What the world thinks about the US after WJC

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What the rest of the world thinks about us.
Ken Campbell 2009-01-02 18:13:00OTTAWA - When the good people of Ottawa watched USA go down in flames at theWorld Junior Championship once again, they must have felt as though they hadseen this movie before.

Like the hometown Ottawa Senators, rarely has a program with so much promiseaccomplished so little. The 2009 US team made its contribution to a legacyof mediocrity in this event by losing 5-3 in the quarterfinal to Slovakia,assuring it would finish no higher than fifth in a tournament where thetalent level drops off dramatically after the top four teams.

What makes it all so mind-boggling was this was once again a veteranAmerican team loaded with top-notch NHL prospects. What makes it even moredifficult to fathom is since 1996, when USA Hockey was riding high with aWorld Cup victory, it has hothoused its elite under-17 and under-18prospects for the purpose of preparing them for international competitionslike this one.

But the results simply have not been there for the Americans. They indeedhave done well at the under-18 level with gold medals in 2002, 2005 and2006, but for all the resources they pour into the program, they have beendismal at the WJC. In the history of the tournament, the Americans have wonjust five medals, with a gold, silver and two bronze coming since theyestablished the U.S. National Team Development Program.The program, however, can't be faulted for the fact that goalie ThomasMcCollum gagged it up big-time in this tournament, or that its best playerswent missing once the games got important. But there is absolutely no doubtthere is a disconnect between the under-17 and under-18 programs and the WJCthat USA Hockey can no longer ignore.

Of course, the Americans should never have been in this position. Theyshould have been cooling their heels today while Canada played in this game.But the Americans completely lost their grip after taking a 3-0 lead onCanada New Year's Eve. And it all started when, after scoring the third goalin the first period, fourth-liner Jimmy Hayes taunted the Canadian benchafter he scored.

What a ridiculous thing to do by a team that has done nothing to earn aswagger in this tournament. So perhaps it has nothing to do with the U.S.system itself and more to do with the type of player it attracts.

At least that's what one NHL scout thinks. He opined that hockey in USA issuch an elite sport that it attracts rich kids with a sense of entitlementwho have difficulty fitting into a team dynamic. After watching Hayes do histhing and Eric Tangradi hit a Canadian player with his stick from the U.S.bench, he might have a point.

"The problem with these guys is that none of this is about winning achampionship for USA," the scout said. "It's about furthering their careers.That's all these kids care about. When these kids are with the U.S. NTDP,they're in a good situation for a couple of years, but by the time they gethere, all the bad influences have got them again."

Others point to the fact that USA Hockey essentially selects its team in thesummer and doesn't have a final selection camp in December. It has alwaysbeen maintained that's because it conflicts with the availability of U.S.college players, but the fact remains that Canada has used U.S. collegeplayers for years and never had a problem with a player's eligibility.

It's difficult to point to one overriding factor, particularly with thisyear's team. Although a number of scouts were scratching their heads overthe exclusion of Cam Fowler from this year's team, this squad seemed to havea good mix of major junior and college players and looked to be a formidablegroup.

But then everything imploded. Imagine going from a 3-0 lead against Canadato not being able to beat Slovakia.

"There never seems to be an cohesiveness to their team from year to year,"another scout said. "It's almost like there's a black cloud following themaround."

There are those who follow USA Hockey a lot more closely than I do whoinsist the whole organization is broken, that there is more politicalin-fighting in that body than at a Republican convention. There are alwaysallegations of favoritism, cronyism and incompetence.

Not sure exactly what it is, but one thing is for sure. Things have tochange for the Americans in this tournament. This is getting embarrassing.

[penman]

http://www.jldr.com/americathebeautiful.html

Proud to be an American and darn tired of this "but we make ourselves such easy targets for criticism" angle. Take another look at the first period of the USA-Canada game and what our "docile" neighbors to the north were up to on the ice. Or the less than welcome reception of the anything but US friendly Canadian crowd could muster for the boys in red, white and blue no matter whom it was that they were playing. Had the roles been reversed (US venue and Canuck jeering crowd supporting the opposition), we would be hearing/reading things such as shame on the USA. Blah blah blah.

It's evident as to what the Canadian hockey crowds thinks of us, the US of A, on the ice. As for the rest of the world? Who cares - it's just a game, but one the Canadians have much more compassion for than us (not that there's anything wrong with that). Was this a dip for the developmental approach taken by the USA? Perhaps. Embarrassed? Not! Live well.

Congrats to Canada on winning the gold.

[O-townClown]

Didn't the Slovakian goaltender stop a million shots?

They lost twice. Once to the Canadiens, who won the tournament, and once to a team whose netminder had a once in a lifetime game.

Plenty of folks thought the US could get the Canadiens in a rematch.

Hockey is a rich-kid sport? NO KIDDING. If it is different in Canada then good for them. I don't know how you get around the moneyed aspect. It costs a lot to play and demands a huge commitment on the part of parents. That kind of fluffs out all your ham-and-eggers.

There is no question the Canadiens have more success than the Americans. The writer professes ignorance on what happens in Ann Arbor, but he's got his mind made up on what the problems are.

