United States men's national ice hockey team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United States

Nickname(s)	Team USA
Association	USA Hockey
General Manager	Bill Guerin
Head coach	Mike Sullivan
Assistants	Derek Lalonde Ty Hennes Jack Capuano Greg Moore
Captain	Auston Matthews
Most games	Mark Johnson
Most points	Mark Johnson (146)
IIHF code	USA
IIHF ranking	4 (May 28, 2023)
Highest IIHF ranking	4 (2016, 2018, 2021–23)
Lowest IIHF ranking	7 (2003, 2006–07, 2012)
Team colors
First international
United States  29–0  Switzerland (Antwerp, Belgium; April 24, 1920)
Biggest win
United States  31–1  Italy (St. Moritz, Switzerland; February 1, 1948)
Biggest defeat
Sweden  17–2  United States (Stockholm, Sweden; March 12, 1963) Soviet Union  17–2  United States (Stockholm, Sweden; March 15, 1969)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	75 (first in 1920)
Best result	Gold: (1933, 1960)
Canada Cup / World Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1976)
Best result	Winner: (1996)
Olympics
Appearances	24 (first in 1920)
Medals	Gold: (1960, 1980) Silver: (1920, 1924, 1932, 1952, 1956, 1972, 2002, 2010) Bronze: (1936)
International record (W–L–T)
914–471–86

The United States men's national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. The U.S. team is currently ranked 6th in the IIHF World Rankings.

The U.S. won gold medals at the 1960 and the 1980 Olympics and more recently, silver medals at the 2002 and 2010 Olympics. The U.S. also won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, defeating Canada in the finals. The team's most recent medal at the World Championships came with a bronze in 2021. They won the tournament in 1933 and 1960. Unlike other nations, the U.S. does not typically use its best NHL players in the World Championships. Instead, it provides the younger players with an opportunity to gain international experience. Overall, the team has collected eleven Olympic medals (two of them gold), nineteen World Championship medals (two of them gold), and it reached the semi-final round of the Canada Cup/World Cup five times, twice advancing to the finals and winning gold once. The U.S. has never reached a World Championship gold medal game, having lost in the semi-final round twelve times since the IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992; this includes six semi-finals appearances in ten tournaments from 2013 through 2023, and three consecutive in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The U.S. is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, and Sweden.

History

The American ice hockey team's greatest success was the "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, when American college players defeated the heavily favored seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal. Though ice hockey is not a major sport in most areas of the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the all-time greatest American sporting achievements. The U.S. also won the gold medal in the 1960 Games at Squaw Valley, California, defeating the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden along the way. However, since this victory is not as well known as the 1980 win, it has come to be known as the "Forgotten Miracle".

The United States hockey experienced a spike in talent in the 1980s and 1990s, with future NHL stars including Tony Amonte, Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, Brett Hull, Pat LaFontaine, John LeClair, Brian Leetch, Mike Modano, Mike Richter, Jeremy Roenick, Kevin Stevens, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight. Although the U.S. finished no higher than fourth in any World or Olympic event from 1981 through 1994 (unlike other teams that used professionals, the U.S. team was limited to amateurs at these tournaments), the Americans reached the finals of the 1991 Canada Cup and won the 1996 World Cup. Six years later, after the International Olympic Committee and NHL arranged to accommodate an Olympic break in the NHL schedule, the U.S. earned a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics with a roster that included NHL stars Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury, Brian Rafalski, and Brian Rolston. However, by 2006, many of these NHL players had retired or had declined with age. Though the 2006 Olympic team finished a disappointing 8th, it was more of a transitional team, featuring young NHL players like Rick DiPietro, John-Michael Liles, and Jordan Leopold.

The 2010 U.S. Olympic team was composed of much younger and faster players than teams of previous years, including David Backes, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny, and Ryan Suter. The team also had a solid group of veterans that included such stars as goalie Ryan Miller, defenseman Brian Rafalski, and team captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The U.S. team upset team Canada 5–3 in the round-robin phase of the tournament and went into the single elimination phase of the tournament as the number-one seeded team. After beating Finland 6–1, the U.S. advanced to the gold medal game, where they lost in overtime 3–2 to Canada to claim the silver medal. The gold medal game between Canada and the U.S. was watched by an estimated 27.6 million U.S. households. This was the most watched hockey game in America since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" game, including any Stanley Cup Finals or NHL Winter Classic broadcast.

The NHL pulled out of the Olympics for the 2018 competition in a dispute over insurance and the IOC's ambush marketing restrictions, prohibiting the national teams from inviting any player it held under contract. The American team was put at a particular disadvantage, as more than 31% of NHL players are Americans (in comparison, only 4.1% are Russians). As a result, the U.S. had to enter the tournament with a hastily assembled team of free agents, players from European leagues, AHLers on one-way contracts, and college players. The team proved unsuccessful, losing to Slovenia and the Olympic Athletes from Russia in the preliminary round, and being eliminated by the Czechs in the quarterfinals. The OAR team benefited most from NHL's absence and ultimately won the tournament with a team that was composed primarily of SKA Saint Petersburg and HC CSKA Moscow players from the Russia-based KHL and featured ex-NHL all-stars Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Voynov (all SKA).

