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VANCOUVER – Ryan Kesler calmly spit out the words and, a few minutes later, tried to grab them back. Well, sort of.

“I despise them,” said the American winger of Team Canada, the two teams meeting Sunday night in their final preliminary-round game of the Olympic hockey tournament.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I despise them. You have respect for the other team.

“But the Canadians expect to win the gold and anything less is not enough. It’s going to be fun to try and knock them off.”

 

Let the Games start.

“Do I dislike them?” said American defenceman Jack Johnson. “Yes.”

When once it was the Soviets who were Canada’s most intense rivals, dating back to the historic Summit Series in 1972 and maybe even before that, you could safely argue now that the Americans have supplanted the comrades on the despise list.

“We despise to lose against any team in this tournament,” said Canadian winger Jonathan Toews. “But especially against the Americans.”

“Despise,” said Canadian goaltender Martin Brodeur, “That’s a huge word.

“I don’t despise people. It’s hockey. They’re going to want to take something away from us.”

That, of course, would be bragging rights, even if just for a few days. The Americans, with a win, would also win the grouping and advance directly to the quarter-finals, seeded first or second overall, while the Canadians would have to play another game to advance to the playoffs.

That is what is really at stake Sunday. That and Canada really getting an thought of where it stands in terms of development in this tournament. A “terrible” loss on the heels of the Swiss game would place impossible pressure on this team.

“Where we’re at is at an vital part of the tournament,” said Canadian captain Scott Niedermayer. “The game against the Swiss [a 3-2 shootout win] wasn’t the way we need to play.

“How we respond against the U.S. is vital. You know when you start, there are going to be moments that test you.

“You don’t accomplish anything as fantastic as this without challenges. But how we respond is the most vital thing.”

‘We know what is at stake’

One message the Americans tried to deliver en masse Saturday was just how much pressure the Canadians will be under. They are right, of course. Canada is playing at home, is expected to bounce back in a huge way after a scare from the Swiss, and no one likes losing to the Americans. On paper, they probably shouldn’t either. But the Canadians were paper tigers in Turin and don’t want to be the same here.

And there is the matter of winning the pool and advancing directly to the quarter-finals. There would be a remote possibility Canada could still get there with an overtime or shootout loss, but…

Right now, this team has to improve a lot of elements of its game and its about winning and building momentum.

“We know what is at stake,” said Canadian coach Mike Babcock. “We want to play well and keep getting better. The path to where we both want to go is a lot simpler if you win [Sunday].”

As expected, a few changes are in the offing for the Canadians, who Babcock wants to stop overhandling the puck and stop looking for the perfect play and get back to making traffic in front of the goal and pucks at it.

He is also moving Rick Nash from left to right wing, where he usually plays in Columbus, alongside Sidney Crosby with Mike Richards, who started the tournament as the 12th or 13th forward moving to that huge line.

The Sharks line and the Getzlaf-Perry-Staal line remain in tact, with Jarome Iginla dropped back with Toews and Brenden Morrow on a “physicial line.”

‘We’re the enemy’

Bottom line is the Canadians are going to have to be better to beat an American team that has received terrific goaltending from Ryan Miller, has speed to burn and an aggressive forcheck, and insists its not feeling any pressure and isn’t expected to win.

“We’re the enemy,” said Team USA general manager Brian Burke. “We know that.

“It’s going to be a hostile crazy crowd on behalf of Canada and that’s the way it ought to be. That’s what hockey is about, passion.

“It’ll be a zoo in here. An vital part of being successful in a tournament like this is for our team to manage that.

“From our perspective, as tough as that might be for the young players, the pressure is not on our team tomorrow. The pressure is on Canada.”

How the Canadians deal with the pressure is key. If they dread it, they will be frozen. If they embrace it, it can be energizing. But that is always the essence of sport.

‘Part of what we do’

The Americans, by the way, are drawing on every emotion to inspire them in these Games. Their despise for Canada, at least on the ice, will be a huge part of Sunday’s mental prep. Overall, there is quite the military theme as well, with each player having a picture of a injured solider in their locker. In some cases, calls have even been made, notes exchanged. The players say it has certainly motivated them.

“We’ve had a strong military element in our preparation from the start,” said Burke. “Who said it was necessary?

“It’s part of what we do. We are very proud of the military in our country and it’s part of what we do.

“The real heroes in America don’t wear hockey uniforms. They wear police uniforms, they wear camo, they wear fire uniforms and we want our players to know that what we do is small potatoes compared to what those people do.”

Burke, of course, knows the heroes in this country wear the same uniforms, of the police and fire departments and the military. And it is just a hockey game.

Just the same, the guys in the hockey uniforms are kind of a huge deal, too, which is why what happens Sunday matters so much.

On the matter of despise, the two countries are in agreement on one point – they despise to lose to each other. Absolutely despise it. Which means it should be a terrific game.

“I guess if we know they’re hating us, we’re going to have to despise them back,” added Brodeur with a laugh.

(Photo: Ryan Kesler, courtesy Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)