Modano Finds Time to Pass Puck, er, Buck

The hotel room is safe. After the men’s Olympic hockey team’s early exit, it was USA Hockey that got trashed -- by the man on the cover of the USA Hockey media guide.

As it was in Nagano in 1998, Team USA was ousted in the quarterfinal round. Finland did the job Wednesday, sending a heavily penalized American team packing, 4-3.

The Americans were 1-4-1 in the tournament, beating only Kazakhstan. As U.S. forward Mike Modano broke down the disappointing trip, he cited poor execution, lack of discipline -- and fundamental flaws in the sport’s organizing body.

“I think it just takes a lot, from the higher-ups all the way down, how USA Hockey is operated,” said Modano, who has competed on 11 national teams, including three Olympics, over the last 18 years. “There’s a lot of guys who have been there for many years. Maybe [get] some new blood in there to kind of run things a little differently.”

Asked what he would like to see changed, he said, “I think how things are operated, I think how things are run behind the scenes. USA Hockey, you would think, would be kind of a well-oiled operation. But it’s frustrating.

“We put a lot into it, we’ve come a long way, and you want things to run smooth. And behind the scenes ... a lot of it just goes back to families being over here. It was more of a distraction for a lot of guys than playing the game.”

A source close to the players said that whereas the Canadian national team provided travel for the players’ families and coordinated transportation within Turin, U.S. players were on their own. That led to inconveniences ranging from defenseman Mathieu Schneider’s wife, who is five months’ pregnant, having to walk back to her room after a game, to families learning about a free-tickets program after they already had bought tickets.

“Basically, we were on our own, as far as arrangements, hotels, flights, tickets,” Modano said. “Normally, that’s something you don’t have to think about. That’s something that should be taken care of so we don’t have to worry about it. We’re [trying to be] focused on hockey, prepare ourselves to play and not have to deal with those things.”

I know what you’re thinking: Just log on to expedia.com and shut up.

As Finland’s Olli Jokinen said, “My wife is here. She went on the Internet a couple months ago and booked her own tickets and flight.”

When you bring highly paid professional athletes into the Olympics, you get their attitudes as well. You’ll find all the happy-to-be-here stories you want in curling or cross-country skiing. But when you take American pros out of their comfort zone, fly them across an ocean and multiple time zones and ask them to volunteer in the middle of their season, they get cranky.

When NHL players first participated in the Olympics in 1998, the arrangement with the International Ice Hockey Federation provided for guest travel and accommodations. That ended after the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.

Other players might not have had the freedom or authority to publicly back Modano’s remarks, but they didn’t exactly say, “He’s nuts.”

“I’m not at liberty to talk about that, really,” forward Brian Rolston said. “Mike has been in this program a long time. What he says. ... I respect what he says.”

Team USA General Manager Don Waddell didn’t.

“It’s very disappointing,” Waddell said. “The people at USA Hockey do a tremendous job. There’s a lot of pressure on them. A lot of them are volunteers.”

When Modano’s remarks were repeated to Coach Peter Laviolette, he said, “I have no comment on that.”

Pause.

“Actually, I do have a comment. I can tell you the people that run USA Hockey care more about this program than anyone I know. They’re passionate about what they believe in.”

Laviolette clearly wasn’t feeling for Modano even during the game. He sat the Dallas Star forward for most of the third period, surely adding to Modano’s agitation with all things USA Hockey.

One thing Modano didn’t mention was the mishmash roster USA Hockey assembled that never clicked.

Modano has earned the right to speak his mind after all the hours he has logged in a USA jersey. I’m sure he speaks for most of the team. USA Hockey could learn a lot about the way to run a program from its Canadian neighbors, who do a better job of integrating its various levels and unifying its men’s and women’s teams.

Yes, hockey is a bigger priority in Canada and Hockey Canada receives more funding. But if the U.S. wants to contend, why not emulate the best?

Of course, they fared the same as Canada in this tournament; the Canadians were ousted by Russia in a quarterfinal. And at least the United States scored three goals against Finland. The Canadians were shut out for the third time at these Games.

Team USA never seemed to adapt to the larger international rink, the different style of officiating, or even the equipment rules. International rules state that players can’t remain on the ice if their helmets or gloves are off. In the waning seconds of a Finland power play, U.S. defenseman Derian Hatcher lost his glove behind the American net. As he put it back on, he couldn’t get to Jokinen in time, and Jokinen scored Finland’s third goal.

That’s the way things went for the U.S. in this tournament. They didn’t get the breaks, but they didn’t earn them, either. Especially Wednesday, when they waited until the third period to play with urgency.

Now they and their families have an early trip home -- no matter who’s responsible for booking it.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande go to latimes.com/adandeblog.