[northwoods oldtimer]

The writer is correct on the individualism represented by the Ann Arbor group (looking to step to the pros). He is also correct that it is a failure considering all the money thrown into this program and the end result has not been great in this world juniors tournament. I think you would get as good results by just picking college and junior level kids assuming their was ample practice time in preperation for a tournament. We miss Herb Brooks innovation to cut through the political BS and kick some butts when necessary.

[muckandgrind]

The only problems the Americans had in this tournament was between the pipes...they outshot Slovakia something like 47-9. McCollum was flat out awful and there is no other way to describe it.

If you want to criticize American hockey, criticize the fact that we have a hard time developing top notch goalies, and that starts at the Squirt level. Most youth teams spend very little time working with goalies. Usually the netminders are just there to stop puck during the shooting drills. If they don't attend summer clinics, the first instruction they usually receive is in HS.

[jBlaze3000]

What does the world think of us? They still hate us. Lou Nanne was on the radio last night talking about how upset he was with the Canadian fans . He said they were pretty disrespectful towards the US and even packed in 20,000 fans to cheer for Kazakhstan when they played team USA.

Obviously, Canada is #1 when it comes to producing elite hockey players but the US can always put a team on the ice that has a legitimate chance to beat them. When team USA plays Canada it always seems like a All Star team (USA) against a Hall of Fame team (Canada). I think a lot of their recent success, especially at the junior level, is more a product of better coaching rather than better talent.

[Pens4]

Team USA and the grass roots of USA hockey have never placed a great emphasis on the WJC or the World Championship for that matter. In years passed the World Championship was always a top priority for every country but the US. The Swedes, Fin's, and yes Canada always sent a hall of fame team there. The USA would send what was available and the players they have ear-marked as the best over the years...not necessarily the best at the time.

It was mentioned earlier about a USA Hockey Organization that operates in and environment filled with favoritism and incompetance. The organization is a classic example of an "Old Boys Club" from Walter Bush down to Johnny Johannsen. The overall leadership tends to lacks any innovation and is usually relaying the latest, greatest training idea they found watching a junior practice in Czecko.

Until we (the USA youth hockey population) view the internatiuonal competition as a major goal....we will rarely win the World's or the Olympics again.

It is not unlike the Ryder Cup...what's in it for us??

[jancze5]

I'm with O-town on this one. I watched the games, the US was very much and every bit up and down the ice with Canada. The reality is the Canadian stars (Esposito-from SSM)(gotta plug) scored when it mattered in the 3rd and the US horses just couldn't muster goals the entire second half of the game. We kicked the Slovak's tail all over the ice and the game could've been 10-2 if the mule in net doesn't have the absolute game of his life.

Is there an issue with US hockey, don't think so. Future is bright!

[jBlaze3000]

Also, keep in mind that the US had a game the night before and Canada didn't.

[IMHO]

"What the world thinks about the US after WJC"

Since when is Canada "the World"??? There has never been any doubt on their opinion of the US. They've always been hyper jealous second (third?) cousins. And as for the comparative 'class' of their players or fans ... PEL-LEASE !!!

Hey, IMHO we ain't perfect, but I'll go with Red, White and Blue every time.

U - S - A !!!

[Messier]

USA Hockey has to overhaul the system from the top to the bottom. We have a bunch of good old boys running things and it is there way and there coaches only. Minnesota has most of the best players in the country, Mich, WI, IL, NY, Mass, RI, Pen, are still way behind us.
Team Canada brings in a 65 year old coach, and they say he can not relate to the young kids and then go's out and wins this tourny and last years U18 tourny. USA was out coached again.
Who cares if the Canada fans were cheering for the teams we played against, but as a fan if you want your fav team to win don't you cheer for the team that could knock off the team that could beat you in the finals.
Yes hockey is a rich kids sport, but Team Canada kids understand what it means to work hard and work as a TEAM. Team USA kids are looking out for them selves and where they will get drafted, we never send the best players to any of these tournaments, just the players the good old boys like.
Team Canada system of teaching the game the skills and team play is way ahead of USA Hockey and will always be that way.
We have the players to beat Canada and the Coaches to win with, but what do we do here is run the good coaches off, because they think outside of the box and look at what other teams/country's do and apply some of those teachings to there teams and the good old boys say that is not in the USA Hockey handbook or what we want to teach at NDTP. USA players need to skate inside, Canada players skate anyplace they can inside and out, pond hockey skills, just playing with older kids and getting an understanding for the game and not only getting it from a book or a system that does not work.
I support USA Hockey but I admire what Canada Hockey does year in and year out. Remember USA Hockey did not like what Herb wanted to do in 1980, but his outside the box thinking worked, he did not have the best players he had the hardest working and team working players together.
Now you hear that USA Hockey is making some changes because we lost again, changes to want the rules or making new programs, how about changing some of the good old boys and bring in some younger out of the box thinking people and some high quality coaches. This is just one more reason why AAA hockey is coming to match what Canada does. Get USA Hockey out of CO and move it to the state of hockey where people understand the game and get the right people in place to run it and coach these kids.

[jBlaze3000]

Team Canada brings in a 65 year old coach, and they say he can not relate to the young kids and then go's out and wins this tourny and last years U18 tourny. USA was out coached again.

Well, let's take a look:

Team Canada coach Pat Quinn = long time NHL coach.
Team USA coach Ron Rolston = assistant coach at Boston College.

Hmmmmmmm.....