Team USA peaking at the right time
Hughes brothers leading a deep, talented lineup into semifinal battle against Russia
Through the first weekand-a-half of the World Junior Championship, Team USA has flown blissfully under hockey’s radar while the media has been preoccupied with the host Canadian side, Sweden’s remarkable round robin winning streak, and assorted other shiny objects.
But that all changes beginning with today’s semifinal contest with Russia when the United States assumes centre stage (1 p.m., Rogers Arena), complete with a series of ready-made storylines for the Fourth Estate’s amusement.
There’s the appearance of Jack Hughes, the 17-year-old prodigy who will be back in Vancouver this summer as the presumptive first pick in the NHL draft. And there’s his older brother Quinn, the hometown Canucks’ firstround pick who’s played a lead role on the American blue-line and will be the subject of intense scrutiny from a fan base expecting great things.
There’s Tyler Madden, the Canucks’ third-rounder who has emerged as an impact player on Team USA. And, when you come right down to it, there’s a wow factor with Jack Hughes and the seven first-rounders in the American lineup that this tournament needs in the sudden absence of Canada and Sweden.
Am I right, Quinn Hughes? “I’ve already put it out of my mind,” said the young blue-liner.
That’s OK. You’ll be reminded of it all soon enough.
“I mean, Vancouver’s going to be a whole different beast, right?” said Jack Hughes. “It should be a lot of fun. There are going to be a lot of things circling around, especially for Quinny.”
The Americans arrive in Friday’s semifinal as something of an unknown quan- tity, largely because Jack Hughes missed three games in the round robin with an undisclosed injury. They managed to survive without him, going 3-1 in the round robin with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Swedes as the only blemish.
But the U.S. also looked like a more dangerous team with Hughes centring a scoring line in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over a snarly Czech team.
In that affair, the young Americans dominated territorially, outshooting the Czechs 41-19 while producing scoring chances in bunches. Lukas Dostal, the Czech goalie, managed to keep things close, and the Yanks needed an empty-netter from Sasha Chmelevski to seal the deal.
But their performance also supported the Americans’ preferred narrative: That the team has been improving through the life of the tournament, and they’re peaking for the semis and their date with the powerful Russians.
“I think the Finland game (a 4-1 U.S. win in their round robin finale) was big for us,” said Quinn Hughes. “It gave us a big confidence boost. We’re finding our way here and it couldn’t come at a better time.”
“We wanted to replicate the game we had against Finland in an elimination game,” U.S. coach Mike Hastings said of the win over the Czechs. “That’s the experience we have now. The biggest idea is that we’re trying to continue to grow as a group, and I think we’re doing that.”
Then again, it helps when you can add a transcendent talent such as Jack Hughes for the playoff round.
“I don’t need to tell you how good he is,” said Quinn. “He was a huge boost for us and that was his first game back. I think he’s only going to get better.
“We called him the secret weapon because no one saw him this tournament. When he got that assist (on Noah Cates’s first-period goal) it was like, there’s the secret weapon, baby.”
Quinn Hughes, meanwhile, has had a quiet tournament on the scoresheet, but his stats don’t tell the whole story. He leads the Americans in ice time at around 22 minutes per game, he drives the power play and the possession game, and if they ever kept a stat for most almost-assists, he’d be leading the tournament by a mile.
He’s also emerged as an interesting personality. Both the Hughes boys have been around the game’s highest levels for most of their young lives — their father Jim was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ director of player development for the better part of a decade — and the spotlight doesn’t faze them.
Quinn, in fact, has revealed a sense of humour, and that was on display in the win over the Czechs, who tried unsuccessfully to provoke the Americans with physical play after the whistle.
“That’s what they were trying to do, but we weren’t getting into that,” said the wily vet of two world juniors. “It’s the quarter-finals. You let them punch you in the face.”
It was pointed out to Quinn that those were big boys punching the Americans in the face.
“I mean, the boys in college are way bigger,” he said. “When you walk in against Western Michigan, half the team is 25. I’m not worried about these guys. Seriously.”
There’s not a lot, come to think of it, that’s worrying the Americans these days. Their team is deep and talented, and goalie Cayden Primeau has allowed just one goal in each of his last two starts against the Finns and Czechs.
Throw in the return of Jack Hughes and there is much to like about this team.
“Yeah, there’s a dynamic there that’s pretty unique,” Hastings said of the Hughes brothers. “And I think they’re playing the right way and they’re being rewarded. When you play the right way, the game has a tendency to reward you.”