NOTEBOOK

Garth Snow will make his Olympic hockey debut tonight, one game earlier than expected.

Snow will replace Game 1 starter Mike Dunham when the United States faces 12th-seeded Slovakia at Gjovik Cavern Hall. Coach Tim Taylor’s tentative plan was for Dunham to start the first two games and switch to Snow for the third game against Canada because of the latter’s strong record against Canada, but the plan was changed after Monday’s practice.

Dunham, who alternated in goal with Snow at the University of Maine, played capably in Sunday’s 4-4 tie against France. Although rarely tested severely, he made several crucial saves during a French power play in the waning minutes.

Dunham has faced Slovakia once, in a 5-5 tie on Nov. 21 during the Telehockey Cup tournament at Lillehammer last November. Snow has never faced Slovakia. Snow is 4-1-0 against Canada with a 3.01 goals-against average and .903 save percentage.

“We’ve said all along that we have a strong goaltending tandem in Mike Dunham and Garth Snow, and we’ve said all along that both players would contribute,” Taylor said. “We saw how well Mike is capable of playing for us in the final minutes of our game against France. It’s now Garth’s turn.”

Snow, 24, has already made his NHL debut. He was 3-2 during a brief stint with the Quebec Nordiques. “Slovakia is a really solid team,” Snow said. “Offensively, they’re probably up there with us. Maybe they don’t have quite the speed we possess but they’re good, especially Peter Stastny. He’s really smart with the puck.”