Team USA flamed out of the World Cup of Hockey in spectacular fashion, putting in an underwhelming performance against Team Europe in their first game and falling into a hole they never dug themselves out of. The Americans went on to finish 0-3, raising questions about the future of the national team on the international stage. So, what needs to be done to fix USA Hockey? Our writers offered suggestions.
Team USA's focus was to beat Team Canada. The plan failed. So, now what? There's a massive talent pool of players on their way, and we saw many of them in this tournament, but they played for Team North America, including Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews. This isn't about the players, however. There is a much bigger picture to examine. I'm not saying USA Hockey wasn't invested to win, but there's something missing. As a national organization, USA Hockey is strong. At the grassroots level, hockey is thriving, but there seems to be a disconnect at the top level.
While covering Team Sweden and Team Finland, I've learned why those countries are perennial winners on the international stage. One aspect that jumped out was the presence of former players working for their respective national teams. At every practice for Sweden, legends Mats Sundin, Nicklas Lidstrom and Daniel Alfredsson were closely watching as advisers. Finland has Teemu Selanne heavily involved. It's different for Team USA. Other than the current coaching and management staffs, the alumni don't have a hands-on presence. Moving forward, I believe Chris Chelios (who is working for ESPN as an analyst for the World Cup of Hockey) and Chris Drury should be given major roles for USA Hockey. Chelios is the greatest international U.S. player; he cares so much about the program. Drury has a great playing history, and now he's learning the management side as the newly appointed assistant GM of the New York Rangers. Other great hockey minds, including David Poile, Ron Wilson and Tim Army, should all be involved in permanent roles. You don't want too many people involved because you don't want too many opinions. Sweden, Finland and Canada are consistent powerhouses. The Americans have the ability to do the same, and it's time to accomplish that goal. --Joe McDonald
I'm not sure fixing USA Hockey is all that complicated. Great development program; lots of good, young players; plenty of goaltending depth; coaches who nobody wants to play for ... Oh, wait, maybe that's it. If you pull apart this World Cup even just a little bit, the teams that don't look as if they're attending a funeral have succeeded. Canada plays raucous games of soccer in the tunnels before each game. Team Europe's only requirement seems to be vaguely European heritage and a positive attitude. ("We've never used any negative motivators," coach Ralph Krueger said. "We have an extremely supportive environment for the players.") The Swedes are, to a man, the nicest, most collegial bunch of guys you could hope to find in a single dressing room. And Team North America, those lovable kids, reminded us just how fun hockey can be. How did the Americans enter this tournament? With John Tortorella telling his players what they could and couldn't do during the anthem, and if any of the grown men on his team defied him, he threatened a benching. How did they exit? With David Backes as a healthy scratch; he's a beloved guy and longtime horse of the national program. You can't scare the best players in the world into playing better, and you can't expect loyalty out of them when they see how their service might end. These tournaments should be the greatest hockey experiences of their lives. Why keep hiring coaches who seem determined to ruin them? --Chris Jones
What I wouldn't touch: The grass roots program that USA Hockey has developed over the years. My eight-year-old daughter started playing hockey last winter for two reasons. One, the little girl from the animated movie "Inside Out" plays hockey. And two, USA Hockey held a Try Hockey for Free Day at a rink one mile from our home. The rink in Plymouth, Michigan, is great and getting better. Plus, the national team development program has been a success. The quality of players that program is producing continues to be impressive. It's the men's national team that needs work.
