Naming Of Peterson As '92 Coach Shocks U.S. Hockey Watchers

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Dave Peterson, the Ugliest American of the 1988 Winter Olympics, can't promise he'll put on a better face in '92.

"It happened. It's history," Peterson says. "You get older and wiser. But there's still no way to predict what will happen in the future."

As U.S. hockey coach at the Calgary Games, Peterson sparred with the media, ruffled international feathers and led his team to a disappointing seventh-place finish.

So most observers were shocked when USA Hockey, the sport's national governing body, decided to bring Peterson back for the '92 Games in France.

Bob Fleming, chairman of USA Hockey's Olympic Committee, says Peterson was chosen over three other finalists - 1980 hero Herb Brooks, Yale coach Tim Taylor and Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer - because he has more continuous international experience.

And Art Berglund, general manager of the '88 team and now a player evaluator, says Peterson deserves another chance.

"Dave did an outstanding job," Berglund says. "He had a few isolated problems at press conferences and they snowballed. He coached well. Most of the criticism was unfair."

The 60-year-old Peterson doesn't dwell on the past. And, if he did, he'd do his dwelling with a smile on his face.

"For me, 1988 was a fantastic experience, although people don't seem to want to believe that," says Peterson, who was in St. Cloud this week for a trials camp that will help determine the composition of the 1992 squad.

"We know what kind of job we did. We don't feel we have anything to prove. The only reason I'm back doing this is because I like to coach."

A retired Minneapolis schoolteacher and high school coach, Peterson had never been under the intense scrutiny he faced in Calgary.

It was similar to what Lou Vairo went through as coach in 1984 - the Games that followed Brooks' Miracle On Ice team of 1980. Like Peterson, Vairo was unknown outside of hockey circles; like Peterson, Vairo's Olympians finished seventh and out of the medal round.

"I was in Italy during 1988 and I read all the stuff that was going on in Calgary," Vairo says. "When I came home, I phoned him and said, `Dave, this is Lou. Thanks for getting me off the hook.' "

Vairo, who went from the Olympics to the Italian pro leagues, couldn't believe the Dave Peterson he read about in '88 was the same Dave Peterson who served as his goaltending coach in '84.

"I never once saw Dave act rudely," Vairo says. "He's always been a gentleman and a great human being.

"I have a feeling that he may have sacrificed himself to protect his players."

As his team struggled early in the tournament, Peterson was on the defensive, trying to justify his offensive-style system and to cover up his club's goaltending and defensive weaknesses.

When the team fell out of medal contention, he solidified his Ugliest American image by calling the international media dishonest, lazy and uninformed.

And in his parting shot, Peterson told a large media assembly: "I have a tough time believing some of you have ever seen a hockey game."

His critics weren't limited to members of the media.

Even International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch took a swipe at Peterson: "It is a pity the Americans are so weak. They are good players, but they have no cohesion."

To which Peterson replied: "He has a right to have an opinion. I didn't know he was a hockey expert."

Of course, everyone's an expert at Olympic time.

"Most American sports fans don't follow or understand international hockey," Berglund says. "Only the Olympics have any visibility."

Peterson doesn't mind that.

"I think expectations should be high," he says. "We'd be complaining about lack of interest if there weren't high expectations. Sometimes you reach them, sometimes you don't. People say, `1980 must be a great burden on you.' It isn't. What happened in '80 was great. We're trying to duplicate it.

"But the reality of it is this: You go into the Olympics trying to win a medal; only three teams do and nine don't."

To help Peterson prepare for the '92 Games, the pre-Olympic schedule has been beefed up to include more exhibitions against NHL teams and more pockets of practice time between games.

To help keep him from defending his Ugliest American title, USA Hockey sent Peterson to New York to be coached on dealings with the media and other outsiders.

Still, Vairo expects Peterson to continue doing things his way.

"We can all be criticized. Maybe we deserve to be. But we have to do what we think is best. It's not a popularity contest," Vairo says. "Dave Peterson wasn't running for mayor in '88 and I don't think he will be next time, either."