With the 2010 winter
Olympics underway, many
events will be enjoyed by
viewers. However, there is
only one event that truly brings
out the competitive spirit of
every nation that participates:
men’s Olympic hockey.
Many countries participate
in this event, but only
the elite survive.
There are many teams that
are considered the elite such
as Russia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Finland, and,
the most elite, Canada
Yet there’s one team that
is more unique than the rest.
You either love them, or
you hate them with a fiery
and unruly passion: the
Americans.
The U.S. men’s hockey
team is very different from
in years past.
The U.S. has a very young
nucleus, losing their veteran
leadership with Chris
Chelios and Mike Modano
retiring.
Now it is time for the new
generation to step up, and
leading the way is the New
Jersey Devils’ forward
Jamie Langenbrunner as
captain. He gets help from
the Chicago Blackhawks’
right winger Patrick Kane,
Devils’ left winger Zach
Parise, the Los Angeles
Kings’ right winger Dustin
Brown, the Detroit Red
Wings’ defensemen Brian
Rafalski, and goalie Ryan
Miller of the Buffalo
Sabres.
These young players fill
their roles very well on their
NHL Squads, and they will
have to translate that to
their Olympic team if they
hope to beat Canada and
win the gold. In order to do
so, goaltending is the area
the team will have to be
most solid at.
This makes Miller the
team’s pivotal player.
During the current NHL
season, Miller is posting a
2.16 goals against average,
saving 1486 shots, and a
low save percentage.
The one negative that
could hinder the U.S.’s
chances of winning the gold
is cohesiveness and the
potential for some selfish
hockey. The U.S. men’s
hockey team is made up
entirely of NHL players,
and all these players are
stars on their teams.
The team has also not
played a lot together before
the start of the Olympics.
Surely the team will make
things work as well as possible, but it will be tough
in the first few games of the
t o u r n a m e n t .
Langenbrunner is a solid
captain for the team. He
sums up America in his
style of play he is tough,
gritty, and always puts his
team first over himself.
Langenbrunner is also distributor
with 37 assists on
the NHL year.
While he is a great captain,
it’s not him who will lead
the USA to the gold.
The pressure to score will
be on the shoulders of the
young Kane. He has 25
goals and 42 assists this
year, and he is leading his
Chicago Blackhawks to
the best record in the NHL.
For being a 21-year-old,
Kane has the poise of a veteran
and the hockey knowledge
that only the greats
h a v e .
The U.S. hockey team will
only go as far as Kane takes
them, and that should be in
the top three of the tournament.
The Men’s team will take
home the silver this year,
because even though the
U.S. is 3-0 in the preliminary
round of the Olympics,
and defeated the big bad
Canadian team 5-3 in a
statement game for the young hockey club,
Canada has great talent and
the U.S. does not have the
firepower to withstand the
run they will have to make
for the gold. The best team
in the Olympics is Canada
and they will ride the ship
of this demoralizing loss in
front of their home crowd.
Canada will grab the gold,
with USA winning silver,
and Russia winning bronze.
USA will have to wait
patiently until 2014 in
Russia to get another shot at
glory and the satisfaction of
knowing they are the best in
the world.