team is the most intense and the most emotional. But every team in the tournament . . . it’s a big deal for them.
“It’s really hard to describe the pressure the Canadian kids are under because of the success we’ve had and what it means to our country.”
Hartsburg said the coaches feel the same joy, and he emphasized that it’s pure joy, as opposed to a sense of relief.
“No,” he explained. “It’s not relief because relief is when you’re not sure about your team. To me it was elation and watching the kids . . . we were in some nailbiters the two years I was the head coach. It is something special to watch the kids. The last one we won in overtime (3-2 over Sweden on Matt Halischuk’s goal) . . . half the team was in tears, which tells you something about what it means.”
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Charron said the whole thing “was just an outstanding experience.”
That included “Christmas with the kids.”
That year, Team Canada spent Christmas in Vierumaki, a smaller community located just over an hour north of Helsinki. The players bunked five to a cabin and it was there that this team, including Blazers product Dave Chyzowski and 16-year-old Eric Lindros, who was playing junior A in Detroit after refusing to report to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, really came together.
Chyzowski came to Team Canada from the NHL’s New York Islanders, who had selected him second overall, behind Swedish forward Mats Sundin, in the 1989 draft. By his own admission, Chyzowski didn’t have a good camp, but Charron chose to stick with him.
“I guess it was my recognition of what he could bring to us,” Charron said, adding that Canada also was to have received forward Martin Gelinas from the Edmonton Oilers, something that didn’t happen. “Dave was coming from the NHL and we knew what to expect. We stuck with him. We saw what he could bring to the team and it was an element we needed.”
In the end, Chyzowski led Canada in goals (9) and points (13) and was named to the all-star team.
Charron actually was given the opportunity to coach Canada again the following season, with former Blazers head coach Ken Hitchcock as an assistant.
Over the summer of 1990, Charron, who was coming off five years with Hockey Canada, had signed with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. He would be an assistant coach, working with Doug Risebrough and Paul Baxter. But general manager Cliff Fletcher had said he would free up Charron to coach Team Canada.
“I just said, ‘You know what, Cliff? I had the opportunity and I won. I know it would be a great experience, but now I have a commitment to you guys and I would like to fulfill that commitment.’ ”
Dick Todd, the GM and head coach of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, who was an assistant with Charron in 1990, ended up as Canada’s head coach and won the 1991 title in Saskatoon.
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Would Hartsburg do it again?
“I’d never say never, but certainly right now it isn’t something I’m thinking about,” he said. “It was a great experience but it’s not something I’m planning on doing.
“But again, in this game, I’ve always said don’t say never.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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