US Olympic Hockey team announced after Winter Classic: A brief history of USA mens hockey AND complete analysis of the USA roster

In the wake of a Winter Classic that included 6 inches of snow, a shootout, stunning saves by a goalie 1 year ago was unknown to the world and two controversial goals, the Big House in Michigan remained jam packed as they awaited the revealing of a team that only comes together every 4 years.

Fact is, there is something special about the history that this branch of the US Olympic committee holds. Amidst years of games, countless wins and political statements made via the indescribable power of hockey, the US team has reminded hockey fans that not all the great hockey players come from Europe and Canada. Since its first cast was selected back in 1920, the team has gone through both good times and bad winning their first international game by a margin of 29-0 before slumping in the coming years and failing to even make the Olympics until after World War II.

All of that changed in 1980. In what has since been dubbed The Miracle on Ice, the United States, a team that then consisted of no NHL players as a result of the season not being suspended for the games butted heads with the highly superior Russian team and won, not only punching their ticket to the gold medal game (which they won) but also taking part in one of the rare but powerful occasions when sport and politics collide as frankly, that game took place at a time when the two nations involved were one command away from nuclear war.

That miracle, that day in particular, changed things for the US Men boosting interest in the team and soliciting the participation of some of the NHL's best American talent. By the next incarnation of the team the roster included household names like Mike Richter,  Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, Pat LaFontaine replacing those of 1980 medalists like Jim Craig, Mike Ramsey and so on. Sadly though, the United States would not even get close to reliving the goal medal celebration of 1980 any time in the next 30 years as disappointing exits in 1994, 2002 and 2006 seemed to signal the team sinking back into its initial trend of losing. But then 2010 happened.

Once again drawing from the NHL's star studded poll of Americans, the United States built its team to send to Vancouver from the back end up. They stacked the net with guys like Tim Thomas, Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard then grabbed defencemen Dustin Brown, and Jack Johnson to serve as leaders on the defensive end. The offensive core, like those in net was also what brought the US so much success in the tournament as guys like Patrick Kane, Zach Parise and Phil Kessel finally gave USA the guys that allowed them to get into shootouts with their offensively minded Canadian rivals. In the end it was USA and those Canadians that ended up battling into overtime for the gold medal all before with one crushing blow, Sidney Crosby won the game.

The Americans were close and unlike the 1990's, they come into the 2014 Olympics, as good if not even better than they were the last time around. There are many similarities in this roster, some of the largest being Miller's return in goal and Kane and Kessel's returns on offence, however, as highlighted by Patrick Kane there is a newcomer to this team. Expectation.

"After being one goal away from a gold medal I think the expectations now are gold or bust" Patrick Kane told NBC prior to the Olympic roster being announced Wednesday afternoon.

Gold or bust sounds pretty much like it. Below is a flat list an ensuing analysis of USA's first step towards bringing this nation their first gold in over 30 years...

USA Mens Olympic Hockey Team Roster

Player Name - Position - Team

David Backus - Defense - St Louis Blues

Dustin Brown - Defense - LA Kings

Ryan Callahan - Right wing - New York Rangers

John Carlson - Defense - Washington Capitals

Justin Falk - Defense - New York Rangers

Cam Fowler - Defense - Anaheim Ducks

Patrick Kane - Center/Right wing - Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Kesler - Center/Right wing - Vancouver Chanucks

Paul Martin - Defense - Pittsburgh Penguins

Ryan McDonagh - Defence - New York Rangers

Ryan Miller - Goalie - Buffalo Sabers

Brooks Orpik - Defense - Pittsburgh Penguins

TJ Oshie - Center/Right wing - St Louis Blues

Max Pacoretty - Left wing - Montreal Canadians

Zach Parise - Left wing - Minnesota Wild

Joe Pavelski - Center - San Jose Sharks

Johnathan Quick - Goalie - LA Kings

Kevin Shattenkirk - Defense - St Louis Blues

Paul Stastny - Center - Colorado Avalanche

Derek Stepan - Center - New York Rangers

Ryan Suter - Defence - Minnesota Wild

Blake Wheeler - Right wing - Winnipeg Jets

Phil Kessel - Right wing - Toronto Maple Leafs

James Van Reimsdyk - Left wing - Toronto Maple Leafs

Jimmy Howard - Goalie - Detroit Redwings

Distribution of USA roster on NHL teams

Number of USA players on team - Team - Players Names

(3) St Louis Blues - Kevin Shattenkirk, David Backes, TJ Oshie

(3) New York Rangers - Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh

(2) Toronto Maple Leafs - Phil Kessel, James Van Riemsdyk

(2)  Pittsburgh Penguins - Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin

