“USA! USA! USA!” 

How apropos that on Memorial Day Weekend, Team USA ended its 92-year drought to win Gold at the IIHF Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship. Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres, scored the overtime “Golden Goal” to give The USA its first championship at the event since 1933. And while that is an absolutely terrific outcome for the United States, it also raises several questions.

One, why did it take so long for The US to win Gold? Two, While Thompson is a star, Team USA’s roster, which had the youngest average age of any team in tournament, was notably short on star power. So, how can that be fixed? And Three, does this finally make The US the “Undisputed Number One Hockey Program in The World?”

Let’s go in order while answering those questions.

One, as my Blue Line Blast Podcast Co-Host, Jim Biringer mentioned, something like 14 players on this year’s roster have played and won together before, which breads familiarity and chemistry. In the past, Team USA rosters at this tournament and other non-junior level competitions, have been filled with players who did not have the necessary chemistry or familiarity with each other, which helped contribute to their downfalls. 

Two, if you want more stars to play for Team USA then The NHL needs to adjust its schedule in a way where it becomes possible for that to happen. You can’t expect players to finish their long NHL campaigns (with some participating in The Stanley Cup Playoffs) and then immediately turnaround and play for their country. 

Now, if The NHL schedule was to become less chaotic and more organized, then, in theory, you could start the season and end it earlier, which would then end the postseason earlier, thus giving more stars a chance to decide to play for Team USA. 

Three, this championship by Team USA does NOT make them the “Undisputed Number One Hockey Program in The World.” Yes, USA Hockey has had a superb year, medaling at the most important tournaments across various levels. The US Women’s teams won when it mattered most. However, the men’s side has not. Team USA fell to Team Canada at Four Nations and has the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy to worry about. 

Now, if Team USA were to convincingly take home Gold next February AND the rest of the program continued to succeed across the various levels, THEN and ONLY THEN would you be able to have that conversation about The US being Number One in The World. 

Moving on to our next topic, the New York Islanders, after more than a month of searching, have FINALLY hired a NEW General Manager. His name is Mathieu Darche and he is not only the team’s new GM, but ALSO, its new Executive Vice President. 

The dual titles mean he is firmly 100% in charge of the Isles’ Hockey Operations (excluding any input from Ownership). But the dual titles don’t mean he was necessarily Ownerships’ top choice for the job, nor did it stop the Isles from talking to executives like Brendan Shanahan about potentially being the President of Hockey Operations.

While there were conflicting reports about what exactly the Islanders wanted to do and who they wanted to hire, one thing is clear, Darche is definitely ready for this responsibility after working closely with Tampa Bay’s Julien BriseBois for the last handful of years as an Assistant GM. He will have to show what he learned rather quickly as several important decisions need to be made in short order. 

What do they do with current Head Coach Patrick Roy? Who should they draft with the Number One pick at the end of June? Which of the team’s pending RFA’s and UFA’s should they re-sign and to what type of deals? Oh and Darche needs to remake the Front Office in his image. 

So much to do and so little time, but he seems well equipped for the task at hand. 

And on that note, we just want to say Thank You to all the veterans who have served our country over the years. Both those who were lucky enough to make it home and those who did not share that same luck. Memorial Day Weekend is a time for reflection and remembrance, so Thank You and Best Wishes!