5 USA hockey players who will be your new favorite after Olympics

Here are five USA hockey players that will be your favorite players after the Winter Olympics.

For the first time since the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, the NHL players are not involved in the games. Instead, the rosters of the 12 countries in the games are filled with players playing professionally in Europe, Asia, or NCAA. While some of the players’ names will be well-known to hockey fans, some of the players in the tournament will be unknown to even the biggest die-hard hockey fan.

The United States roster is made up of five players playing in the KHL and Switzerland, four in the NCAA, three in the AHL, Germany, and Sweden and one player in the Czech Republic and one player currently unsigned.

5. Jordan Greenway

When Jordan Greenway takes the ice in Pyeongchang for the first time at the Olympics, he will become the first African-American to represent the United States in ice hockey. Greenway is one of four members of Team USA currently playing in the NCAA. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound winger is currently a junior at Boston University, where he has scored 23 goals, 80 points and 180 penalty minutes in 102 games for the Terriers.

The Minnesota Wild selected Greenway in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft, 50th overall and he projects as a prototypical power forward in the NHL. Greenway combines speed, power, physicality, with his massive frame. In addition to playing with a high level of skill, Greenway is willing to do the dirty work. Greenway is willing to go into the corners and stand in front of the net and take punishment from opposing defense. Given his physical size and strength, Greenway is difficult to get knocked off of his feet and moved from in front of the net. In the corners, Greenway uses his size and skating ability to win the majority of battles.

At the Olympics, Greenway will likely be in the United States bottom-six forwards and will play a role on a checking line, matching up against another countries’ best offensive lines. While Greenway is not expected to get a lot of offensive zone starts, he could see time on the power-play. Head coach Tony Granato would be smart to use Greenway on the power-play.

Given his size and strength, placing Greenway in front of the net, the United States will have a great net presence and obstructing the vision of opposing goalies. By using Greenway on the power-play, the United States will be able to open up bigger passing lanes for the other four players on the ice with the man advantage.