The biggest criticism against the U.S. should be brought on their coaching staff, more than anything else. For those Freepers who aren't hockey fans, hockey has an interesting rule that gives a subtle advantage to the home team in a game. It's called the "last change" rule, and it works like this: Before every faceoff after a stop in play, the coach of the visiting team sends his players out onto the ice. The referee then raises his hand to indicate that the visiting team cannot change any players at that point, and the home team then has the option of changing their own players based on who is on the ice for the opposing team.
The implication of this is that the home coach should always be looking to match his lines up in a way that works to his advantage. If the visiting team puts their best offensive players on the ice, the coach of the home team will try to respond by putting his best defensive players out there. The reverse is also true: when the visiting team puts their best defensive players out on the ice, the home coach will try to keep his best offensive players on the bench until he can get a more favorable matchup.
Obviously, this strategy only applies after whistles when the play stops, and all bets are off once teams start "changing on the fly" while the puck is still in play.
When the U.S. played Canada yesterday, the U.S. was the "home" team. And yet U.S. coach Dan Bylsma never tried to use this line-matching strategy to keep the top U.S. offensive line away from the Toews-Marleau-Carter line that played so well defensively for Canada.
The US didn’t have Okposo, who as of the Olympic break starting, is 3rd among American players in points.
US Committee sure didn’t pick all the best players.