TORONTO — The Americans all paid homage Friday to the 1960 Olympic champions that came from nowhere behind Jack McCartan’s play in goal; the 1980 Miracle at Lake Placid Olympic Gold Medal winners; and the 1996 powerhouse Red, White and Blue squad that captured the 1996 World Cup.
“Three times before us, special things have happened,” said winger Patrick Kane, the Yanks’ most talented player. “It seems like it’s right around that time again for hopefully something special to happen. We don’t forget about that either. We know a lot about those teams, their success and how they had their success.
“Yeah, we’re a different group, different players, but we’re probably in our prime and in the peak of our careers right now. We feel like it’s time to make something happen.”
John Tortorella, the coach, has set the tone and the agenda. What? You expected something different?
“It’s time,” he said.
But Tortorella also said, “It’s not looking to the past and it’s not looking ahead to the future. It’s about now.”
Now, meaning this 2016 World Cup of Hockey, but, equally to the point, now, meaning Saturday afternoon’s opener of the round-robin portion of the tournament against Team Europe.
With two of the four teams in each group of the event advancing to the semifinals (Canada, Europe and Czech Republic are in the Americans’ section of the draw), Team USA needs a victory in this one to avoid turning Tuesday’s clash with Canada into essentially a must-win proposition.
“We’ve talked about it with our team. We can’t wait. We can’t feel our way through this,” said Tortorella, who has been known to quickly shorten his bench under much less urgent circumstances. “It’s such a unique situation. It’s so condensed. We can’t afford to look too far ahead.
“We’re going to try and play the right way and be selfless.”
Team USA is going to attempt to impose its physical will on not only the largely unknown commodity of Team Europe, but against the rest of the field. Neither the most skilled or fastest team in the tournament, the Yanks want to establish the forecheck, get in their opponents’ face, and dictate the tempo by grinding and taking the body at every opportunity. That’s the way they were built.
“Our identity is going to be a team that’s hard to play against,” captain Joe Pavelski said. “That’s who we are.”
Kane is one of the world’s elite offensive talents. Pavelski and Max Pacioretty can snipe. Blake Wheeler can fly. James Van Riemsdyk and Kyle Palmieri are scorers. But for the most part, this is a lunch-bucket brigade, albeit a high-caliber one, featuring the likes of Zach Parise, Ryan Kesler, David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Derek Stepan and Brandon Dubinsky up front, a defense anchored by Ryan Suter and Ryan McDonagh with two-time Cup-winner Jonathan Quick in nets.
“We have a lot to prove. I feel that the USA hasn’t had the results or the recognition we deserve over the last couple of tournaments,” Pacioretty said. “Canada has a target on its back.
“USA hockey is blue-collar, lunch-pail, make-life-difficult-for-your-opponent,” he said. “I think it’s time to prove what USA hockey is.”
Players on every team will be asked to assume roles that might be foreign to them. Pacioretty, a laconic guy who isn’t always noted for getting his nose dirty, drew Tortorella’s ire early by playing on the perimeter. But the Montreal winger became more involved physically as camp progressed.
“The biggest challenge in a tournament like this is for guys to accept roles that are probably different from what they are with their winter clubs,” Pacioretty said. “It’s not about egos. It’s about doing what it takes to win.
“We all have to adjust to that. But Kane, let him do his thing and play offense. He’s the best in the world.”
Tortorella did not reveal his Game 1 lineup, but Stepan skated between Kane and Van Riemsdyk, Pavelski between Parise and Wheeler, Kesler between Pacioretty and Oshie and Dubinsky between Backes and Palmieri, with Justin Abdelkader the odd forward out at Friday’s practice. The defensemen rotated through drills.