The media called it an upset, but ask members of the United States' gold medal-winning 1996 World Cup of Hockey team and they'll say it was always the plan. The last time the U.S. won men's hockey gold on the world stage was almost three decades ago. Back then, the deep, talented roster gave the Americans the confidence they needed to march all the way to the podium with ease.
"We were more prepared than people believed," head coach Ron Wilson said. "We had a really good team - especially with Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, and people like that. A lot of people say that's basically the pinnacle of U.S. hockey, in terms of stars all coming together at the same time."
For Wilson, the win wasn't just a high-water mark for the country, but for him personally. Hockey is in Wilson's blood – his father Larry and his uncle Johnny both played for the Red Wings. Wilson played seven seasons in the NHL before coaching in Vancouver, Anaheim, Washington, San Jose, and Toronto. He also earned an Olympic silver medal as head coach of the men's team at the Vancouver Winter Games. Of all those hockey games, milestones, and memories, it's that golden U.S. team that stands out: "Winning the World Cup in 1996 was the pinnacle of my career," he says. "I still have the game jersey that we all autographed, and I have a few other things, like the ring we won from that team."
To accomplish the task, the Americans united against a common hockey foe: Team Canada, which was perennially at the top of the podium. Earlier that year, the Canadians won silver at the 1996 world championships in Vienna, while the U.S., under Wilson's coaching, earned bronze. It was the country's first medal at the tournament in 34 years and it signified the light at the end of a dark tunnel for USA Hockey. The country hadn't succeeded on the world stage since its 1980 Lake Placid Games win over the Soviets, which was immortalized as the Miracle on Ice. Two years earlier, Canada had won gold at world championships while the U.S. missed the medals. The same year, at the Lillehammer Games, Canada won silver while the U.S. went home in eighth place. While the podium spot in Vienna was great, Wilson had his eye on a bigger prize.
"The one term I always used in all the time we spent on that team was - we were always the passengers on the bus, and the Canadian guys were the ones who were always piloting the bus, driving us wherever we wanted to go. But this time, I said to our team that they were the ones who were going to be driving the bus, and the Canadians were going to go where we wanted to go," Wilson said.
With a U.S. roster that included Chelios, Hull, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Mike Modano, Pat LaFontaine, John LeClair, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight, it would have been understandable had individual personalities taken over the agenda. But that's not what happened. "From the first day, I managed to have all their attention. We were all aligned that we were setting out to win gold," Wilson said. "I really thought we had a chance, and all the players certainly believed me when I said that we weren't going for second place. Everybody - from Day 1 - came in with the right frame of mind, and I thought it was actually pretty easy to tell our team what their roles were, and they did it without any questions at all."
Despite going 4-0 through pool play and the semifinals, the Americans hit a stumbling block in the first matchup of the three-game final series, losing 4-3 in overtime to the Canadians in Philadelphia. The next two games would be in Montreal, and another loss would have crowned the Canadians tournament champions.
"We managed in that game to eventually tie it (on a goal by Tkachuk with 6 seconds left) and it went to overtime, but this was before they ever reviewed overtime for situations like offside, and the play was clearly offside," Wilson said of Steve Yzerman's winner. "But I told our team we weren't going to complain about it. We're just going to go to Montreal and we're going to have to beat Canada twice up there, and that's exactly what we did."
In Game 2, second-period goals by LeClair and Hull broke open a 1-1 stalemate and the U.S. salted away a 5-2 win with two empty-net goals. The final 8 minutes of Game 3 were a frenzy of action. Adam Foote put Canada up 2-1 before Hull tipped a Leetch point shot to tie it with 3:18 remaining. Tony Amonte scored the game-winner with 2:35 left.
That remains the last men's hockey gold for the U.S. However, Wilson believes that could change at the 4 Nations Face-Off. It's not a completely parallel situation, but there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful.
"Back then, we had the best defense, and we had the best offensive guys," Wilson said. "Now I think the U.S. has some good defensemen, but I don't think we can say they're the best defensemen in the world. But I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of impact Auston Matthews is going to have on this tournament." Wilson coached Matthews at the 2016 World Junior Championship.
There is one place where Wilson does see the U.S. as obviously dominant. "I think they do have the advantage on Canada because of their goaltending. I think the goaltending can be just about as good as the goaltending we had in 1996," Wilson said. Where the 1996 team was backstopped by the Rangers' Richter, this edition boasts Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman.
When the U.S. opens its 4 Nations campaign on Thursday, a new generation of Americans will have a chance to build its own international memories. Three decades later, Wilson's are still vivid. "I remember it just being a great experience," he said. "I was lucky that we had such a talented team."
Jolene Latimer is a feature writer at theScore.
