WEST VALLEY CITY ? The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation did not take kindly Saturday to suggestions from Russian coach Slava Fetisov that the fix was in for Canada and the United States to play today for Olympic gold.
Fetisov implied as much Friday night, when he said this after the Russian men's 3-2 semifinal loss to the United States: "It is designed to have finals between Canada and the USA. . . . We have this final now."
Fetisov was upset about many things, including what he thought was a third-period goal by Russian Sergei Samsonov that should have counted but did not.
The response, in part, from IIHF president Rene Fasel: "You can criticize certain calls and try to prove that the referee made a mistake in a certain situation. But when a coach of a team tries to undermine and question the integrity of Olympic ice hockey tournament, it makes me very angry and disappointed.
"The referee's decisions were not the reason why Russia lost. . . . I have known Slava Fetisov for many years, and I consider him a good friend and hope that he made the comments in the heat of the moment and that he didn't really mean what he said."
Later Saturday, after Fasel's quote was read aloud to him, Fetisov indicated he meant every last bit of what he said ? and that he still feels North American referees from the NHL should not be working high-profile Olympic games, even though a contract between the NHL and the IIHF calls for that.
"It's not fair. . . . In competition like that, it is supposed to be neutral," Fetisov said. "Listen, you have got problems. You have two referees . . . those guys do not know international rules. . . . But they made that (contractual) agreement before, and we're kind of hostages of this situation."
American coach Herb Brooks laughed off the matter, joking, "I can't believe my old friend Slava would say that. . . . (But) I know they might have been feeling a lot of pressure. I heard their president called Slava ? and all I know is Bush hasn't called me."
Fetisov's Russians did win bronze Saturday, beating Belarus 7-2 ? with no complaints about the officiating in that game, which was handled by the IIHF's Ulf Radbjer.
Contributing: Jody Genessy
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com