2022 Beijing Olympic Preview: Team USA
KHL.ru continues its preview of the teams competing at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. This time, we’re looking at Team USA, which will face Canada, Germany and China in the group stage.
History and honors
Team USA first appeared at the Olympics back in 1920 when hockey was still part of the summer Games. The Americans won silver in that tournament and had to wait until Squaw Valley in 1960 to take gold for the first time. Two decades later, team USA pulled off the ‘Miracle on Ice’, defeating the all-conquering Soviets in Lake Placid to win a second gold.
But there was a long wait for the next medal, with the USA unable to return to the podium until 2002 in Salt Lake City. In a new era, with NHL stars available to play, the Americans reached the final on home ice but lost to Canada. Eight years later in Vancouver the same teams played for gold and, once again, the Canadians came out on top. The most recent Olympics have not been a big success for Team USA. In Sochi, the Americans lost out to Finland in the bronze medal game then in PyeongChang the team came seventh.
In World Championship play, Team USA has yet to reach a final in the 21st century although there have been five bronze medals in that time. Indeed, you have to go back to the 1930s to find an American triumph at a standalone World Championship, although the 1960 Olympics is recognized as the de facto World Championship for that year.
Head coach
David Quinn, 55, has long worked within the USA Hockey program, Back in the late 90s he was assistant coach on the women’s national team, before moving on to work in youth development and college hockey. For the past three seasons he’s served behind the bench at the New York Rangers. His honors include a silver medal at the women’s World Championship and an NCAA title with Boston University.
Team leaders
The American roster features just one player who went to PyeongChang four years ago. That’s Jokerit star Brian O’Neill. He’s in his sixth KHL season, and it would be hard to find a more consistent import anywhere in the league. This season he has 42 (9+33) points in 41 games and he is closing in on 300 points in his KHL career (currently on 283).
On defense, Ak Bars’ Steven Kampfer is a stand-out. Following the departure of several key players from Kazan in the summer, Kampfer somewhat unexpectedly because a stand-out blue liner in his first KHL season. According to the smart puck stats, he’s leading his team in several areas, from passing accuracy and expected goals to the highest percentage of successful puck battles. Kampfer will be a key link between offense and defense, and sets an example to the youngsters on the American roster.
Torpedo forward Kenny Agostino has a big role on offense. In his first KHL campaign, he’s shown that he’s not afraid of a physical battle and loves to get to the slot and deploy his impressive shot. Thus far, he’s posted 40 (20+20) points this season, good enough to earn him a contract extension in Nizhny Novgorod.
Roster
It’s commonplace to talk about a blend of youth and experience, but this USA roster really embodies the concept. From the KHL, in addition to O’Neill, Kampfer and Agostino, we see forwards Nick Shore (Sibir) and Andy Miele (Torpedo). Shore has established himself in his second KHL spell, becoming a vital part of Sibir’s offense.
As for Miele, it will be interesting to see how his partnership with Agostino translates onto the international stage. It’s not yet clear who will take on Damir Zhafyarov’s role from Torpedo. O’Neill looks like an obvious candidate, and he could bring even greater mobility to that line, making it potentially one of the most dangerous in the competition.
As for the rest of the team, 15 players have been selected from college hockey with young University of Michigan forward Matty Beniers worthy of special attention. The remaining five places on the roster go to goalie Strauss Mann and defenseman Brian Cooper, both playing in Sweden, AHL representatives Pat Nagle and Aaron Ness plus German-based defenseman David Warsofsky.
Prognosis
At the coming Olympics, Group A looks hard to predict. Nobody can say for sure how Team China will fare at this level, and it’s unclear how quickly the Canadians and Americans will click. Then there’s Germany, looking to repeat its success from 2018. Team USA has every chance of topping the group and advancing directly to the last eight, where there’s a potentially straightforward path to the final four.