(2) Los Angeles Kings - Dustin Brown, Johnathan Quick

(2) Minnesota Wild - Zach Parise, Ryan Suter

(1) Vancouver Canucks - Ryan Kesler

(1) Washington Capitals - John Carlson

(1) Winnipeg Jets - Blake Wheeler

(1) San Jose Sharks - Joe Pavelski

(1) Montreal Canadiens - Max Pacioretty

(1) Chicago Blackhawks - Patrick Kane

(1) Colorado Avalanche - Paul Stastny

(1)  Buffalo Sabres - Ryan Miller

(1) Anaheim Ducks - Cam Fowler

(0) Boston Bruins

(0) Calgary Flames

(0) Carolina Hurricanes

(0) Columbus Blue Jackets

(0) Dallas Stars

(0) Edmonton OIlers

(0) Florida Panthers

(0) Nashville Predators

(0) New Jersey Devils

(0) New York Islanders

(0) Ottawa Senators

(0) Philadelphia Flyers

(0) Phoenix Coyotes

(0) Tampa Bay Lightning 

To say the least, there were people snubbed from the US Olympic roster this year. First and foremost you have Bobby Ryan a skillfully right wing for the Senators that was left off the roster for reasons that seem nearly moronic. However, those reasons do have merit and however bizarre, those merits are truly as meaningful as some make them sound. Even at the professional level, players play better with players whom they have a relationship with. We have been shown that for years with the insane chemistry of either the Sedin Twins, the Stall Brothers or even Shawn and Joe Thornton and yet for such a chemistry to develop blood relation does not even necessarily need to be present as simply a familiarity with one's game that is earned over years not weeks can often seed many a goal in the tic tack tow passing kind of league that is the NHL.

As crazy as it is, that fact may be the reason for Bobby Ryan's exclusion from the USA team as while it it is true that he is better than TJ Oshie or Derek Stepan individually , the USA front office likely believes that the on ice output gained by the combination of Oshie or Stepan and their respective teammates outweighs what Ryan could give.

Goals analysis of current attacking roster members and notable snubs

Player name - Goals scored - Games played - Average goal per game

Zach Parise - 15 - 37 - .405

Ryan Kesler - 15 - 41 - .366

Patrick Kane - 23 - 42 - .547

James Van Reimsdyk - 14 - 39 - .359

Joe Pavelski - 16 - 40 - .400

Phil Kessel - 20 - 41 - .488

Dustin Brown - 7 - 40 - .175

David Backus - 16 - 35 - .457

Ryan Callahan - 7 - 24 - .292

Max Paccoretty - 17 - 32 - .531

Paul Stastny - 11 - 37 - .297

TJ Oshie - 6 - 39 - .154

Derek Stepan - 7 - 41 - .171

Blake Wheeler - 15 - 42 - .357


Notable Snubs:

Bobby Ryan - 18 - 42 - .429

Dustin Byfuglien - 7 - 42 - .167

*Torey Krug - 8 - 40 - .200

Kyle Okposo - 15 - 41 - .366

Keith Yandle - 6 - 39 - .154

*Torey Krug unlike the rest of those on this list is a defenceman but it included because of his offensive capabilities

As the goals analysis is read, a strong discrepancy and screaming lack of talent at one position in particular evident. 26 year old right winger Bobby Ryan was left off the team this year and frankly there is no logical reason why. The United States has 6 players with the capabilities of playing right wing at this Olympics and after calculating their goals per game average just 2 of them boast goals per game averages higher than that of Bobby Ryan. TJ Oshie in particular seems like he might be of little use to the team compared to the talent Ryan could bring to it. As they deal with the much larger rinks that are used in Europe and Russia, crisp passing and precise skating will be crucial if the team hopes to win a single game in Sochi. Even on Oshie's 4th line that is projected to fill the role of possession winning, momentum sustaining trio, the capabilities Ryan has on the breakout would be anything but detrimental to USA. Furthermore, the placement of Ryan alongside sweet passing center Paul Stastny who will already be quarterbacking the line Oshie is currently on would not only set up the possibility of clutch goals when needed but also make it oh so harder for opponents to pick which line they need to send their best defenders out to counteract. With all this pointing in favor of Ryan being selected for the team it seemed that the only possible reason for Oshie's being selected is that familiarity with teammates cited earlier. 

In the end though, Bobby Ryan's exclusion from the US Mens Olympic team however finite it may seem now may be one of the biggest mistakes USA will make in this 2014 Olympic run.

Holdover and newcomers in relation to 2010 team

Holdovers (6)

David Backes, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Ryan Miller

Newcomers (8)

Jimmy Howard, TJ Oshie, Max Pacioretty, John Carlson, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk

Played in 2010 but will not in 2014 (10)

Tim Thomas, Tim Gleason, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Brian Ravelski, Ray Whitney, Chris Drury, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Bobby Ryan

Projected lines and defensive pairings

Forwards:

Zach Parise/Ryan Kesler/Patrick Kane

James Van Reimsdyk/Joe Pavelski/Phil Kessel

Dustin Brown/David Backus/Ryan Callahan

Max Paccoretty/Paul Stastny/TJ Oshie


Utility forwards:

Derek Stepan/Blake Wheeler


Defense:

Ryan Suter/John Carlson

Ryan McDonagh/Kevin Shattenkirk

Paul Martin/Justin Faulk


Utility defense:

Cam Fowler/Brooks Orpik

GM David Poole's statement regarding Olympic team

"It's been an honor to be chosen to be GM of the 2014 US Olympic Team, I have had a fabulous job assembling this team. As we look back we came within 1 goal of winning in the 2010 Olympics and we worked to find guys who could give us that one extra goal. Also we have melded in North America twice in Salt Lake City and Vancouver so we needed to make some changes to win gold here."