A few new pieces of the American Olympic hockey puzzle fell into place Wednesday night when Team USA GM Craig Patrick and coach Herb Brooks announced the addition of Mike Richter and Tom Barrasso.

The duo completes Team USA's netminding corps, joining previously selected Predators netminder Mike Dunham.

If you're keeping score, that'll be 17 spots filled, six still available with just three scouting days left till Olympic deadline day. (And you thought you were running out of time to get your Aunt Barbara that new blender?)

Richter had been a given for weeks. Coming back from a second knee surgery in as many years, he has been spectacular in leading the Rangers back among the living in the Eastern Conference.

Richter owns a 14-9-3 mark with a .919 save percentage after the Rangers' Wednesday Night Hockey tilt with the visiting Devils and has answered any lingering questions about the condition of his knees with his standout play.

While Richter's selection is a no-brainer, the Americans opted for Hurricanes veteran Barrasso over Flyers youngster Brian Boucher. Both goalies have been playing surprisingly well for their NHL clubs. Heck, just a year ago, Boucher was stapled to the Flyers' bench and Barrasso wasn't even in the league.

A couple of weeks ago, in selecting my Team USA, I opted for Barrasso over Boucher. Why? Simply, I like Barrasso's big-game experience. Barrasso's won two Cups and been in a ton of playoff games. Remember, big Tom was starring in the NHL as an 18-year-old when Boucher was still watching Saturday morning cartoons.

It's really no knock on Boucher, who could have made a much stronger case for inclusion if he hadn't suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the lineup for a month.

With the goaltending issue settled, the Team USA braintrust (which also includes Blues GM Larry Pleau) can continue their on-going debate over the final five roster spots. Clearly, if there weren't some heavy-duty philosophical differences, the club could have been announced during the bright spotlight of Wednesday Night Hockey.

Instead, we'll wait by the fax machine on deadline Saturday. How exciting! Is there anything more suspenseful than a fax and having the news dribble out over a holiday weekend?

Among the reasons for the holdup is Stars D Derian Hatcher, a nasty physical defenseman whose game is better suited for the smaller NHL ice surface (200 feet x 85 feet) as opposed to the wider international rink (200 feet x 100 feet). Apparently, Brooks -- who traveled to Dallas on Monday to scout the Sharks-Stars game -- isn't convinced Hatcher can be effective in these circumstances.

Others, like myself, figure Team USA will likely have to get past Canada to win gold. With that being the case, logic dictates there will be a need for Hatcher's nasty demeanor in the defensive zone. The Dallas captain stands among the very few non-Canadians that flat-out scare opponents.

Also, it should be noted, selecting Hatcher doesn't mean he has to play in every game. Brooks can spot Big Hatch if he doesn't like a particular matchup.

On my team, I added Hatcher, the Oilers' Tom Poti and the Kings' Mathieu Schneider (if healthy). Unfortunately, I omitted Schneider's teammate Aaron Miller. (Sorry, Aaron, my bad.) Miller is a likely selection.

Other defensive candidates getting late consideration include Eric Weinrich (Flyers), David Tanabe (Hurricanes), and, believe it or not, Bret Hedican (Panthers).

Up front, there's more debate.

I selected Mike York (Rangers), Craig Conroy (Flames) and Mark Parrish (Islanders). In my opinion, they've just been too good to overlook. In fact, they're the top three American-born scorers in the NHL.

Hopefully, USA Hockey (which can have a long memory) won't penalize either York or Conroy for not participating in last spring's World Championships. Both had good reasons for opting not to participate. And, both have earned their trip to Salt Lake City.

However, speedy Shawn McEachern (Senators) and rugged Adam Deadmarsh (Kings) have longer resumes and bring several intangibles to the table.

Patrick, Brooks & Co. have until Saturday to figure it all out. Good luck guys; it sounds like you'll need it.

E.J. Hradek writes puck for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.