The United States men's national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. The US team is ranked 4th in the IIHF World Rankings. The current head coach is Tony Granato.
The United States won gold medals at the 1960 and 1980 Winter Olympics and more recently, silver medals at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics. The United States won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The team's most recent medal at the World Championships came with a bronze in 2015. They won the tournament in 1933 and 1960. Unlike other nations, the United States doesn't typically use its best NHL players in the World Championships even when they're available. Instead, USA Hockey uses this tournament as a platform for young NHLers and college players.
United States is a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, and Sweden.
As of 2014, the US has a registered ice hockey population of 611,926 with USA Hockey. USA Hockey is the largest governing body for ice hockey in the United States and is considered the best representation of the number of players playing ice hockey in the US.
Video United States men's national ice hockey team
History
The American ice hockey team's greatest success was the "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York when American college players defeated the heavily favored professionals from the Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal. Though hockey is not a major sport in most areas of the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the all-time greatest American sporting achievements. The United States also won the gold medal in the 1960 Games at Squaw Valley, California, defeating the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden along the way. However, since this victory is not as well known as the 1980 win, it has come to be known as the "Forgotten Miracle".
U.S. hockey experienced a spike in talent in the 1980s and 1990s, with future National Hockey League (NHL) stars including Tony Amonte, Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, Brett Hull, Pat LaFontaine, John LeClair, Brian Leetch, Mike Modano, Mike Richter, Jeremy Roenick, Kevin Stevens, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight. Although the United States finished no higher than fourth in any World or Olympic event from 1981 through 1994 (the US never used its best in these tournaments), the Americans did reach the final of the 1991 Canada Cup ans did win the 1996 World Cup with a squad of NHL players. Six years later, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and NHL arranged to accommodate an Olympic break in the NHL schedule, the United States earned a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics with a roster that included NHL stars Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury, Brian Rafalski, and Brian Rolston. But by 2006, many of these NHL All-Stars had retired or had declined with age. Though the 2006 Olympic team finished a disappointing 8th, it was more of a transitional team, featuring young NHL players like Rick DiPietro, John-Michael Liles, and Jordan Leopold.
The 2010 U.S. Olympic team was composed of much younger and faster players than teams of previous years, including David Backes, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny, and Ryan Suter. The team also had a solid group of veterans that included top NHL goalie Ryan Miller top defenseman Brian Rafalski and U.S. Olympic Team Captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The U.S. team upset team Canada 5-3 in the round-robin phase of the tournament and went into the single elimination phase of the tournament as the number-one seeded team. After beating Finland 6-1 the United States advanced to the gold medal game, where they lost in overtime 3-2 to Canada to claim the silver medal. The gold medal game between Canada and the United States was watched by an estimated 27.6 million U.S. households. This was the most watched hockey game in America since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" game, including any Stanley Cup Final or NHL Winter Classic broadcast.
The NHL pulled out of the Olympics for the 2018 competition in a dispute over insurance and the IOC's ambush marketing restrictions, prohibiting the national teams from inviting any player it held under contract. On January 1, 2018, the US roster was announced. Five players both from the Swiss National League and the KHL, four players from the NCAA, three players from the Swedish League and the AHL and two players from the German League made the team. Brian Gionta, the captain, is the lone unsigned free agent in the 25-men roster.
Maps United States men's national ice hockey team
Tournament record
Olympic Games
Canada Cup
- 1976 - Finished in 5th place
- 1981 - Finished in 4th place, lost semi-final
- 1984 - Finished in 4th place, lost semi-final
- 1987 - Finished in 5th place
- 1991 - Finished in 2nd place, lost final
World Cup
- 1996 - Won World Cup
- 2004 - Lost semi-final
- 2016 - Group stage
World Championship
- See: Ice Hockey World Championships and List of IIHF World Championship medalists
- Note: Between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.
