No country in history has swept all five IIHF world championships in a given season. The United States has claimed four already this season and will field a roster at the 2017 IIHF Men’s World Championship that, despite it’s average age, has ample experience in gold medal games.
Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) is one of six players — along with Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), Connor Murphy (Arizona Coyotes) and Brock Nelson (Islanders) — who brought home bronze for Team USA at the 2015 IIHF Men’s World Championship and return to this year’s squad.
“Being on that [2015] team, we have quite a few good players,” said Larkin. “I was a young guy and I don’t think I’d even signed to play pro yet, but I took away that with the youthfulness in USA Hockey and the energy that we brought to take home the bronze was a lot of fun. Overall, it was a great experience. Hockey came first and then it was fun. The more we won, the more fun we had.”
Those skaters will have to play large leadership roles on a team that’s average age is just short of 23 years old. Age is just a number though to Jim Johannson, executive director of hockey operations at USA Hockey, who points to another number of gold medals those young players already have in their careers at the Under-18 and World Juniors tournaments.
“The players set the tone, and I think those guys can help set the tone for the tournament,” Johannson said. “As a bunch of them came through, they were our ‘young guys’ that we needed to instill energy and emotion to our more experienced guys. So now all of a sudden, they’re all a little bit more experienced, yet they’re obviously still young. But it’s kind of the same chemistry again.”
The Americans have played well recently at worlds, placing in the top four in three of the last four years, including two bronze medal performances. It’s the team’s best streak in the modern era of the tournament, something the players want to keep alive when they head to Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France, for the tournament from May 5-21.
“At all the levels, we’re trying to create consistency and medal performance and winning championships,” said Johannson. “I think we’ve gotten some good momentum in the last four years, but fell short of what the ultimate goal is.”
Team USA’s current roster is comprised of 23 players, including three goaltenders. Nineteen players are currently in the NHL. At 33, goaltender Jimmy Howard (Red Wings) is the only one over the age of 27.
Former Team USA player and longtime NHL star and current Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Bill Guerin is part of the group that helped select the U.S. Men’s National Team.
“I think there’s a great combination of youth and experience,” Guerin said. “It’s a highly-talented team. The one thing I’m really excited about this team is the guys want to go. We’ve had more guys call and ask to be a part of it. If we have players calling us wanting to go, things are going in the right direction.”
Johannson likes the balance of the roster with solid defensemen, potent offensive players and sound special teams. USA Hockey has loaded the roster with plenty of options for national team and Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill.
“We’ve got a lot players that can skate, up front and on D,” said Larkin, who is playing at worlds for the third straight year. “I think in a tournament like this, special teams is going to be huge and goaltending. I know we’ve got a veteran in Jimmy Howard and a young, budding star in Hellebuyck. I think our identity is an upbeat team that is reliable and disciplined.”
Team USA placed fourth at worlds in 2016. After finishing fourth in its group in pool play, the Americans upset the Czechs 2-1 in the quarterfinals before falling to Canada 4-3 in the semifinals. Russia won the bronze-medal game, 7-2, and Canada downed Finland 2-0 to win gold.
The same four top teams should be in contention again this year, along with Sweden.
“I think we’re right in the mix,” Johannson said. “It’s a hard tournament. It’s kind of a three-stage tournament. The preliminaries, you’ve just got to set yourself up for the quarterfinal and the quarterfinal, you set yourself up for medals. Then after, that’s the part we’ve got to get over the hump on is getting ourselves into that gold- medal game.”
The Americans are in a stacked Group A, which includes Russia, Sweden, Germany and Denmark.
“It’s such a tough tournament,” Larkin said. “If you’re looking at it, if you make to the medal round it’s 10 games, and a lot can happen in those 10 games. I just hope we can come together as a team, spend some time together, build new friendships. And you know what? I’m hoping we come home with gold.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc
DATE | OPPONENT | Result | ARENA | LOCATION |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 2 | Italy (exh.) | W, 5-2 | Agora Arena | Milan, Italy |
May 5 | Germany | L, 1-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 7 | Denmark | W, 7-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 8 | Sweden | W, 4-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 10 | Italy | W, 3-0 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 13 | Latvia | W, 5-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 14 | Slovakia | W, 6-1 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 16 | Russia | W, 5-3 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
May 18 | Finland (quarterfinal) | L, 0-2 | LANXESS Arena | Cologne, Germany |
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