Men's World

When building the roster for the U.S. Men’s National Team that will play in the International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship this month, Jim Johannson bet that success begets success.

That’s why Johannson, the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, stocked the team that will play in Minsk, Belarus from May 9-25 with six members of 2013 U.S. National Junior Team that won a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Russia.

“First of all, it’s great to have continuity of guys that played together at a championship level and grew through our system together,” Johannson said. “Also walking into the room, having success rubs off on everybody. Some guys haven’t played as much [for Team USA] as other guys who have played in the past. It’s just good to see guys who walk in with a gold medal.”

And if they perform well in Minsk, those six players — Seth Jones, Jake McCabe, Connor Murphy, Jacob Trouba, Vince Trocheck and Johnny Gaudreau — could make an early impression on the decision-makers who will select the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team that will play in PyeongChang, South Korea.

“It’s an important time for these guys,” Johannson said. “They certainly established themselves in the Under-20 level in USA Hockey and several really established themselves, in most cases, in their first year in the NHL.

“And again, it furthers their development as players. And they know they are stepping into the World Championships for the first time. I think it’s a natural progression. A lot of these players are tracked to being players for us. They are certainly on track to be cornerstones of our program for a long time.”

In total, nine players from that 2013 World Junior team have since made their NHL debuts, including the captain from that team, McCabe, and alternate captains Jones and Trouba. While McCabe collected one assist in seven games with the Buffalo Sabres this year, Jones got 25 points in his first season with the Nashville Predators this year and Trouba logged 29 points in his debut season with the Winnipeg Jets.

Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley coached the 2013 gold-medal junior squad and will be an assistant at the World Championships this month. He said those nine players made the NHL because of their size and range that helps them cover shovels full of ice.

“They just happen to have gotten an opportunity and jump on the opportunity,” Housley said. “Everybody is going to develop at different rates, but I’d like to think that certainly winning a championship at the junior level increased that level. You’ve done it, you’ve won a championship. If your name gets called in that area, sure, along the way a lot of things can happen and the stars have to align, but you know as a person you can win a championship.

“They experienced something not a lot of players have, and I think it helped them to make the playoffs, it helped them to have a good series against good quality teams contending for the Stanley Cup. That is only going to breed more confidence and prepare them for the next year.”

Housley has enjoyed watching the players from that world junior team break into the NHL, and he makes sure to say hello whenever playing against their teams.

“It’s a great reward for me,” he said. “We were able to do something special. Now moving forward in their development, it’s great to see they are having success in other areas of the game.”

Seven players on the World Championships roster are also products of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program that was launched in 1996 in Ann Arbor, Mich., including Jones, McCabe, Trouba, Jimmy Hayes, Peter Mueller, Connor Murphy and Drew Shore.

“They are not only just doing a fantastic job producing high-end quality players across the board, but it’s the best way to distinguish and solidify [talent within] birth years for us as they matriculate,” Johannson said.

Coming off the Olympic Winter Games made building the roster for the World Championships difficult, since USA Hockey avoided players from the Olympic roster. USA Hockey also had to avoid players whose teams are in the Stanley Cup playoffs while holding spots for players recently eliminated.

“We always say it’s a challenge of what the player pool will be,” Johannson said. “But the real positive is we have more and more of an opportunity for players, both guys in the NHL and guys right on the cusp of being in the NHL.

“This tournament serves a great purpose for guys with aspirations of being on the Olympic team. Guys can jumpstart a career or enhance a current career.”

One of the most recent additions to the roster, Tommy Wingels of the San Jose Sharks, just came off a devastating playoff series in which his squad lost after taking a 3-0 lead against the Los Angeles Kings. Tim Thomas of the Dallas Stars just lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs, and the Red Wings’ Danny DeKeyser and Justin Abdelkader are coming off a first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins.

“They are coming right from playing on the edge,” Johannson said. “Obviously it’s a letdown when the season ends, but … the minute they walk into the locker room and there are 22 or 24 new faces, it’s a new team.”

Whether guys are coming off playoff loses, their first NHL season or they are still trying to crack into the NHL, Johannson said the atmosphere in the locker room is electric when they get together for the first time.  

“They bring experiences from the year into that room,” he said. “In some cases they are old relationships renewing and in some cases they are meeting new guys. No matter what there’s an initial surge and excitement.

“And like all teams, this team has to build their own identity.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.