Olympics: Team USA 2022

[joelef]

Well all the “send college players” and “amateur athletes” people are pretty silent today

 

[joelef]

We need an outsider to take over USAH IMO. Someone who's ruthless against the old boys network, living on bygone glories, and validating our federation's success on junior tournaments. I'm sick of USAH talking about the Miracle on Ice or the 1996 World Cup. They were amazing historic events but they were 42 and 26 years ago. They don't matter in this era. And frankly, the U18 and U20 success don't mean much if we can't translate them into senior level success, either.

It would be refreshing to have USAH head honchos accountable to success. No more of this we tried hard, the boys battled, etc. I want executives and coaches who expect to win gold every time and own the failures when it doesn't happen. We certainly won't win gold every time but that ruthless pursuit will demand a program under continual evaluation and improvement, or else heads will turn.

I want coaches and executives who will admit this tournament was a failure. Full stop. Instead, I'm sure we'll hear about how young this team was, they were so close to moving on, they have bright futures, they're proud of the effort the team put in, and blah blah blah. Hogwash. They failed.

This is hockey they celebrate the old boys network he’ll the nhl marketing department still think it’s the 80s

 

[William H Bonney]

Well all the “send college players” and “amateur athletes” people are pretty silent today

Not really. The amateurs were better than the professionals.

 

[swoopster]

Their best amateur, Beniers, wasn't allowed to take a shot!

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Well all the “send college players” and “amateur athletes” people are pretty silent today

....I mean, the game was on Tuesday. Not much more to say other than having a few more European based pros wasn't going to radically change the fortunes of this team. I'd say questionable coaching (the bane of USA Hockey) was the real issue.

 

[SoundAndFury]

....I mean, the game was on Tuesday. Not much more to say other than having a few more European based pros wasn't going to radically change the fortunes of this team.

A couple of players who usually dominate this level of competition couldn't have changed the outcome of the game that ended in the shootout? /doubt

 

[Rabid Ranger]

A couple of players who usually dominate this level of competition couldn't have changed the outcome of the game that ended in the shootout? /doubt

Yes, it's possible Ryan Lasch could have saved the day.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yes, it's possible Ryan Lasch could have saved the day.

Or picking Gunderson over Warsofsky who ended up with 0 points and -2. I don't imagine it would have hurt.

 

[William H Bonney]

Or picking Gunderson over Warsofsky who ended up with 0 points and -2. I don't imagine it would have hurt.

Gunderson was as worthless in his Olympics. They should have brought a different defenseman but Gunderson isn't the guy.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Or picking Gunderson over Warsofsky who ended up with 0 points and -2. I don't imagine it would have hurt.

Yeah, we can nitpick roster decisions all day long. Bottom line is:

* U.S. blew it in the 3rd period. Had multiple opportunities to seal the deal
* Had some bad puck luck
* Crapped the bad in the shootout, in part due to some questionable coaching decisions

I suppose Ryan Lasch could have solved all of these problems but he is just one man.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Yes, it's possible Ryan Lasch could have saved the day.

LoL

 

[joelef]

....I mean, the game was on Tuesday. Not much more to say other than having a few more European based pros wasn't going to radically change the fortunes of this team. I'd say questionable coaching (the bane of USA Hockey) was the real issue.

There were no ahl guys? No khl ?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

There were no ahl guys? No khl ?

Not enough apparently. Seriously though, what I hated to see was the mentality of trying not to lose instead of playing for the win. What I had enough of was David Quinn's lack of preparation and execution. PP was abysmal and the personnel choices were close.

 

[William H Bonney]

There were no ahl guys? No khl ?

Most Americans in the AHL are under NHL contract and thus were ineligible to play. They had KHLers on the squad, there's just not a lot of Americans in that league.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

A couple of players who usually dominate this level of competition couldn't have changed the outcome of the game that ended in the shootout? /doubt

I would say if the US had college aged players
Kandre Miller, Matt Boldy, Trevor Zegras and Zac Jones we definitely would have seen a different result. All four I believe still had NCAA eligibility
remaining.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I would say if the US had college aged players
Kandre Miller, Matt Boldy, Trevor Zegras and Zac Jones we definitely would have seen a different result. All four I believe still had NCAA eligibility
remaining.

I don't think anyone is debating that.

 

[Northerner]

The women have still been disappointing at the Olympics. They should win gold more frequently given the talent they produce and how often they've won the World Championships. Yet they almost always stumble in the Olympics.

In the context of Slovakia never had a medal, and Finland never had a Gold; with the knowledge that Olympic hockey is just over 100 years old (and Russia won 8 and Canada won 9 of the 25 or so Golds), America hasn't done as horrific as it could have. We have 8 Silver Medals (more than most nations) and of course two Golds that were both miracles ('60 and '80).

Factor into it the women (I believe they have also underperformed). Yes I agree we have definitely underperformed for a nation of 300 (currently) million.

But I don't need to tell you for many of those Olympics they were just pulling from MN, MI and New England (generally).

Certainly they should have won more (2002 hurts to think about with my fellow East Sider Her Brooks at the helm that year) and of course 2010, but they do have some hardware through the years.

 

[swoopster]

In retrospect, I feel that given no NHL involvement, I would have gone with a unit entirely composed of collegiate / junior players. I think there is still a fascination to see what our young players can do against seasoned opponents.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

In retrospect, I feel that given no NHL involvement, I would have gone with a unit entirely composed of collegiate / junior players. I think there is still a fascination to see what our young players can do against seasoned opponents.

Completely agree and go back to getting a team in September together and develop some chemistry.
If you have to pay these guys a $100,000 for it do it.

 

[SoundAndFury]

This is team displays an excellent mixiture of future star NHL prospects and above average KHL/SHL players. I have a healthy respect for European based hockey leagues but I think there is a general lack of respect for the quality of play in the NCAA from many posters here. I think it's safe to say that most of the college players listed on this team will be playing and doing well in the NHL within the next 12 months. This team has as good a shot as any for a medal...even a gold one.

Sort of an old bump but I thought it was a really interesting topic at the time and at the start of the season this number is 4 guys (out of 15): Sanderson, Beniers, Cates and Ben Myers.

Beniers, Sanderson, Brisson, Faber, and Helleson all stand an excellent chance of making their NHL debuts within the next year. Farrell and Knies are not that far off. Nothing delusional about it.

As predicted in post #1406, Farell, Knies and Faber stayed in the college. Brisson and Helleson are in the AHL and although it's not impossible they will still make their NHL debuts it seems unlikely.