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Puck possession and Team USA

It’s been easy for those in the hockey world to offer their “expert opinions” on Team USA and its stunning 0-3 record in the World Cup of Hockey. It has been especially simple for Canadian-born media members and American-born former players to offer their thoughts on where it went wrong and how easy it would have been to have a more competitive team with the likes of Phil Kessel, Bobby Ryan and Tyler Johnson.

It all starts with head coach John Tortorella, who until this season, was one of three active American-born coaches who has coached a Stanley Cup-winning squad. The other two were Peter Laviolette and Dan Bylsma.

“Torts”, when hired by the Team USA brass, was between gigs at the NHL level since he had worn out his welcome in Vancouver after just one season. While his coaching style is a bit of a throwback to a time when the NHL was slowed by hooking and the neutral zone trap, Torts is often credited with helping mold former superstar Vincent Lecavalier into the two-way leader he became. Brad Richards won the Conn Smyth as the playoff MVP that season as well.

He coached three more seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, making the playoffs each of the first two seasons. Out of work after the 2007-08 season, he was not out of a job long as the New York Rangers hired him with 21 games left in the 2008-09 season. He missed the playoffs just once with the Rangers before being let go again.

There is no doubt the man can coach. However, are the players willing to listen to a man who is notorious for his hard practices and defense-first mentality?

Team USA choose a roster devoid of the stars I mentioned at the top.

As seen scoring eight points in six games during the Sochi Olympics, Kessell could no doubt score. He netted 37 goals and 80 points in the Olympic year while playing for Toronto. The next season, he had just 61 points in 82 games while also sporting a -34 rating, which is not the mark of a defense-first forward, or even a two-way player. He was especially bad in even strength situations, where his Corsi percentage – a statistical measure of how effective a player is at driving puck possession – had dropped from 2.4 to 0.4 that season.

Last season, Kessel was much better, scoring 26 goals and 59 points in 82 games, and his Corsi percentage at even strength was back up to 2.3. Perhaps Team USA was too hasty in their decision on him, but that is part of the gamble.

Then he made his Twitter joke, which may have ruined his star potential in the minds of future Team USA brass.

In the case of Johnson, who would have made the third Johnson on the roster interestingly, he has struggled with health concerns since entering the league. There is no doubt about the quality of player Johnson is offensively, scoring 24 goals and 50 points as a rookie in 2013-14, and then following that up with a 29-goal, 72-point campaign the following season. Last year, his numbers took a bit of a dip, just 14 goals and 38 points, but he also played in just 69 games. In fact, since playing in 82 games as a rookie, his game totals have fallen each successive season.

Ryan has never lived up to being the player drafted just after Sidney Crosby. His best NHL season was in 2010-11, where he scored 34 goals and 71 points and was a +15. He has not eclipsed 57 points since over the past five seasons and has not been better than +7. In the past three seasons, his Corsi percentage at even strength was -2.6, 0.2, -0.5. Not good numbers at all.

The three players on the roster for Team USA whom I wondered why they were there included players like Justin Abdelkader, who sported a -2.9 Corsi last season, Blake Wheeler, who actually had a 5.7 Corsi, and James Van Riemsdyk, whose number was 7.9.

Seeing all three live in Columbus prior to the World Cup tournament, I found all three to be effective players despite my personal opinions going in. This was especially true of Abdelkader, who drove Canadian skaters crazy throughout the night while not looking out of place skating-wise.

It is easy to look at the squad that Team USA took and blame the fact that since Johnson, Kessel, and Ryan weren’t there, it was not the best roster Team USA could have iced. I disagree. I think that in a short tournament, it helps to have the types of players Team USA had, but they need to be managed in the right way.

Perhaps that was what was missing in this case.

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