Team USA hockey general manager Brian Burke went into the Winter Olympics with one plan on defense — a blend of size and skill with four big-minute players and three more who could handle specific roles. That didn’t change even after he lost two of his original picks to injury — Toronto’s Mike Komisarek (shoulder) and New Jersey’s Paul Martin (broken arm).
“This team lacks the big-name star power that prior USA teams had,” Burke admitted. “But we’ve tried to identify particular skill sets and particular jobs and the replacement parts going in are eerily similar to the players they’re replacing.”
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Those “parts” are Ryan Whitney (Anaheim), a solid puck-moving defenseman in the Martin mold, and Tim Gleason (Carolina), a good-sized defenseman at 6-foot, 217 pounds who plays with an edge to match Komisarek’s. Team USA may be missing stars, but its depth has grown in recent years. It remains to be seen if that’s enough against the world’s best.
