Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Hours before appearing in his 1,200th NHL game, Penguins winger Bill Guerin's thoughts were with his contribution to USA Hockey's golden era.

"Coming through the ranks with the guys we did ... it was real nice, and now we're all kind of up there," Guerin said Tuesday before the Penguins played the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Though it won a silver Olympic medal on home soil at the 2002 Winter Games, Team USA's 1996 World Cup win over Canada is considered a landmark victory for America's hockey program, which shined from the mid-1990s through early 2000s.

Guerin was a big part of that success, and only a few teammates from that era remain in the NHL — notably Keith Tkachuk of St. Louis and Doug Weight of the New York Islanders.

The next Olympic representative for American in men's ice hockey will compete at the Vancouver Games in February, and Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik is a leading contender to earn a spot on that roster, which Guerin expressed confidence will hold its own against favored units from Canada, Russia and Sweden.

"We've got a great group of kids now that will really be the next wave of American players to carry the torch," he said. "We had a bit of a gap, but just a bit of one. You look at it now, and the U.S. has some talented players coming up. The first round of the draft is getting more Americanized regularly. That's good to see, because this sport has so much to offer American players."

• Right wing Tyler Kennedy returned to play against Anaheim after missing three games because of an undisclosed injury, which is believed to have been of the lower-body variety.

• Coach Dan Bylsma did not rule out reuniting the "Nightmare Line" of Kennedy, center Jordan Staal and left wing Matt Cooke. Staal had worked with wingers Ruslan Fedotenko and Chris Bourque in two games since center Evgeni Malkin was ruled out for two weeks because of a right shoulder injury.

• Ducks center Erik Christensen, a former Penguin, has cleared waivers, and Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said "a decision is to be ... if he's going to stay with our club, be re-assigned (to Anaheim's AHL affiliate) or loaned (to another AHL club)."

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News