The U.S. Olympic men’s hockey squad had plenty of star power, but it was not an all-star team.
A true team has many roles to fill beyond just pretty passes and flashy goals. Blocking shots, killing penalties, winning 50-50 puck battles and playing with physicality are, among other things, vitally important.
So are character and grit.
Bill Guerin, the general manager for both Team USA and the Wild, seems to understand that about as well as anyone in the business.
In assembling this Team USA roster, Guerin left behind many top-scoring American players. He took plenty of heat for it from critics before and during the Olympics, but his approach was validated Sunday, Feb. 22, when the U.S. prevailed in a 2-1 overtime win over Canada that delivered the country its first men’s hockey gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice.”
This one was more of a mild-to-moderate surprise than the true shocker of 1980, but it was delivered via healthy doses of both skill and grit.
With the Wild, as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast, Guerin was tasked with a similar problem that had a harder solution. To get the right balance for Team USA, Guerin needed role players. To get the right balance with the Wild, he needed to add more skill.
How far both teams have come has been on display throughout the winter and particularly in the Olympics, as noted here at the start of today’s 10 things to know:
