TURIN, Italy - He came to Turin never expecting to play, but Robert Esche is going to get his chance.
After the U.S. team practice Monday, Esche said he had been tapped by coach Peter Laviolette to start Tuesday in the final game of the preliminary round against Russia.
"I'm excited to play," Esche said. "It's a frustrating thing backing up, but on the same hand there is only so much ice time to go around for everybody."
Before he left for Italy, Esche said he was told by Laviolette that he would not be playing a game and that John Grahame would be the starter while Rick DiPietro backed him up.
That remained the case through the first four games. Grahame started the first game, and DiPietro played the next three.
Goaltending has not been a problem for the U.S. - goal scoring has. Despite losing the past two games and compiling a 1-2-1 record, Team USA will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday against Finland at 5:30.
Though it would be a confidence booster for the U.S. to defeat Russia, the game will not change the matchups for the quarterfinals. Asked why he had changed his mind, Laviolette said all three goalies are good enough to play here.
Laviolette said in his pre-tournament news conference that he did not like to announce his starting goaltenders and seemed surprised that everyone knew.
"Who told you?" he asked reporters before answering questions.
"It's an opportunity to get him in and see what he can do," Laviolette said. "We have three NHL starting goaltenders. They all start for their teams, and they are pretty capable."
Though Esche has not played, he has sat on the bench as backup twice.
"He just came in and told me a while ago,'' Esche said. "Everybody wants a chance. I think I've handled this in the best way I could. The big thing is not to get worked up. Right now, I'm extremely excited to play, but I don't want to overthink what I should be doing or am I prepared for it. I'll be ready for it."
Esche said he didn't believe the decision had anything to do with either the play of Grahame or DiPietro.
"We haven't scored enough goals,'' he said. "We've run into good goalies, and we've also run into teams that will do anything to win. (DiPietro) has played really well. I don't think there's been a bad performance by any goalie in this tournament."