TURIN, Italy – Here at the Esposizioni ice rink, Marlon Brando lives.
U.S. women’s hockey coach Ben Smith called upon the great, dead actor when asked about the secrecy surrounding the starting goaltender for Saturday’s game against the benign Swiss.
“Did you ever see “On the Waterfront’ with Karl Malden?” Smith replied, when asked why he wouldn’t reveal whether Pam Dreyer or Chanda Gunn would start. Smith explained the reference: ” “Father, it’s none of your business’ – that was Marlon Brando to Karl Malden.”
It is, of course, the business of Gunn and Dreyer, but they’ve learned it is rarely their business until right before the business gets started.
“You’d obviously like to know as a goalie” who will start, Dreyer said, “but we’ve been doing this all season long so it’s nothing new to us. We pretty much find out pregame.”
Both are first-time Olympians. Gunn, 26, went 7-3 with a 1.92 goals-against average in 14 games for the U.S. national team in 2005-06. Dreyer, 24, went 3-2 with a 3.02 GAA in nine games. On the flip side, there’s no secrecy surrounding the Swiss. Their starter is Riitta Schaublin, a 6-foot junior at Minnesota-Duluth who was born in Switzerland. Her .941 save percentage is second best in women’s NCAA Division I. “She’s a formidable foe and we’re going to have to be very alert for any openings,” Smith said. “Any second-shot follow-ups are going to be key points.”
Other than Schaublin, the ninth-ranked Swiss aren’t much of a threat. Truth be told, the Americans don’t know much about the Swiss.
“None, actually,” said Angela Ruggiero, a defender from Harper Woods, Mich. “We’ve seen them in the Worlds but . . . we expect a great battle.
“They’re coming in to represent their country in the world’s biggest sporting event. So you expect every team to show their best.
“We know in the past we’ve been better than them, but then again, we haven’t seen them since last year.”
The United States plays Germany on Sunday and finishes the preliminary round Tuesday against the last of its Group B mates, Finland. The playoffs begin Feb. 17, at which point the Americans might have an established starting goaltender – or not.
“That’s what we’re assuming,” Dreyer said, “but we don’t know what Coach has in his mind.”
NOTEBOOK: Ruggiero has been dressing for practices as a defender, her natural position. She had been playing up front, but moved back about three weeks ago and Smith said there’s a “slim” chance she’d be moved to forward during the tournament.
. . . With almost an entire week of practice in Turin under their belts, the women can barely wait to get a game going. “We’re in great shape, but just getting back in the rhythm, that you can’t really duplicate in practice,” Ruggiero said. “I’m just excited to start and then build off of that to Germany, which will probably be a little bit of a tougher match, then keep rolling, hopefully. It’s been great to get a feel for the Olympics, all the sites, just to settle in. But we’re ready to play – I’m really anxious. I just want to get the show on the road.”
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AP-NY-02-10-06 1752EST
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