- 1920 - Won medal
- 1924 - Won medal
- 1931 - Won medal
- 1932 - Won medal
- 1933 - Won medal
- 1934 - Won medal
- 1936 - Won medal
- 1938 - Finished in 7th place
- 1939 - Won medal
- 1940-46 - Not held
- 1947 - Finished in 5th place
- 1948 - Finished in 4th place
- 1949 - Won medal
- 1950 - Won medal
- 1951 - Finished in 6th place
- 1952 - Won medal
- 1955 - Finished in 4th place
- 1956 - Won medal
- 1958 - Finished in 5th place
- 1959 - Finished in 4th place
- 1960 - Won medal
- 1961 - Finished in 6th place
- 1962 - Won medal
- 1963 - Finished in 8th place
- 1964 - Finished in 5th place
- 1965 - Finished in 6th place
- 1966 - Finished in 6th place
- 1967 - Finished in 5th place
- 1968 - Finished in 6th place
- 1969 - Finished in 6th place
- 1970 - Finished in 7th place (Won "Pool B")
- 1971 - Finished in 6th place
- 1972 - Finished in 8th place (2nd in "Pool B")
- 1973 - Finished in 8th place (2nd in "Pool B")
- 1974 - Finished in 7th place (Won "Pool B")
- 1975 - Finished in 6th place
- 1976 - Finished in 4th place
- 1977 - Finished in 6th place
- 1978 - Finished in 6th place
- 1979 - Finished in 7th place
- 1980 - Not held
- 1981 - Finished in 5th place
- 1982 - Finished in 8th place
- 1983 - Finished in 9th place (Won "Pool B")
- 1984 - Not held
- 1985 - Finished in 4th place
- 1986 - Finished in 6th place
- 1987 - Finished in 7th place
- 1988 - Not held
- 1989 - Finished in 6th place
- 1990 - Finished in 5th place
- 1991 - Finished in 4th place
- 1992 - Finished in 7th place
- 1993 - Finished in 6th place
- 1994 - Finished in 4th place
- 1995 - Finished in 6th place
- 1996 - Won medal
- 1997 - Finished in 6th place
- 1998 - Finished in 12th place
- 1999 - Finished in 6th place
- 2000 - Finished in 5th place
- 2001 - Finished in 4th place
- 2002 - Finished in 7th place
- 2003 - Finished in 13th place
- 2004 - Won medal
- 2005 - Finished in 6th place
- 2006 - Finished in 7th place
- 2007 - Finished in 5th place
- 2008 - Finished in 6th place
- 2009 - Finished in 4th place
- 2010 - Finished in 13th place
- 2011 - Finished in 8th place
- 2012 - Finished in 7th place
- 2013 - Won medal
- 2014 - Finished in 6th place
- 2015 - Won medal
- 2016 - Finished in 4th place
- 2017 - Finished in 5th place
Others
- 1988 Spengler Cup - Winners
- 2002 Deutschland Cup - Finished in 2nd place
- 2003 Deutschland Cup - Winners
- 2004 Deutschland Cup - Winners
- 2005 Deutschland Cup - Finished in 3rd place
- 2005 TUI Nations Cup - Finished in 2nd place
- 2007 Deutschland Cup - Finished in 2nd place
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Head coach: Tony Granato
IIHF World Championship directorate awards
The IIHF has given awards for each year's championship tournament to the top goalie, defenseman, and forward (all since 1954), and most valuable player (since 2004). The following USA team members have won awards.
- 1955 - Don Rigazio (goalie)
- 1956 - Willard Ikola (goalie)
- 1959 - Bill Cleary (forward)
- 1960 - Jack McCartan (goalie)
- 1962 - John Mayasich (defenseman)
- 1967 - Carl Wetzel (goalie)
- 2004 - Ty Conklin (goalie)
- 2014 - Seth Jones (defenseman)
See also
- List of United States national hockey team rosters
References
External links
- Official website
- IIHF profile
Source of article : Wikipedia