The United States of Hockey

Switzerland’s remarkable run at the 2013 IIHF World Championship continued Saturday at the expense of the United States. The Swiss stifled the Americans defensively all game long and came away with a 3-0 victory to advance to the gold-medal game against Sweden. Team USA will meet Finland for bronze Sunday.

Overall, it was an impressive effort from Switzerland tactically. The U.S. had so few quality chances due to Switzerland’s aggressiveness on pucks and a willingness to block shots. Team USA’s transition game and zone entries were also made more difficult by excellent defensive reads.

Switzerland seemed to own the middle of the ice, particularly in their own zone, which is not easy to do, but incredibly important. Even though there is more ice on an Olympic sheet, the game is mostly the same between the face off dots. Switzerland was able to push American forwards to the perimeter and forced the U.S. to take shots from low-percentage areas. The U.S. needed its D engaged offensively, but the Swiss forwards did a terrific job of taking away the points and blocking shots.

It really wasn’t a pretty game to watch, but Switzerland knew that’s how it had to be to beat a team with more speed and perhaps more overall skill. It worked perfectly. Continue reading →

For the first time since 2009, the U.S. Men’s National Team finds itself in a semifinal bout at the IIHF World Championship. The foe is the surprise story of the tournament, Team Switzerland,  which has gone 7-1-0-0 in tournament play, beating such powerhouses as Canada and Sweden along the way. Neither team was expected to be at this stage, but both have a trip to the gold-medal game on the line, so the stakes are high.

The game will air live on NBC Sports Network at 1 p.m. ET. It’s a late add to the TV schedule, so if it’s not showing up on your channel guide, fear not. It will be on live. Contradictory to information released Friday, the game will not be airing live on TV. Due to a conflict with the Indy 500 time trials and Preakness under-card races already scheduled to air, the USA-Switzerland game will be available on a live stream only and will air tape-delayed after Sharks-Kings Saturday night. This is unfortunate, but not unexpected. Still incredibly silly to air as much of the tournament as NBC did and not have the two most important games, as the gold-medal game, if the U.S. is in it, is also in question due to already-scheduled broadcasts.

After Team USA’s surprising drubbing of Russia in the quarterfinal, momentum is certainly swinging in the right direction. Things have been clicking for Team USA and after such a dominant performance, the confidence level should be high as well.

The U.S. will meet a foe that is probably more similar in skill level and style of play. The Swiss can grind it out with the best of ’em, but the one major advantage Team USA should possess is its team speed. Grit is certainly helpful, but on the big ice, speed is the name of the game and why the U.S. has been able to outmatch most teams.

The big similarity however is the steady, sometimes spectacular play, in net for both clubs. Switzerland has ridden Martin Gerber most of the way and the former NHLer hasn’t disappointed, but it sounds like Calgary Flames prospect Reto Bera will get the nod in net Saturday. Bera has been strong in three appearances for Switzerland. Meanwhile, the U.S. will start 19-year-old John Gibson who was undaunted in starts against Finland and in the quarterfinal game against Russia. It could come down to one of the goalies flinching in what should be an even contest. Continue reading →

Did that really just happen?

The U.S. Men’s National Team is on its way to the semifinals after a stunning rout of defending gold medalist Russia. Before Thursday, the U.S. had defeated Russia just four times in the history of the IIHF World Championship. It’s 8-3 win made it five and was the largest margin of victory in the history of the match-up.

Considering Russia’s skill and international experience, the defending champs were heavy favorites, especially after outlasting Team USA 5-3 in the prelims. Adding Alex Ovechkin only strengthened the high-octane offense that had led the tournament in goals coming into Thursday’s action.

It seemed like a mismatch on paper.

Team USA’s best line features Paul Stastny, Craig Smith and David Moss. Russia’s had Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov. Russia also boasted Ilya Bryzgalov in net with 425 NHL appearances under his belt. The U.S. had 19-year-old John Gibson, who spent this season in the Ontario Hockey League.

It turned out it was a mismatch, only not the way anyone expected it to be.

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The U.S. Men’s National Team had solid run through the group stage at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. A 5-0-0-2 record assured the Americans a spot in the quarterfinals, however a disappointing loss in the final game to Slovakia dropped Team USA to third place in the group and forced a date with defending gold medalist Russia in the quarterfinal.

The U.S. and Russia met earlier in the tournament, with the defending champs claiming a 5-3 victory. Team USA hung with the Russians all game, but it was Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov leading a third-period surge that put Team Russia over the top.

It’s going to be a tough game and not a lot of folks are going to pick Team USA to come out with a win. The quarterfinals has been an annual stalling point for U.S. teams at this tournament, so it’s going to be an awfully tall order when the two teams square off at 6 a.m. ET Thursday on NBC Sports Network.

