At the end of the day thats all you should do, take the guys with the best stats, in general those are going to be the guys you have the best chance of winning with...you overthink stuff and take guys like Stepan for one reason and leave off Okposo Byfuglien or Yandle for some other strange reason you usually end up looking dumb....there were so many people involved with this decision I think you'll see a combination of 1 or 2 taking themselves out of it on their own if there is a 2018 and the others will probably be removed forcably...I'd be shocked if anyone involved with this team other than the training staff is back if there is a next time.
State of USA Hockey after another disappointing Olympics Part II
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At the end of the day thats all you should do, take the guys with the best stats, in general those are going to be the guys you have the best chance of winning with...you overthink stuff and take guys like Stepan for one reason and leave off Okposo Byfuglien or Yandle for some other strange reason you usually end up looking dumb....there were so many people involved with this decision I think you'll see a combination of 1 or 2 taking themselves out of it on their own if there is a 2018 and the others will probably be removed forcably...I'd be shocked if anyone involved with this team other than the training staff is back if there is a next time.
Remove the politics from selecting the team. Then have the USA gm (who should not be part of any franchise or NHL position) and let them select the best team. No doubt that Okposo, Ryan, Bishop and Yandle would have been named to the team. They were deserving over many on the team, but the multiple influences wanted their guys in.
stan the caddy
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- Sep 27, 2011
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How was taking Stepan overthinking things? They didn't want to go into the tournament with only 4 centers. That makes complete sense.
I am sure their attitude is fine. They seem like a nice bunch of young men.
The only thing I would say is, at the Olympics and WJR's, all too often U.S. teams will start off like a house on fire, against the weaker teams, and then they are overrated by fans and non fans alike. I remember when I was at the WJR's in Buffalo, the U.S. dominated their division and everyone was saying they were going to steamroll the competition in the medal round. Then they were crushed by Canada. Yet, no one ever learns!!! No one ever says, "Let's wait and see". It happens over and over again. Heck, even I was guilty of it this week.
In this tournament, the U.S. beat up against Slovakia and Slovenia but were clearly outplayed by Russia, yet everyone had them rated ahead of Sweden, Finland and Canada. When will posters/fans ever learn?
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Bishop I don't think earned his spot, the guy has been basically tossed aside by every franchise thus far and there is probably a reason for that... he happened to have a hot sesson this year but I don't think any of the other 3 goalies should have been taken out in favor of him just yet.
I think bracketing and a badly timed back to back game schedule was a significant contributor. I believe it is hard to argue that USA does not have a talent pool when 100% of the roster came from the NHL.
Penguins87
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- Jan 12, 2011
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Ill reply here on behalf of the well mannered canadians in this country. i'll start off by saying the US did nothing wrong, they played a great tournament aside from that very last game, which was somewhat understandable somewhat... its easy to sit here and analyze from a outside view and to critique on players and a team, but the truth is you never know whats going on out there on the ice. you gotta remember its a ONE game knockout.......mistakes are bound to happen.....it just comes down to who makes the bigger mistakes! US did well.... you guys should be proud.
Bookman
Registered User
Team USA has as bright a future as they ever had. There have always been a handful of good Americans in the NHL in the years I've watched hockey: Lafontaine, Broten, Housley, Modano, Chelios and JR, to name a few. They just didn't have the depth.
Now, they aren't THAT far behind Canada in their ability to send 4 1st lines to the Olympics. Lots of the current team have letters on their jerseys for their NHL teams, and are NHL stars. The game continues to grow here, and in non-traditional hockey markets.
One failed game or two doesn't negate the progress of USA hockey to someone who has watched about 40 years' worth.
Now, they aren't THAT far behind Canada in their ability to send 4 1st lines to the Olympics. Lots of the current team have letters on their jerseys for their NHL teams, and are NHL stars. The game continues to grow here, and in non-traditional hockey markets.
One failed game or two doesn't negate the progress of USA hockey to someone who has watched about 40 years' worth.
Ironically, if Ryan made the team, he would have almost certainly taken Wheeler's spot. I keep hearing two things: " Ryan should've made it" and "Why didn't Wheeler play more?" The two are probaby mutually exclusive.
There's much to be optimistic about. The national development program is really bearing fruit, NCAA programs and coaching are increasingly top-notch and the expansion of youth hockey and increasing participation of players within and outside of the traditional areas augers well for the future.
Nonetheless, we won't catch Canada simply because it isn't in our collective consciousness nor is tied to our national identity. We will, however, continue to be very competitive, indeed capable of winning any tournament at any given time.
It's just a issue of managing expectations and rolling with it.
Nonetheless, we won't catch Canada simply because it isn't in our collective consciousness nor is tied to our national identity. We will, however, continue to be very competitive, indeed capable of winning any tournament at any given time.
It's just a issue of managing expectations and rolling with it.
As an American for me not that big of a deal. The US played very good, lost to the best team by ONE goal and then had a letdown. It's not like the best athletes in the the US play hockey like in other countries. Can you imagine how good they would be if every boy grew up dreaming of playing hockey instead of the other more popular sports in the US.
Haj
#CatsAreComing
The US team is built to play with the puck. But they couldn't play without it. They could not get the puck back from Canada, not enough size, strength, hard work or whatever you want to say.
Against Finland, the game is completely different if the US finishes chances against Rask. Of course, Rask was brilliant and Finland has more than enough talent to take advantage of its opportunities.
