The United States men's ice hockey team picked up it's first Olympic gold medal for the first time since 1980, after they defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The third time was the charm for the United States to defeat Canada in the gold medal game after losing in 2002 and 2010.
Prior to the Winter Olympics, there was plenty of criticism over the roster that Team USA constructed. It was a collaborative effort, but it was Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin who was the lead of the search. The most notable decisions that Guerin received flak over was leaving Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars and Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadiens off the roster in favor of J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers.
Matt Boldy, who scored the opening goal for Team USA in the gold medal game, spoke about Guerin's roster decisions, and said, "I'm sure he feels a lot better now" (h/t The Athletic's Michael Russo).
Matt Boldy jokes Bill Guerin 'feels a lot better now' after decried roster decisions lead to Team USA gold medal win
The only way that Guerin could silence those critics is if Team USA won it all. It may not have been easy, and may have taken a heroic effort by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, but Guerin was ultimately proven right for constructing the roster the way he did.
Considering Canada was the favorite to win the gold medal, as they had an incredibly stacked roster filled with goal scorers. So, fans wanted the team filled with goal scorers to keep pace with Canada. But for Guerin and Head Coach Mike Sullivan, they wanted to have some "glue guys" to help contribute on the penalty kill. Hence, the choices to add Miller and Trocheck.
That paid off, as Miller and Trocheck contributed to a penalty kill that was a perfect 18-for-18 in the entire tournament. There was also the notable 5-on-3 penalty kill in the gold medal game, and Team USA came away unscathed, not allowing a single goal.
Brock Faber, another one of Guerin's players in Minnesota, also praised the GM. While he said Robertson and Caufield were deserving of making the roster, he praised how adding Miller and Trocheck paid off.
“People can say what they want, and most don’t know what they’re talking about,” Faber said. “We know the guys we’re talking about, guys like (Robertson and Caufield). They definitely could have been here. We could have a second team of Americans that could have went pretty dang far in the tournament, too, if we made one, right? That’s the depth that we have, but Billy has to make the hard decisions and we just go out and play. But J.T., Vince, those two were unbelievable on the kill. I loved every time I was on the ice with those guys. We didn’t get scored on, and they’re a huge part of that.”
Guerin was the face of the Team USA braintrust, so he knew he was going to get criticized for his decisions. Ultimately, his choices paid off, as he ended the United States' men's ice hockey team 46-year gold medal drought in the Winter Olympics.