Olympics 2026: Why this U.S. men's hockey team is different and poised to overcome woeful overseas history

When the U.S. men's hockey team goes to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, it will try to shake off an ugly history of overseas performances. Since NHL players first went to the Olympics in 1998, the Americans have never medaled outside of North America.

While the U.S. has gotten some strong results at Olympics held in North America -- silver in Salt Lake City (2002) and Vancouver (2010) -- it has not fared nearly as well across the pond. In three attempts, the Americans have not finished better than fourth, and they have a combined six wins.

Team USA's performance at the 2006 Turin Olympics was especially bad. That goal differential was propped up by a rather unimpressive 4-1 win over Kazakhstan, and Team USA tied Latvia. Despite that, the U.S. still managed to reach the quarterfinals, where it lost to Finland.

Explaining that big disparity in results is a little challenging. Did the hometown fans make a difference in 2002 and -- to a lesser degree -- in 2010? Does the travel really make that big of an impact? It seems unlikely. Whatever the reason, the Americans have consistently come home empty-handed, and that would be an especially shocking and devastating result with the strength of the roster in 2026.

Let's take a deeper dive into why the 2026 Olympic hockey team is poised to do what other teams couldn't.

For much of the 20th century, the United States struggled to develop stars at the same rate as other countries like Canada, Sweden and Russia. There's no better evidence of that than the World Junior Championship, an under-20 tournament held annually since 1977. The Americans didn't win their first tournament until 2004, and they earned silver or bronze just three times in the prior 27 attempts. Since winning their first gold medal in 2004, the Americans have won the event seven times, including back-to-back championships in 2024-25.

That drastic improvement was preceded by a sharp bump in youth hockey numbers. According to USA Hockey, there was a total of 195,125 registered ice hockey players in the 1990-91 season. By the 1997-98 season, that number had more than doubled to 401,218. Registration crossed the 500,000 mark in 2010-11. During that period, USA Hockey began the U.S. National Team Development Program, which identifies elite talent and develops those players into professionals. Since the founding of that program in 1996, it has produced 432 NHL draftees.

Seventeen of those U.S. NTDP draftees are on the 2026 Olympic roster. Everyone on the team was born between 1991 and 2002, which means this squad is a product of the youth hockey explosion in the U.S. as well as a more concerted effort by USA Hockey to mold those players into stars. The 1998 and 2006 Olympic teams didn't get that benefit, and you started to see improvement in 2014, even if it didn't result in a medal. After all, the Americans were two shots away from being in the gold medal game after a 1-0 semifinal loss to Canada.

Playing better overseas starts with bringing better players to those tournaments. As obvious as it sounds, that's probably the biggest reason why Team USA is poised to change the narrative in Europe this year.

This section goes hand-in-hand with the development we just discussed above, but few things have improved within U.S. Hockey as much as the goaltending. Compare the 2026 Olympic trio -- Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman -- with those that Team USA brought in 1998, 2006 and 2014, and there is little comparison.

This is probably the worst trio the U.S. ever brought overseas for the Olympics. DiPietro is considered one of the biggest busts in NHL Draft history, Esche never played more than 40 games in a single season and Grahame was a full-time starter for one season in 2005-06.

This is a solid goaltending room, and to be fair, stopping the puck wasn't the problem for the 2014 Olympic team. Miller was a Vezina Trophy winner, and Quick already had a Conn Smythe Trophy under his belt (he would win a second Stanley Cup just months after the Olympics). The weak link here was probably Howard, who was very good for much of his 14-year career but never really reached star status.

The nine goaltenders listed above combined for two Vezina Trophy wins. Hellebuyck has three and has already established himself as the best American goalie in history while still in his prime. Hellebuyck is seventh among American goalies all-time in wins (332), fourth in save percentage (.917) and second in shutouts (45).

Oettinger is fifth in GAA (2.54), 10th in save percentage (.911) and 17th in wins (165) at the age of 27. Swayman, also 27, is in the top 25 of all three categories as well.

Goaltending has become the strength of USA Hockey. Especially with Russia unable to compete in 2026, the Americans should have the clear edge in goal against every team they face. That was not something that could be said in past trips overseas.

Team USA has a very favorable draw in its effort to medal across the pond with NHLers for the first time ever. The Americans will avoid Canada, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland and Slovakia until at least the first stage of the knockout round.

Team USA's toughest test in the round robin stage will likely come against Germany, a team with +6500 odds to win gold, according to DraftKings. That should -- and "should" is a key word for this team -- mean the Americans (+200 to win gold, just behind favorites Canada at +115) will reach the quarterfinals without encountering too much turbulence. Coach Mike Sullivan should be able to rotate goalies as he sees fit while also keeping his skaters rested until the heavyweight fights begin.

Meanwhile, Canada draws Czechia (+1400) and Switzerland (+3500), two teams that could be nuisances to the big dogs in the tournament. Sweden (+500) and Finland (+1000) draw one another while also getting Slovakia (+6500), another team that could prove troublesome if the Finns and Swedes overlook the matchup.

Maybe there's an argument that it would be better for Team USA to be battle-tested by the time it gets to the knockout stage, but the smaller sheet of ice could mean this tournament is more physical than past Olympics. If that's the case, the Americans likely won't mind fresh legs and bodies.

If we don't win gold they will have to explain why they left Jason Robertson off the team. It does not make any sense to anyone, except for the idiots who decided that.

Robertson's 48 points so far this NHL season are the most of any player who was eligible for selection to the American roster.

Among USA players in the NHL since 2021, Jason Robertson ranks 2nd in points and 3rd in goals in regular season games.

It seems they made a subjective judgement that he's not "tough", because he's not physical. Instead of just going by who has the most production. That was too simple apparently.

Gold medal favorite Canada is loaded with speed. They put Macklin Cellebrini, the super talented 19 year old, on their roster. He's not very big, but he is very fast. The dolts selecting team USA would probably have left him off. If it's US vs Canada in the gold medal game, don't be surprised if he gets a goal or assist after a burst of speed.

I know very little about hockey, but isn’t the international rink a little larger than NHL? That would favor speed over power. (muscle)

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

I thought that was one factor in the USA “Miracle on Ice” where they tuned the team for speed. Not to mention a octopus of a goalie that became an Olympic legend.

Actually they are using NHL size rinks for the first time. Probably because there are so many NHL players in the Olympics, particularly on the top teams. That doesn’t explain leaving Robertson off, since he does what he does in NHL rinks.

If we play like we did in the four nations last year we’ll definitely be making serious noises Guard zone hard win the battle on the boards control the pace and set up plays for frontal attacks on the net and have a strong PP.

The Women’s hockey team has been on run too

Brady or Matthew drops the gloves I’ll be marking out.

I think they’ve used these smaller rinks before. I seem to remember them making a big deal about the IIHF selling out to the NHL and letting them play the 2010 Winter Olympics on Vancouver’s NHL surface instead of the larger Olympic size.

Once again, I’m a casual watcher of Hockey, even though It’s a very dynamic game. I like it, respect it, but didn’t grow up with it.

I would think that changing the rink size would completely change the dynamic of the game.

Less finesse, more power.

I’m not much of a TV person, but I think I might watch as much of this hockey as I can. It could end up very interesting.

My Wife’s Godfather (Great Uncle) was an English teacher in Slovakia. We hosted some of his Slovakian students for Christmas and Thanksgiving, so other than rooting for USA, I like Slovakia.

Best regards

Caufield is also a sharpshooter but he’s not that big or physical. I would put as many sharpshooters on the team as possible. But what do I know? The Team USA brain trust seems to think checking is the big thing.

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