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Sean Farrell, USA NTDP (Credit: Rena Laverty)

Revisiting the 2022 United States Olympic Men’s Hockey Team

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Andrew McGuinness | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 9:15 AM ET

In less than two months, regular-season NHL hockey will be back. For a decade, it would be another six months until the intensity truly ratcheted up, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs the light at the end of an exciting but sometimes tiring tunnel.

This season, like last, will be different. The triumphant return of best-on-best international hockey was a smash hit thanks to the 4 Nations Face-Off. Things should only be more special with the allure of Olympic gold at stake. Canada will look to add its fourth first-place finish since NHL players began participating in the event in 1998 and win its third straight. Sweden and Czechia will each seek to add to their trophy cases after capturing the crown in 2006 and 1998, respectively. And other nations, namely the United States and Finland, will look to take the next step, with each of those countries sporting a silver and bronze medal between 1998 and 2014.

That caveat must be applied, since it took until 1988 for professional athletes to be allowed in the Games and another 10 years for the NHL to start sending its players. But two different issues have kept the league at home each of the last two windows. In 2018, disputes with the International Olympic Committee led to a voluntary opt-out on the NHL’s side. Four years later, the league initially agreed to meet the players’ wishes and head to Beijing. However, a litany of cancelled games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was resurfacing in the form of a variant known as Omicron, ended that possibility less than two months before the Games.

That made things even harder for international hockey organizations, which had to completely scrap their main plans for their players and coaches with significantly less notice than in the previous Olympics (the NHL officially said it wouldn’t attend the PyeongChang Olympics in April 2017, about 10 months ahead of time). But just as in 2018, a few dozen players rising in the college ranks or honing their craft abroad in other professional leagues would be competing on the same stage as Olympic legends like Chloe Kim and Mikaela Shiffrin.

Building the Team

In 2018, the US decided to build a veteran-heavy roster comprised mostly of seasoned professionals who played overseas. The average age of that team, which lost in the quarterfinals of the knockout round and finished 1-2-2 overall, was around 30.

Things skewed much younger in 2022, though. Of the 26 players that made the final team, a whopping 15 of them (58%) came from the college ranks. The Big Ten and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference made up the majority of that group, with four schools producing multiple players (Michigan, Boston College, and St. Cloud State had two, while Minnesota had an impressive four players join the team).

That made for a much younger team, but arguably a more skilled one as well. The roster included two top-five picks, Jake Sanderson and Matty Beniers. And these players weren’t being relegated to the background — Minnesota Duluth’s Noah Cates was named an alternate captain at just 23 years old.

The other members of the leadership group came from professional leagues. Fellow alternate Aaron Ness was one of three players on American Hockey League-only contracts that helped the NHL’s top minor league for the Games, joining goaltender Pat Nagle and 13-year Detroit Red Wing Justin Abdelkader, who hadn’t played in the NHL since 2020.

Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League and the Swedish Hockey League still produced a few players — eight in total, including captain Andy Miele. Of the non-college players, only four hadn’t played in the NHL before the Olympics. High-level hockey was certainly familiar to all, but the Olympics are at a different level.

In the Arena

That extra boost of skill was apparent throughout the round robin to begin the tournament. In the 2018 Olympics, the Americans managed 11 total goals in five games, with three of those games decided by just one goal and two lasting beyond regulation.

It took the 2022 team less than two full games to eclipse that goal total with a pair of multi-goal wins. Granted, the first was an 8-0 romp over host country China, which didn’t ice a team at the prior Games. However, a 4-2 victory over traditional powerhouse Canada was more convincing. Thanks to a 35-save performance by goaltender Straus Mann, one of the few older players without NHL experience, the US took down their traditional Olympic boogeyman to avenge medal-costing losses in 2002, 2010, and 2014.

Despite a quick turnaround, the US stayed sharp, concluding the preliminary round the next day against reigning silver-medalist Germany. The Americans erased an early 1-0 deficit that stood for less than three minutes and withstood a late rally after scoring three consecutive goals. The States received a healthy mix of production from both veterans and young guns, with five goals from the professionals and 10 from college players in their first three games.

The perfect record combined with a leading plus-11 goal differential had the United States as the top overall seed in the knockout round, making it one of four countries to earn a first-round bye. That led to a matchup with Slovakia, the second-lowest seed to reach the quarterfinals and without a medal to its name (unless you include them in Czechoslovakia, which has the most medals — four silvers and four bronzes — of any country without a gold medal). The US was in a prime position to make a run at its first medal since 2010 and maybe its first gold since the Miracle on Ice.

Yet their run would end similarly to their previous effort. The US fell behind on an early goal by emerging stud Juraj Slafkovsky, who would parlay his Olympic performance into the top position in the NHL Draft months later. But the US wasn’t phased, tying the game late in the first before taking the lead with about half of the contest remaining.

It looked like they would reach the finish line, especially since they played a balanced third period, hanging right with the Slovaks in shots on goal. Yet disaster struck in the final minute of regulation when Slovak captain Marek Hrivik potted the improbable equalizer with their goaltender at the bench.

The US controlled play in overtime with a 7-4 shots advantage. But both Mann and Slovakia’s Patrik Rybar stood tall, sending the game to a shootout. Just like in their Olympic-ending defeat to the Czech Republic in 2018, the United States fell in a shootout that featured one goal, with Peter Cehlarik scoring on his nation’s final attempt of the five-round contest.

Slovakia was shut out in the semifinals by eventual champion Finland, though they secured their first medal by beating Sweden 4-0 in the bronze medal game. Slafkovsky put the country on the map by securing tournament MVP honors as just a teenager. The United States, meanwhile, had nothing to show for a run that looked so promising.

What Happened Next

Part of this story, of course, is still to be written. The US will have its full complement of star power available in Milan Cortina, as will every other nation. Perhaps they’ll see Slafkovsky and Slovakia again, or a more high-stakes confrontation with Canada could await.

However, much of the young talent got their first taste of hockey at its peak. Sanderson and Beniers are impact players already, as are a pair of second-round picks who played in PyeongChang, Brock Faber and Matthew Knies. All but one of the college players on Team USA have already made it to the NHL, with Nick Perbix and Drew Helleson among the other notable names.

It will be thrilling to see the Olympic debuts of Auston Matthews, Connor Hellebuyck, Zach Werenski, and more. Only seven players from the last best-on-best US team from 2014 are still active in the league, and only two (Patrick Kane and Ryan McDonough) were invited to Team USA’s Olympic camp. Instead, the most likely Olympic returners are to come from this 2022 team, with Faber and Sanderson both making Team USA at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Only something as crazy as a pandemic could make a pair of 23-year-olds the most experienced Olympians on Team USA next winter.