West Valley City, Utah ? The Olympics draw a crowd that is enthusiastic but not all that knowledgeable sometimes.

It took a few minutes for the hats to start to fly.

Eventually, the red, white and blue-waving fans in the E-Center caught on that Flyers winger John LeClair had just scored his third goal of the Team USA Olympic opener, powering a 6-0 thumping of Finland.

“This morning at the skate, (head coach) Herb Brooks said the country’s eyes are on all the Olympians, and on us tonight,” said LeClair, who was scoreless in four games in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. “It meant a lot to us,” LeClair said, to play in front of a pro-USA crowd.

LeClair’s Olympic roommate and Flyers teammate, Jeremy Roenick, said: “Johnny woke up this morning, rolled over and said, ‘J.R., it’s here. The day has come.’ You can tell he’s pumped up for this.”

The Finns, the 1998 bronze medalists, are skilled but tend to play conservatively, not looking for the home-run passes that can stretch a defense. They got very little pressure on USA goalie Mike Dunham.

It was a 0-0 game, even though the Americans were getting most of the chances, when Team USA scored a European-style goal, quick passes from Gary Suter and Brian Rolston sending Scott Young in alone. Young beat Finnish goalie Jani Hurme’s glove, 9:45 into the second period.

With 3:44 left in the second, LeClair got behind defenseman Teppo Numminen and popped home the rebound of a Brett Hull one-timer.

Then Roenick slipped a pass to Keith Tkachuk, and Tkachuk dragged the puck around defenseman Kimmo Timmonen before beating Hurme for a 3-0 lead, with 2:15 left in the second.

Early in the third, LeClair scored again. The Americans had a two-man power-play advantage, and Brian Rafalski ripped a shot from up high. LeClair fought off Timmonen and Sami Salo, scoring on a midair deflection.

LeClair’s hat trick goal came on a 2-on-1, Hull threading the pass for a one-timer.

Bill Guerin also scored.