USA Hockey doesn't make list public
According to a report from The Canadian Press, the United States Olympic men's hockey team submitted its preliminary list of eligibile players for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Unlike Team Canada, which released a list of 81 players last week, USA Hockey did not release the list to the public.
"For us, it wasn't newsworthy," U.S. team GM Don Waddell told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
According to the report, the Americans' list included the same 39 players from its orientation camp in Septmeber plus a few veterans that were not there.
"We obviously don't have as many options as a country like Canada has," Waddell told the CP. "Our list was all the guys that came to our camp plus we added a few veteran guys.
"We added guys like [Chris] Chelios, [Mathieu] Schneider, [Jeremy] Roenick, those types of veterans," added Waddell. "We haven't gone in great detail on this. Part of it is that the USOC is more cautious about releasing names of athletes that will undergo drug testing. It wasn't a big enough issue for us to say: 'We need to release these names."'
The report also added that USA Hockey will likely announce their roster Dec. 20, two days before the deadline for all countries.
"We've been watching a lot of games," Waddell told the CP. "We talk weekly about it. I think some guys have moved up the list with some good starts. I don't think anybody has played themselves off of it. We're looking right now for guys who are stepping up.
"We have another 50-some days before we submit our final list. And I always say, the players will pick this team. The players that play well will make the team."
