Sunday, February 21, 2010
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- One more win, and it might be time for the underdog American men's hockey team to lose that status.
Victories over Switzerland and Norway were nice and necessary. Topping Canada on enemy ice on Sunday would be a whole other story. If the U.S. pulls it off, it will advance directly into the quarterfinal round and be three wins away from an unexpected gold medal.
That hasn't happened in 30 years. The Americans aren't drawing big bets to their side just yet, but they are hardly the largest long shot on the board.
"USA Hockey has just come so far that it doesn't take a miracle or an odd thing for us to win," forward Chris Drury said Saturday after practice. "You've seen many examples over the years of how we've gotten better."
The United States is eight years removed from its last Olympic matchup with Canada, a loss in the gold medal game at Salt Lake City.
Only two members from that team are wearing the red, white and blue in this tournament.
"We're very confident. We were confident before every game," forward Zach Parise said. "We don't go into games saying, 'We're the underdogs.' That's not our mentality. That's up to you guys."
Parise and New Jersey Devils teammate Jamie Langenbrunner might have some inside info they can share on Devils teammate Martin Brodeur, who will be in Canada's net Sunday.
Parise and Langenbrunner, along with Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski, who spent many years in New Jersey, weren't letting out any secrets about Brodeur. In fact, they even downplayed the notion they exist.
"He's just like any goalie," Rafalski said. "You've got to get pucks to the net. You've got to guys in front. You've got to find a way to break down their defense before you can worry about Marty. It's a split-second thing. You don't really have something in mind before the game starts. Maybe that's why I'm not a 50-goal scorer."
Devil against Devil isn't the only intriguing matchup in this showdown. Bobby Ryan, who scored against Ducks teammate Jonas Hiller of Switzerland, is looking to gain bragging rights on Canada's Anaheim trio of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
National pride is the biggest reason for wanting to win. Gaining the upper hand back in NHL dressing rooms is nice, too,
"We're all competitors," said Langenbrunner, who doubles as captain for the Devils and the Americans. "We could be out golfing with each other, and we're competing against each other. We're at practice, and we're competing against each other. You want to get the best of each other.
"It's not that you lose any respect for them or your friendship goes away or anything like that, but we like to compete, we like to win. I think you're going to see that with all of us."
Ryan Miller only has to compete against his opponents. He has been buoyed throughout the tournament by coach Ron Wilson's proclamation that the United States will be riding his goaltending all the way.
He has played well and hasn't had to worry about looking over his shoulder for someone to take his place.
"I have to be sharp, I have to be good, I have to live up to what he says," Miller said. "Of course he can say that, and as long as we win it looks good. If I remain sharp, he is going to tap me on the shoulder and continue to play me. That's what I want to do here. I want to play the games."
The young Americans give up a lot of size and strength to the hulking Canadians, who have nine players on offense and defense at least 6-foot-3. The Americans have only four guys that big.
To counteract that, the Americans' speed must be on full display. Puck control also will be critical, because getting it off of Canadian sticks might not be the easiest thing to accomplish.
"They have a mix of players, maybe guy for guy a little bigger than we do," Langenbrunner said. "We've got some good-sized players, as well, that are going to have to play physical. Our smaller guys are going to have to play physical, too. We know it's going to be a physical game."
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