In-your-face Team USA won't back down in World Cup of Hockey
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Americans want to be a dictator when they play in the World Cup of Hockey. They intend to call the shots in terms of how the game will be played. They seek to rule the game’s tempo with an iron hand.
“We are not looking to counterpunch,” U.S. coach John Tortorella said Monday, the opening day of USA training camp. “We have a way we want to play, and we are going to play that way.”
Tortorella’s coaching style has always demanded relentlessness, and U.S. general manager Dean Lombardi (Los Angeles Kings) and his staff chose a collection of quick, gritty players that will feed Tortorella's desire to pressure the opposition for 60 minutes.
“It’s not going to be a convoluted message about how we are going to play,” Tortorella said.
Although the Americans are not considered among the favorites to win the tournament, they plan to play with a commanding presence. Tortorella said the Americans did “extensive” amount of work looking at opposing lineups to make sure they had matchups that will work.
“But make no mistake about it,” Tortorella said. “We are not going to spend a lot of time worrying about other teams, and how they play. We are going to play our game. We are going to try to inflict, and put our will on the game.”
Lombardi's staff includes Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke and Philadelphia Flyers president Paul Holmgren. Those three NHL team bosses are not finesse-hockey kind of guys. Burke and Holmgren still debate who won a hockey fight they had more than 40 years ago.
Lombardi’s selection of players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Justin Abdelkader, Brandon Dubinsky and Jack Johnson, none of whom played on the 2014 U.S. Olympic team, symbolizes the American desire to be more belligerent than they were in Sochi, Russia, when the team failed to medal. The Americans are looking to play with a swagger, which is how the Canadians play in every international tournament. The Americans want to match, if not exceed, the Canadians' snarl.
Said U.S. goalie Cory Schneider (New Jersey Devils): “You look at the team speed we have here, and the big bodies who can skate … and the big guys who can get under other team’s skin. They can dictate the speed of play. We are going up against good teams, but we have a lot of compete and will in this room.”
The last Olympic tournament was played on the 15-foot wider international ice sheet. This tournament will be played on an NHL rink at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, meaning more physical play is assured.
“This is team that is going to stick to our guns, knowing what our best game is,” said U.S. forward David Backes (Boston Bruins). “(We are) going to put it out there. There is no time, or room, for hesitancy. It’s pretty clear with the group assembled it’s pretty clear we are going to play north, we are going to play right through you, and we are going to play hard-nosed hockey.”
The last major men’s championship won by American NHL players came 20 years ago at the World Cup of Hockey. It was a time when players such as Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, Keith Tkachuk, Bill Guerin, Mike Modano, Derian Hatcher, Mike Richter and others played a fiery style that is similar to the brand of hockey that Tortorella wants. Don’t think that won’t be brought up multiple times before the puck is dropped in Toronto.
“I do want them to feel the responsibility of playing for their country,” Tortorella said.