Swiss captain Streit looks forward to challenge

Chris Drury has repeated the line from the U.S. men's hockey team's architect, Brian Burke, that "no one in Vegas is betting a nickel on the U.S."

Imagine how Mark Streit and the Swiss team feel.

Islanders defenseman Streit will be captaining Switzerland for the third straight Olympics. In Turin four years ago, he was a little-known 29-year-old Swiss lifer, getting odd minutes as a rookie with the Canadiens. After that tournament, in which the Swiss shut out Canada and beat the Czech Republic in the preliminary round before falling - like the U.S. and Canada - in the quarterfinals, Streit was looked at very differently in the NHL.

Tuesday in Vancouver, his Swiss team faces the U.S. in the Olympic opener for both countries. "Obviously, they're going to be ready to play us because of what happened last time," Streit said. "We've got the U.S. and Canada in our first two games, in North America. It's going to be fun."

The Swiss, who have Streit and Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller as their only two NHLers, have one distinct advantage. Coach Ralph Krueger's team has been practicing in Winnipeg for the past week, getting the bulk of its roster acclimated to the smaller NHL-sized rink.

The Americans all hurried to Vancouver over the weekend, hopped on the ice for a practice Monday with coach Ron Wilson and will jump right into action Tuesday. The only thing that's certain for a U.S. squad with 20 first-time Olympians is that Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller will be the man in the net Tuesday. Beyond that, it's a great unknown.

"I guess it's good. We don't really have time for much else except getting ready to play," Drury said.

The Americans will rely on speed up front, with the young core of forwards - the Devils' Zach Parise, the Leafs' Phil Kessel, the Avalanche's Paul Stastny and the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane - a small but fast group.

The Rangers' Drury and Ryan Callahan figure to be role players - third- and fourth-liners and penalty-killers.

The Americans' defense is a bit of a mishmash, given that Islip Terrace's Mike Komisarek and the Devils' Paul Martin had to withdraw because of injury. The defense has a couple of heavy hitters in the Blues' Erik Johnson and the Penguins' Brooks Orpik, but the defense's puck-moving ability is a bit suspect.

That said, the U.S. does get Switzerland Tuesday and Norway, the lowest-ranked of the four countries in the group, on Thursday. And all 12 teams advance to the next round for the first time, so even a letdown Tuesday won't dim the Americans' chances.

"We expect to go there and be there until the 28th," said Rangers coach John Tortorella, an assistant (along with Islanders coach Scott Gordon) for the U.S. team. "We need to have a quick start."