My Two Cents: Team Canada’s Classic Journey, Team USA’s Classic Fall

Team USA Was Good, Just Not Near Good Enough

For Team USA, the stories of the 2014 Olympic Winter games in Sochi will be as forgettable as they were memorable.

Team USA won their first five games of the tournament and looked fairly impressive in most of their efforts, including a 7-1 win in their opener over Slovakia and later a 5-2 win over the Czech Republic prior to the medal round. The USA was getting contributions from all over the place. Phil Kessell of the Toronto Maple Leafs was on fire, the Sharks’ Joe Pavelski had a key goal against Russia and was an assist leader. Ryan Kessler of the Vancouver Canucks was simply selling out on every play as he was one of the best shot blockers alongside Pavelski. Jonathan Quick of the LA Kings looked like he normally does, very difficult to score on.

In a nutshell, Team USA had all of the promise in the world of making some noise and doing some damage in the medal round if they could get there. The key victory in the tournament for Team USA was their 3-2 shootout victory over the host nation Russia in their second game. It was this win that ultimately earned them their birth in the medal round.