World Cup of Hockey Preview: Team North America

In one of the most controversial decisions in international hockey, the NHL decided to say no to teams like Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia at the World Cup of Hockey, and instead replace them with two mashup teams. One of those two teams is Team North America, a team of the best players under the age of 24 from Canada and the United States. At first, fans seemed really opposed to the idea, but that all changed when they took to the ice in a 4-0 shutout of Team Europe during pre-tournament action. For those watching the game live and on TV, it was hard to ignore the drive, skill and speed possessed by some of the game's great young stars. They're fun to watch, but are they good enough to take home the victory?

Strengths: Any team that has a chance of placing Auston Matthews in a bottom six role has to be strong offensively, and that’s exactly what North America has. Granted, Matthews likely will be given good chances throughout the tournament, but the team is strong enough that people really believe they can be a perennial championship contender. Some people thought that their lack of experience will hurt them down the stretch, but the one thing that will really set them aside is their speed. With the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Dylan Larkin, the team features some of the quickest skaters in the entire world and that can really prove successful throughout. Their youthful nature has been highlighted by pure talent and with some of the best young players in the world, they’re going to be dangerous around the net.

While the team definitely lacks in the experience department, they will be riding one of the hottest goaltenders in recent months. For the longest time, it looked like John Gibson would be the starting goaltender for North America, especially after appearing in the most recent All-Star Game despite starting the season in the American Hockey League. But by World Cup training camp, it was clear that Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray was the guy for North America, especially after putting on a clinic to win the Stanley Cup back in June. His spring time effort was tremendous, and if he can continue to doubt any critics, he’ll be a fun star to watch when the tournament begins in mid-September.

Weaknesses: No doubt, North America has one of the least experienced defensive bases in the league. Only Morgan Reilly finished in the top 35 in ice time among defensemen, but that can also be because of Toronto having a rather weak defensive core to start with. All the defense, for the most part, deserve to be on the team, but in some cases, some of the players will have to take bigger roles and face stronger players consistently than they’re used to. It’s a tough situation to be in, but the unpredicted nature of the team is also one that could be exciting and can lead to some players rising from the shadows to become superstars.

One issue that some people tend to point to when talking about this team is that, unlike the six national teams on the tournament, that the team is filled with players from two countries and that chemistry may not exist. That could be a possibility, but not likely, especially with many of the players playing together in junior at some point. But with that, players are trying to impress their own country in the process, and that can lead for interesting dilemmas, but don’t count on that. They are all there to compete for a championship like they would be in league play already.  

Big question: Will experience really trump skill in this tournament? With so many players on both Canada and the United States with a lot of experience in big tournaments, including the two most recent Olympics, North America is surely less experienced than their older counterparts. On the flip side, how crazy would it to see a team like North America pull off the championship? The players have long careers ahead of them, and considering the world has never seen the team play together in any other international event, it will be interesting to see if they can use their energy to take down some of the big guns.

Prediction: Since the tournament was announced, the idea of having two “fake” teams in the tournament (Europe and NA) has been heavily criticized. But North America truly has something to prove. For most of the players, this is the biggest stage of their career so far, and with the possibility of the 2018 Olympics featuring NHLers, these men want to prove to Hockey Canada and USA Hockey that they deserve to don their national jerseys for years to come.

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