The Hockey Championship That the US Men Can’t Seem to Win (Published 2023)
After a strong start, the US men’s hockey team was disappointingly eliminated from the World Championships last weekend. Again.
The U.S. team, loaded with NHL players, had breezed through pool play in Finland with a 7-0 record and then defeated the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. That put the Americans in the semifinals against Germany, a team featuring players primarily from German league teams Eisbären Berlin (the Berlin Polar Bears) and Kölner Haie (the Cologne Sharks).
The United States has not won a single World Cup since 1933. They haven’t even reached the final since 1950. A win over Germany on Saturday would have changed that. The United States lost 4-3 in extra time.
The annual World Cup is a curious event. It is a major international tournament, not far behind the Olympics in terms of prestige, at least among hockey fans. But because it coincides with the NHL playoffs, many countries are unable to field their best players.
Instead, players are being hastily recruited from teams that either didn’t make the playoffs or were quickly eliminated. While some of the players are NHL veterans, other stalwarts like Canada’s Tyler Toffoli (73 points for the Calgary Flames this season) are also playing. And just about every superstar — Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid — has played in the event.
Yet the tournament is often skipped by fans more interested in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Players who win a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal and a world championship belong to what’s known as the Triple Gold Club — a feat that has included Sweden’s Peter Forsberg, Russia’s Viacheslav Fetisov, Canada’s Crosby and Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr. But no Americans.
Since most international teams lack superstars, everyone is equally disadvantaged and the best hockey nations win. Besides this year’s winner, Canada, the other champions in this century are Finland, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. But not the United States.
Technically, the United States won a “world championship” in 1960. But that was at the Olympics, which were considered a world championship at the time. (That rule changed for the “Miracle on Ice” victory at the 1980 Olympics.) But even if you credit one or both of those victories, it’s been a long time since American men won gold.
The United States led their semifinal this year 3-2 when Germany scored with 1 minute and 23 seconds left after taking out their goalie. Germany then won in overtime on a goal by Frederik Tiffels of EHC Red Bull Munich.
Rocco Grimaldi, a player for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, led the tournament with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points for the United States. The U.S. team also included three Olympians — Drew Commesso, also of the IceHogs; Sean Farrell of the Montreal Canadiens; and Nick Perbix of the Tampa Bay Lightning — along with Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres and goalie Casey DeSmith of the Pittsburgh Penguins. They also lost a bronze medal, losing 4-3 to Latvia on Sunday.
(While American hockey fans may not have tuned in, Latvian fans certainly did. national holiday was declared (after the country’s unexpected medal, the first.)
It’s been a while since 1933. For that year’s tournament, the third separate World Championship, the United States sent a team of students called the Boston Olympic Club to Prague. The club defeated Canada, represented by the Toronto Nationals, 2-1 in the final.
“World title for US Six,” was the Headline in the New York Times about a two-paragraph article about the game. The player who scored the winning goal, John B. Garrison, declined to play in the NHL after playing for Harvard, but was part of the US Hockey Hall of Fame for his amateur exploits. The team’s goalie was Gerry Cosby, who later founded the sporting goods company that bears his name.
At the time, the tournament was strictly amateur, leading to a period in the 1960s and 1970s when it was dominated by the powerful “amateur” Soviet team. NHL players were allowed in the 1970s, leading to the current system in which players from teams that did not advance to the playoffs make up the bulk of the rosters.
That still hasn’t helped the Americans, who have won bronze seven times since taking silver in 1950.
Due to the lack of many top players, fans often consider the World Cup of Hockey and its predecessor, the Canada Cup, to be more prestigious because they have regularly showcased the best players in the world. The United States has won the World Cup once, in 1996. It has not been held since 2016, although there are hopes of reviving it in a few years.
And the U.S. women, who along with Canada dominate the World Cup, have a strong track record at the World Cup, having won 10 titles in the 22 years of the event.
But when it comes to the men’s world championships, it looks like the United States will fall short.
