ARLINGTON, Va. — In David Poile’s mind, this will become the opening chapter of one of the greatest hockey stories ever written.
You see, the U.S. men’s hockey team has grand ambitions for the Sochi Olympics and everyone associated with USA Hockey believes a few days of bonding in the nation’s capital this week have set the stage for success in February.
“There’s a lot of symbolism here,” Poile, the American general manager, said at the conclusion of his team’s orientation camp. “It sounds like the right way to start the book off.”
Emboldened by the narrow gold-medal loss to Canada at the Vancouver Games and a string of other recent achievements on the international stage, there is a much different tone around the U.S. program than in the past.
The air of confidence permeating from players, coaches and management was impossible for an outsider to miss during the three-day orientation camp.
The Americans didn’t go anywhere near the ice and even poked a little fun at the sight of Mike Babcock putting his Canadian players through a series of ball hockey workouts in Calgary.
With 16 returnees from the Vancouver squad — the majority of which are guaranteed a spot in Sochi provided they remain healthy — it seemed like the U.S. team was already a unified and organized group.
“This is like getting back together with your old friends,” said forward Dustin Brown, who is a possible choice as captain.
In case there was any doubt about systems or expectations, the ultra-prepared coach, Dan Bylsma, held a slew of informational meetings and even showed some game tape.
A few of the players looked like they had arrived for the first day at a new school as they clutched Bylsma’s detailed schedule and wandered through the Washington Capitals practice facility looking for the room where their next session would be held.
There is already talk about this group potentially representing the best collection of American players in history. None of the 48 men invited to the nation’s capital was even alive for the country’s signature “Miracle on Ice” victory at Lake Placid in 1980 and many of the best ones are smack dab in the prime of their career.
When you add that to the fact that so many had the bittersweet experience of winning silver at the last Olympics you can start to understand why the Americans believe they should be considered among the favourites in 2014.
The team won’t officially be unveiled until Jan. 1, but Poile indicated that “at least half” of the roster spots are already accounted for.
“I certainly favour the guys that played in 2010 — not only in how they played and the success that we had but how they’ve matured as hockey players since then,” he said. “The age group that we have right now is excellent. I don’t know if there’s such a word as ‘perfect’ for an age group.
“Where oftentimes you thought maybe we were too young in 2010, well four years later I think we’re dynamic.”
Since there will be so little time to prepare once the Olympic break arrives in the NHL schedule, the leaders of the team have already been identified.
Brown, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, David Backes and Ryan Callahan have been asked to keep in regular contact with Bylsma and the management group over the next few months and relay messages to potential teammates during the season.
There will be very few holes when the roster is finalized.
The Americans will likely have a difficult choice in goal — Jonathan Quick is the favourite to start, but Ryan Miller, Cory Schneider, Jimmy Howard and Craig Anderson also have their eyes on the job — and boast an impressive group of wingers and defencemen.
Where there will be questions is at centre, with Derek Stepan, Ryan Kesler, Joe Pavelski, Paul Stastny and Backes currently representing the best options.
One thing you shouldn’t expect to see is another player — think Patrick Kane or Zach Parise — asked to move into the middle from the wing.
“We want our players in the optimal position to succeed,” said Bylsma. “If we talk about the fact that maybe we can move Zach Parise to centre, you’re taking him out of his optimal position and now he’s not Zach Parise. …
“I would hesitate to do that.”
This will be the first taste of international hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins coach and you could see the emotion on his face while discussing what it was like pulling on a Team USA tracksuit during the orientation camp.
Bylsma was one of the few to sound a cautionary tone about the expectations for the team because he feels that it might be tough for his charges to adapt to being in an unfamiliar place.
“There’s a different flavour for this group and for these players,” said Bylsma. “We’re not going to Vancouver, we’re not going to a North American city. We’re going on foreign soil, we’re going overseas.
“I don’t want to say we’re going over there as an underdog but we’re going over there with something to prove about USA Hockey.”
The Americans feel that they proved something by going undefeated through the 2010 Olympics until losing in overtime of the gold-medal game to Team Canada.
The memory of that loss still haunts those that experienced it. Parise talked about how he rarely looks at his silver medal while Bobby Ryan noted that he’s tried watching a DVD of the game but can never get to the end.
Others have tried to block it out completely.
“I think I might need to consult a psychologist on this,” said Backes. “I’ve suppressed it somewhat to not try to think of the details and some of the emotion that came with that overtime goal when it goes in and the thought of being on the cusp of winning gold and replicating what only two other U.S. teams have done in the Olympics.”
Despite the outcome, Kane called the gold-medal final “the greatest game I’ve ever been a part of.”
From a player who has won two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime in 2010 that is really saying something.
His only regret about the Vancouver Games is that there wasn’t one more chance to play Canada. He believes there would be a gold medal in his possession if that opportunity had arisen.
“You kind of wish there was a three-game series,” said Kane. “We beat them in the round robin and they beat us in the championship game. You wish there was one more game to see who actually really was the better team.”
Times have certainly changed.
Ahead of Vancouver, GM Brian Burke trumpeted the team’s position as underdogs and did all he could to deflect the attention away from his young group.
Now the expectations are considerably higher and no one associated with USA Hockey wants to shy away from that fact. Poile even mentioned that this was his best opportunity as a civilian to make a significant impact on his country and he is determined to do everything in his power to see that it happens.
“We told the players that this is going to be the toughest team that you have ever, ever made,” said Poile. “Consequently those are going to be the toughest decisions that I’m ever going to have to make. Honestly, I hope it’s tough. I don’t want any easy decisions here. I want guys to be disappointed.
“With all due respect we’ve never really had that many hard decisions to make in USA Hockey because we’ve never had the depth and the quality (of players) that we presently have.
“So bring it on.”