|
|
|
Team USA coach Peter Laviolette is starting starting John Grahame "because he has had the best season in the NHL."
|
Grahame's hot play
makes for easy decision
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 14, 2006
TORINO, Italy -- Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender John Grahame will get the starting nod for Team USA Wednesday in its Olympic debut against Latvia.
"John Grahame will start and Rick DiPietro will be the backup," Team USA coach Peter Laviolette said Tuesday. "I don't like to give out our goalies, this will be the last one you get."
Laviolette's decision means Philadelphia Flyers goalie Robert Esche will not dress for the opening game.
Laviolette said his reasoning for starting Grahame, "is because he has had the best season in the NHL. All our goalies have had success and all have winning records, but John has 22 wins, a save percentage over nine and a goals-against average in the mid-twos. Over the last four of five weeks he has been especially impressive. He has had some of the best numbers in the NHL. That weighed in on the decision."
For the record, Grahame is 22-15-1 in 40 appearances with the Lightning. His GAA is 2.68, his save percentage .921 and he has five shutouts. He had six wins in his last eight appearances for the Lightning and three of those wins were shutouts.
Brodeur earns start --To the surprise of no one, Martin Brodeur will start in goal for Team Canada against Italy.
"We're going to start Marty," coach Pat Quinn said. "The reason is he is one of the greatest goaltenders in Canadian history. He has earned that starting position. Lately he has been right at the top of his game. He's the winner and the right guy to start."
Plenty of work to go round -- Quinn said that both Roberto Luongo and Marty Turco should see action in the tournament.
Phil Coffey is NHL.com's editorial director. He has covered the NHL since 1981.
Related Links
|
"We have eight games in 12 days," Quinn said. "So two for certain will play, maybe all three."
Dozen newcomers for U.S. -- A dozen players on Team USA's roster will represent the new guard for USA Hockey. Jason Blake, Erik Cole, Craig Conroy, Rick DiPietro, Robert Esche, Brian Gionta, John Grahame, Mike Knuble, Jordan Leopold, John Michael Liles, Scott Gomez and Mark Parrish are first-time Olympians.
Six into two is three -- The opening day of play will see the action split between the two rinks in Torino. The main rink, Palasport, will open with Italy vs. Canada at 1 p.m. local time. Then comes Germany vs. the Czech Republic at 5 p.m. and the United States against Latvia at 9 p.m. local.
At Esposizioni, Kazakhstan plays Sweden at 11:30 a.m. local time, followed by Switzerland vs. Finland at 3:30 and Russia vs. Slovakia at 8 p.m. local time.
Compare, contrast -- Wayne Gretzky, Team Canada's executive director, was asked to compare the current Canadian roster to the squad that won gold at Salt Lake City in 2002.
|
|
Martin Brodeur finds himself in familiar surroundings, Team Canada's net.
|
"If you really looked closely at the '02 roster, we took a lot of key players and moved them to wing. Mario (Lemieux) played some wing. On this team, the wing position is stronger. The depth of this group at forward is better than in '02.
But ...
"For this team to get on the same level as the '02 team, they have to win a gold medal," Gretzky said.
All present and accounted for -- The huge snowstorm that paralyzed much of the Northeastern portion of the United States delayed the arrival of some American players to Torino, but all are here now. But the travel delays did cut a day off the preparation schedule.
"Everyone has dealt with the same situation," Laviolette said. "Except maybe Latvia. They are ready to go with their system and time adjusted. We'll do the best we can. We're ready to go."
| 