I'm completely in favor of bringing in a prominent voice from a recent generation of players -- with Bill Guerin, Chris Chelios or Chris Drury at the top of the list -- if they were willing to leave their current teams and move into a full-time role at USA Hockey. You need a guy who is going to convince the best players they must show as much pride in the national team as Hockey Canada players do -- and not just in the biggest tournaments, either. The gap in quality between the U.S. team that plays in the World Championships and Canada's team is comical. Players should take more pride to make sure that isn't the case. Lastly, there needs to be a full-time analytics hire. They can help develop analytics for the National Team Development Program, but a real presence from the analytics community might have helped Team USA avoid its roster construction issues at the World Cup. Analytics aren't always the solution, but they definitely should be in the equation. --Craig Custance
USA Hockey is not broken. Not even close. Americans are always in contention at the World Junior Championships and world championships for younger age groups. Arizona native Auston Matthews, the first overall pick in June, is a product of the system. When it comes to the philosophy of creating best-on-best teams, new voices need to be heard in redefining what a Team USA at the highest level should look like and, more importantly, play like. First, stop obsessing over Canada. Yes, the inability to defeat Canada in the gold-medal game in Vancouver was gut-wrenching for Americans. But they weren't close in Sochi, in spite of losing by just a goal in the semifinals. And they were even further removed during their 4-2 loss to Canada at the World Cup. Play your game should be USA Hockey's mantra. Toughness? Of course it's important. But look at Canada's lineup. Do they lack toughness? No. But it's their skilled players who deliver it. They are mutually inclusive qualities. The U.S. can demand and have that, too.
So, who defines what that game looks like at the highest level? It's time a player closely connected to the NHL game is installed to oversee USA Hockey's involvement in these tournaments. Chris Chelios would be an obvious choice; few would instill the confidence he could. But there are lots of options. Jamie Langenbrunner was the captain of the team at the Olympics in Vancouver that epitomized team, and he's a bright hockey mind. Brian Leetch could do it. So could Bill Guerin, currently the assistant GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins. What about Kevyn Adams, who won a Stanley Cup and has become a key part of the hockey renaissance at all levels in Buffalo? This isn't an indictment of Dean Lombardi's selection as GM of this team. He is a proven winner, but the results or lack thereof speak for themselves in Toronto. If the NHL is headed back to the Olympics in 2018, shouldn't Stan Bowman be named GM as soon as that decision is made? He's a smart, forward-thinking builder of a team that plays the way the game should be played -- to its own strengths, not anyone else's. Hiring him should be Step 1 to returning American best-on-best hockey to a place it has long vacated. --Scott Burnside
USA Hockey doesn't need any fixing when it comes to the manner in which it currently develops players. There are more youth players than ever in the ranks, and the elite kids coming up show the immense promise that's ahead. Even now, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau and Seth Jones ensure that the next best-on-best roster will look different. Obviously, the focus must be on how to approach the next best-on-best tournament, whether that's an NHL-populated South Korea Olympics in 2018 or the next World Cup, which is tentatively slated for 2020. USA Hockey has gone the NHL GM route a few times now between Brian Burke in Vancouver, David Poile for Sochi and Dean Lombardi here for the World Cup. All are smart hockey men, to be sure. But I'd like to see USA Hockey go the route that Hockey Canada took after its disappointing Nagano Olympics (when Bob Clarke was GM). Former Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson had the gumption to ask The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, to take over the next Olympic team for Salt Lake City. What ensued was a gold medal in Salt Lake, which snapped Canada's 50-year drought in the Olympic final. Steve Yzerman followed Gretzky for the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, producing two more gold medals for Canada. Here's what I like about those appointments: You've got former superstars who understood what it was like to play for their country, but even more importantly, what worked and didn't work. They were on the ice for it as players.
To that end, I'd love to see Chris Chelios run the next Team USA best-on-best outfit. His Team USA rèsumè as a player speaks for itself, but also learning the ropes in the Detroit Red Wings organization the past few years (just like Yzerman did before becoming GM for the Tampa Bay Lightning) is also valued training. I think Chelios would bring that same kind of luster to Team USA that Gretzky and Yzerman did for Team Canada. And one more thing: Why does the coach necessarily have to be American? There are some solid options for U.S. coaches, but why not widen the options to include coaches from other nationalities, like national soccer teams do? To that end, if Joel Quenneville or Claude Julien are available, why not have them coach, even though they're Canadian? Who cares what the passport says for the guy behind the bench? Select the best possible coach, period. --Pierre LeBrun