On March 31, 2021, Stan Bowman was appointed the general manager of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Games. On October 26, 2021, Bowman resigned.

On February 2024, Bill Guerin was announced as general manager of the United States team for the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics. In May, Mike Sullivan was named head coach of the team for both competitions.

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Games	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Round	Position
1920 Antwerp	4	3	1	0	52	2	Fellowes, CorneliusCornelius Fellowes Schooley, RoyRoy Schooley	McCormick, JoeJoe McCormick	Silver medal round	2 Silver
1924 Chamonix	5	4	1	0	73	6	Haddock, William S.William S. Haddock	Small, IrvingIrving Small	Final round	2 Silver
1928 St. Moritz	Did not participate
1932 Lake Placid	6	4	1	1	27	5	Winsor, AlfredAlfred Winsor	Chase, JohnJohn Chase	Final round	2 Silver
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	8	5	2	1	10	4	Prettyman, AlbertAlbert Prettyman	Garrison, JohnJohn Garrison	Final round	3 Bronze
1948 St. Moritz	8	5	3	0	86	33	Garrison, JohnJohn Garrison	Harding, GoodwinGoodwin Harding	Round-robin	4th, DSQ
1952 Oslo	8	6	1	1	43	21	Pleban, ConnieConnie Pleban	Van, AllenAllen Van	Round-robin	2 Silver
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	7	5	2	0	33	16	Mariucci, JohnJohn Mariucci	Campbell, GeneGene Campbell	Final round	2 Silver
1960 Squaw Valley	7	7	0	0	48	17	Riley, JackJack Riley	Kirrane, JackJack Kirrane	Final round	1 Gold
1964 Innsbruck	7	2	5	0	29	33	Jeremiah, EddieEddie Jeremiah	Brooks, HerbHerb Brooks Reichart, BillBill Reichart	Round-robin	5th
1968 Grenoble	7	2	4	1	23	28	Williamson, MurrayMurray Williamson	Nanne, LouLou Nanne	Round-robin	6th
1972 Sapporo	6	4	2	0	23	18	Williamson, MurrayMurray Williamson	Sheehy, TimTim Sheehy	Round-robin	2 Silver
1976 Innsbruck	6	3	3	0	23	25	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	Taft, JohnJohn Taft	Round-robin	5th
1980 Lake Placid	7	6	0	1	33	15	Brooks, HerbHerb Brooks	Eruzione, MikeMike Eruzione	Final round	1 Gold
1984 Sarajevo	6	2	2	2	23	21	Vairo, LouLou Vairo	Verchota, PhilPhil Verchota	7th place game	7th
1988 Calgary	6	3	3	0	35	31	Peterson, DaveDave Peterson	Leetch, BrianBrian Leetch	7th place game	7th
1992 Albertville	8	5	2	1	25	19	Peterson, DaveDave Peterson	Donatelli, ClarkClark Donatelli	Bronze medal game	4th
1994 Lillehammer	8	1	4	3	28	32	Taylor, TimTim Taylor	Laviolette, PeterPeter Laviolette	7th place game	8th
1998 Nagano	4	1	3	0	9	14	Wilson, RonRon Wilson	Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	Quarter-finals	6th
2002 Salt Lake City	6	4	1	1	26	10	Brooks, HerbHerb Brooks	Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	Gold medal game	2 Silver
2006 Turin	6	1	4	1	16	17	Laviolette, PeterPeter Laviolette	Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	Quarter-finals	8th
2010 Vancouver	6	5	1	—	24	9	Wilson, RonRon Wilson	Langenbrunner, JamieJamie Langenbrunner	Gold medal game	2 Silver
2014 Sochi	6	4	2	—	20	12	Bylsma, DanDan Bylsma	Parise, ZachZach Parise	Bronze medal game	4th
2018 Pyeongchang	5	2	3	—	11	12	Granato, TonyTony Granato	Gionta, BrianBrian Gionta	Quarter-finals	7th
2022 Beijing	4	3	1	—	17	7	Quinn, DavidDavid Quinn	Miele, AndyAndy Miele	Quarter-finals	5th
2026 Milan/Cortina	Qualified

Results by "Big Six" opponent

Opponents	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	Biggest victory	Biggest defeat
Canada	19	4	3	12	4–1	3–12
Czechoslovakia/  Czech Republic	21	10	0	11	16–0	1–7
Finland	13	7	2	4	8–2, 6–0	1–6, 0–5
Soviet Union/  CIS/  Russia	14	4	1	9	4–3, 3–2 (x3)	2–10
Sweden	15	6	2	7	20–0	1–5
Total	81	30	8	43	20–0	3–12

World Championships

Note: Between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic ice hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.

