U.S. hockey is young, but not totally green
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — If this was Italy or Russia, the youth and Olympic inexperience of the U.S. men's hockey team might be a much bigger concern.
But an aging group of American veterans flamed out four years ago at the Turin Games, and it's still a question whether NHL players will be making the trek to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Olympics. So the time is now for these kids from America to show just what they've got against the world's best.
Forget the intimidation factor of foreign languages or unfamiliar food, challenges that are often present when it comes to the Olympics. This bunch of young American NHLers has been to Vancouver, played in this rink, and knows what it's facing versus the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
It all starts today in a matinee against Switzerland, a team that stunned Canada four years ago in Turin.
With a roster that has an average age of about 26 and only three players with previous Olympic experience, as U.S. general manager Brian Burke likes to say, "Not a dime is going to be bet on us."
"We have some youth and inexperience, but at the same time we have a lot of speed and a lot of scoring threats," Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler said Monday. "It's going to be good."
Team captain Jamie Langenbrunner of the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski, and Chris Drury of the New York Rangers are the only players who have worn a red, white and blue sweater at the Olympics. Drury and Rafalski were a part of the silver-medal winning squad at Salt Lake City in 2002 and the team that finished eighth at Turin in 2006.
These games will be played on the Canucks' home rink, and for the first time the dimensions are NHL-sized instead of the usual wider Olympic surface. Thirteen of the 23 U.S. players are on Western Conference teams and make a minimum of two visits to Vancouver per season. All of which gives these youngsters a little less to worry about.
"The inexperience factor for me isn't a factor because the inexperienced players you are talking about are big-time players in this league," Langenbrunner said. "Patrick Kane might be 21 years old, but he is the leading scorer for the Chicago Blackhawks — one of the best teams in the league."
Kane is the youngest, and Rafalski is the oldest at 38.
"I don't think anybody is nervous," said Rangers coach John Tortorella, a U.S. assistant coach. "They're anticipating. They just want to play. A lot of these guys are in the middle of the grind of a National Hockey League season.
"They just want to get this under way and have some fun with it."
Kane said he felt well one day after he injured his right knee in a collision with Columbus defenseman Anton Stralman. He was briefly knocked out of the game, and was careful Monday after arriving in Vancouver, but practiced with his teammates.
"Once I got up and moved around a little bit it was OK. After that, I was fine," he said. "I'll probably just take care of it the next couple of days and make sure it's getting better every day."
