MOSCOW – There was palpable buzz about Team USA at this World Championship, and while the Americans failed to advance to the medal round in Moscow, it’s worth reflecting on the overhaul of roster assembly USA Hockey commendably, if belatedly, sanctioned this year. It should have American hockey fans excited.
For far too long there had been an ad hoc, inorganic, and at times poisonously politicized approach to the assembly of the American teams dispatched to the Worlds, resulting in disjointed and disappointing performances. Previous teams were comprised basically of marquee American names liberated from NHL postseason play, without seemingly much thought given to crafting a roster that could rival the chemistry so commonly displayed by the European teams at this championship. The results speak for themselves: a bronze medal in 2004, one in 1996, the last gold all the way back in 1960.
But from our vantage, this year’s American outfit shattered that failed mold. The 2007 American entry at the Worlds was a wondrously entertaining and cohesive club, chock full of hunger and high energy, the type of team to make American hockey fans proud.
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