Olympic Spotlight—Men's Ice Hockey: Will this year’s team get the job done in their first Olympics back?

A poster of the first six players named to the U.S.’s roster. From left to right: Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy, and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk.

Amidst the backdrop of popular media and increasing men’s hockey viewership, the NHL has allowed its players to compete in the first Olympic Games since 2014 in Sochi. The highly anticipated games will include a notable absence of Russia from the ice, in response to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that halted the participation of Russian athletes. This absence spotlights a storied rivalry that has only gotten more intense in the past year: Canada vs. the United States. Canada, which about 40% of NHL players call home, is followed closely by the U.S., which makes up around 30% of the league. This deviation from a Canadian and Russian league has given new hope to the U.S. national team of a gold medal, the first one since the infamous “Miracle on Ice” season in 1980. But can the U.S. team pull off a win against a Canadian team that won the Four Nations Face-Off a year ago?

Last February, in lieu of an All-Star break, the NHL hosted the Four Nations Face-Off, inviting Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the U.S. to compete in a round-robin tournament that culminated in a championship game. In their round-robin matchup against Canada, the U.S. dropped the gloves to fight three times in the first nine seconds of the game. The U.S. pulled off a 3-1 win. The next time the two teams met was in the Championship game, which the Canadian national team won in a thriller that went to overtime and culminated in a 3-2 win for Canada.

This year, the matchup will be highly anticipated—though not guaranteed. Much like the women, the men’s tournament plays round-robin style before advancing to the medal round. As the U.S. and Canada are in different groups, they will not meet in the first round, instead waiting for the medal round to face off.

The U.S. team marked their first Olympics with professional players with controversy. Forwards Cole Caufield for the Montreal Canadiens and Jason Robertson for the Dallas Stars were just two players fans believed were snubbed for the team. At the time of writing this article, Robertson is second in all American-born players in the league for goals with 60, leading some fans to believe he was snubbed on account of his Japanese-American heritage. Amidst the politics of professional sports, USA Hockey has toed a thin line with a roster that is arguably absent of diversity. Caufield trails barely behind him, with 53 goals so far. Due to the questionable decisions made by U.S. hockey management, fans are left wondering if the U.S. can even contend for a medal, let alone battle a stacked Canadian roster for the gold.

Despite the notable snubs, the U.S. team boasts a feat not seen since 1960: two pairs of brothers on the same roster and potentially on the same line. Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk, who play on opposite wings, are expected to start on the same line as leading American goal scorer, Jack Eichel. All three were part of the roster last year for Four Nations, and the Tkachuks instigated two of the three fights against Canada. Expect physical play from the Eichel line throughout the games. The second pair of brothers couldn’t be different from the first. forward Jack Hughes and defenseman Quinn Hughes are two of three brothers in the NHL, and they will debut in their first professional international tournament together this February.

The U.S.’s roster may be historic, but is it enough to compete with the generational talents of Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and rising star Macklin Celebrini? The U.S. certainly thinks so. Following the Four Nations, the team added Seth Jones, a physical defenseman who plays with his teammate, Matthew Tkachuk, on the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers, along with dropping forward Adam Fox. They’re hoping his presence can detract from the quick plays of McDavid and muscle the U.S. to victory. If you were to ask me, I’m not convinced until I see the team play. The Canadian team boasts a robust roster full of depth at important positions. Team Canada management had no shortage of elite Canadian players to pick from. While the U.S. boasted a similar situation, management chose a much different team, focusing more on creating the ideal team, and choosing for chemistry rather than skill in some cases. The last team to win a gold using this philosophy was the “Miracle” team, putting together a ragtag team of collegiate players that defeated the professional Soviet Union team in the Lake Placid Games. In contrast, the Canadian team has won three golds since 1980. With the lack of recent gold medals in the USA Hockey trophy case, one is left to wonder if the national team truly has a winning strategy, or if they’re just trying to create another miracle.

The U.S. will open the tournament with a match against Latvia on Thursday, February 12th, which has a 12:10pm PT puck drop. They follow this with back-to back games on the 15th and 16th against Denmark and Latvia respectively, both at 12:10pm PT. You can watch all three round-robin matches and medal round games on Peacock, or any NBC broadcast station. Radio broadcasts will be available on ESPN 710 Seattle, or iHeart Radio's NBCU channel.