Doug Weight knew before Wednesday's game against Latvia that Team USA needed a full game to get things in order.

Team USA a work in progress
By Rich Libero | NHL.com | Feb. 15, 2006

TORINO, Italy -- Doug Weight said it on Tuesday, when he thought Team USA would need at least three periods to get their travel-weary legs in order and coach Peter Laviolette's system down.

Judging by the team's performance in their 3-3 tie with Latvia Wednesday night at the Palasport Arena, Team USA has much work to do.

Originally, Weight predicted that Team USA would be in good working order by the weekend. They face Kazakhstan Thursday, a team that took a 7-2 beating from Sweden in their opener Wednesday. But after the tie with Latvia, the Americans cannot afford to look upon Kazakhstan as easy pickings.

What do they know about Kazakhstan? "Even less than we knew about Latvia," USA center Mike Modano said.

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"That country (Latvia) certainly doesn't roll off your tongue as a hockey nation," Modano said. "But they played a great game."

Only the most serious of Euro-hockeyphiles would know about little Latvia, the former Soviet republic that is among the most hockey-mad nations on the Continent.

"Look at the crowds," Latvian netminder and former NHLer Arturs Irbe said. "Look at the sea of burgundy and white. It is very special for us."

What Latvia lacks in size, it more than makes up for in passion. Its fans are easily the most loyal in Europe. They travel extensively, dress colorfully and cheer with a lust and joy that compares with the day they were freed of the Soviet yoke. Each game is like a new lease on life for them.

And so, it came as no surprise to see that much of the 7,800 fans packing the Palasport were clad in Latvia's maroon and white sweaters. These fans sported colorful wigs, hats and flags. They beat on drums and danced in the aisles and that was after the U.S. had taken a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals less than a minute apart.

"We're lucky because we have lots of people supporting us," Colorado's Karlis Skrastins said. "They follow us in every tournament. They are our seventh player."

Three minutes after the American's second goal, at 13:15, little Latvia pulled one back to make a game of it at the break. They took a 3-2 in the second and the U.S. rallied to tie in the third. In the end, they poured 42 shots at Irbe.

The U.S. came out gang-busters in the first, seemed to fade in the second and with the prospect of being upset looking over their helmets, managed to summon the fumes from the tank to rally in the third.

"It's a good wake-up call for us," Modano said. "It's a good tournament with good players and nothing's easy anymore."

Mike Modano sees the 3-3 tie as a lesson learned.

The post-game emotions among the American players ranged from dazed to positive to hopeful and patient.

"We missed a couple of cues, but that's what's going to happen and we have to rebound from stuff like that," forward Bill Guerin said.

The U.S. was guilty of losing shape from time to time. They missed having the third man to support the puck on occasion. There were times when they buzzed effectively around the Latvian net and couldn't finish and there were others when you wondered how they missed the X's and O's.

"We didn't give too much away," Modano said. "We had some opportunities to extend our lead but Archie (Irbe) played big. We were maybe rushing our chances. We were probably a little nervous, but overall it was a good game for us to warm into this tournament." "Our game is to play down low and play in their end and use the forwards we have," Guerin said. "They played a great game, but we're going to have to get better every step of the way."

Brian Gionta, who scored the opening goal, missed a great chance just 1:20 into the third period. The puck bounced his way leaving the left side of the net wide open. He managed to shoot, but defenseman Arvids Rekis was able to block the shot with the blade of his stick.

Still, Gionta came out of the game with a positive mindset. "To comeback and tie it in the third period, that was positive."

Craig Conroy, who scored a goal in his Olympic debut was equally positive. "It is a tie and we played for a win, but we do not have to worry about the rest of the tournament. We must regroup for tomorrow's game. We know we are a great team. If you worry you will be in big trouble."

It would be a stretch to say the Americans did anything to restore faith among the pundits who slated them for an early exit. A thorough thrashing of Kazakhstan would go a long way toward restoring confidence heading into Saturdays match against Slovakia, which beat Russia in a thriller 5-3.

But we'll see if Weight's prediction of the USA being in order by the weekend is correct. If it's not, this will be a short tournament.