Plenty of blame is being passed around for the United States' failure at the World Cup of Hockey, but attributing it to the format of the tournament is a cop-out that fails to address USA Hockey's real, preventable problems.
On the morning after a 4-2 loss to Canada that eliminated the U.S. from advancing to the semi-final, more than one media member pinned the Americans' failure to advance past the group stage on the fact that it wasn't able to select young stars because of the creation of Team North America.
I love 23U team and glad it's here but it hurt Team USA. Five guys would have been on this team.
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) September 21, 2016
Team USA doesn't need different coaching or different leadership. They need Team North America to stop stealing their best players.
— Michael Traikos (@Michael_Traikos) September 21, 2016
These points aren't entirely false. Team North America does feature several American players who would have undoubtedly helped Team USA:
- Johnny Gaudreau
- Auston Matthews
- Jack Eichel
- Dylan Larkin
- Shayne Gostisbehere
- Seth Jones
However, the arguments are flawed for several reasons.
For one, not all of these phenoms are "their best players". Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, Zach Parise, Max Pacioretty, and Dustin Byfuglien were all named to the U.S. squad.
Does it hurt not to have the under-24 stars? Absolutely. But blaming the NHL for creating the most exciting team and best story of the tournament lets USA Hockey off the hook, rather than holding the governing body accountable for problems it created for itself.
The bigger and certainly more preventable issues were the construction of the U.S. squad and the lineup decisions made during the tournament.
The emphasis on grit over speed put the World Cup squad at a now-obvious disadvantage.
That focus on physicality ensured roster spots for grinders Justin Abdelkader and Brandon Dubinsky, while shunning a handful of offensively gifted players - Phil Kessel, Tyler Johnson, Kyle Okposo, Bobby Ryan, and Justin Faulk.
Related: Kessel roasts Team USA with ultra-rare tweet
Considering USA Hockey's prioritization of intimidation over more skill, who's to say each and every one of the talented young American stars on Team North America would even be named to the American squad if that were possible?
The U.S. brain trust, led by Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, knew full well it wouldn't have access to the young guns and still passed up a slew of proven players who would unquestionably have improved the World Cup team.
Naming John Tortorella - who won a Stanley Cup 12 years ago but has underwhelmed since - as U.S. head coach was another questionable decision, and his lineups during the team's brief, two-game stretch of relevance predictably justified that concern.
He made Byfuglien (the most productive American defenseman in the NHL last season) and Kyle Palmieri (a 30-goal scorer) healthy scratches for the opener, and the United States was subsequently shut out 3-0 by Team Europe.
Tortorella elected to start Jonathan Quick over Cory Schneider and Ben Bishop in goal for both preliminary-round games, despite plenty of evidence of Quick's decline and Schneider's superiority.
He slotted Kane, the Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's MVP last season, on to a line with Abdelkader in practice prior the U.S. loss to Canada before coming to his senses during the game.
Tortorella benched Dubinsky for the Canada game, despite the prevailing notion that the forward was named to the roster specifically because of his ability to get under the skin of Sidney Crosby.
The players underwhelmed - albeit in an extremely small sample size - but the blame shouldn't be exclusively directed at them, nor at the league for creating Team North America.
The U.S. World Cup squad would have absolutely been better equipped with the American young stars, but the rules of the tourney were completely out of their control.
USA Hockey needs to be held accountable for a flawed team philosophy that led to questionable roster selections, and for choosing a coach who arguably hindered his team's chances of winning.
Blaming the American flop on anything else misses the point.