Canada, Sweden, and Finland could play with the puck and without the puck. The USA couldn't and that's why we lost.
Bylsma had no answer for what Canada and Finland were doing, he got out coached when it mattered.
Against Finland, the game is completely different if the US finishes chances against Rask. Of course, Rask was brilliant and Finland has more than enough talent to take advantage of its opportunities.
Canada, Sweden, and Finland could play with the puck and without the puck. The USA couldn't and that's why we lost.
Bylsma had no answer for what Canada and Finland were doing, he got out coached when it mattered.
Itsnotatrap
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- Oct 6, 2013
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As the old joke goes, a camel is a horse designed by committee. There were a couple of obvious changes I'd have like to have seen made, but it likely wouldn't have made any difference this time around. It is a systemic problem that could bite us down the road though.
To catch up to Canada you guys need a junior program like we have.To hell with university education,grab the kids at 15 and teach them that hockey is more important.If then they don't succeed in hockey let them go to school.
I thought by far this us team on paper was the most dangerous team to play against in the tournament but we never played the Russians.
I'd say coaching was the problem or gameplan overall? On paper that team should have done more damage
Then again just a tiny change in the seeding for elimination games and team US could have met us in the final so it's tough to say. I'm really disappointed Russia and Canada never played
I'd say coaching was the problem or gameplan overall? On paper that team should have done more damage
Then again just a tiny change in the seeding for elimination games and team US could have met us in the final so it's tough to say. I'm really disappointed Russia and Canada never played
SettlementRichie10
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- May 6, 2012
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This post is absurd. Why don't you just come out and say African and Latino Americans can run and jump better than white people? GTFO with this inferred stereotype reinforcement.
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As far as the actual thread goes, I think this Olympics stings quite a bit simply due to overinflated expectations. I think fans, management, and players alike all look back on 2010 as something it wasn't. Team USA was young and surprised a lot of people and took an underperforming Team Canada to the brink. People interpreted that as Team USA being on the cusp of entering the same tier as Team Canada when it wasn't anything more than a young, underappreciated team utilizing every advantage they had against a powerhouse dynasty with an enormous amount of pressure on their shoulders. We've seen stories like that play out in the NHL.
Team USA should contend for a medal in the forseeable future but they'll always be the underdogs and rightfully so. Hockey is the most important thing happening north of the border, has been, and always will be. It's apart of their cultural identity. Flip the script and have a best-on-best Canada vs. Team USA football game and you'd see equal domination. Football is an afterthought up there, whereas hockey is the same down here. It just is what it is. Canada will continue to churn out superstar hockey players just as consistently as America will continue to churn out superstar football/basketball/baseball players. For that reason alone, there isn't much USA hockey can do any better than simply try their best to grow the game and maybe catch lightning in a bottle every four years.
They're not comparable hockey programs. It doesn't mean anything more than what it is - hockey is more important to Canadians than it is to Americans. When did this change?
As far as the actual hockey is concerned, I think hindsight is 20/20. But it's pretty plain that a lot of errors were made in the selection of the team. It seems like a thousand years ago we had a true anchor defensively like we had in Brian Leetch. Rafalski did his best to fill that void in 2010, but Suter was simply not up to task this time around. Guys like Brown, Callahan, Wheeler, there were likely a lot better selections to have more earnestly considered. But when you have guys like Burke and Lombardi running the show, who value grit and character more than actual hockey skill, you're going to see a team that foregoes shoe-in selections like Bobby Ryan or Keith Yandle in favor of the Callahans and Browns of the league. I think Team USA got too caught up in "building a team" than simply choosing the best players available at each position. Team Canada got caught up in this, as well (cough Kunitz cough) but their margin of error was astronomically wider considering the depth of their selection pool.
Also consider that as much as everyone likes to rag on how worthless guys like Brown were, Team USA's big guns were total no shows in the last two games. Parise, Kessel, even Kane put up a collective goose egg. Kane I'm inclined to give a bigger pass to because he was definitely creating out there, but Parise in particular was just plain invisible, all whilst wearing the C.
Team USA has the potential to have much more stacked D with Jones and Trouba in the pipe, but for every Jones and Trouba, Canada has a Mackinnon, Hall, Mcdavid, etc. etc. etc.
Keep building, keep growing, learn from your mistakes. Team USA will win a gold medal again. These things are cyclical. It was only a decade ago that Team Canada was asking itself a lot of the same questions regarding personnel choices, coaching, etc. after disappointing performances. Team USA will have its day in the sun.
Edit: Also, when comparing Team Canada to Team USA, consider that 2% of the entire Canadian population are considered registered hockey players, whereas America's percentage sits at 0.2%. It's remarkable that Team USA has accomplished what they have over the years with that small of a percentage actively participating in their hockey program.
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Everyone being negative thinking nervous Nellies like you...I always thought Canada was better + would beat Yanks ( not saying I wasn't worried about an upset )
You do realize that 2% of the population includes 20-70 year olds that pay to play just for fun and exercise.
shadow1
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Not worried about the state of US hockey but question some of the player selections, as I did at the time of the announcement.
You leave scorers like Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson off the team - along with dragging their names through the mud - and the result is being shutout in the final two games of the tournament and failing to medal.
You leave scorers like Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson off the team - along with dragging their names through the mud - and the result is being shutout in the final two games of the tournament and failing to medal.
NSHPreds1835
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