Some say that no one remembers who finishes fourth in the Olympics.
But I think Americans will remember the 2014 Games for quite some time.
A thousand things went wrong over the past two days for Team USA. First and foremost, the Americans did not score any goals — which was culprit No. 1 during the team’s 1-0 loss to the Canadians on Friday. On Saturday, with “only” a bronze medal to play for, Team USA laid an egg.
“I’m kind of embarrassed where we’re at now,” Ryan Suter told the Associated Press.
Suter’s sentiments say it all. Those two losses — particularly USA’s 5-0 whitewashing in the bronze medal game at the hands of Finland — completely wiped out the good feeling of four early-tournament wins.
Yet, what we may have figured out was those four wins were fools’ gold.
We were duped, tricked into believing that our club was among the three best in the world. After all, Russia had laid an egg. Canada, Finland and Sweden were all decimated by injury, and the Americans had stolen a berth to the quarters. There was reason to believe Team USA would finish on the podium.
Ultimately, the margin of winning a hockey game is razor thin. If not for a redirection by Jamie Benn, we could be talking about the greatest American upset since the Miracle on Ice and a medal in consecutive games for the first time in more than 50 years.
Yet, in just 24 hours, we all saw how far USA Hockey still must go, both on ice and off.
USA were outplayed in consecutive days by two elite-level programs — which truly is nothing new for an American squad. Still, with “gold or bust” as the rallying cry, a fourth-place finish — closed by consecutive shutouts — is unacceptable.
Yet, it is Benn’s hero status that spotlights the fundamental difference between the U.S. and Canada. Hockey Canada was comfortable enough to invite Benn, a speedy, young, offensive-minded forward — who wasn’t even invited to orientation camp this past summer — to Sochi, ahead of Claude Giroux and others.
Meanwhile, south of the border, USA Hockey was obsessing over defensive responsibilities, leaving out offensive-minded players like defenceman Keith Yandle and forward Bobby Ryan.
Think either could have helped the United States score these last two days?
This isn’t about second-guessing who was kept, but it is about trust. Canada trusted enough in a player like Benn and was rewarded. Team Finland trusted in Olli Maata and was rewarded with a bronze medal. Team USA left Yandle — and youngster Seth Jones — home, and what happened?
I think you get my point.
These last two days, Team USA could have used some energy and life. Maybe the Olympics have gotten stale for players involved — Zach Parise had an absent tournament, and Patrick Kane failed to register a goal in six games.
“Whether it was confidence or not getting chances, who really knows at the end of the day,” Kane told the AP. “I thought I had opportunities … It just wasn’t meant to be.”
With NHL players’ statuses in doubt, this wave of American success may have just closed, and in five Olympics, USA gained two silver medals.
Like World Cup soccer, Olympic hockey has become an event in the States. The expectations were in place for the U.S. to jump to the forefront and finally surpass Canada, Sweden and Finland.
Yet, two weeks later there are more questions than answers.
