In less than six months, the NHL will return to territory it hasn’t seen in a dozen years. When the Olympics began allowing professional athletes to participate, starting with the 1988 Games in Calgary, it allowed hockey’s greatest stars to shine on arguably the most prestigious stage in all of sports. It took a while for that door to be fully knocked down, though, as the NHL didn’t start sending players for another decade, making its Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998. Over the next 16 years, it opened the door for several iconic moments, from Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010 to T.J. Oshie’s shootout heroics in 2014.
While professionals in other sports have continued to rack up medals, Olympic men’s hockey hasn’t featured the best players at each of the last two Winter Olympics. In 2018, the league didn’t participate, with claims that the benefits of showcasing international hockey at the highest level weren’t worth the expenses, injury risks, and schedule disruption.
“We have previously made clear that while the overwhelming majority of our clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players, we were open to hearing from any of the other parties who might have an interest in the issue (e.g., the IOC, the IIHF, the NHLPA, etc.) as to reasons the Board of Governors might be interested in re-evaluating their strongly held views on the subject,” said commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement announcing the decision on April 3, 2017. “A number of months have now passed, and no meaningful dialogue has materialized.”
Voluntary opting out of the Games lasted only one cycle, as the NHL was prepared to return in 2022. However, growing concerns around the COVID-19 virus and its many variants in late 2021 made traveling to Beijing too risky. Additionally, dozens of games were postponed due to a growing number of cases, making it impossible to play a full schedule and take a two-plus week midseason break, even though this time, the desire to play in the Games was clear.
“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament… Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events – 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 – Olympic participation is no longer feasible,” Bettman said on Dec. 23, 2021.
However, the show must go on, as the saying goes, and so the United States, Canada, and the usual array of countries have still suited up in the last two Olympics. The lack of NHL talent gave other players at various stages of their careers a potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shine alongside some of the world’s top athletes. Here is how the United States handled things the first time around; a follow-up article focused on the 2022 team will arrive soon.
Building the Team
The previous US men’s hockey Olympic team featured household names such as Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, and Jonathan Quick. While players of that caliber weren’t available for the 2018 Games, held in PyeongChang, South Korea, it wasn’t a full reversal of the Miracle on Ice days, when only amateur players were allowed. Players who weren’t on NHL contracts were eligible to participate, and the American team wound up with a fair amount of experience on it.
Three players in the American Hockey League (AHL) at the time – forwards John McCarthy, Bobby Butler, and Chris Bourque – all left their teams for the US squad. The team also featured a heavy presence from the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; four players) and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; five players). In total, 15 of the 25 players had previously played in the NHL, including three for more than 500 games: defenseman James Wisniewski and forwards Brian Butler and Brian Gionta. The latter was easily the most accomplished player on the team, scoring nearly 600 points in a 16-year career that included a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003.
United States forward Brian Gionta skates with the puck in a hockey game between the United Sates of America and Slovakia during the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (Mandatory Credit: Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports)
However, the US brass decided to channel some of the 1980 Miracle on Ice vibes, a group featuring exclusively college players, by including four players in their mix from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Troy Terry was the youngest member of the team at just 20 years old, followed closely by Will Borgen and Ryan Donato. Forward Jordan Greenway celebrated his 22nd birthday on the same day as America’s second game of the preliminary round.
The biggest question mark of the group, however, was goaltending. None of the three rostered goalies – Ryan Zapolski, Brandon Maxwell, or David Leggio – had ever suited up in the NHL. Ultimately, Zapolski earned the starting job in the middle of his second of three seasons with Jokerit of the KHL. He posted a .931 save percentage in that season, hovering right around a pair of Russian prospects drafted by New York teams, Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders (.931) and Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers (.933).
Behind the bench, the United States also looked to the college ranks, tabbing Wisconsin Badgers coach Tony Granato. Granato jumped into head coaching just a few years after finishing a 13-year playing career. However, his only NHL head coaching experience was an uninspiring two-plus years with the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado actually retained him as an assistant following his dismissal after the 2003-04 season, and he stayed behind an NHL bench with the Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings before leaving for Wisconsin (his alma mater) in 2016.