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The U.S. came into Tuesday’s game against Slovakia with a chance to clinch first place in the Helsinki Group at the IIHF World Championship. Slovakia, meanwhile, had to win to make the quarterfinal round.

After Team USA’s improbable 5-0-0-1 start to the tournament, it seemed as though Slovakia posed a minor hurdle to overcome in winning the group. Considering that Slovakia lost to both Austria and Latvia and the fact that the U.S. had lost only to Russia prior to Tuesday seemed to give the Americans a decided advantage.

That apparently wasn’t the case. A bad start and a pair of disastrous goals allowed by Ben Bishop put the U.S. behind from essentially the puck drop and it would not recover.

The first goal came just 15 seconds into the game as Bishop hesitated when playing the puck, putting it right off Tomas Kopecky’s skate and right to Branko Radivojevic, who had an empty net. It’s really hard to understand what Bishop may have been thinking on that one.

The second one, well, that might be even more inexplicable.

The loss can’t be put solely on Bishop’s shoulders as the U.S. managed just one goal against a Slovakian team that gave up five (!) to Latvia. The U.S. did generate chances, but couldn’t seem to solve Rastislav Stana. So that’s not good either, but playing from behind the entire game on two goals that shouldn’t have happened changes the game. Slovakian players said after the game that the early goals gave them confidence that carried them through the game.

The only thing that makes the loss harder to swallow for the U.S. is the fact that John Gibson and his .984 save percentage over two starts was on the bench, while Bishop’s save percentage sank to .876. The NHL netminder has been given ample opportunity in the tournament making five of seven starts, but Bishop has yet to look his best in the tournament. Gibson meanwhile has two sound starts, which probably were each the best goaltending performances in the tournament for Team USA.

The loss isn’t crippling, obviously, as the U.S. was already assured a spot in the quarterfinals. The road to get to a medal game will be tougher now, however.

Because of the U.S. loss, Team USA goes from facing any one of Latvia, France or Germany (which all are now out of the medal round due to Slovakia’s regulation win), to meeting Russia (assuming Finland takes care of Latvia later Tuesday). Russia was able to outlast the Americans 5-3 earlier in the tournament and are one of the most overall skilled teams playing at the Worlds. It’s not a favorable draw.

The World Championship can be an unpredictable tournament. Who could’ve seen Switzerland going undefeated in a group with Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic? Who could’ve seen Canada needing overtime to beat now-relegated Slovenia, a country that has 924 hockey players total? It’s just been that kind of tournament.

One thing that shouldn’t be unpredictable, however, is Joe Sacco’s decision for who starts in net the quarterfinal game. Gibson’s been the better of the two, has won on the international stage before and might allow his team to play with a bit more confidence after Bishop’s shaky Tuesday.

It’s been a surprising run for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2013 IIHF World Championship. With a roster short on superstars and long on inexperience, the fact that Team USA has managed a 5-0-0-1 record with one game left to play in the preliminary round is rather remarkable.

Team USA has out-skilled lesser opponents like Austria, Latvia and France, out-worked the host Finland and a solid German team, and hung right with defending gold medalist Russia in its lone loss.

As of Monday morning, Team USA has sole possession of first place in the Helsinki Group, leaving it well positioned for a more favorable draw in the quarterfinals (Germany or Finland). A win of any kind against Slovakia on Tuesday clinches the group for the U.S. A loss opens the door for a quarterfinal bout with either Finland or Russia, so it should be a spirited final preliminary-round game.

Catch up with Team USA’s progress at the World Championship after the jump with how they’ve had such success so far and some of the biggest storylines around the team to date.

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The 2013 IIHF World Championship is the last major international event before the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and opened Friday in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. The U.S. Men’s National Team seeks its first medal in the event since 2004 and will likely meet an uphill battle with wind in their face.

The World Championship has been mostly a disappointment over the years for Team USA. The event is not exactly a desirous one for players coming off the end of a long NHL season. A different set of circumstances this year with the lockout made for a potentially more favorable selection process for USA Hockey, but as the roster seems to indicate, the opposite may have been true.

The real issue with this event is it should be a showcase of the increasing depth in the American player pool in the NHL. However, it’s only shown of late that there’s still a long way to go in the quest to be a true hockey superpower. The U.S. may never match the depth of Canada, but fielding a team that can compete for a gold medal in this event despite heavy participation in the Stanley Cup Playoffs would be a major indicator of increased success in the country’s hockey development.

That could come in due time, but it’s not here yet. Team USA has a fairly tough preliminary schedule and a young roster. Making it to the qualifying round would be a solid accomplishment and the quarterfinals is not out of the question, but it’s going to take a pretty inspiring effort.

Coming up after the jump, an in-depth look at Team USA.

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