Team USA dominate WJC

[scoop 3,382]

From early on in the WJC, it looked like it was Team USA's tournament to lose. In the end, they did not lose.

 

Team USA was not perfect, but they looked like the best team throughout the tournament. They did have a couple early losses to Team Europe and Team Canada, and they picked up a third loss to Team World later on, but their 11-3 record had them squarely in first place in the round robin (32 points, compared to 25 for second place). It was very much a team effort, with several members contributing in big ways and in big games, but there were definitely standouts. Defenseman Kronchy Kardashian was the team leader in points, with seven goals and 18 assists across all 16 games of the tournament (playoffs included). After Kardashian, there were five others who had at least a point-per-game. Oreo McFleury led the tournament with 12 goals.

 

In the two playoff games, the bulk of the scoring was handled by two completely different trios. In the semi-finals against Team World, Oreo McFleury scored two goals, both of which were assisted by Gavin Rozzdale and Reese McFleury. Rozzdale scored the third goal, assisted by R. McFleury and goaltender Justin Lion. Lion also picked up the only shutout by any team, with 21 saves. In the gold medal game against Team Europe, that trio of skaters totaled just one assist in Team USA's 6-2 victory. Thankfully, the team did not rely heavily on any few players. This time around, it was Jacob Stone (1G, 3A), Kronchy Kardashian (4A), and The Mediocre One (2G, 1A) who stepped up. Every goal of the team for Team USA involved at least one of these three players.

 

Although the earliest any of these players might be seen on Team USA's World Cup roster would be in the S90 tournament, it is a good sign at least. S84-S86 marks the second time that Team USA has failed to win a medal in back-to-back World Cups (S46-S48). It's hard to say how much of an indicator of future World Cup success the WJC is, however. In truth, most of the players in this victory for Team USA will likely never play for Team USA in the World Cup. The four that are almost certainly going to make the team are O. McFleury, Jimi Jaks, Kardashian, and Stone. Beyond that, it could be that none of them ever do.