In 2018, the United States men’s hockey team tied for its second-worst finish at the Olympics ever, losing three of its five games and getting knocked out in the quarterfinals to end up seventh.
If you forgot about that or didn’t even know it to begin with, you’re not alone. The NHL not going to Pyeongchang, South Korea killed a lot of hockey fans’ excitement before the tournament even began. The U.S. roster being a weird amalgam of veteran journeymen playing in various European leagues didn’t quite evoke memories of the college-laden 1980 Miracle on Ice team, either. The 2018 team had just four college players on it.
It may be tempting to approach this year’s men’s hockey tournament with a similar level of apathy. While the women’s tournament -- where the U.S. is looking to defend its 2018 gold -- will once again feature the best players in the world, the men’s tournament once again will not. The NHL controversially blocked its players from going in December, citing the league’s COVID situation at the time and the need to reschedule games during the stretch of February originally set aside for an Olympic break.
But USA Hockey learned an important lesson in 2018, one that should make this year’s team not just better on the ice, but also more exciting to watch. That lesson was that, far from being overwhelmed by the Olympic stage, the college guys were actually their best players four years ago. Ryan Donato, then at Harvard, scored five of their 11 goals in the tournament. Troy Terry, then at the University of Denver, led the team with five assists.
When the NHL pulled out in December, USA Hockey quickly pivoted to a roster-building plan that was going to feature a lot more college players. They ended up with 15 of them, including 13 NHL draft picks. That group will form the team’s core, with the journeymen playing overseas serving more as the complementary veterans this time around.
This team is much closer to the kinds of rosters the U.S. iced in the pre-dream team days, and the chance to watch more players whose NHL careers are still ahead of them rather than behind them should make for a more interesting watch.
For those of us in Boston, there are plenty of local connections to pique your interest, too. Five of the college players are currently playing at Boston College (forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Drew Helleson), Boston University (goalie Drew Commesso) or Harvard (forwards Sean Farrell and Nick Abruzzese).
McLaughlin (Billerica), Commesso (Norwell) and Farrell (Hopkinton) are all Massachusetts natives, as are University of Michigan center Matty Beniers (Hingham) and former Bruins defenseman and BU alum David Warsofsky (Marshfield). Defenseman Steven Kampfer and forward Kenny Agostino join Warsofsky as former Bruins on the team, while current Providence Bruins defenseman Aaron Ness made it as well.
None of them expected to be getting this opportunity this season. None of them would have had the NHL not pulled out in December. If any of that cheapens the tournament in the eyes of fans, it certainly doesn’t for them.
“I was kind of blown out of my shoes when I got asked,” Beniers said in a recent Zoom interview. “…It’s a pretty once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Just to be able to go to another country, go to China, and represent and play for your country, wearing USA on your jersey, it’s all a really special experience. And doing that at the Olympics makes it even more special. I’m just so excited.”
Beniers is the highest draft pick on the team, having been drafted second overall by the Seattle Kraken this past summer. He just turned 19 in November, making him the youngest player on the men’s Olympic team in 38 years. The sophomore currently ranks second in the NCAA in points with 36 (16 goals, 20 assists) in 28 games, trailing only Olympic teammate Nathan Smith of Minnesota State University.
For Beniers, Commesso and a few other U.S. players, the invitation to join the Olympic team from USA Hockey general manager John Vanbiesbrouck in early January came as an almost immediate pick-me-up following the disappointment of this year’s World Junior Championship -- where they were also representing the U.S. -- getting canceled mid-tournament because of COVID.
“It feels surreal. It really does,” said Commesso, who was the starting goalie at World Juniors. “At the World Juniors, I knew that you never really know the last time you’re going to be able to put on the USA jersey. Having the tournament get canceled so abruptly and kind of out of the blue, it was a real shock to me. To have the opportunity to wear the colors again, I’m so excited to represent BU, to represent my family and friends, and most importantly represent this amazing country. It’s something I really can’t wait for. I’m very excited.”
Beniers was also on the 2021 World Junior team that won gold, as was Helleson. They’re among the many players on the team who have worn the USA jersey before, whether with the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP), at World Juniors, or at the Under-18 World Championship.
Helleson, a Minnesota native and second-round pick of the Avalanche who is now a junior at BC, said he thinks that past international experience and winning gold at World Juniors will help, while also acknowledging there’s nothing quite like the Olympics.
