THE OLYMPICS / WINTER GAMES AT ALBERTVILLE : NOTES

In 1960, goalie Jack McCartan played every minute of every U.S. Olympic hockey game and his team won the gold medal. In 1980, goalie Jim Craig played every minute and the United States won again.

Precedent would dictate having Ray LeBlanc make his fourth consecutive start today, when the U.S. faces 12th-seeded Poland. However, Coach Dave Peterson said Friday he would wait until today to decide whether to rest LeBlanc, play LeBlanc for a period and bring in Scott Gordon to get some game action or simply stay with the Games’ top goaltender.

“The real trick now that you’ve got a goalkeeper on a roll is to keep him on a roll and not wear him out,” Peterson said of LeBlanc, who leads tournament goalies with a 95.95 save percentage (95 saves on 99 shots) and a 1.33 goals-against average. “A lot depends on the kind of feedback he gives you, whether he’s tired or not tired.

“It’s a situation where maybe we can rest him, and we also have the luxury of getting a game under Scotty’s belt so he’s ready in case of injury. Or we can have Ray play a period, and if we’re going good, get him out. Or we can go with Gordon and Mike Dunham. Very honestly, we’re not sure which way we’re going.”

Peterson is mildly concerned that his players might be overconfident against Poland. In three games, Poland has scored four goals and given up 23.

“The toughest games in the tournament are the games you’re supposed to win,” he said. “If you play well you should beat them, but if you don’t, you could have trouble if they point to a game, and I assume they’ll point to ours because it’s getting late in the tournament and they need points.”

Each U.S. hockey victory inspires comparisons with the 1980 team, but center C.J. Young said none of the players knew their 3-0 record is better than the 2-0-1 record Herb Brooks’ team compiled at Lake Placid, N.Y., at the same stage.

“People always bring it up. We’d love to have it happen--it would be a great thing for us--but I don’t think it adds any pressure,” Young said. “You’ll never be able to compare another team to 1980, just because of the way things have gone since then. Just as much as it was a miracle for them in ‘80, if another team were to do it now or in the next few years, I don’t think it would be as much a miracle. There’s more talent, more Americans playing hockey.

“It would be a real big deal to the country, but not a miracle (if this team won). It would be unbelievable, probably the best thing that could happen to any of us in the course of our lives.”

Nick Beverley, the Kings’ assistant general manager, and scout Vaclav Nedomansky are here in place of General Manager Rogie Vachon, who decided to stay with the team. The Kings have the draft rights to Unified Team defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, Swedish winger Daniel Rydmark and Czech center Robert Lang. However, Beverley said the club hasn’t discussed contracts with any of the three. He also said the Kings are among many clubs interested in Unified Team defenseman Darus Kasparaitis.