At Least Dream Team Could Beat Furniture

Writing a sour postscript to their unhappy exit from the Olympic hockey tournament, some unidentified U.S. players trashed furniture and two apartments at the athletes’ village early Thursday morning, hours after their quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic.

Their revelry woke nearby speedskaters, who had competition scheduled later Thursday, and caused about $1,000 worth of damage. Officials of the U.S. Olympic Committee planned to meet Friday with representatives of the Nagano Organizing Committee to determine a precise figure. Chairs were broken, two apartments were damaged when fire extinguishers were activated and another fire extinguisher was tossed from the fifth floor and into a common area.

“It’s so ironic,” said Mike Moran, assistant executive director of the USOC. “This group of guys did the right thing and stayed in the village, compared with the NBA Dream Team, which didn’t. They claimed to be enjoying it out there, and we have comments from other athletes saying they met players and how well everyone got along. . . .

“We’re not happy with it, although on a scale of one to 10 it’s not cataclysmic.”

The damage was discovered at 7 a.m. by village security officers. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Senior Vice President Brian Burke, officials of USA Hockey and NHL Players Assn. Executive Director Bob Goodenow were immediately summoned to inspect the scene.

Bettman said his information was that it was only “a handful” of players involved. He wants to know who’s responsible, “if for no other reason, in fairness to the other players.”

Some players left Japan on Thursday, but Moran said no player was questioned before departing. The other players left Friday.

USA Hockey and the NHL offered to pay for the damages.

“This is an unfortunate incident and one that we deeply regret,” said Dave Ogrean, USA Hockey’s executive director. “We believe only a handful of individuals were involved. Nevertheless, we will work with the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Assn. in an effort to determine exactly who is responsible. The actions of a few should not be construed as representative of an entire team.

“We apologize to the American delegation and the other members of the 1998 U.S. Olympic Winter Games Team for this regrettable situation.”

Said Bill Hybl, president of the USOC, “The USOC and our Olympic delegation are deeply disturbed by the behavior of some of our athletes. We will work with USA Hockey and the NHL to determine if we can identify those who were clearly in violation of our code of conduct.”

Lou Lamoriello, general manager of the Olympic team and the New Jersey Devils, told the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger players should be ashamed of themselves.

“I’m upset,” he said. “I’m appalled to hear something like that. I don’t condone it. I can’t accept it. . . . If they were disappointed, think of all the fans that were disappointed.”

The U.S. team, which won the 1996 World Cup and was favored to win a medal in the first Olympic tournament to feature NHL stars playing for their homelands, was 1-3 here. It defeated only Belarus and lost to Sweden, Canada and the Czechs. Players were seen out late at a local bar and at karaoke bars and some called their participation here “a waste of time” after their elimination because they hadn’t won a medal.

The NHL has not decided whether it will send its players to the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.