WJC: 2024 Team USA Roster Talk

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

damn they almost never get silver. They either win it all or go out early

That's what happens when you're 6-1 in gold medal games.

In the last 15 years, we're 9-1 in medal games.

 

[SK94]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Very interested to see what years get the most love...I know mine hands down....hint...OT vs Canada...dman scores with the rocket shot to send the Canadian crowd home in tears...

Same. 2010 is always going to be my favourite. It was also my early days following the tournament.

 

[MTU34]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Very interested to see what years get the most love...I know mine hands down....hint...OT vs Canada...dman scores with the rocket shot to send the Canadian crowd home in tears...

I’m too young to remember much about 2010. I’ll take 2021 with the 01s finally getting their major tournament win and doing it against a Canadian team that was getting “best ever” shouts

 

[WarriorofTime]

damn they almost never get silver. They either win it all or go out early

6-2 all time in Gold Medal Games (lost the first one they made it to in '97 and 6-1 since then)

They used to get 4th a lot, and were 1-5 in Bronze Medal Games between 1995 (when the knockout stage started) and 2008. Since 2011, they're 4-0 in Bronze Medal Games.

Since 2010, they're 10-5 in Quarterfinal games and 6-4 in Semifinal games to close the loop.

 

[WarriorofTime]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Probably 2010 because of the TSN coverage back then (can't recall if NHL Network had its own coverage for USA games back then or just streamed off the TSN one for all games).

Canada had won 5 straight Golds and they would do these heroic like profiles of the kids on the Canadian team that would cover their hometown, their mom and dad and whatever other all-Canadian Golden Boys portrayal you'd like. It had a major feel of "our young heroes going off to battle to come home with a Gold Medal" and I don't think riding off that high they could even fathom that there was a possibility they could lose.

That particular year they must have showed the replay of Jordan Eberle scoring a tying goal the year before about a hundred different times. And then he freaking scores twice in the last three minutes to tie the game and it seemed like there was no hope left. Carlson scoring in Overtime in Canada and against Canada was pretty incredible.

 

[William H Bonney]

The only bummer about this tournament is we didn't get a Canada / USA game. The WJC without one doesn't feel right.

Full marks to the team. It was a loaded group with a lot of guys keen on revenging their U18 letdowns. They were expected to win gold, and it would have been one of the biggest WJC letdowns if they didn't, but that doesn't mean much when the games start. You still have to show up, develop chemistry, accept your role, and perform. And the coaches and players did that.

Augustine was excellent. He's answered the question of whether he can perform in the big games. I'm not getting into the goalie projection game but one thing I've appreciated about Augustine is his ability to understand and accept the flaws in his game and to improve them, which he's done a lot in the last year-plus.

The defense was a pleasant surprise. If this team had one potential weakness it was going to be the defense due to their size and youth on the left-hand side. But they exceeded expectations. It wasn't always pretty and some guys had some rough games, but they always found a way to turn it around.

It was great to see a couple of guys who had uneven performances shine the brightest in the gold medal game. Today was Hutson's best game by a country mile. He controlled play out there and played an excellent defensive game. And Perreault had a big-time performance after his no-show in the semifinal. He was quiet for a lot of the tournament but he showed up huge in the QF + Final. I thought it might be a tournament too soon for him to keep up with the pace, and while that was true for stretches, he still delivered more than I expected and proved me wrong.

Lastly, full marks to the coaching staff. I don't agree with all their decisions but I thought they did an excellent job throughout managing the games, making subtle and decisive switches to regain momentum, and as someone else pointed out, remaining calm, cool, and collected when things were askew. The re-run coaches have proven ineffective more often than not, but if Carle wants to run it back, you have to bring him along.

 

[AmericanDream]

I’m too young to remember much about 2010. I’ll take 2021 with the 01s finally getting their major tournament win and doing it against a Canadian team that was getting “best ever” shouts

Stone Cold Trevor Zegras deserves respect ....."Canada hasn't faced a real team yet".....lol...then goes out and delivers Namath style...goat!

 

[clevelandcane]

Fantastic game and tournament! I had so much fun watching almost all the games.

I was impressed by the regular cast but also Buium, Fortescue, and Brindley. Augustine was super calm today and that was such a welcome change from yesterday 's start.

Fantastic group of kids. Well coached. Played hard. Expectations don't mean much in this tournament. This team achieved their goal and I'm really excited for them and proud!

 

[AmericanDream]

The only bummer about this tournament is we didn't get a Canada / USA game. The WJC without one doesn't feel right.

