Every USA Olympic hockey team, ranked by miracles on ice

2. Vancouver Olympics, 2010

This is painful to write about because it still feels so fresh.
The 2006 was the worst American squad in Olympic hockey history. In 2010, Team USA attempted to right the ship. They opted for a younger squad who could keep up with other countries instead of old guys on the basis of experience.

But so many things were working about the 2010.

First, Team Canada was bad in 2006 as well. They finished seventh, which is unacceptable in Canada. Joe Sakic and company were lucky that they were allowed back in the country after that embarrassment. It would have been nearly impossible for Canada to be as bad in 2010 as they were in 2006.

Second, the Winter Olympics were held in Canada. It’s like this was designed for big Canadian comeback. Fail four years prior in Italy, return home to win gold four years later. It’s the Canadian version of Miracle except not as good.

Third, Team USA hasn’t developed a good defenseman in years. Like the 2002 squad, the Achilles heel of the Americans was on the backend. Team USA played Jack Johnson, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski and Tim Gleason. Team Canada had old Chris Pronger as their worst defenseman.

Finally, four-on-four overtime was nonsense. It was built for Sidney Crosby to score because you can’t give the best player in the world that much extra ice. Overtime should have been five-on-five. Team USA designed a great five-on-five team. If they wanted a four-on-four team, they would have selected T.J. Oshie and Auston Matthews even though Matthews was 12 at the time.

The 2010 Winter Olympics were rigged against the Americans. And they still took home silver.