Better to lose with amateurs than with indifferent pros

By Tom Powers, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Posted: Wed February 18, 1998 at 9:32 AM ET

Tkachuk (left) feels the U.S. team will be the laughing stock of the NHL   AP

NAGANO, Japan (KRT) -- After playing poorly in the preliminary round of the Olympic hockey tournament, Team USA had one final chance to right itself.

It turned out to be the only "last call" our boys missed all week.

Not winning the gold is one thing. But no medal at all? One game and out? Perhaps we should chip in and have medals made for them -- out of barley malt and hops.

We all have a right to be disgusted. But there's no sense getting too worked up over it. Our lads aren't.

"I know they're disappointed," forward Keith Tkachuk said of the fans. "We're disappointed, too. We'll be the laughing stock of the NHL for a couple of weeks."

Wrong answer, Keith. This isn't about the NHL. It shouldn't be, anyway. This is about a lot of other stuff that you and your teammates could never quite fathom.

On the bright side, the players had a wonderful time here. You could tell because their sweat had a foam head on it. And they were humming karaoke songs during timeouts.

General manager Lou Lamoriello, in putting the team together, apparently thought to add all the right ingredients except a curfew.

"Why should we have a curfew?" forward Bill Guerin asked angrily. "We're all grown men here. We know how to handle ourselves. We know there's a big stink being made out of our guys going and supposedly doing all this stuff.

"That's a crock."

More like a mug. Or a stein. Or a couple of pitchers.

Coach Ron Wilson was an abject failure. A disaster along the lines of Tim Taylor, the previous coach. Taylor managed a victory over the feisty Italians. Wilson edged powerhouse Belarus. Neither won a game in the medal round.

Wilson never could get his team adapted to the larger ice surface. He couldn't get them to cut back on the extracurricular activities. He didn't appear to have much control over anything.

"One thing you can't control is wins and losses, unfortunately," he said.

Huh?

His big coaching move of the tournament was to cut off almost all of his hair before the Czech game.

"I won't comment on my hairstyle," he said.

He can't, legally. I'm sure there's litigation pending against the Japanese barber responsible for that mess.

This was supposed to be year the Americans weren't pushed around anymore. The gold medal winning women's team even was on hand to cheer them on against the Czechs. Which is more than the guys did for them.

With the men of Team Canada there to support their women's team on Tuesday night, the Americans apparently were busy elsewhere. All but two, anyway.

Hasek, like Patrick Roy before him, looked stellar in goal after dealing with the anemic U.S. offense Jamie Squire/Allsport

Supposedly, they were having a team meal, which at the very least is lousy scheduling. Yet Pat LaFontaine and John Vanbiesbrouck had enough class to show up.

"I know a lot of guys weren't able to make it," LaFontaine said. "I have two daughters of my own down in the basement playing hockey. I think the women are just great."

Perhaps the most galling aspect of the 4-1 loss to the Czechs was the weak "hot goalie" excuse employed by one and all afterwards.

"Sometimes in our sport one individual can make a difference," Wilson said. "You saw that tonight. Dominik Hasek was unbelievable. You saw that the other night with Patrick Roy."

So every time the United States loses it's because of a super-hot goalie? Baloney. John LeClair stood at point blank range in front of a wide open net twice -- and missed both by three feet. Brett Hull broke in alone and shot the puck in Hasek's belly. Sure, Hasek was good. But the Americans made him look great.

It's lame excuse.

Maybe if Wilson had put a couple cans of Sapporo beer on top of the net, the boys would have crashed the goal harder.

"I'm proud of our effort," Wilson said. "I know it looks bad on paper, but our guys never gave up."

Get lost. Nobody is in the mood for that kind of loser talk.

The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Somebody should have to pay for this. What do you say, let's attack Iraq. Or how about we open up the missile silos in South Dakota and release a little frustration?

Once again the United States has been humiliated in men's hockey at the Olympics. It would be better to lose these games with amateurs who are realizing a lifelong dream, rather than with pros who have no particular loyalty and no vested interest.

Other than enjoying themselves.

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