USA Hockey off to a Strong Start at IIHF

The USA Men’s hockey team is off to a strong start at the 2015 IIHF World Hockey Championships.  With one of the hardest schedules, Team USA is 3-0-0 with strong wins against Russia and Finland.

Could the US take gold?  They haven’t since 1933.  If they continue playing well, they have a chance.  Their biggest obstacle is Team Canada with a much more talented team on paper.

The US will take on Belarus later this morning.

The Hockey Writers take a look at the “Miracle Run” so far:

Underdog Americans
Many people immediately wrote off this hockey team when they saw the roster because of the lack of NHL talent. Joe Pavelski and Jonathan Quick, among many others, elected not to participate in the tournament, leaving little but a pool of AHLers and college students to choose from. Granted, the NHL is represented on the team by Torey Krug, Mark Arcobello, and Seth Jones, as well as a few others. But, their lineup does not compare to organizations that have names like Sidney Crosby, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Pekka Rinne on their side.

It originally looked as if Team USA was going to be a middle-of-the-road club at best during the event. However, they have shocked the international hockey community and are emerging as contenders to go deep into the elimination rounds.

A defense-first style of play and outstanding goaltending by both Connor Hellebuyck and Jack Campbell are the biggest factors attributing to the success of the red, white, and blue. They have only given up four goals in their first three games, which is the least out of every country that doesn’t have a leaf on their flag. What Team USA lacks in high-scoring talent they make up for in defensive prowess. Jones in particular has been outstanding in all three zones (despite inadvertently knocking the puck into his own net against Russia).

Photo courtesy of RicLaf.