Two weeks into the IIHF world championship in Austria, it’s starting to become clear where teams’ strengths and weaknesses lie; with the quarterfinals set to begin today, locked-out NHL stars playing their first hockey of the season have largely shaken off the rust, and national teams have begun to gel.

Team USA, in particular, has shown very promising signs. Before the tournament began, the American roster was radically restructured – the only holdovers from the 1996 World Cup winning team are Doug Weight and Mike Modano – in order to focus on youth and speed. Gone is the plodding style that characterized the American entries in recent international tournaments, and in its place is some seriously aggressive, entertaining hockey. GM Don Waddell has done an excellent job of identifying talented young players who had been largely overlooked in recent years, like the Minnesota Wild’s Richard Park and the Islanders’ Mark Parrish.

Not surprisingly for such a young team, Team USA has also produced some inconsistent performances, yet the Americans enter today’s quarterfinal against the Czech Republic with good reason to feel confident. Head coach Peter Laviolette’s team compiled a solid but unspectacular 1-0-2 record in the qualifying round, of which a 5-1 victory over an excellent Swedish squad was the obvious highlight. For local hockey fans, a number of bright spots are worth watching, with young Islanders and Devils prospects playing key roles on Team USA.

The Americans’ road to the quarterfinals has not been a terribly smooth one, but the newly constructed lineup has gelled more quickly than expected. They began the qualifying round last Friday with a dramatic 4-4 tie against Finland. Team USA looked to be in control in the third period after scoring two quick goals to take a 3-1 lead, but the Finns mounted an impressive comeback, and took a a 4-3 lead with just five minutes remaining. The feisty Parrish then scored a last minute goal to tie the score and earn his team an important tie.

Parrish’s Long Island teammate, goalie Rick DiPietro, got the call in nets for Saturday’s Sweden game after Tyler Conklin (Edmonton Oilers) gave up four goals on just 27 shots against Finland. DiPietro was clearly up to the task, and came out on top in a matchup against the Rangers’ goaltender of the future, Henrik Lundqvist. DiPietro demonstrated great discipline against the Swedes, rarely straying from the crease and eschewing his tendency to over-handle the puck.

That said, his puckhandling did lead to a spectacular play that will go down as one of the highlights of this tournament. With the Americans up 1-0 in the second period and the Swedes on the power play, DiPietro took possession of the puck and launched a pass towards center ice. More than 100 feet away, the pass landed on the tape of American forward Yan Stastny’s stick, and the talented son of Petr Stastny then raced in on Lundqvist to score a breakaway goal. It was the type of play that explains why Islanders GM Mike Milbury invested the organization’s future in DiPietro – and the goalie didn’t even have to make a save!

For Devils fans, meanwhile, Team USA’s final goal in the 5-1 romp over Sweden presented a sneak preview of what could turn out to be a potent scoring combination in New Jersey. In his first game with the Americans, late addition Zach Parise fired a great lead pass into open ice. The speedy Brian Gionta chased it down, then fired a quick wrist shot past a shell-shocked Lundqvist.

Parise got another chance to shine in the waning minutes of the Americans’ 1-1 tie with the Ukraine when Ukrainian netminder Konstantin Simchuk, who had put on a Dominik Hasek-like display in stopping 38 of 39 shots, appeared to knock the net off its moorings intentionally. A delay of game penalty was called, and Laviolette was given the choice of either a power play or a penalty shot. He chose the latter, and tapped Parise for the high-pressure opportunity.

It was a surprising choice, despite Parise’s calm demeanor and his experience with AHL shootouts this season. The former Albany River Rat took the puck and raced toward Simchuk, faking to the left before attempting to tuck a backhand between the Ukrainian goalie’s pads. Simchuk made the save to preserve the tie, and so Team USA finished the qualifying round 1-0-2.

Up against the Czechs today, DiPietro could again hold the key to the Americans’ hopes for success. The Czechs boast a solid offense led by the Rangers’ Jaromir Jagr, though they were relatively unimpressive in a tough 2-1 loss to Russia in the qualifying round. DiPietro’s positional play has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and in the absence of Czech star Patrik Elias – the Devils’ winger is recovering from a serious bout of Hepatitis A – the Czechs might struggle to score.

At the other end, the Czechs are backstopped by Nashville Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun, who enjoyed a breakout campaign during the 2003-04 NHL season and played extremely well again this season for Znojemsti Excalibur Orli of the Czech Elite League. His lightning-quick glove hand and excellent positioning have made the unheralded Vokoun one of the world’s finest netminders. However, if the Americans stick to their game, playing solid positional defense and fore-checking aggressively in the offensive zone, they should come out on top today and earn themselves a berth in Saturday’s semifinals.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.