Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240157
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE NADEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MERIBEL, FRANCE LENGTH: Medium
U.S. GAINED MORE THAN IT LOST
The United States hockey team missed a medal. It won some other, equally important things.Respect. Exposure. And even though coach Dave Peterson won't admit it, vindication.
"As I've said for the last week, I'm not in the vindication business, I'm in the coaching business," Peterson said for the final time after a semifinal defeat to the eventual-champion Unified Team.
"I'm proud of my team," he said. "I was proud of my team in '88."
But America could be prouder this time. A 5-0-1 start made possible a fourth-place finish - three notches better than the showing of Peterson's 1988 team.
"We can walk out of here with a good feeling. In 1988, we walked out with a bad feeling," team captain Clark Donatelli said. "We were one game away from playing for the gold medal. If we excited a few younger kids, got them to play hockey for Team USA someday, it was all worth it."
It was well worth it for the Unified Team, its first following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It beat Canada 3-1 in the final game and has won eight gold medals (including three straight), one silver and one bronze in its 10 Olympics.
"We played for the people of Russia," captain Viacheslav Bykov said. "We're always thinking of them. We're very proud."
Canada won its first medal since 1968.
"The first emotion was disappointment. We had a real chance to win a gold medal," Curt Giles said. "But I think Canadians should be proud. A silver medal, it's not bad."
To the Americans, neither was fourth place.
"There was no doubt we wanted a good showing here. Absolutely," said personnel director Art Berglund, the U.S. general manager in 1988. "I'm sure Dave feels like there's a weight off his shoulders."
Even if Peterson won't admit it.
"Very honestly, I felt good about myself four years ago and I felt good about myself when I was 25 and when I was 20 and when I was 15," he said. "I don't do a lot of introspective on who I am and what I am and this and that. Life goes by too quick for that."
While most observers were shocked that Peterson was rehired for 1992, it would be far less surprising if he returns in 1994.
"I think he's a superb coach," U.S. Olympic Committee executive director Harvey Schiller said. "When you measure his performance on a day-to-day basis . . . he has done a superb job."
Peterson seemed more at ease and prepared than he was four years ago. He built his team with hard-working role players, gave it a chance to win by installing a defense-first system and wasn't afraid to make personnel changes late in the pre-Olympic schedule.
Most importantly, he made one key decision the morning the Winter Games began, naming journeyman Ray LeBlanc as his goaltender. LeBlanc stopped 281 of the 298 shots he faced, an astounding .943 save percentage.
Without LeBlanc's brilliant play, the Americans might have lost to Poland and Italy - the tournament's worst two teams - and also-rans Germany and France. They certainly would have lost to world champion Sweden, which finished a disappointing fifth.
In the medal round, however, not even LeBlanc could prevent losses to the Unified Team in the semis and to Czechoslovakia in the bronze-medal game.
"Ray's been fabulous for us. He was the heart and soul of the team," Donatelli said. "But Raymond can't be Superman forever."
Donatelli was at the center of one of the many storms surrounding the U.S. team when he criticized a Swedish referee after the loss to the Unified Team. He was upset that the ref had been assigned, given the bitter feelings between the American and Swedish teams. Peterson, other players and U.S. officials also complained. Donatelli apologized the next day.
The week before the Olympics, the United States was panned for overly physical play in exhibitions against France and Sweden. During the Games, some French players called the Americans "dirty," and Sweden's Mats Naslund touched off a small-scale war by sending U.S. defenseman Greg Brown to the hospital with a vicious illegal check.
Between periods of the final game against Czechoslovakia, LeBlanc told Peterson he was tired of being cannon fodder. Rather than criticize his teammate, Donatelli felt sorry for him. "We tried to give him the best support we could. I wish we could have done better."