Team Canada has been the top dog in Olympic hockey in recent years, having won the gold medal in two of the past three Olympic Games.
Most recently, Team Canada knocked off Team USA to win gold in a thrilling overtime victory in 2010. As the 2014 Winter Olympics near, it seems as though Team USA is poised for another second place finish.
This year’s Team USA squad consists of a solid core of players in Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler and Phil Kessel. Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick will mind the net, giving Team USA three solid options in goal. The team is tremendously talented, but is still lagging behind Team Canada when it comes to overall roster talent.
Of course, topping Team Canada is no easy task. After all, hockey originated in Canada and has long been a hotbed of National Hockey League talent. This year’s team, as usual, is reminiscent of an All-Star team.
Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews lead a roster that is full of goal-scorers. From Patrice Bergeron to Rick Nash to Patrick Sharp and Corey Perry, this team can flat-out put the puck in the back of the net. They are so stacked that veterans such as Eric Staal, Joe Thornton and Claude Giroux were left off of the team. There are simply too many talented Canadian players to find a place on the team for everyone.
Team USA, the second most talented team in the world behind Team Canada, does not have this luxury. They need their most talented and experienced players on the ice in order to take home the gold, but this is not what they are doing.
Team USA will bring a very inexperienced and young team to compete in Sochi, Russia, especially on the blue line. Brooks Orpik and Ryan Suter are the only two returning defensemen from the 2010 Olympic team. Newcomers John Carlson, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler, Paul Martin, Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Shattenkirk will join Orpik and Suter to form a very young defensive core with little Olympic experience.
Jack Johnson of the Columbus Blue Jackets is the most notable defensive snub for Team USA. Johnson, who played for Team USA during the 2010 games in Vancouver, provides a physical presence that the younger defensemen will not be able to match.
In addition to Johnson, winger Bobby Ryan, of the Ottawa Senators, was another player that was surprisingly left off of the American team. At 26, would Ryan not be a better choice than, say, Max Pacioretty, who has no prior Olympic experience? The answer is yes. Pacioretty is a talented player, but Ryan is a proven goal-scoring threat that Team USA will need on the ice.
Team USA has not won a gold medal in hockey at the Winter Olympics since 1980, when the “Miracle on Ice” team stunned a U.S.S.R. team that had won the previous four gold medals. Before this year’s rosters were released, it seemed as though Team USA would have a decent shot to compete with Team Canada in Sochi. Now, after decisions have been made and veteran players left off of the Team USA roster, this is looking less like the case.
Team USA is good enough to win a medal, but not the coveted gold. Team Canada is too talented of a team for the Americans to compete with, especially without Jack Johnson and Bobby Ryan.
Going younger may prove to be a good idea down the road, but all it means this year is another second place finish for Team USA.