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Sunday, February 03, 2002

Coach: Slava Fetisov

General manager: Fetisov

1998 finish: Silver medalist

Forwards: Alexei Kovalev, Maxim Afinogenov, Pavel Bure, Valeri Bure, Sergei Fedorov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Viktor Kozlov, Oleg Kvasha, Igor Larionov, Andrei Nikolishin, Sergei Samsonov, Alexei Yashin, Alexei Zhamnov

Defensemen: Darius Kasparaitis, Sergei Gonchar, Vladimir Malakhov, Daniil Markov, Boris Mironov, Oleg Tverdovsky, Dmitry Yushkevich

Goaltenders: Nikolai Khabibulin, Egor Podomatsky, Maxim Sokolov

Strength: Without question, the fastest team in the tournament. Take the speed of Bure, Fedorov, Kovalev and even young Kovalchuk, and no opponent will be able to slow them, much less stop them.

Weakness: So many skilled forwards means lack of backcheckers which could prove costly.

Intangible: Team unity long has been an issue for Russia, partly because of a near-universal dislike of management. With respected Fetisov at helm, that shouldn't be an issue.

Notable: Bure led all players at Nagano with nine goals.

Key to victory: Khabibulin represents nation's best goaltender in a generation and is good enough to make up for one-way play.

Coach: Pat Quinn

General manager: Kevin Lowe

1998 finish: Fourth

Forwards: Mario Lemieux, Theoren Fleury, Simon Gagne, Jarome Iginla, Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros, Joe Nieuwendyk, Owen Nolan, Michael Peca, Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, Ryan Smyth, Steve Yzerman

Defensemen: Eric Brewer, Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski, Al MacInnis, Scott Niedermayer

Goaltenders: Curtis Joseph, Ed Belfour, Martin Brodeur

Strength: Best depth, strongest defense of any team by far, plus an experienced stable of scorers.

Weakness: All three goaltenders have struggled in NHL of late, leaving many wishing Patrick Roy hadn't passed on Olympics.

Intangible: For no apparent reason, Canadian teams have rich history of gagging in international competition at all levels. Despite producing majority of world's top talent, last Olympic gold came in 1952.

Notable: Bruins' Joe Thornton, NHL's No. 3 scorer at All-Star break, was inexplicably left off roster.

Key to victory: There is no stigma a healthy, hearty Lemieux can't wipe out. If he is his team's best player, Canada wins.

Coach: Jozef Augusta

General manager: Ivan Hlinka

1998 finish: Gold medalist

Forwards: Jan Hrdina, Robert Lang, Petr Cajanek, Jiri Dopita, Radek Dvorak, Patrik Elias, Martin Havlat, Milan Hejduk, Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Patera, Robert Reichel, Martin Rucinsky, Petr Sykora

Defensemen: Roman Hamrlik, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Martin Skoula, Richard Smehlik, Jaroslav Spacek, Michal Sykora

Goaltenders: Dominik Hasek, Roman Cechmanek, Roman Turek

Strength: You could send Gateway High School to a two-week tournament with Hasek in net and Gators would have a shot.

Weakness: Quality of defense beyond Hamrlik lags behind forwards.

Intangible: Confidence sure to be high because of Nagano and several other big international victories since then.

Notable: When Czechs won in Nagano, they had 40 players in NHL. This season, it's more than 70.

Key to victory: Trapping system worked once, but will Jagr and rest of skilled players be patient enough to buy into it again?

Coach: Herb Brooks

General manager: Craig Patrick

1998 finish: Sixth

Forwards: Tony Amonte, Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury, Bill Guerin, Brett Hull, John LeClair, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Brian Rolston, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight, Michael York, Scott Young

Defensemen: Chris Chelios, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Aaron Miller, Tom Poti, Brian Rafalski, Gary Suter

Goaltenders: Mike Richter, Tom Barrasso, Mike Dunham

Strength: More size, skill up front than any team in American history, including formidable group of crease crashers in LeClair, Tkachuk, Deadmarsh and Guerin.

Weakness: Patrick went for mobile defense in choosing Suter, Housley, Poti and Rafalski but might have forfeited too much grit in the process.

Intangible: U.S. has won past two Olympics on home soil, and crowds at tiny arenas in Utah figure to be highly emotional.

Notable: Five players -- Hull, LeClair, Roenick, Tkachuk, Modano -- have had 50-goal seasons in NHL.

Key to victory: Richter. He knows a thing or two about stealing games, playing behind porous Rangers.

Coach: Hannu Aravirta

General manager: Aravirta

1998 finish: Bronze medalist

Forwards: Antti Aalto, Mikko Eloranta, Niklas Hagman, Raimo Helminen, Olli Jokinen, Tomi Kallio, Sami Kapanen, Jere Lehtinen, Juha Lind, Ville Nieminen, Jarkko Ruutu, Teemu Selanne, Juha Ylonen

Defensemen: Aki Berg, Jyrki Lumme, Janne Niinimaa, Sami Salo, Teppo Numminen, Kimmo Timonen, Ossi Vaananen

Goaltenders: Jani Hurme, Jussi Markkanen, Pasi Nurminen

Strength: Have intriguing mobility on defense, with Numminen, Salo, Niinimaa, Lumme all capable and eager to join rush.

Weakness: Only snipers are Selanne and Kapanen, since Saku Koivu is out with cancer.

Intangible: Tiny nation celebrated bronze in 1998 like gold, but Aravirta, coach of that team, still is held in low regard by NHL Finns.

Notable: Helminen, 37, will be participating in record sixth Olympics.

Key to victory: Hurme will have to show he is something more than Patrick Lalime's backup with Senators.

Coach: Hardy Nilsson

General manager: Anders Hedberg

1998 finish: Fifth

Forwards: Daniel Alfredsson, P-J Axelsson, Magnus Arvedson, Ulf Dahlen, Markus Naslund, Tomas Holmstrom, Mattias Johansson, Jorgen Jonsson, Mikael Nylander, Niklas Sundstrom, Mikael Renberg, Mats Sundin, Henrik Zetterberg

Defensemen: Kim Johnsson, Kenny Jonsson, Marcus Ragnarsson, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mattias Norstrom, Mattias Ohlund, Fredrik Olausson,

Goaltenders: Tommy Salo, Johan Hedberg, Mikael Tellqvist

Strength: Have NHL stars at every position, with especially strong, skilled defense featuring Lidstrom, Jonsson.

Weakness: Coaches' plan to employ ultraconservative defensive posture will negate skill, could dampen players' spirit.

Intangible: In-and-out status of 1994 shootout hero Peter Forsberg for several months has distracted officials and players. He will not play.

Notable: Salo has 3-12 record in Stanley Cup playoffs and could be benched in favor of Hedberg, who proved big-game ability last spring.

Key to victory: Loosen reins, let Sundin, Alfredsson strut their stuff.