Winter Olympics: 5 reasons Team USA’s Women’s team is unstoppable
3. The Best Kessel
The men’s team has overlooked Phil Kessel in recent years. Maybe the women’s team has learned from that, including Amanda Kessel on their 2018 Olympic roster. Though she’s one of the most recognizable names in women’s hockey, her spot wasn’t a guarantee. Due to concussion issues, retirement was a plausible possibility for Kessel as recently as 2015.
In the 2014 Olympics, she put up three goals and three assists in five games. Kessel, much like her brother, tends to shine very bright on the biggest stages. She’s the kind of player who can make everyone around her better. With only three players being over 30 years old, America is going to rely on the ladies who have been to the Olympics before.
Kessel was the part of an impressive forward group who nearly bested Canada in 2014. Team USA didn’t have her in the 2015 or 2016 World Championships when they beat Canada. If the American women toss the Canadian gorilla off their backs, Kessel’s going to play a huge role in it.
4. Depth Kills
While Team USA chose to lean towards two-way play and defense over skill in their forward group, they still have outstanding forward depth. Hilary Knight has 14 points in 10 career matches in the Olympics. Brianne Decker has been dominant everywhere she’s gone. Dani Cameranesi, Kelly Pannek, Kendall Coyne, and Hannah Brandt were all extremely effective players in college. Haley Skarupa is a two-way player who was recently named an NWHL All-Star.
Team captain Meghan Duggan is a sensational defensive forward who can still bring some offense to the table. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson is another defensive forward who has been a staple for Team USA. Twin sister Monique Lamoureux-Morando is more offensively gifted but is still a force to be reckoned with in all three zones. Amanda Pelkey is a great penalty killer and should be a vital depth player for the women’s hockey team.
Team USA got some well-deserved heat for excluding Alexandra Carpenter from the final roster. But this is still a very talented forward group capable of carrying the team to a gold medal.
5. Goaltending Options
In football, they say if you have two starting quarterbacks, you have zero. Replace “quarterbacks” with “goaltenders” and it’s usually true in hockey. However, Team USA will have three goaltenders capable of starting at the 2018 Olympics.
None of their three goalies have Olympic experience. But what they have on their side is talent and confidence. The starting goalie has yet to be announced and it’s quite possible there won’t be a true number one goalie on Team USA. But with a talented trio like this one, that might not be a bad strategy.
Nicole Hensley did extremely well during the 2017 World Championships, posting a 0.63 GAA in three games. Alex Rigsby had an impressive college career at the University of Wisconsin and has a .911 save percentage in five exhibition games.
The most talented goalie of the trio, Maddie Rooney, is also the youngest. At just 20-years-old, she has a .932 save percentage in six exhibition games leading up to the Olympics. At the University of Minnesota-Duluth last season, she allowed just 1.65 goals per game and stopped 93.2 of the shots she faced.
Next: Best Olympian from each state
Will Team USA beat Canada? Only time will tell. But this team is better equipped to beat Canada and everyone else than the 2014 team, who nearly won a gold medal.
For all your 2018 Winter Olympics needs, check out our Olympics hub page for updated coverage!