U.S. Olympic team's John LeClair jumps in front of Belarus goaltender Andrei Mezin as he attempts a deflection from the point during third period action at the Big Hat arena in Nagano Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998. AP Photo/Hans Deryk

Men's hockey team wins despite continued problems

Web posted February 15, 1998

By Dennis Sodomka
Staff Writer

NAGANO, Japan -- The U.S. men's hockey team is still adjusting to the bigger playing surface in the Olympics, but they think they're moving in the right direction.

``The effort is there,'' said coach Ron Wilson after his team had beaten Belarus 5-2 Saturday. ``They're working harder. But we've got a long way to go.''

The team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League has been outskated by Sweden and Belarus in its first two games. The NHL players have tried to use the dump and grind style of play that works in the smaller NHL rinks while the Europeans feature precision passing and quick skating.

``We didn't anticipate the problems we've faced so far,'' said Wilson. ``We lost some confidence in ourselves. The forwards need to do the right things to identify the kind of rush coming at them and the defense needs to stick with their men. We need to develop more trust out there.

``We didn't play very well tonight and we were fortunate to win. Had we fallen behind tonight we might have had more difficulty. We've gone out and done a lot of talking, but there wasn't a lot of action.''

Wilson sounded more like a coach whose team had lost, but he had reason for concern. Four of the U.S. goals came on power plays, including two with a two-man advantage. When the teams were at equal strength Belarus put the pressure on American goalie Mike Richter, who responded with a strong game.

Canada has beaten both Sweden and Belarus. As the U.S. prepares to face Canada in the final game of the preliminary round Monday the team is worried about getting good enough fast enough.

``We've got a lot of work to do,'' said captain Chris Chelios of the Chicago Blackhawks. ``The biggest difference is they use the corners and back of the net so well. We've just got to play our game and not worry about that.

``We can beat them at our own game and keep the puck on the boards.''

That strategy hasn't worked too well with the European teams, but it might against the Canadians who also are loaded with NHL stars.

``We'll see more dump and chase from them and more forechecking,'' said Chelios. ``They will be a lot more physical.''

After the preliminary games the teams will be seeded for the medal round, which is a single-elimination tournament. The U.S. and Canada have gotten a lot of publicity because the Americans beat the Canadians for the World Cup last year and because they have so many NHL stars.

``It's not that big a rivalry,'' said Chelios. ``That rivalry's been built up in Canada. But they better keep an eye on the European teams like Sweden and Russia.

The quarterfinals are Wednesday, the semi-finals Friday and the gold medal game Sunday, the closing day of the Olympics.