Full marks to the team. It was a loaded group with a lot of guys keen on revenging their U18 letdowns. They were expected to win gold, and it would have been one of the biggest WJC letdowns if they didn't, but that doesn't mean much when the games start. You still have to show up, develop chemistry, accept your role, and perform. And the coaches and players did that.

Augustine was excellent. He's answered the question of whether he can perform in the big games. I'm not getting into the goalie projection game but one thing I've appreciated about Augustine is his ability to understand and accept the flaws in his game and to improve them, which he's done a lot in the last year-plus.

The defense was a pleasant surprise. If this team had one potential weakness it was going to be the defense due to their size and youth on the left-hand side. But they exceeded expectations. It wasn't always pretty and some guys had some rough games, but they always found a way to turn it around.

It was great to see a couple of guys who had uneven performances shine the brightest in the gold medal game. Today was Hutson's best game by a country mile. He controlled play out there and played an excellent defensive game. And Perreault had a big-time performance after his no-show in the semifinal. He was quiet for a lot of the tournament but he showed up huge in the QF + Final. I thought it might be a tournament too soon for him to keep up with the pace, and while that was true for stretches, he still delivered more than I expected and proved me wrong.

Lastly, full marks to the coaching staff. I don't agree with all their decisions but I thought they did an excellent job throughout managing the games, making subtle and decisive switches to regain momentum, and as someone else pointed out, remaining calm, cool, and collected when things were askew. The re-run coaches have proven ineffective more often than not, but if Carle wants to run it back, you have to bring him along.

But we left goal scorers at home and brought a few plugs..how is it possible we won?? Someone explain this to me....slowly....lol

 

[SanDogBrewin]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Very interested to see what years get the most love...I know mine hands down....hint...OT vs Canada...dman scores with the rocket shot to send the Canadian crowd home in tears...

2010 was one of the best international games I ever watched. The Studs on both sides was insane!

 

[SK94]

2010 was one of the best international games I ever watched. The Studs on both sides was insane!

I would go as far as one of the best games full stop. Least Top 3.

 

[Jaykay]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Very interested to see what years get the most love...I know mine hands down....hint...OT vs Canada...dman scores with the rocket shot to send the Canadian crowd home in tears...

2013 was my favorite and the year I really got into this tournament.

Canada had the superteam during the NHL strike and it removed the classic "we have too many guys in the NHL" excuse.

Gibson played out of his mind and the whole team was a very fun group.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

But we left goal scorers at home and brought a few plugs..how is it possible we won?? Someone explain this to me....slowly....lol

There's no possible way we won this tournament. I thought that without Stramel and Hagens we were doomed to miss the medal round?

 

[canuck2010]

Well deserved win by the USA!

 

[AmericanDream]

2010 was one of the best international games I ever watched. The Studs on both sides was insane!

Honestly, me and my boys are watching this game right now on our dvr...this is honestly the best game I think I have watched in my entire life. NHL, international, AHL, NCAA, CHL, whatever...this game had it all. A coach who pulled his goalie (Lee) in the middle of a damn gold medal game tied...to go with a 17 year old Jack Campbell....balls of f***ing steel.... watching Taylor Hall get planted into the boards was glorious! The team didn't back down one ounce.. That team was a true band of brothers, as much heart as they had skill...

 

[AmericanDream]

There's no possible way we won this tournament. I thought that without Stramel and Hagens we were doomed to miss the medal round?

Somehow not selecting our ace Stramel, who got a few assists that one time like a week or so ago, didn't effect our outcome amazingly...

Heard Hagens say he will never represent the US again after this snub and that he is embarrassed to be an American despite us winning without him playing....not sure how we will ever recover....

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Boy some of Pavel's pre-tournament takes aged even worse than they usually do. Though they were pretty terrible before the tournament even started...

So our third line is going to have two 5'10 players and a 5'8 player, two of which are very soft.

Recipe to be upset by Sweden.

McGroarty should not be playing with Gauthier and Snuggerud. We don't need our three biggest, most rugged top 9 forwards all playing together.

Hagens with Gauthier and Snuggerud, McGroarty with Howard and Nazar, and Brindley on the fourth line.

If Brindley doesn't play fourth line, I think our lines are poorly balanced.

Spoiler alert: We did not get upset by Sweden. Brindley had 6g 10p in the tournament, and that "tiny line" was awesome.

