SALT LAKE CITY -- Midway through the second period, the Jumbotron at the E Center showed a glum Wayne Gretzky, the frown on his face telling all you needed to know about Canada's opening game of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Canada was being plastered by Sweden, a 5-2 loss that was eerily reminiscent of the opening game of the 1972 Summit Series.

Thirty years ago, Canada was unexpectedly routed by the Soviet Union in the first game of that seminal international series, and this one-sided defeat felt the same way.

There was shock, there was disbelief, there were moments of panic and eventually there was damage control from the players, who -- one after the other -- reminded everyone within hearing distance that Canada could afford to lose its first three games and still win a gold medal.

Of course, it is one thing to lose, it is another altogether to lose as badly as Canada did. This was one defeat that could not easily be blamed on a figure skating judge.

The players, for the most part, were the architects of their own destruction, beginning with goaltender Curtis Joseph. He was ordinary in surrendering five goals on 19 shots through 40 minutes while Sweden built up an insurmountable four-goal lead.

Nor was Joseph alone in his struggles. Offensively, the only unit that mounted a consistent attack was the nominal fourth line of Joe Nieuwendyk between Michael Peca and Theo Fleury. Peca set up Rob Blake for Canada's opening goal, with a soft pass into the middle. Nieuwendyk rattled a shot off the post, as did Scott Niedermayer. Fleury drew penalties, created openings with his speed and generally walked that fine line between aggressive play and over-the-top silliness.

As for the others, they did little. The all-world line of Mario Lemieux, Paul Kariya and Joe Sakic produced nothing. Steve Yzerman, recovering from a knee injury, looked slow. Eric Lindros didn't get going until the third period when coach Pat Quinn shifted his units around, reuniting Fleury with Lindros, his fellow New York Ranger.

Canada poured 17 third-period shots at the Swedish goal, but they were consistently foiled by netminder Tommy Salo. After defenceman Eric Brewer made the score 5-2, Lindros scored seconds later, but referee Dennis LaRue waved it off because Peca was in the crease. Perhaps if that goal had counted, it could have made for an interesting ending.

Ultimately, Canada's biggest failing was the inability to adjust to hockey on the larger, international-sized ice surface. Ken Hitchcock, one of Canada's assistant coaches, predicted the short preparation time would make it difficult for NHL players to quickly adapt to the vagaries of the international game and the tournament, therefore, would feature NHL-style hockey on a wider sheet of ice.

It didn't happen.

Twice in the game, Sweden used the long breakaway pass through the middle to spring a forward. The first time it happened, Al MacInnis went too far to the right boards, enabling a backpedalling Daniel Alfredsson to wait until Sundin found a seam, and then sent him into the clear with the breakaway pass.

"It was a good learning experience today to see the type of hockey it's going to be -- the fast pace, the stretching of the zones," Nieuwendyk said. "Those are the types of things we're not really accustomed to and we have to learn them in a hurry."

Do they ever. Canada's defenders eventually played a tighter gap, but then also had trouble containing Sweden's team speed.

In general, if the Swedes could not get a direct line to the net, they tended to curl back and wait for someone to join the rush. Too often, the Canadians were a step behind in picking up the late man.

"Twenty-three players in our room will have to do this together," said Fleury, bravely, "and I think there's too many great players in our room for us not to bounce back and play better than we did.

"The most important game is next Wednesday. That's what we need to get ready for."

Under the Olympic format, the first three games are essentially exhibitions to determine the seedings in the medal round, at which point the tournament shifts into single-elimination play.

"We have to take this as a lesson," Quinn said.

"We got hammered. If we don't learn that lesson, we'll be going home Wednesday."

In the past two days, Quinn talked extensively about how the first games were about trial and error, and they would provide Canada with a chance to develop team play.

After last night's debacle, it would be hard to dispute the second part of his equation. There were errors aplenty. One can only hope there aren't more trials to come.
eduhatschek@globeandmail.ca