Team USA Team Fall Short of Medal Expectations at World Juniors

Expectations were high for Team USA entering the 2022 World Junior Championship. After going 4-0-0-0 in preliminary round play, Team USA won Group B. With Canada winning Group A, many expected the Americans and Canadians to face off for the Gold Medal. However, this was not meant to be as Team USA failed to reach the medal round losing to Czechia by a score of 4-2 in the quarterfinals.

It was the biggest upset of the quarterfinals and maybe the tournament. Though Latvia’s win over Czechia in preliminary play probably tops the list. However, Team USA was expected to compete for a medal in this tournament and now they will finish fifth. Such a disappointing result for a team that looked so dominant through the preliminary. Team USA will have to wonder about what might have been as their tournament ends.

Though the Americans were able to strike first thanks to a lucky bounce. Matt Coronato got the puck as the puck bounced weirdly off the boards to Logan Cooley to give Team USA a 1-0. However, from that moment on it was all Czechia. After Czechia captain Jan Mysiak tied the game at 1-1 late in period one, Czechia had the confidence to play their style of defensive hockey. Something we saw the Tampa Bay Lightning do so effectively in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Czechia Neutral Zone Trap Too Much For Team USA

It is a story as old as time. Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard. Not to say the Americans were not working hard, they were, but Czechia put in a defensive system at the start of the second period that did not allow Team USA to get their hard aggressive forecheck game going. Czechia frustrated the Americans at every turn clogging up the neutral zone. This did not allow Team USA to get their game going.

As previously mentioned the Lightning did this to their run to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. Like the Lightning, Czechia took advantage of mistakes made by the Americans to come away with the victory. Czechia did not mind playing the counter punchers game. In fact, they relished in it.

“These games are tough and we struggled to get into our game today,” said Nate Leaman post-game. “Our first 10 minutes were good but we struggled to manage the puck. We played a good Czechia team, they played hard and blocked a lot of shots, and you have to tip your hat to them.”

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After Czechia took a 2-1 lead thanks to a goal by Petr Hauser, the Americans for the first time in the tournament were trailing. They had played in tight games before, but this was the first time in any of the previous four games where they could not establish their own game. Instead, Team USA fell right into Czechia’s game plan.

Throughout the tournament, Team USA was one of the fastest teams. They were able to fly threw the neutral zone making some great tap-to-tap passes. That all came to an end against Czechia. Czechia slowed down the Americans forcing them into some uncharacteristic turnovers that came back to bite Team USA in the end. It was the perfect game plan put together by Czechia, who had not beaten Team USA in the previous seven matchups.

“We didn’t manage pucks well in the neutral zone,” said Leaman continued. “A lot of those pucks ended up coming back at us and I think that was one of the major differences in the game.”

Unlike in previous games, Team USA did not show the effort or energy they had. Czechia beat the Americans to every loose puck. Something, the Americans did in their prior four games. Winning puck battles and having a hard forecheck was a staple for Leaman’s club. But not in this game. After having 16 shots in the first period, the United States had a combined total of 14 shots over the final two periods. With their second period being the worst of the tournament for the Americans. Before they knew it the hole was too deep to dig out of.

Questions Surrounding Luke Hughes

Clearly, there was something wrong with defenceman Luke Hughes. Five to eight minutes into the game, Hughes suffered a lower-body injury. He missed the rest of the first period. Though he came back for the second period, he was not the same player. He was clearly hampered by his injury. It was noticeable to start the second frame. The speed and skating that Hughes displays with ease, were just not there.

Though he did show bursts at times over the remaining two periods, he was not effective at all. In fact, he hurt the team more than he helped them. Especially on the pass that was intercepted late in the game to seal the victory for Czechia.

It is admirable for players to want to play for their country, especially in elimination games. While head coach Nate Leaman credits Hughes for playing through the injury, you have to wonder if it was the smartest of decisions with his season at Michigan coming up. However, as Leaman said post-game Hughes wanted to go. He is a winner and you have to rely on your horses.

Hughes played 18 of the 24 minutes of ice time over the final two periods. There was no shot of him coming out. He did not want to come out of the game. He wanted to do whatever it took to win this game as the Americans were facing elimination.

In the end, it was not enough as Team USA fell to Czechia. There will be a lot of debate about whether or not Hughes should have come out of this game. Sometimes you have to protect the player from himself. But in the end, the Americans were just not good enough to win on this day.

Playing the Right Way Matters

There will have to be a lot of reflection for the United States and the coaching staff over the next couple of days and months. Slow starts and sloppy play did this team in. Not playing a full 60 minutes hurt this team as well. The mistakes that allowed Sweden back into the game reared their ugly head against Czechia. Team USA could not overcome them. These mistakes were similar to the ones this team made when the tournament was originally held in December.

Give credit to Czechia though for learning lessons from their Latvia loss and adjusting their game to a faster team. This is something the United States will have to learn from going forward. It is only the second time in seven years the Americans will finish off the podium at the World Junior Championship.

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