Nickname(s) Team U.S.A., Ice Yanks Most games Mark Johnson (151) IIHF code USA Head coach John Tortorella Association USA Hockey | General Manager Dean Lombardi Most points Mark Johnson (146) Captain Joe Pavelski Location United States of America | |
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Assistants Jack Capuano
Scott Gordon
Phil Housley
John Hynes
Mike Sullivan Sponsors Nike, Inc., Reebok, Labatt Brewing Company | ||
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 amateur and Olympic ice hockey in the United States. The US team is ranked 4th in the IIHF World Rankings. The current head coach is John Tortorella.
Contents
- History
- World Championship
- Canada Cup
- World Cup
- Others
- Current roster
- IIHF World Championship directorate awards
- References
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 but was unable to defend its title at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, losing to Finland in the semifinals, and was ousted before group play finished in the 2016 Cup. The team's most recent medal at the World Championships came with a bronze in 2015. They won the tournament in 1933.
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.
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 they defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal. Though hockey is not a universally popular sport in the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the greatest achievements in the history of American sports. 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, Tom Barrasso, Chris Chelios, 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 Americans 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 allow NHL players to participate in the Olympic Games, 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 lost their skill 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.
However, several months later at the IIHF World Championship, the U.S. team posted the worst record in its history by losing all three of its games in the preliminary round. The losses eliminated the United States from medal contention and dropped them below 12th place. Only three wins in the relegation round, including a shootout win over Italy, prevented the United States from being relegated to Division I and gave Team USA a chance to play for the IIHF World Championship in 2011.
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.Canada Cup
World Cup
Others
Current roster
Roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Head coach: John Tortorella
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.