Pair relish gold-medal experience

Deru kugi wa utareru.
Translated from Japanese, the above means “sticking out nail—be hammered.” And for Jordan Davis and Michael McCaig, it’s a perfect description for what they and their Manitoba Polar Ice teammates did in Sapporo, Japan.
The ‘AAA’ Bantam hockey team from Winnipeg competed in the Sapporo International Hockey Meet earlier this month and left no question as to who was the best team at the event—them.
“It was amazing. I would give the tournament and everything a 10,” said Davis, 14, a forward from Devlin. “Playing other countries and staying with the Japanese family was a lot of fun, and winning the tournament was … I can’t even explain that.”
The duo, who made the team through a tryout last Christmas in Winnipeg, had played in a couple of tournaments before going over to Sapporo, which was their last appearance in a Polar Ice uniform.
“I didn’t really feel nervous because I didn’t have anything to lose. And the whole experience was wonderful,” said McCaig, 13, a defenceman from Fort Frances.
“The hockey was good and it was just like a normal average game, but it was fun playing against different people and different countries,” he added.
Their performance in the Sapporo meet, which ran Aug. 3-8, was indicative of Canada’s recent results in international play.
The Polar Ice, which had won the annual event in 1999 and 2001 before taking a couple of years off, played against teams from Japan, Russia, and also Canada (teams from Calgary and Edmonton competed).
And like Microsoft, they simply dominated the opposition.
The closest any team got to within tying them was five goals in their 5-0 defeat of Sapporo ‘C.’ The Polar Ice’s breakout game was a 29-1 thrashing of Sapporo ‘B.’
“It was pretty simple,” replied McCaig when asked how such a lopsided score came about. “We scored like four goals right off the start, but they were really small and they weren’t really physical.
“So I guess they kind of folded and then we just started pumping the goals.”
Its one thing to win a game by six goals (7-1 over the Calgary Junior Flames) or seven goals, which was their margin of victory over Novosibirsk (Russia) in the final (11-4). It’s quite another to win by 28—that’s a goal every two minutes and six seconds.
“When we played the Japanese team, we felt unstoppable,” said Davis, who had six points in that game (two goals and four assists).
Obviously, it’s rewarding to win. But when you win that big in an international tournament, where the whole objective is to better yourself as a player, it also can be a waste of time.
“When you think about it, it’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of a game and you don’t really learn anything, you just start pulling off your trick shots,” said McCaig.
“It was more like a practice than a game,” he noted.
“It was sad, in a way, because we were expecting more of a challenge,” remarked Davis.
It seems like the most difficult thing the pair faced was the 13-hour flight from Winnipeg to Sapporo (via Chicago and Tokyo), not to mention trying to adapt to a culture that’s very different than the one they’re used to.
“It was hard, especially the whole bowing thing, because when we first met them, they didn’t bow, they shook our hands, and that threw me off. And I figured that if I bowed into their handshake that they would take it as an insult,” said McCaig.
“They are totally opposite to the way Canadians act and talk,” he added. “They’re way more polite. It’s like they read your senses or something. They watch the way you act and are way more observant than us.”
“Most of them are really quiet and are much more polite than the Canadian people,” agreed Davis, who, along with McCaig, said will start being more polite because of what they saw in Japan.
In the hockey rink, however, there is no such thing as politeness. And Sapporo C went away from their norm and gave the Polar Ice their biggest physical battle, which in the end still wasn’t enough.
But at least the Japanese team weren’t “annoying” like the Russians in the final.
“Russia do more dirty tricks than anyone. They like to use their stick and that’s all they ever do,” said McCaig. “They were a good team, though, but I consider Canada a lot tougher.
“Japan [is] faster than us, and more disciplined than us because that’s the kind of life they lead,” he added. “But, of course, I think we’re better because hockey has always been with us. It’s our game.
“They learn from us, if you think about it.”
McCaig and Davis, in turn, learn from the National Hockey League, and both would be upset to see a lockout this fall which, at last report, is probably where the league is heading.
And because of how huge hockey is in Canada, the pair believe that a lockout, with a continuous ripple effect, would affect the development of young players.
“Relating to the NHL, I think Canada is in trouble. I think Gary Bettman ruined the NHL and the NHL is a big influence on minor hockey and I think it’s ruining a part of us, as well,” stressed McCaig, who started playing hockey after watching tapes of Bobby Orr as a child.
“Bad [stuff] happens and it kind of puts you down. It’s like, ‘Holy man, what I’ve loved my whole life is going down,’ so I feel depressed about it,” he lamented.
“If the NHL doesn’t go, it will definitely put me down,” echoed Davis, who will play for the Bantam ‘AAA’ Kings in Thunder Bay this coming season.
Davis, who tries to mirror his game after Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla, hopes to play college in the United States and then further his career in Europe.
Meanwhile, McCaig, whose favourite player is Paul Coffey, still is debating whether he will try out for the Muskies as he enters his first year of high school.
He eventually hopes to play in the Ontario Hockey League.
“Time and effort are the keys,” replied Davis when asked what it takes to make it to the NHL. “I want to hopefully make it to the NHL. I’d be willing to do anything to get there.”
McCaig, though just 13, already is keenly aware of situations and how they “influence” him. He has a lengthened thought process of how the past ultimately affects the future, and how you must live in the present to make something “happen.”
It is this pattern of thinking that contributes to why McCaig plays the sport that defines us as a nation.
“Hockey is a part of me and what I represent,” he remarked. “It’s something that you love and grown up doing. Like growing up and playing hockey and remembering going out to the outdoor rink with your friends and having a ball.
You think about those times and cherish them, like when we went to Japan, that’s a memory to cherish.”
Trying to continue such positive memories is what drives McCaig not only to do well in hockey but life itself. Sometimes, though, it is difficult to differentiate between the two.
“I love it. I love to play. I love the image of it and what it represents,” he stressed. “You have so much dreams and stuff, but when you think about the reality of [making it to the NHL], you have to have a lot of heart and the reality of it is everything.
“Some things come easy but most things come hard. It’s just the way life is in general,” McCaig reasoned. “And whatever is going to help me be successful in life, I’ll do it.”