Team USA: 2002 vs 2010

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
2002:

G: Mike Richter; Tom Barrasso, Mike Dunham.
D: Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Brian Leetch, Aaron Miller, Phil Housley, Brian Rafalski, Tom Poti.
C: Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Doug Weight, Chris Drury.
W: Brett Hull, Keith Tkachuk, John LeClair, Tony Amonte, Bill Guerin, Brian Rolston, Adam Deadmarsh, Mike York, Scott Young.

Record: 6-0 Finland, 2-2 Russia, 8-1 Belarus. QF: 5-0 Germany. SF: 3-2 Russia. F: 2-5 Canada.

2010:

G: Ryan Miller; Tim Thomas, Jonathan Quick.
D: Ryan Suter, Brian Rafalski, Tim Gleason, Erik Johnson, Brooks Orpik, Jack Johnson, Ryan Whitney.
C: Paul Stastny, Ryan Kesler, Joe Pavelski, Chris Drury.
W: Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Ryan Malone, Dustin Brown, Jamie Langenbrunner, David Backes, Ryan Callahan, Bobby Ryan.

Record: 3-1 Switzerland, 6-1 Norway, 5-3 Canada. QF: 2-0 Switzerland. SF: 6-1 Finland. F: 1-2 OT Canada.

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Which one is better? Team 2002 has big names like Chelios, Modano and Hull; Team 2010 has a mostly young and vibrant squad. Both ended up with the silver medal after marching through the tournament unbeaten but finally defeated by the Canadians in the very last game.
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,144
The result of the games would have you believe that the 2010 team was just as good but I don't think it was. While I am happy Canada won in 2010 I can't help but feel that the all-star cast of future HHOFers they had stacked up underacheived a bit. This is why they lost to the US in the round robin and then needed overtime in the gold medal game.

No one pre-tournament feared the Americans and they caught a bit of a break by having the two tournament favourites squaring off in the quarterfinal with one getting eliminated. The 2002 team wasn't as good as Canada on paper either, but it would have shocked less people had the Americans won gold.

2002 team for sure.
 

HF007

Registered User
Sep 9, 2008
4,731
1,534
2002 ainec except goalies
ps. miss the star players of the 90's :(
 

Blades of Glory

Troll Captain
Feb 12, 2006
18,401
6
California
Ryan Miller in goal is the only obvious step-up from 2002 to 2010. Richter was a great big-game goalie, but he was never close to the best goaltender in the league. The USA had the best goaltender in the world, and that marks a major change from a team used to having inferior goaltending to the Canadians and Czechs, and sometimes even the Finns/Swedes.

It's actually really tough to say which team was better. The major difference is that the 2002 team was so proven at the NHL level, whereas the 2010 team was very, very young. Still, I would probably take the 2010 defense over the 2002 defense, mainly because the drop-off from Chelios and Leetch to everyone else on the blueline was spectacularly large. In terms of forwards, it's hard to argue with the 2002 team. At the time, Hull and Modano were arguably the top duo in hockey, having led the Stars to back-to-back Cup Finals, and Roenick, Tkachuk, and Weight were still high-end players.

The 2002 Canadian team was obviously significantly better than the 2010 team. Their top players were better, and their depth was ridiculous. Any team that could legitimately employ Steve Yzerman as Mario Lemieux's right wing (more due to Yzerman's knee that anything else), and be carried in the GMG by their second line (Gagne-Sakic-Iginla) is stacked. And the 2002 Marty Brodeur was certainly better than the 2010 Roberto Luongo. Luongo played well, but he looked terribly shaky for the duration of the tournament.

Even as an American rooting against them, I enjoyed watching that 2002 Canadian team a lot. I found myself smiling when Yzerman and Sakic teamed up on the rush that led to the 4th Canadian goal. Bob Cole's "Sakic enters...Yzerman...what about this duo" is one of my favorite calls ever.
 
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JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
18,042
12,664
2002 was the more talented team, but 2010 was more cohesive for whatever reason. I think the 2010 team's results were a bit of a fluke so I would go with 2002.
 

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