The only miracle is that it took this long.
But with a gold medal drought stretching to 1980, the next U.S. men’s hockey team will likely be younger and sprinkled with more grinders, according to a roster of 39 players invited Thursday to compete for a trip to Italy.
Case in point: Avalanche players Steve Konowalchuk and John-Michael Liles were asked to attend an Olympic “orientation camp” in Colorado Springs from Sept. 5-8.
Liles leads a rising crop of 20-something American defensemen who are expected to shove aside much of the gray back line from the 2002 silver medal team – including perhaps Chris Chelios and Brian Leetch, who were not invited to the camp. Both still could earn a spot in Turin by playing well during the NHL season.
Konowalchuk, meanwhile, is the poster boy for NHL muckers, muscling up 40 points and 70 penalty minutes during the 2003-04 season. But while he will bump and crunch in Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City sharpshooters Jeremy Roenick and Brett Hull are not on the camp’s guest list.
“I’ll bring the same thing I bring to NHL games – push the pace, grind it out, create some scoring opportunities for other guys,” Konowalchuk said. “Maybe (past Team USA honchos) thought with the bigger ice of international games, that’s forgotten. But you need a mix, a little bit of everything.”
Also vying for about a dozen available forward slots are fellow bangers such as Philadelphia’s Mike Knuble and Washington’s Jeff Halpern. Olympic veterans Bill Guerin, Mike Modano and Keith Tkachuk also were summoned to Colorado Springs.
Team USA has until Jan. 10 to submit a final roster for Turin. Hockey will be played at the Winter Olympics from Feb. 15-26 during an NHL break.
“The tryout is the regular season,” said Doug Waddell, general manager for the U.S. men’s team. “We don’t pick this team. The players pick this team,” based on how they perform in NHL games.
That means whoever is hot and healthy come December. That means Hull, Roenick or Chelios may skate for the flag.
With six Olympic games in nine days, Waddell seems to be leaning toward younger legs – “energy players,” he calls them.
And while he wants to load his four lines with potent scorers and slick passers, Waddell said he also wants a checking line that can skate.
Team USA will need some swift bulk in order to slow the 2006 field’s deepest squad – Canada. The 2002 gold medal winners will likely be laced with snipers (Martin St. Louis, Joe Sakic), bruisers (Adam Foote, Chris Pronger), fresh talent (Alex Tanguay, Dany Heatley) and savvy vets (Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman), according to the roster for its orientation camp next month.
Among the invitees to both pre-Olympic gatherings, Canada’s forwards averaged 55 points during the most recent NHL season, while America’s forwards averaged 42 points; Canada’s defensemen averaged 31 points and 60 penalty minutes while their U.S. counterparts averaged 19 points and 30 penalty minutes.
“This isn’t about beating Canada to win a gold medal,” Waddell said. “We’ve got to beat a lot of teams to get to the gold medal game. If we prepare for one country, we could find ourselves out very quickly.”
Bill Briggs can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bbriggs@denverpost.com.
