Team USA: how good can they be?

[Kaktus*]

Parise - Gomez - Gionta
Higgins - Stastny - Kessel
Cole - Drury - Langenbrunner
Stafford - Rolston - O'Sullivan

J. Johnson - Rafalski
Liles - E. Johnson
Carle - Komisarek

Miller

On NHL level this looks like a hell of a team but not on international level.
Canada, Russia, Sweden will have a lot better rosters (on paper)

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I think this year's World Championships will prove to be a nice starting point for what should be improvement on the world stage leading up to the Olympics in 2010. There is clearly a plan in place within USA Hockey (led by the four man management group: Poile, Burke, Shero, and Waddell) to utilize the burgeoning American talent that has been the pipeline for the last few years. I think the U.S. will be a legit challenger for not only World Championships medals over the next few years, but also in Vancouver in 2010 (and beyond). Here's who I see as the core players pool over the next few years:

Goaltenders:

Miller, DiPietro, Schneider, Montoya, Howard, Bacashuhia.

Defensemen:

Komisarek. Rafalski, Martin, Greene, Ballard, Suter, Carle, Liles, Leopold, E. Johnson, J. Johnson, Gleason, Orpik, Whitney, Preissing, Corvo, Niskanen, Gilbert, Chorney, Pothier, Lebda, Alberts, Stuart, Lashoff, Hainsey.

Forwards:

Blake, Cole, Drury, Higgins, Eaves, Kessel, O'Sullivan, Brown, Stafford, Malone, Legwand, Ryan, Kane, Schremp, Callahan, Cullen, Rolston, Stempniak, Grier, Pavelski, Skille, Stastny, Arnason, Kesler, Schremp, Oshie, Gomez, Gionta, Parise, Langenbrunner, Dubinsky, Umberger, Okposo, Lewis, Mueller, Fritsche, Connolly.

2014 is when the US should be ready to again be a serious challaenger for the gold. 2010 they'll be a bit too young, with not enough of the team in their prime.

 

[TeamPlayer]

Not all of those guys are American. Actually, a lot of them aren't.

They all are