Jealous, Tom Powers?

So, in hockey news, Latvia tied US 3:3 on Wednesday but was defeated Thursday 6:3 against Slovakia. They're facing Sweden and then Russia next week, which pretty much means that there are going to be 2 more losses.

Clearly US has a crappy hockey team if they tied Latvia. Although who knows, maybe they were "jetlagged." And victory against Kazakhstan doesn't indicate skill or ability to play hockey well. Also, I know English is not my first language but who says "that'll learn you"?!

Tie with Latvia lacks luster
TOM POWERS
TURIN, Italy

Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from. I'm pretty sure Team USA can tie Kazakhstan today, too.

Take that, Latvia! Thought you were going to beat the U.S. men's hockey team, eh? Well, that'll learn you. Our guys never quit. That's not the American way. All you're going to get is a tie. A clutch third-period goal by Minnesota's own Jordan Leopold saw to that. So go ahead and choke on your 3-3 tie.

There hasn't been such a glorious moment in U.S. hockey history since the Americans rallied to tie powerhouse France in Lillehammer in 1994. And when Wednesday's game ended, a Latvian journalist asked Mike Modano if he was satisfied with the result.

"Not really," Modano said. "I'm kind of disappointed."

Isn't that just like our guys? They're always pushing themselves to do better.
Can we get serious for a moment? Team USA looked old and slow Wednesday night. The Americans were lucky to tie Latvia. Worse, they made awful decisions on the ice. The question is whether they were mentally and physically a step behind because of jet lag.

Or just because.

"We've obviously got to do better," said Brian Rolston of the Wild. "We'll go back to the drawing board and see what we come up with."

Can they draw up some smarter, quicker defensemen? How about a goaltender with sense enough to smack his stick on the ice good and hard to let his teammates know an enemy skater is about to leave the penalty box?

John Grahame's failure to properly warn his teammates of a man leaving the box cost them a goal. There is no reason for that.

Well, people probably are dancing in the streets of Riga today. They were dancing in the aisles of Palasport Olympico, too. It was a very pro-Latvian crowd. They especially cheered for goaltender Arturs Irbe, whose true age is a closely guarded state secret.

Irbe was a North Star when the Gund brothers still owned the team. He was a North Star when Lou Nanne was still general manager. But he was spry enough to baffle the Americans.

I will say this, though: They must play some sissy hockey in Latvia. If you were watching on TV, and not losing your lunch, you saw that every time there was any sort of physical contact, the crowd hooted and whistled. Apparently, hockey players don't touch one another in Latvia.

Not that the Americans touched them very often Wednesday. They had a hard time catching them. Rolston, like most of his teammates, refused to blame the travel. The entire Latvian team, except for two players, has been together since Feb. 6.

"Give them credit," he said.

"We're definitely going to have to get better," winger Bill Guerin said.

You think so?

Said winger Mike Knuble: "We're going to learn a quick lesson here."

It better be in a matter of minutes. These games will be coming at them rapid fire. Coach Peter Laviolette says his guys basically need sleep.

"That's a competitive group of guys in there," Laviolette said. "I'm not making excuses."

A lot of people don't remember this, but it was a goal by Laviolette that helped Team USA rally for that glorious tie against France in 1994. I'm not sure what that means, other than he probably doesn't want to be connected to another disaster. And that 1994 team was the all-time worst.

"I definitely agree we need to play better," he said.

Good, we're all agreed.

It is probably too early to toss them under the bus. With luck, we haven't seen the real Team USA yet. The guys will get some sleep and come back with good jump. Let's not panic.

Am I talking you off the ledge? I'm trying. I really think things could get better. Play close attention to today's game against Kazakhstan. Team USA should win by a lot.

But, you know, a tie isn't bad.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.