The roster the USA placed on the ice for the 4 Nations Face-Off was arguably probably the greatest collections of expertise it has ever had for a global, best-on-best match. The expertise pool for USA Hockey is deeper than it has ever been, with each high-end, superstar-level gamers (Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Connor Hellebuyck) and really succesful depth gamers that may construct out a deep lineup.
Their 3-2 time beyond regulation loss to Canada within the championship sport on Thursday evening was a valiant effort that simply might have gone both method.
However the result’s all that issues, and it’s the identical one which Crew USA retains experiencing in all these tournaments.
When the video games matter essentially the most, when the chips are down, and when they’re going through the really elite groups and hockey superpowers, they merely cannot rating sufficient objectives. They by no means do.
It occurred once more on Thursday. It has occurred at each latest Olympics with NHL gamers. It occurred on the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
It’s not a fluke, and it’ll seemingly proceed till they make a significant change in how they construct their groups.
They need to ditch the position gamers and spend extra time focussing on taking their greatest, most expert gamers that may put the puck within the web.
Simply take into account some numbers. Over the previous 5 best-on-best tournaments to function NHL gamers (2006, 2010, 2014 Olympics, the 2016 World Cup and this yr’s 4 Nations Face-Off) the U.S. has performed in eight medal spherical/championship video games. They’ve solely scored 20 objectives in these video games, which comes out to a median of two.5 objectives per sport.
Examine that to the opposite six international hockey powers in related video games. Bear in mind, that is solely medal spherical/elimination video games the place it’s really probably the greatest groups with the very best stakes. Groups are ranked so as of objectives per sport:
- Sweden: 28 objectives in eight video games (3.5 objectives per sport)
- Canada: 40 objectives in 12 video games (3.3 objectives per sport)
- Finland: 27 objectives in 9 video games (3.0 objectives per sport)
- Slovakia: 17 objectives in 6 video games (2.8 objectives per sport)
- Czech Republic: 19 objectives in 7 video games (2.7 objectives per sport)
- United States: 20 objectives in 8 video games (2.5 objectives per sport)
- Russia: six objectives in 5 video games (1.2 objectives per sport)
The U.S. persistently fails in these video games offensively.
It’s not essentially an absence of expertise. It’s all in regards to the mindset of constructing the roster. The U.S. obsesses about taking position gamers that may match particular roles and doesn’t at all times take its greatest goal-scoring expertise.
Of the highest 5 American-born goal-scorers within the NHL this season, solely two of them had been on this roster (Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor and Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel). Solely one in all them (Guentzel) was within the lineup for Thursday’s championship as Connor was wholesome scratched, regardless of being the highest American-born goal-scorer within the NHL this season.
Taking gamers like Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck and Brock Nelson over goal-scorers like Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller and Alex DeBrincat is simply placing you at an obstacle and never providing you with your greatest likelihood.
These best-on-best groups don’t want checkers. They don’t want grinders or position gamers. The U.S. is just too typically caught within the “Miracle on Ice” mindset the place they’ve to search out the “proper gamers” as an alternative of simply merely taking the “greatest” gamers. After so many instances developing quick in these huge video games in opposition to the most effective groups, the message wants to begin getting by.
