Team USA could not overcome a lack of scoring in the Olympic tournament, especially on the power play, dropping four-consecutive one-goal contests.

Americans ponder
the future
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 22, 2006

TORINO, Italy - The changing of the guard for USA Hockey, a process started for the 2006 Olympics, will now gain further strength as the Americans set their sights on Vancouver in 2010.

In Torino, the American players were unfailingly optimistic, always confident in their ability to see the glass half full while the critics were measuring how many drops remained in that same glass.

Thirteen Team USA players -- defensemen Jordan Leopold, Bret Hedican, John-Michael Liles, forwards Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Mike Knuble, Craig Conroy, Erik Cole, Mark Parrish and Jason Blake, plus goalies Robert Esche, Rick DiPietro and John Grahame -- were making their Olympic debuts.

And a host of longtime veterans who have heeded USA Hockey's call for well over a decade are probably moving on to make way for more young players who figure to contend for Olympic roster spots in 2010. That veterans' list is a distinguished one, led by defensemen Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher and Mathieu Schneider and forwards Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano, Bill Guerin and Doug Weight.

"There are a lot of guys around for the last decade that helped USA Hockey," said Guerin, who has played in three Olympics. "Hopefully there will be big moments for some new guys. We're not the only guys to feel pride putting the jersey on. Those (new) guys have pride too."

"Time will tell," Weight said when asked if the core of players who helped win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the silver medal at the 2002 Winter Games would be moving off the international scene. "We have a lot of great young players coming up. The game has grown considerably (in the U.S.). We have a lot of prospects and draft picks who are going to be great players. That's nothing to shy away from as older players."

Following the silver medal in Salt Lake City, the Americans embarked on a younger route, adding some more fresh faces to the mix for the World Cup team in 2004. Many expected players like Chelios, Guerin and Weight to drop off the international scene at that point. But when the call came for the Olympic team, the veterans proved to have the mettle for another tournament, to the surprise of some.

"Management gave everyone a chance," Weight said of the makeup of the 2006 U.S. roster, "and the best players made it."

But coach Peter Laviolette admitted to being concerned by the age factor following the loss to Finland.

"It was a concern of mine, with the NHL season, flying over here," he said. "But in saying that, I thought that Chelios, our oldest player, played great tonight."

In Torino, the Americans got off to a slow start with a 3-3 tie against Latvia in the opening game. They followed that up with a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan, but then finished out the preliminary with three straight one-goal losses; 2-1 to Slovakia, 2-1 to Sweden and 5-4 to Russia. Through it all, the American players insisted they saw progress, the team building cohesion and confidence. But scoring was a problem, especially on the power play, and the lack of practice time conspired to slow the cohesion below what would have been considered optimal.

"We are very disappointed," Laviolette said. "Everybody is disappointed both with this game and the whole tournament. We never played as well as we could during these days. There was only a one-goal difference in every game we lost. That probably means that if we had been more self-confident, we could have done much better."

"We came out of games feeling good," Weight said after the fourth straight one-goal loss eliminated the U.S. "We out-chanced every team. But we didn't come out and play like we did in the last four games. I feel like we played better than we got."

"For my first Olympics, this is a little disappointing," Conroy said. "It wasn't as fulfilling an experience as you would like. We're better than what we showed."