'Gold or bust' as U.S. NHL players think of Games

Burned in Zach Werenski 's memory is the first U.S. practice at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. "You look around and see the skill," Werenski said. "I was like, 'This is fast.' It's wave after wave, player after player." He and his countrymen fell short at that tournament, which was designed to be an appetizer of sorts for the return of NHL players to the Olympics. Over the summer, when the country's best gathered again for an orientation camp ahead of next month's Games in Milan, USA Hockey general manager Bill Guerin told them that nothing but gold would suffice. "I love it," winger Matt Boldy said. "You shouldn't be doing anything unless you're trying to be the best at it." The U.S. has not won a so-called "best-on-best" international competition at the adult level in three decades dating to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It has not won men's gold at the Olympics since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team. The overflowing talent and winning pedigree of the players going to Italy make Guerin's expectation as realistic as ever. "Everyone knows we have the team," top defenseman Quinn Hughes said. "I don't think anyone would be surprised if we won, so I think that that should be our goal. It's kind of gold or bust, just like it is for Canada." Canada is the gold-medal favorite four weeks before both it and the U.S. open group play Feb. 12, listed at +130 at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Americans are listed second at +200. The U.S. lost to Canada in the 4 Nations final, in the semifinals at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and in the gold-medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Games. The neighbor to the north is set to have four of the best players in the world on its roster with Connor McDavid , Nathan MacKinnon , Cale Makar and two-time Olympic champion Sidney Crosby together for the first time. American talent adds up too, from a stacked blue line led by Hughes, Werenski, Charlie McAvoy and Jaccob Slavin and a forward corps featuring Jack Eichel , Auston Matthews and brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk to elite goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger . NHL standouts Dylan Larkin and Jack Hughes are expected to be depth contributors. "It's not just having a good team on paper," Guerin said. "It's actually getting it done." The U.S. has gotten it done at other levels for many years, winning four of the past eight world junior championships (for players under age 20) and a handful of under-18 titles over the past decade-plus. "It starts at that age," defenseman Noah Hanifin said. "The younger generation, you start to see it kind of develop and grow, and I think winning those tournaments is really showing how many strides USA Hockey has taken." Strides in coaching have also helped. Two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan is back in charge after being behind the bench at 4 Nations, when his team showed flashes...

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