They need to elevate Rinzel. How much they trust Seamus Casey could be our undoing. Not that he’s bad. He’s obviously not, but didn’t we go through this last year? That suggested top 4 has 3 players who are below-average defensively.

Calling for Rinzel to be elevated over Casey haha

Hutson-Chesley has never, ever worked either. It’s always tried, and then ends in poor results. The 2004 NTDP team always struggled with defensive pairings. They didn’t have enough size and their good defensemen didn’t pair well together. It’s a lot of the same players here. We have to try some different things and not merely force the most talent we can highest up the lineup.

Hutson - Chesley was excellent in the medal round when the games got tougher.

Also, Nazar, Howard, Leonard, and Brindley are not better players than Hagens right now. They cut him because college coaches always need to give deference to college hockey players. And they always need a few controversial cuts. It's the way things go. We should stop using college coaches.

All 4 of those guys had excellent tournaments.

I would also have Brindley and Leonard on the fourth line, not the top 9. Instead, we have a fourth line with 160 pound Finley who has never seen the middle of the ice and Hayes, who is average. Two players who don't belong on our fourth line.

Calling to breakup the BC line and send Leonard and Brindley to the 4th line lol. And Finley was great on the 4th line.

This coach is making a very bad early impression.

And he ends up being arguably our best coach in tournament history.

I didn't even include any of the whining about Stramel.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Somehow not selecting our ace Stramel, who got a few assists that one time like a week or so ago, didn't effect our outcome amazingly...

The Legendary four points in two games.

 

[AmericanDream]

Somewhere, Danny Kristo is proud as shit right now.....love this!!!

 

[William H Bonney]

Amen brother. Times have changed. Losing the gold is now a disappointment instead of just hey we made it there at least. We are expected to win every year and we should most years based on the talent we send. The journey we have had over 20 years on here is something else. Proud of our boys and proud of those of you I have had the pleasure to cheer and argue with (lol) on here over the years. We deserve medals from team USA as well!!!

Looking like a program that EXPECTS to win...

Expectations are huge. We have them now at the U18 and U20 levels. Just need to get our senior players to give a damn and consistently have them too.

Quotes like this have long only really been common from Canadian players, so it's good to see this mentality building with USAH too:

"It's unbelievable," Howard said. "Best moment in my hockey career. To do it with guys I love, we just went to war this last month togheter. Anything but gold was a failure to us. Achieving our goal was awesome."

 

[William H Bonney]

Somewhere, Danny Kristo is proud as shit right now.....love this!!!

I still remember opposing posters on here losing their shit when they first did this in 2010 as if it was something other than a team of kids harmlessly celebrating in their locker room. It was a rich example of the silliness of HF at times.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Perhaps a World Championships in a "desirable" city (Prague) will see some better enrollment this year.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

I remember when Carle was drafted 203rd overall and people were outraged that Tampa wasted a pick on a kid who will never play again. That move will always be one of the most classiest acts I have ever seen. Period. I respect all those involved who drafted David & I would imagine him even getting drafted like that helped mold the man he has become. Hockey is the best sport on Earth for these stories...Couldn't be happier for the Carle family for their contributions to USA hockey over the years. 2004 changed my life for junior hockey, Matt Carle was a key member of that team. Cheers all!

I'm gonna be honest, I totally forgot about this! Thank you for sharing.

Also if you want to get a facebook group going or something - that would be cool for 2026. Not kidding!

 

[AmericanDream]

I still remember opposing posters on here losing their shit when they first did this in 2010 as if it was something other than a team of kids harmlessly celebrating in their locker room. It was a rich example of the silliness of HF at times.

Yep, I remember as well. God forbid a group of 18-19 year olds use a rally cry for their celebration. You can go fight & die in some stupid foreign war but they can't do this lmao! I can't say enough how much that I love this is still being done after a gold medal win...truly awesome..

 

[usahockey22flyers]

If you could pick one and only one, what is y'alls favorite gold medal win since 2004???

Very interested to see what years get the most love...I know mine hands down....hint...OT vs Canada...dman scores with the rocket shot to send the Canadian crowd home in tears...

John Carlson 2010 - followed by Landon Donovan's goal a few months later what a year....

I was really invested in the 07-09 teams, I had some connections with JvR and TvR, so seeing James play was cool for my family. That 08/09 Christmas eve game was incredible - we jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and then it was the Tavares show...I always hated Della Rovere lol

Also the Gaudreau team was fun as hell too. Was that in Ufa? I remember the Gold Medal game started at like 3am EST. I was hallucinating by the 3rd