Team America: World Disappointment

Zero wins and three losses... That is it for Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey. Embarrassing. This team was not expected to take home gold in this tournament, that was Canada's job. However, they should have been competitive and probably made it out of round robin play. Instead we are left with possibly the worst showing by an American hockey team at an international tournament ever, at least the most underachieving.

There is a lot of blame to go around. Bad coaching, the wrong players, poor play and an unfavorable group. I love USA hockey, whether it is world juniors, U-18, IIHF World Championships, the Olympics or now the World Cup I always want them to do well and support the team. I guess the sense of national pride combined with my favorite sport is what does it for me. Even so, I am not blind. USA hockey has not been very good at any level for the last 30 years. They have sprinkled in a few gold and silver medals in that time, but far more non-medal finishes than there should be.


Maybe that is why Dean Lombardi (General Manager) and John Tortorella (Head Coach) decided to go a different direction with the type of team they selected in this tournament. They were not going to beat Canada by trying to be Canada. They do not have that same depth of talent, no one does. They did not want to play the same boring style of systematic hockey that the European teams play to compete. Although it has served Sweden and Finland very well in previous tournaments. They wanted to play their own gritty style and physically beat teams. That was a mistake.

Players like Brandon Dubinsky, Jack Johnson and Justin Abdelkader have no place in an international tournament. They are all quality NHL players that serve their teams well over the course of an 82 game season. Goal scoring is everything in a very short, every game is do or die type of tournament like this. They needed players like Paul Statsny, Kyle Okposo, Cam Fowler and especially Phil Kessel. These players create scoring chances and are a threat to score at all times. Team USA was never going to win games 1-0 and 2-1 in the World Cup of Hockey. They should have at least known that. If you want Dubinsky on the team because Sidney Crosby struggles against him and that gives you a shot at beating Canada, that is fine, but he should have been scratched for the other two games in favor of a goal scorer. You need high skill players to make up for the lack of scoring depth they had. Patrick Kane and Zach Parise are great players, but there was nobody else on this roster that was a true scoring threat. By the way, Kane and Parise combined for zero goals in the tournament mainly because it was so easy for the opposition to key their best defenseman on them. I admire the thought by Lombardi and Tortorella, but it was the wrong idea.

The biggest takeaway from this tournament for me is my belief has been cemented that John Tortorella is just a bad old school hockey coach. He won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was pre-lockout, the worst version of the NHL we have ever seen. Since then

Tortorella has never changed his coaching style. He has been fired by three different NHL teams and never has his teams play up to their potential. All of his teams share the same traits; they are bullies that abandon all skill in favor of grit and defense. It does not work in the modern NHL and especially not in international tournaments. Modern hockey embraces speed and skill, this is ensured by the NHL rules and officiating. Probably why Team USA only scored five goals over three games. This team was never going to win under Tortorella.

The only good news to come out of this tournament is that it seems like we will never have to see John Tortorella as the team's head coach again. Dean Lombardi may have permanently lost a chance to GM the team as well. This team could not have been worse. The 2018 Winter Olympics are in doubt for NHL players, the league is doing everything possible to keep them from playing. Either way USA hockey needs a reboot. The whole mindset needs to change. Skill and goal scoring need to be the first priority.

No matter what, I will be rooting for USA hockey. Even though it does make it difficult when you know they are not putting together the best team possible.