They are outta here, baby. The top-notch players of up to 12 countries (who really keeps track after the big 6?) Have left the continent to compete in the Olympic tournament, which promises, all together now, "to be the best hockey ever played." So, wimp that I am, I've picked this week to air some of my less popular opinions, all of which I firmly believe.

I dare you to flame me. Actually, I dare you to flame John Kreiser, featured columnist. He and I don't really know each other, but, hey, I'm a wimp, remember?

(Editor's note: Just flame Hurwitz for the pure and simple fact that he's a wuss.) So without further ado, let's see who I'm gonna hook, hold, trap and spring this week.

DEFENDING THE TRAP
I'm really getting tired of players, coaches and general managers talking about what techniques/rules/crackdowns they can apply to get rid of what they blame "boring" hockey on the dreaded "Neutral Zone Trap."

Frankly, anybody who complains about the trap doesn't know what they're talking about. The trap, and its offshoot, Detroit's left-wing lock, have nothing to do with a downturn in scoring, per se. The defensive systems did not cause Mario Lemieux to retire. And they aren't preventing World Peace. So let's topple some of the myths, okay?

A.) The trap equals cheating or taking advantage of lax officiating. Dead wrong. Unfortunately, the name "trap" has come to be associated with hooking, holding, and otherwise restraining quality "skill" players. That makes sense. After all, being held up illegally certainly feels like being stuck in a bear trap. But it's just a name, a metaphor, if you will. No coach who teaches a trapping system strategically includes restraining fouls as part of the philosophy. Once again, here is how the trap works:

Rather than employ a heavy forecheck, a team tends to drop back to the neutral zone and sends in only one forechecker. That forward channels the puck carrier on the opposing team to one side (rather than going straight up the middle) and his teammates converge, cutting off skating room and passing lanes, forcing a turnover.

As for the fact that there is too much hooking and holding allowed, there are two places to attach the blame. First of all, there are the referees and all other persons responsible for how the game is officiated. Call the rules, and they will be respected.

Second of all, stop expanding the damn league! Jarrod Skalde, Jeremy Stevenson and a whole ton of other players are in the NHL only because there are 26 teams that need players. With the four new teams coming in the next three years, there will only be more restraining going on, because that's all a less-talented player can do to stop Jaromir Jagr, Mike Modano or Theo Fleury from scoring on a breakaway. If you only have enough jobs for the number of truly talented players there are out there, however, you won't have this problem.

B.) The trap makes for boring, low-scoring, 1-0 and 2-1 hockey games. Let's look at some the teams that use the trap: Detroit (left-wing lock), first overall in goals for. Dallas, second overall. Los Angeles, seventh. New Jersey, tenth. But how can this be?

Simply put, the trap is an excellent springboard to a rapid counterattack, one of the hallmarks of an exciting hockey game. The trap, when effectively used, leads to odd-man rushes the other way, which produce any number of highlight-reel goals and scoring plays.

C.) The trap encourages low-skill, "lazy" play. This is completely asinine, not to mention illogical. First of all, undisciplined play will make the trap ineffective, and lead to those pesky holding and hooking calls we hate so much.

As for the skill argument, let me point to another page of NHL braintrust. A couple of years back, somebody at NHL headquarters decided, not without a certain degree of logic, that the rule which allowed defensemen to fire a cleared puck back into the attacking zone while their teammates "tagged up" encouraged low-skill blueliners. So the rule was eliminated to encourage more creative puck handling and passing in the neutral zone.

This argument applies to the trap, as well. It is not an ironclad defensive system. It can be beaten if the initial puck carrier, upon springing the trap, passes back to a trailing teammate, who then passes up to a winger on the opposite side. If this countermeasure works, the team with the puck should even find a clear lane to proceed through.

So if the NHL wanted to eliminate delayed offsides to encourage skill play, they should also leave the trap alone to accomplish the same result.

GRETZKY, SCHMETZKY
I'm guessing that, unless you just picked up hockey as a hobby or you arrived at this site by a whole series of bad web navigation errors, you've heard Wayne Gretzky, currently of the New York Rangers, referred to as "The Great One."

To quote the immortal Han Solo, "great at getting us into trouble!"

The Hockey News recently announced that Wayne is the greatest player in hockey history. Ever. Nobody better. But, um, let's look at the track record of his teams over the past couple of seasons.

Late in 1995-96, with Gretzky's Kings stinking up the joint, he asked to be traded. Oh, they cried in L.A., to be sure, and attendance dropped. But something else happened that was really interesting. The Kings have improved in each of the two seasons since Gretzky left, and currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division, six games over .500.

When he left, Gretzky ended up in St. Louis, making them an instant favorite in the playoffs. Instead, they got bumped off by Detroit after stumbling along to the end of the season. Now, a season and a half later, the Blues are possibly the biggest surprise in hockey.

And finally, Gretzky ended up with the Rangers. Since his arrival, New York has gone steadily downhill in the standings, and the Rangers haven't been particularly close to a playoff position all season.

What about all those Stanley Cups in Edmonton you ask? First off, that was a long time ago already (by sports standards, anyway). On top of that, those Oilers teams also had Mark Messier, and that combination won another Cup two years after Gretzky was gone. Messier has also won a Cup in New York without Gretzky, though Wayne hasn't won one without Mark. And though Messier's Canucks are in a whole mess (no pun intended) of trouble this season, it also seems the moment he left, Gretzky has not been able to make up for his loss.

WORLD-CLASS JOKE
I wouldn't dream of arguing against the notion that the Olympic tournament which begins this week will be the best hockey ever played. It will. But I will tell you this: It won't be nearly the marketing tool the NHL wanted, and, most likely, it will be a bust.

The blame for this can be placed squarely on the coverage CBS is providing, or, really, not providing. Men's hockey is being aired in the United States after Dave Letterman's Late Show, at 12:35 am in the Eastern and Pacific time zones and 11:35 in Central and Mountain.

Now, other than deadbeat hockey fans with no jobs, classes, etc., just who, exactly, is meant to watch what may very well be the best international tournament in sports history?

Hockey will gain exposure in Japan. Wow. What a major source of future revenue! But there will be only limited exposure in this country, which begs the question of just why the need to risk injury for limited payback forced this tournament to happen? Aside from the added rest second- and third- line players will get during this stoppage in play, I think the Nagano Olympics will provide little except added bumps and bruises.

CBS claims there will be plenty of coverage in the form of highlights between snowboarding and pairs figure skating. Guess what: I watch SportsCenter from time to time, but am no more a fan of golf or Nascar than I was before simply because there are highlights shown.

MISCELLANY
Brett Hull should keep his big mouth shut. You want to complain vocally about restraining fouls not being called? Go right ahead! But don't go saying the sport that pays your sizeable salary "sucks" or "is boring." You're a very visible player, and if fans are still tuning in and buying tickets, it means they're not bored. Stop trying to convince them otherwise.

Forget St. Louis as a darkhorse. Instead, any unlikely Western Conference Finalist will come from Phoenix.

The Islanders probably won, at least in the short term, the trades with Vancouver and Anaheim which brought in Trevor Linden, Joe Sacco, J.J. Daigneualt and Mark Janssens.

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