U.S. ties Latvia in Olympic opener
TURIN, Italy (AP) — With a full roster of NHL players, it took a late goal by Jordan Leopold to salvage a 3-3 tie against Latvia in an opening game for the U.S. hockey team that felt more like a loss…. Latvia, with only two current NHL players, rallied from an early two-goal deficit and proved U.S. coach Peter Laviolette had every reason to be worried about this opening matchup in Olympic Group B.
No, it wasn’t exactly the “Miracle on Ice”, was it? Of course, Latvia isn’t exactly the international hockey equivalent of Little Sisters of the Poor, but there’s absolutely no reason that they should have been able to play the US to a draw. Yes, this Olympics represents a bit of a down year talent-wise for the US, and no one is forecasting the Americans as a medal contender, but Latvia? Get a roll of stamps and mail it in….
Were the so inclined, the Americans could use the excuse that they had all just flown in fromt the US, some having played in NHL games on Sunday. They had all of one practice together before facing off against the Latvians, while the Latvians have been playing together for awhile, but still…an American hockey team could beat $)&^@#% Latvia??
Given the format for the Olympic hockey tournament, it was probably a matter of time before something like this happened. It’s hardly a format that lends itself to organized, high-level international hockey. The National Hockey League really needs to take a long, hard look at how it plans to deal with the Olympics in the future. Taking a break in it’s schedule and releasing players to the various national team disrespects both the Olympics and the players involved by creating a situation where sloppy hockey is inevitable. You just don’t play on Sunday, fly halfway around the world, have one practice, and then expect to play high-level team hockey. What you end up with are glorified scrimmages.
Even so, the Americans have no excuse for such a poor performance. I’m glad the game was on during the middle of my work day, because I probably would have been throwing things at the television halfway through the third period. Man, if you can’t handle Latvia, what’s going to happen when you play Sweden, Canada, Russia, or Finland? If the Americans can’t find a way to put this train wreck behind them and get their act together, this could get ugly.
Nope, no “Miracle on Ice” here….
