U.S. Hockey Seeks Success by Bonding

A few loose practices and chummy golf games in Colorado Springs in September won’t win the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team a medal in Salt Lake City in February. But Coach Herb Brooks made the most of a four-day orientation camp that ended Friday, the team’s lone gathering before the Games. His main message was the importance of trusting teammates and making a swift mental and tactical transition to the Olympic ice surface, which is 15 feet wider than NHL rinks.

“I don’t think anyone was quite sure what to expect, but it was pretty low key,” said King defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who was among the 37 invitees but wasn’t among the first 15 named to the Olympic roster. “The big thing was trying to get guys to adapt to the big ice. It’s a definite difference from NHL rinks.

“Probably the most glaring thing that went wrong at Nagano is we weren’t able to adjust. We have a lot of highly talented forwards and a lot of speed and grit. We used that in the World Cup [in 1996] but we weren’t able to translate that at Nagano.”

Brooks didn’t reprise his role as the tyrant who bullied players for months before the 1980 Lake Placid Games, where they stunned the world by beating the Soviets and winning the gold medal. Times have changed: These are professional players, not impressionable college kids, and there’s no pre-Olympic tour to indoctrinate them. Since Brooks can’t motivate them by intimidation, he turned the camp into a male-bonding session that emphasized camaraderie.

“It’s been, I wouldn’t say laid-back, but not really getting too serious on the ice,” said King center Bryan Smolinski, also among the invitees but not assured a roster spot.

“All we had on the ice was an hour and 15 minutes a day, and he had a team concept to get instilled in guys’ heads. Basically, just seeing all these guys was cool. It’s nice to be back with them and have one purpose.”

Although Smolinski knew most players from USA Hockey programs or previous tournaments, he hadn’t met Brooks. He came away admiring the man who helped bring about “the Miracle on Ice” in 1980.

“I’ve always respected Herb,” Smolinski said. “He’s got a great concept and he wants to be sure everybody’s on the same page. We worked on systems and breakouts and how to regroup and things like that.”

However, Schneider acknowledged it could be difficult to put those lessons into practice five months from now.

“It’s tough without competition,” he said. “European teams might have an advantage because they’re playing over there and they’re getting a handful of players from their leagues, guys who play on big ice all the time. We need to get going quickly and to get more offense than we had at Nagano [nine goals in four games].”

Brooks and his staff will evaluate players until Dec. 22, the deadline to submit their 23-man roster. Schneider and Smolinski said they weren’t told if they had enhanced their chances, but Schneider is eager for an opportunity to erase the disappointment of 1998.

“Nagano was a trial run. It was a difficult situation, with the travel, and it was the first time the NHL had taken a break for the Olympics,” he said. “As a team, no one was happy with the way things turned out.

“My main focus is helping the Kings win, but it would be nice to be there. If I go out and play my best, things will fall into place.”

She’s Got Rhythm

Julia Itkina’s grandmother was a gymnast and her mother is a gymnastics coach, so it probably was inevitable Julia would be a gymnast too.

But Itkina doesn’t pirouette on the balance beam or fly over the uneven parallel bars. She’s a rhythmic gymnast who does routines with a ball, ribbon or hoop, and that usually requires explaining.

“It’s different and it’s original,” said Itkina, who was born in Russia and moved to Los Angeles with her family 10 years ago, when she was 5. “It has to do with gymnastics and music and dance.”

Her ballet skills served her well when she appeared in a commercial this spring with Shaquille O’Neal, featuring the behemoth Laker center waving a ribbon and attempting graceful poses. Itkina, a ninth-grader at Palisades High, used the money from that commercial to buy the unitard she wore at the U.S. rhythmic gymnastics championships, where she made the junior national team.

Itkina and her mother, Tatiana, rent practice space at Sutter Middle School in Winnetka and at L.A. Valley College and occasionally must share a gym with artistic gymnasts. Tatiana and her husband, Michael, shoulder the costs of practices, travel and competition.

“‘I’m kind of on my own,” Tatiana said. “We are paying for so much, and everything is pretty expensive. It’s a couple of thousand dollars a year--well, more than a couple of thousand.”

Still, mother and daughter believe the financial and emotional investments are worthwhile. The 2002 world rhythmic gymnastics championships will be held in New Orleans, and they hope that will bring attention to the sport.

“People are always saying to me, ‘What is this?”’ Tatiana Itkina said. “When they see it they say, ‘It is so beautiful.’ And it’s not dangerous, and the body looks good, with not so much muscle.”

Here and There

Unlike the U.S. hockey camp, Canada’s camp in Calgary was characterized by Canadian newspapers as intense.

The National Post noted a nasty cross-check by Theo Fleury against Mighty Duck winger Paul Kariya and said set lines were used in scrimmages.

Kariya played with Brendan Shanahan and Mario Lemieux, while Fleury played with Pierre Turgeon and Jarome Iginla. Eric Lindros centered for Keith Primeau and Owen Nolan. Lindros, victim of six concussions, hasn’t yet broken his habit of skating through center ice with his head down.

Several U.S. athletes did well in the first competition of the luge season, at Meransen, Italy. Ashley Hayden won gold and Becky Wilczak took silver in the women’s start competition, and Tony Benshoof won a bronze on the men’s side. Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin won silver in the doubles event.

Timothy Goebel and other local skaters expected to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships inaugurated the new ice sheet at Staples Center on Friday. The ice is an inch thick for hockey but will be a half-inch thicker for skating to allow for softer landings and better spins.

More than 4,000 all-event tickets have been sold for the competition, which will run Jan. 6-13. All-event and exhibition tickets were scheduled to go on sale through Ticketmaster today; single-session tickets will go on sale Oct. 1.

Only 151 days until the Salt Lake City Winter Games.