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Team USA looking for more magic
By Jody Genessy
Deseret News sports writer
Some questions to ponder as the men's hockey tournament gears up to take the Olympic center-stage spotlight (at least when it's not being dominated by figure-skating darlings and 'NSYNC) over the next couple of weeks:
- Will Team USA 2002 be able to recreate another miracle and capture the country's heart emember, the cold country that invented hockey — end its 50-year gold-less streak and finally claim the coveted top prize at the Salt Lake Olympics? And if not Canada, exactly who is the favorite?
- Will the wide ice favor the Europeans more than the home ice will favor the United States?
- Will Czech Republic goalie Dominik Hasek put a padlock on the net again and help his homeland defend its gold medal?
- Will Wayne Gretzky please lace up and skate with Mario Lemieux just for fun? Pretty please?
- Will the questions ever stop?
At last. One with an easy answer: Yes.
However, the world won't know all the details until this intriguing hockey rendezvous wraps up Feb. 24. The puck drops Saturday with two preliminary-round games at the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo and the E Center in West Valley City.
The first part of the tourney will be played without the Super Six Dream Teams from the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. And, for the most part, NHL players will not be involved in a large part of the eight-team qualifying round. There are, however, a few exceptions — for instance, former Salt Lake Golden Eagle Ziggy Palffy will skate with Slovakia between his L.A. Kings games on Sunday and Colorado backup goalie David Aebischer will probably mind the net for Switzerland.
Eight countries — Austria, Belarus, France, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine — will vie for two qualifier spots during a three-game round robin Saturday through Wednesday. The two qualifiers advance to the final round, while the other six play for placing on Thursday.
The tantalizing main event begins on Friday, Feb. 15. That is only two days after the NHL ceases operations for a 12-day break, allowing for just one day of practice for the six countries that have first-round byes.
"I'm looking forward to it, very much so," said U.S. head coach Herb Brooks, who guided the 1980 team to the gold medal. "It's going to be great competition with great players. People running other organizations are really sharp hockey guys . . . and they've got unbelievable talent. It's going to be a high test and a real challenge."
The final round is also a round robin for seeding during which each country will play the other three teams in its pool one time. Team USA, which plays all its games at the E Center, opens with Finland (Feb. 15), then faces Russia (Feb. 16) and ends with the first qualifier (Feb. 18). Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden and the second qualifier are in the other group.
After seeding is determined by Monday, Feb. 18, the teams will have a day off followed by the single-elimination quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The semifinals will take place on Friday, Feb. 22, with the losers meeting in the bronze-medal game on Saturday, Feb. 23, and the winners earning a cherished spot in the question-answering, gold-medal grand finale on Sunday, Feb. 24.
And the favorite? Who knows?
"There are a lot of Dream Teams. It's going to be tough," Brooks said. "A lot of great athletes, a lot of great teams."
"I don't think you can put your finger on one team going into the Olympics this time around," said U.S. forward Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks. "You got the Czechs, the Russians, Canada, the U.S. You just never know which team is going to come together the fastest and be playing the best at that time."
E-mail: jody@desnews.com
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February 8, 2002
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