Don Waddell will be looking for wins, not friends when he picks the 2006 U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Waddell, the only general manager in Atlanta Thrashers history, added a new title Tuesday when he also assumed the GM duties for the team that will compete in the Turin Games in February.

He along with Paul Holmgren, Philadelphia's assistant GM, and Jim Johannson, a two-time Olympic player, will pick the coaching staff and team that will look to improve on the silver medal from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

The United States failed to medal in 1998, the first time NHL players were used, but amateur American teams captured gold in 1960 at Squaw Valley, Calif., and 20 years later in Lake Placid, N.Y.

"There is nothing personal about the decisions," Waddell said. "The best players are going to represent USA Hockey to try to compete for the gold medal. This isn't a contest to make sure we take care of somebody who has been involved for years and get new players involved in it.

"Some people are going to be disappointed that they don't make the team. We are going into this open-minded. We have no agenda here."

An ankle injury kept Waddell off the 1980 "Miracle On Ice" team, but a successful career as an executive with the NHL and USA Hockey landed him a second chance at the Olympics.

"This is the pinnacle of international competition," he said. "I missed that opportunity as a player and I never thought 25 years ago that I'd be sitting here and have that opportunity as a manager."

Waddell was chosen just four days after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the league will send its players to the 2006 Olympics, and 2010 Vancouver Games.

The use of NHL players for the third straight Olympics was not secured until the league reached agreement with the union last week on a new collective bargaining agreement.

While running the Thrashers and dealing with the nuances of the new NHL labor deal, Waddell also will be in charge of constructing the Olympic team. He will be looking to hire a coach with international experience within 10 days.

Waddell has served as a USA Hockey executive in various capacities for the past seven years, including as the GM at this year's World Hockey Championships and the assistant to St. Louis' Larry Pleau for the 2004 World Cup.

The United States was beaten in the quarterfinals at the world championships by the Czech Republic eight months after losing a semifinal game of the World Cup in St. Paul, Minn., to Finland.

The Olympic tournament will take place from Feb. 15-26 and consist of 12 teams. Preliminary rosters of 60-70 potential players must be submitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation by October 1, four days before the NHL season begins.

The final team must be chosen by Jan. 10. The NHL will eliminate All-Star weekend in Olympic years.

USA Hockey will announce Thursday a list of about 35 players who will be invited to a September orientation camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. The camp will not be for tryouts, and attendance will not be required to make the team.

Performance in the first half of the NHL season will be a key factor, though, especially for those players who sat out all year because of the lockout. Because the Olympic schedule features six games in nine days, Waddell is looking to fill the roster with a mix of veterans and younger players - a shift from previous teams that were laden with older stars.

"We are going to leave a lot of good players off this team, but that's a good thing because that means that the base of U.S.-born players is better," Waddell said.