“I think it’s definitely going to help a little bit, but I don’t think it really stands up with the Olympics,” Helleson said. “The Olympics are on a completely different level. It’s a whole different ballgame. I’ll look back on those two experiences I have had, but this is much bigger and something that means a lot more.”
One of the U.S. players who doesn’t have any international experience -- and who isn’t drafted -- is his BC teammate and one of his best friends, McLaughlin (no relation to the author of this story, by the way). While the Billerica native may not have attracted much attention from USA Hockey and NHL teams when he was younger, he certainly is now.
McLaughlin, now a senior, has captained the Eagles each of the last two seasons and has improved throughout his four years at BC, going from eight points in 39 games as a freshman to averaging a point per game over the last two years. His 18 goals this season are tied for first in the country. The 22-year-old attended Bruins development camp last summer and is expected to be one of the top college free agent targets for NHL teams once BC’s season ends.
McLaughlin was also named Hockey East’s Best Defensive Forward last season, and U.S. coach David Quinn could turn to him to handle a checking/shutdown type of role. Exactly what roles guys will be playing and what the lines will look like is being sorted out this week in Los Angeles, where the team is going through a crash course of a training camp before flying to Beijing.
One possible line combination could feature the two Harvard guys, Farrell and Abruzzese, playing together. Farrell, a sophomore drafted by the Canadiens, and Abruzzese, a junior drafted by the Maple Leafs, have teamed up on Harvard’s top line this season and are both averaging over a point per game. That built-in chemistry could be appealing to Quinn, especially with so little time to build new chemistry before the team’s group stage opener against host China, which will be Thursday, Feb. 10 at 8:10 a.m. ET.
“It’s unbelievable,” Farrell said of going with Abruzzese. “We’ve been really close friends here at Harvard and I really enjoy playing with him. So it’s going to be awesome to experience this together and maybe play a little bit together there as well. We’ll see what happens, but to be going with him and to experience this with him, it’s gonna be even more special.”
All five of the BC/BU/Harvard guys will miss some important games for their college teams, including the Beanpot. If there was any concern about how their coaches or teammates might react to them going -- something they obviously hadn’t been planning for until the last month -- it was unwarranted. All five said they got nothing but overwhelming support from everyone.
“They were all very supportive, especially Coach [Jerry] York,” McLaughlin said. “He was talking about how it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you gotta go make the most of it. He wished me all the luck. I’m sure he’ll be reaching out while I’m there, once I leave. It was pretty special to see how much they supported me and have my back.”
At Harvard, coach Ted Donato went to the Olympics himself back in 1992. And, as previously covered, his son, Ryan, went in 2018 while playing for his father at Harvard.
“It’s awesome to hear from him,” Farrell said of Donato. “He’s obviously super supportive of us. His son, Ryan, went when he was at Harvard as well. We’re kind of in a similar situation as he [Ted] was back in the day, and as Ryan was. So he probably understands as well as anyone how special of an experience it’s going to be. He kind of just relayed the message to just have fun. It’s such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so don’t take it for granted.”
Now the big question is: Just how good is this team? The reality is that, similar to 2018, no one really knows until they start playing games. On paper, this at least looks like a more talented squad than the 2018 group.
They won’t go in as favorites. FanDuel, just as one example, has the U.S. sixth in its pre-tournament odds, behind Russia, Canada, Finland, Sweden and David Krejci’s Czech Republic. Everyone seems to agree that defending gold medalists Russia (or the Russian Olympic Committee as they’ll officially be known because of doping sanctions) are the favorites. The KHL gives them more non-NHL talent to call on than any other country.
But with everyone trying to figure things out on the fly, it’ll ultimately come down to who really clicks the quickest. Germany -- far from an international hockey power -- getting all the way to the gold medal game and taking Russia to overtime in 2018 serves as evidence that anything can happen.
Could the U.S. really win gold, the country’s first in men’s hockey since the 1980 Miracle team? The players are certainly going in with that as their goal and aren’t just settling for a happy-to-be-there approach.
“That’s our goal, is to go over there and win a gold medal,” McLaughlin said. “I think they’ve definitely put a team together that has the opportunity to do it. I like that they went with a lot of youth and skill in the lineup and a lot of really, really good players that I’m sure will be playing in the pros very soon. I think the pieces are all there.”