BEIJING — Early last fall, Hockey Canada’s chief executive, Tom Renney, placed a secret call to a retired scout named Blair MacKasey.
The coronavirus pandemic’s threat had seemingly ebbed, but Renney worried that the N.H.L. would abandon its plan to send players to the Beijing Olympics. That decision, if it came, promised to upend Canada’s ambitions for a star-studded, medal-contending roster.
Would MacKasey, Renney asked, suspend his retirement and help develop a contingency plan? MacKasey presumed the project would prove unnecessary, but he nevertheless agreed, and promptly started scrutinizing dozens of players whose only plans for the 2022 Olympics were to watch them on television.