WOODRIDGE, Ill. -- Under normal circumstances, having too many good players is a problem any general manager would probably kill to have. But for the brain trust of the American entry at the Olympic hockey tournament next February in Vancouver, a talent pool that is arguably the best ever produced by this country is actually creating a real dilemma.
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| Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson will guide Team USA from the bench. (Getty Images) |
The group invited 34 players to the three-day session that was more about the athletes bonding than working on their games or any specific system. But clearly the idea was for everyone to get on the same page about what it will take to capture a medal at the Games.
It's just not as simple as it sounds.
"As an NHL manager for many years, you do things your way philosophically or whatever, so now you get in a room with five other managers and they're talking about some player, they see the player as totally different than you do," Poile said. "It's a real eye opener and a learning process for all of us."
One thing everyone does seem to agree on though is that the Americans can't simply turn to those who most consider their best players to compete with the powerhouses in Vancouver. Size, specialization and snarly-ness are all factors that will be given added weight during the selection process, Burke said, because the ability to handle specific grunt-type tasks will be critical for what will be the youngest and least experienced team of NHL-based players in the tournament
"Some of the roles like winning a faceoff, blocking a shot or killing a penalty aren't glamorous, but those are the things we need to be successful," Burke said.
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Ultimately though, the roster that will be given to head coach Ron Wilson and assistants John Tortorella and Scott Gordon will be determined by which players are playing their best during the first three months of the season. So no one should be surprised if some of the higher-profile American names don't make the cut when the final roster is announced in late December. Or if some of the players who weren't at the camp somehow do.
The American management team has come to terms with the fact it will enter the tournament as a decided underdog, but believes its group of NHLers can at least surprise people and maybe pull off an upset if it gets the right mix of people on the ice and in the dressing room. In other words, if someone who should be a top-six forward starts slowly and can't be penciled in on the first two units, chances are he won't be there.
"We aren't going to take him as a third-line guy, we are going to have size and specialty players on the third line," Burke said. "In a tournament like this, you need some big bodies who can grind people down, not get scored on and run the clock down and we want to make sure everyone understands there are roles for those players."
But probably not that many, which is why Burke implied versatile types like Ryan Kesler, Dustin Brown, Chris Drury and David Backes have a leg up by being able to do the job on either the top two or bottom two lines. Same thing goes for Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien, who can play either forward or defense. Burke said he believes that 14 spots, (including those of goalies Tim Thomas and Ryan Miller) are probably locked up, but added that everything else on a roster that will likely include 12 forwards and eight defensemen is still very wide open.
USA Hockey currently has a long list of about 70 players who will be registered with the IOC as potential participants, but can add more names to the middle of October. Once the season gets under way the management team will meet to begin evaluating players according to specific rating system they have devised. Then the GMs individually will begin keeping track of players throughout the season. They will meet again a final time during the first week of December to pare down the list, which is expected to be announced in conjunction with the Winter Classic game in Boston.
"Hopefully we'll be down to three or four spots by that time and then we'll start to chase those kids because I don't think there's a lot of margin for error in this tournament," Burke said. "We've got to get this right."
