It’s Less About Fun, More About Games

The NHL’s All-Star weekend is usually a relaxed occasion, a series of self-congratulatory events leading up to a game that offers little hitting and even less intensity.

Not this time.

The nearness of the Nagano Games has given this season’s festivities a keen air of anticipation. And the change in the format of Sunday’s All-Star game from East vs. West to North Americans vs. World All-Stars helped put players in an international frame of mind as they gathered here Friday for All-Star events and orientation sessions held by the Canadian and U.S. Olympic squads.

“The NHL is really trying to get [interest in] the Olympics going through making the All-Star game an international game,” said Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, a North American All-Star goaltender and member of Team Canada. “It’s a fun weekend. This is going to be my first Olympics, so I’m really excited.”

Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers, a starter for the North American All-Stars, said he’s here to win. That’s a statement rarely, if ever, heard at an All-Star weekend.

“They want the game to be more competitive and I think this format will encourage that,” he said.

Mighty Duck goaltender Guy Hebert, who isn’t an All-Star but went to Vancouver for Team USA’s meetings, had been too distracted by the arrival of his first child and the Ducks’ struggles to think much about the Olympics. But the prospect became exciting reality Friday when he got his Olympic gear.

“It’s been such a whirlwind so far, but coming here and seeing the jersey with my name on it, it really hit me,” he said. “This is just great.”

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The U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Russia will each have only three practices in Nagano before they begin play Feb. 13.

Knowing preparation time would be short, the U.S. picked 20 players who played on the victorious 1996 World Cup team and so are familiar with one another’s styles and tendencies.

“If we can regain that same chemistry, it can be an advantage,” U.S. Coach Ron Wilson said. “We have some guys who are coming off great seasons and some guys who have struggled, but we all have one common motivation: We’re all Americans and we all want to win the gold medal . . .

“You’d be a fool if you don’t put the same lines together. But I can’t do that now. I’ve got an outline of what I want to do for the Olympics and when I’m on the flight there I’ll start finalizing things. The league is playing until Feb. 7, and guys could get hurt between now and then.

“The other day we [the Washington Capitals] played Toronto and Kenny Klee really leveled [U.S. Olympic defenseman] Mathieu Schneider. I fined Kenny Klee $100 the next day. I said, ‘How dare you? He’s an American.’ You laugh about it but it’s tough.”

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Wilson said he’s not concerned that goalie Mike Richter and defenseman Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers, who are expected to play key roles for Team USA, are among many Olympians having sub-par seasons.

“The other night Chris Chelios yells at me, ‘Have you checked our plus/minus?’ I thought he meant the Blackhawks but he meant the Olympic team,” Wilson said. “He says, ‘I’m the only guy who’s plus.’

“What guys bring in doesn’t matter. Richter is under a lot of pressure and he’s playing a lot of one-goal games. And until last week, he’s been playing almost every game. Yes, there have been some chinks in his armor but great players rise to the occasion.”

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The U.S. team, which has yet to pick a captain, will meet in San Francisco and depart together for Japan on Feb. 8. Team Canada will leave from Vancouver on a charter, also on Feb. 8.

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Karen Nystrom’s second-effort rebound goal with 5:11 to play lifted the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team to a 2-1 victory over the U.S. women’s team Friday at General Motors Place before 14,944, the largest crowd ever to attend a women’s game.

France St-Louis created the scoring chance when she forced a turnover behind the U.S. net and got the puck to Nancy Drolet, who found Nystrom in the slot. Nystrom, who had scored Canada’s first goal, was stopped by U.S. goaltender Sarah Tueting on her first attempt but prevailed on her second try.

Canada (19-4-0) leads the pre-Olympic series against the U.S., 6-4. Seven of their 10 games have been decided by one goal. The teams are expected to compete for the gold medal at Nagano.

Jennifer Schmidgall scored for the U.S. (22-6-1) in the second period.

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Willie O’Ree, the first African American to play in the NHL, will be honored by the league as part of today’s festivities.

O’Ree who made his NHL debut Jan. 18, 1958 with the Boston Bruins and also played for the Bruins during the 1960-61 season, has been appointed to a diversity task force committee organized by the NHL and USA Hockey.