Team USA: a lesson in how to build a hockey team

Prior to the lighting of the Olympic torch in Vancouver, the big complaint about Team USA’s hockey team was that they lacked star power and perhaps didn’t have enough “names” to compete with Russia, Sweden, and Canada. The elimination round hasn’t even began yet but Brian Burke and USA Hockey deserve credit for putting together a real “team” and not just a group of all-stars. It’s very easy and very tempting to put together an all-star squad or a Dream Team if you will, but in hockey, it’s typically the grinders/checkers/3rd and 4th line players that decide how you do in the playoffs or International Tournaments. There is an old saying in reference to Stanley Cup Playoff success that goes a little something like this, “The team with the best 3rd line wins the Stanley Cup.” Last year’s Pittsburgh Penguin squad had the best 3rd line in the NHL (Cooke, Staal, Kennedy) As Team USA was being put together over th...