Thursday, February 21, 2002
U.S. storms into semis
Miracle on Ice 2?
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Ottawa Sun
WEST VALLEY CITY -- Exactly 22 years after the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, the U.S. and Russia have another showdown on American soil.
Unlike their Swedish counterparts, who fell to Belarus earlier in the day, the Americans booked their way into tomorrow's Olympic semi-final against Russia with a 5-0 win over Germany at the E Center.
On Feb. 22, 1980, a group of young, unknown Americans, led by coach Herb Brooks, pulled off a historic 3-2 upset against Russia. The script will be a lot different this time with the best from the NHL doing battle.
"We know it's going to be 22 years ago to the day," said captain Mike Modano. "I think everybody in the United States who watched that game remembers it and they know the impact that it had on USA hockey."
The Germans were no match for the Americans. The score could have been worse, but the U.S. appeared to coast once the game wasn't in doubt.
"We're really playing well as a team right now," said winger Bill Guerin. "The thing we've been able to do is get everybody contributing and that's been the key to our success. But, we know the next one is going to be a lot tougher."
The Americans have been the class of this tournament, hoping to erase bad memories of the '88 Olympics, where the team was dismal and a hotel room was trashed.
"There's been a lot of talk about '98," said Jeremy Roenick. "Some writers seem to want to harp on the negative aspects. We're trying to shove it up their (butt). We want to win gold. Nothing less will satisfy us."
They finished with a 2-0-1 record in the round-robin and tied the Russians 2-2 Saturday night.
"I think what happened in the last game was we gave them way too much respect," said Roenick, who had a goal and assist.
"Nikolai Khabibulin is a good goalie, but you've got to do more to get in front of him.
"We definitely can't afford to give them the kind of respect we gave them in the last game.
"We have to use our speed and make sure that we cash in on our opportunities. We've all been looking forward to this."
While goalie Mike Richter recorded the shutout with 28 saves, the likes of John LeClair, Brett Hull, Tony Amonte and Chris Chelios are going to have to lead against the Russians.
The Americans had a scare put into them before they played yesterday's game. They watched with shock as Belarus beat Sweden.
"What we did was try to treat it as a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final because that's something a lot of guys in our room are familiar with," said Modano, who picked up two assists against the Germans.
"We knew that the winner moves on and the loser goes home."
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2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
