‘Performance matters’: U.S. hockey coach declines to name starting goalie

Intrigue abounds at the Olympic men’s hockey tournament before a puck has even been dropped.

Team USA coach Mike Sullivan declined to name a starting goalie for his team’s opener against Latvia on Thursday after the Americans’ first practice on Sunday.

“Performance matters,” Sullivan said.

“We’ll know soon enough,” Hellebuyck said.

After a day off Friday, the Americans have a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday against Denmark and Germany to wrap round-robin play.

Meanwhile, the practice in Italy hinted at some line combinations.

Auston Matthews centred a line featuring Jake Guentzel and Matt Boldy on his wings, while the Tkachuk brothers were joined by Jack Eichel.

On defence, Jake Sanderson and Jackson LaCombe appear to be the odd men out.

The top blue-line pair was comprised of Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy, while Jaccob Slavin and Brock Faber teamed up ahead of Noah Hanifin and Zach Werenski.