Grahame sees better days ahead
By Karen Guregian
Boston Herald General Sports Reporter and Columnist
Thursday, February 16, 2006 - Updated: 07:58 AM EST
TURIN, Italy — John Grahame had chills as he led Team USA onto the ice, and took his place in goal. Grahame couldn’t remember the last time he felt like that.
Being named the starting goaltender for the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team meant a great deal to the Tampa Bay Lightning backstop.
“Obviously, it’s a tremendous honor. I got chills walking out to the ice, just knowing the different people that had done the same thing,” Grahame said following last night’s 3-3 tie with Latvia. “It’s something you want to cherish, and it’s something you want to prove. You want to have a good showing.”
Grahame was given the nod over Philadelphia’s Robert Esche and the Islanders’ Rick DiPietro.
While the former Bruin surrendered three goals on 25 shots, it was tough to fault him, although he didn’t quite see it that way.
“The first one, the rebound went right to the guy,” Grahame said of Aleksandrs Nizivijs’ first-period goal. “The second one (Atvars Tribuncovs) was a screen. The third one, it was a 2-on-1. The guy (Herberts Vasiljevs) made a pretty nice shot, but in a tournament like this, you’ve got to come up with that save.”
U.S. teammate Bill Guerin thought Grahame played just fine. “He was great. Johnny made some huge saves,” Guerin said. “The one the kid shot over his glove, that’s a good shot. Guys are going to make good shots, but he made some nice saves for us.”
Grahame was both nervous and excited.
“It’s a big tournament, it’s my first time. As the game wore on, I got into a rhythm,” he said. “It was just like playing at home.”
As for what went wrong with Team USA, which was heavily favored, Grahame thought the ragged play may have been the result of its tough travel schedule
“I think you saw a little bit of that in the second period. We kind of hit a wall there and weren’t able to generate much and they kept coming at us,” Grahame said. “So, I think that had a little something to do with it, but you’ve got to give them credit. They played hard. We’ve got to get a couple more on the power play and bury our chances. We’ve got to capitalize on some more of our opportunities, and maybe play a little more solidly defensively, and not give up so many 2-on-1s and odd-man rushes.
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Goalie John Grahame. (AP) |
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