In the Arena
The United States was placed in one of the three four-team groupings for pool play alongside Slovenia, Slovakia, and Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). The latter name was a distinction that allowed Russian athletes to compete in the Games despite penalties to the nation for its doping scandal. Though all 12 teams were guaranteed a spot in the single-elimination knockout phase, the three winners and the top second-place team from the groups received a bye to the quarterfinals.
However, America’s odds of doing so took a hit right away. Both the States and OAR were upset in their opening game by Slovenia and Slovakia, respectively. America held a commanding 2-0 lead through two periods on goals by Brian O’Neill and Greenway. But Slovenia got one back early in the third before former Red Wing Jan Muršak took control, tying the game in the final two minutes of regulation before netting an early overtime winner.
Game two of the round robin went much better for the US. More production from the college ranks, courtesy of a two-goal game from Donato, provided all the necessary offense to overtake Slovakia. Donato started the scoring with a power-play marker in the first and broke a 1-1 tie early in the third. This time, Zapolski and company held down the fort to pick up America’s first win of the tournament.
The US entered its final round robin game with an opportunity to secure a bye against the OAR, but it was not meant to be. With the KHL taking a break for the Olympics, Russia had much more available talent than many other countries. Two-goal performances from future NHLer Nikolai Prokhorkin and former Maurice “Rocket” Richard winner Ilya Kovalchuk were just too much firepower. Despite outshooting OAR 29-26, Vasili Koshechkin stopped every shot he faced, allowing the OAR to jump right to the quarterfinal.
The States were fine to get there the long way, though. America’s best performance of the Games came in its first elimination game, which also came against Slovakia. After a scoreless first period, the US vaulted to a 3-0 lead on goals less than a minute apart by Donato and Wisniewski (the latter on a power play), followed by another later in the frame by Mark Arcobello. The US added two more goals in the third, including another by Donato for America’s second power-play goal of the game. They outshot Slovakia 33-23 and had reason to feel good heading into the quarterfinals.
United States forward Ryan Donato reacts after playing Czech Republic in the men’s ice hockey quarterfinals during the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (Mandatory Credit: Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports)
Donato’s red-hot run continued there as he lit the lamp just 6:20 into the match with the Czech Republic. The lead lasted less than 10 minutes, however. The teams traded goals less than two minutes apart in the second period, only to settle into a stalemate from there. Despite having both of the power plays of the third period, Pavel Francouz (who made his NHL debut for the Avalanche the next season) kept the door shut in the third period and in a 10-minute overtime.
The game ended in America’s first Olympic shootout since the iconic performance by Oshie in Sochi four years prior. Without high-end hands like his available, the States shot all of its five attempts into Francouz’s equipment. A second-round goal by Petr Koukal was the only one of the shootout, which ended America’s medal hopes cold. After earning two silvers in a span of three Olympics from 2002-2010, the United States went home empty-handed for a second straight try.
What Happened Next?
Five members of the 2018 US Olympic team played in the NHL after the games concluded. Greenway and Donato debuted for the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins shortly after the Games finished. Both played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the same year before briefly being teammates again on the Wild in the 2019-20 season. Donato also suited up again alongside Gionta, who signed the final contract of his NHL career with the Bruins, retiring at the end of their season. Donato’s five goals tied him for the most of anyone in the tournament, putting him in excellent company alongside a past and a future NHL star, Kovalchuk and Kirill Kaprizov.
Related: United States’ Projected Roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics
Terry and Borgen both debuted in the 2018-19 season with the Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres, respectively. Of the four college kids, Terry has reached the loftiest heights, scoring 20 goals in four straight seasons with a peak of 37 in the 2021-22 campaign. Borgen was one of the players taken in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft in 2021, where he established himself as an NHL regular before being dealt to the New York Rangers in 2024-25.
Considering the circumstances, coming without a shootout decision of the semifinals was a respectable outcome. But it still wasn’t a satisfactory outcome, one that the US had to work hard to improve four years later.
