‘We expect to win’ – USA Hockey targets 1st Olympic gold since ’80

PLYMOUTH, Michigan — Team USA, expected to have its best-ever men’s hockey roster when NHL players return to the Olympics this February, isn’t shying away from what’s at stake.

“The expectation is to go to Milan and win the gold medal,” Vegas star Jack Eichel said Wednesday at the Olympic orientation camp. “I think anything short of that, it would be disappointing.”

The United States has not won an Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team. But no longer is Team USA a plucky underdog. Hockey has grown immensely in the United States — participation has more than tripled in the 45 years since 1980 — and with NHL players returning to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years, a golden generation of superstars is ready for a golden opportunity.

“The stakes are extremely high; they’ve never been higher,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “These events give us the opportunity to say we feel like the United States is at the pinnacle of the sport. We feel like we are every bit as good, if not better, than any country that competes in this game. And these events give us the opportunity to prove it.

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“Also, the expectation as an American is that we expect to win. We don’t expect to participate. There’s a difference. And I think that’s what’s changed.”

While 44 players gathered this week for USA Hockey’s Olympic orientation camp in Plymouth Michigan, a final roster of 25 players — two more roster spots than the 4 Nations Face-Off — is due in early January.

USA Hockey general manager Bill Guerin said he was pleased with how Team USA came together for the 4 Nations last February, but he was stung by the overtime loss to Canada in the final.

“That was emotional,” Guerin said. “That was hard.”

Guerin’s staff faces difficult decisions, including whether to include 4 Nations snubs such as Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson, Cole Caufield, Seth Jones and two-time Olympian Patrick Kane, who said this week that an Olympic gold medal is the only thing missing from his Hall of Fame career.

“The guys that played in [4 Nations] did a great job, but we have to go back to the drawing board and start over again,” Guerin said. “Guys have to be playing well. They’ve got to be healthy. So it’s really tough to say how much is the roster going to change. I don’t know. We will see as time goes on, but having the two extra spots is huge.”

Guerin said he will rely heavily on assistant coach John Tortorella — who is not behind an NHL bench this fall — as a scout on the road early in the NHL season, with an extra focus on bubble players. Versatility and buy-in to roles are once again premium assets, Guerin said.

The GM also spoke of setting a new culture and standard for USA Hockey, beginning with an emphasis on the World Championships. The U.S. won gold at the event this May for the first time in 92 years. Team USA invited several young members of that team — Jackson LaCombe, Frank Nazar, Alex Vlasic and Shane Pinto — to its orientation camp as a reward for their commitment.

“We’re doing things differently now, and the world championships are absolutely connected to this. If you’re saying no and you don’t have a legit excuse, it will hurt you,” Guerin said. “I am not afraid to say that we don’t look at that with the Olympics coming up. That’s the biggest stage.

“The world championships are huge. They might not be as popular in the United States, but in Europe, in Canada, it is, and it has to be important for us. … We need to know what you’re all about. We need to know that you want to help USA Hockey win.”

The Americans are looking for revenge on a stacked Canada team, which won the 4 Nations Face-Off with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby leading the way.

“We can’t just sit here and say, ‘Hey, great job, you know, it was close,'” Guerin said. “That’s just not good enough. We have to figure out a way to get over the hump.”

That tournament was a smashing success, with 9.3 million U.S. viewers marking ESPN’s largest audience for a hockey game. Interest ballooned after Brady and Matthew Tkachuk helped stage a series of three fights in nine seconds to begin the first meeting against Canada at the Bell Centre — which Brady Tkachuk said was to show “how united we were as a group, and how we’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”

A repeat isn’t likely as fighting is banned in Olympic hockey.

Canada has won nine Olympic gold medals, including the past two in which NHL players were featured — in 2010 and 2014. Now, the U.S. feels it has matched Canada’s depth.

“We always used to say Canada could put two teams on the ice to compete,” Sullivan said. “Well now, we can put two teams out, too. We can put three teams and compete in these events. So I think that speaks volumes for the growth of the sport in the United States.”

Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes, who missed the 4 Nations with an injury, believes a gold medal will be a culmination of concerted efforts to grow the game.

“USA Hockey has put so much work in with their youth development programs, their national team development program, and I feel like they’re starting to see dividends where we do have some really, really elite players and the best players in the world,” Hughes said. “I feel like it’s kind of gold or nothing, personally.”