New GM Brian Burke is going young with USA Hockey

When the U.S. men's ice hockey team plays at the 2010 Vancouver Games, it will be younger, it will be bigger and it will have a new man calling the shots.

First-year general manager Brian Burke, appointed by Colorado Springs-based USA Hockey in June, promises plenty of changes for the Americans, who stumbled to an eighth-place finish at the 2006 Turin Games.

The days of Chris Chelios, Keith Tkachuk and other grizzled veterans roaming an Olympic-size sheet probably will give way to a youthful but physical crop of players capable of holding their own on an NHL surface.

"We've got to move forward," said Burke, GM of the Anaheim Ducks and former GM of the Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers. "The team we're going to put on the ice in 2010 in Vancouver has to be a different team."

Most consider the U.S., sixth-place finishers at the world championships in May in Canada, a medal contender for Vancouver because of an influx of young talent.

Over the summer, more than 60 players were tabbed possibilities for a 24-person team by Burke, associate GM David Poile of the Nashville Predators and Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey.

The list likely includes New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro and Colorado Avalanche defensemen Jordan Leopold and John-Michael Liles, 2006 Olympians yet to celebrate their 29th birthdays.

Other potential picks are Dustin Brown, 23, of the Los Angeles Kings, Patrick Kane, 19, of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Phil Kessel, 20, of the Boston Bruins, right wings from the world championships squad.

"We're turning the page, but we're also bringing in a young core of players that have a lot of experience," Johannson said, adding that a coaching staff will be named next year.

"The players end up picking this team. How they play on the ice leads to their selection."

Unlike past Olympic hockey venues, Canada Hockey Place will feature an NHL sheet (200 by 85 feet) that's 13½ feet narrower than an international sheet - a switch that saved the Vancouver Organizing Committee about $9.3 million.

To compensate, Burke must recruit players who can do more than pass the puck and score goals, players who aren't afraid to get dirty in the corners.

"We need some hard hats," Burke said. "We're going to need a little bigger team than we've used in the past, maybe have some guys with a little different jobs than you would have if you were putting together a team on the big sheet."

Burke maintains the traditional ice hockey powers - Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden - aren't invincible.

"The talent pool available is going to be deeper than it has ever been," he said. "We think we've got depth at all the skating positions. We think we've got quality goaltending. And we've got quality coaching candidates. ... We are good enough to compete."

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