Note: World War II forced cancellation of all tournaments from 1940 to 1946.

Note: In 1972, a separate tournament was held both for the World Championships and the Winter Olympics for the first time.

Note: No World Championships were held during the Olympic years 1980, 1984, and 1988.

Note: The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada Cup / World Cup of Hockey

Games	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Round	Position
1976	5	1	3	1	14	21	Pulford, BobBob Pulford	Nyrop, BillBill Nyrop	Group stage	5th
1981	6	2	3	1	18	23	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	Ftorek, RobbieRobbie Ftorek	Semi-finals	4th
1984	6	3	2	1	23	22	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	Langway, RodRod Langway	Semi-finals	4th
1987	5	2	3	0	13	14	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	Langway, RodRod Langway	Group stage	5th
1991	8	5	3	0	29	26	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	Otto, JoelJoel Otto	Finals	2 Silver
1996	7	6	1	0	37	18	Wilson, RonRon Wilson	Leetch, BrianBrian Leetch	Finals	1 Gold
2004	5	2	3	0	11	11	Wilson, RonRon Wilson	Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios	Semi-finals	4th
2016	3	0	3	—	5	11	Tortorella, JohnJohn Tortorella	Pavelski, JoeJoe Pavelski	Group stage	7th

Results by "Big Six" opponent

Opponents	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	Biggest victory	Biggest defeat
Canada	14	3	1	10	5:2 (x2)	3:8
Czechoslovakia/  Czech Republic	6	3	1	2	6:2	1:3
Finland	6	4	1	1	7:3	1:2
Soviet Union/  CIS/  Russia	9	4	0	5	5:2 (x2)	0:5
Sweden	6	4	0	2	7:1	2:9
Total	41	18	3	20	7:1	2:9

4 Nations Face-Off

Games	GP	W	L	GF	GA	Coach	Captain	Position
2025	4	2	2	12	7	Sullivan, MikeMike Sullivan	Matthews, AustonAuston Matthews	Runners-up

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship.

Head coach: John Hynes

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
1	G	Augustine, TreyTrey Augustine	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(2005-02-23) February 23, 2005 (age 20)	Michigan State Spartans
4	D	Jones, SethSeth Jones – A	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(1994-10-03) October 3, 1994 (age 30)	Chicago Blackhawks
5	D	Kesselring, MichaelMichael Kesselring	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(2000-01-13) January 13, 2000 (age 25)	Utah Hockey Club
6	F	Smith, WillWill Smith	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	(2005-03-17) March 17, 2005 (age 20)	San Jose Sharks
7	F	Tkachuk, BradyBrady Tkachuk – C	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	(1999-09-16) September 16, 1999 (age 25)	Ottawa Senators
8	D	Werenski, ZachZach Werenski – A	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	(1997-07-19) July 19, 1997 (age 27)	Columbus Blue Jackets
9	F	Zegras, TrevorTrevor Zegras	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(2001-03-20) March 20, 2001 (age 24)	Anaheim Ducks
11	F	Kunin, LukeLuke Kunin	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1997-12-04) December 4, 1997 (age 27)	San Jose Sharks
12	F	Boldy, MattMatt Boldy	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(2001-04-05) April 5, 2001 (age 24)	Minnesota Wild
13	F	Gaudreau, JohnnyJohnny Gaudreau	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	74 kg (163 lb)	(1993-08-13) August 13, 1993 (age 31)	Columbus Blue Jackets
22	F	Caufield, ColeCole Caufield	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(2001-01-02) January 2, 2001 (age 24)	Montreal Canadiens
23	F	Eyssimont, MikeyMikey Eyssimont	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1996-09-09) September 9, 1996 (age 28)	Tampa Bay Lightning
24	F	Leonard, RyanRyan Leonard	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(2005-01-21) January 21, 2005 (age 20)	Boston College Eagles
26	F	Hayes, KevinKevin Hayes	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1992-05-08) May 8, 1992 (age 33)	Pittsburgh Penguins
29	F	Nelson, BrockBrock Nelson	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(1991-10-15) October 15, 1991 (age 33)	New York Islanders
34	G	Lyon, AlexAlex Lyon	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1992-12-09) December 9, 1992 (age 32)	Detroit Red Wings
39	G	Nedeljkovic, AlexAlex Nedeljkovic	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(1996-01-07) January 7, 1996 (age 29)	Pittsburgh Penguins
43	D	Hughes, LukeLuke Hughes	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(2003-09-09) September 9, 2003 (age 21)	New Jersey Devils
45	F	Brindley, GavinGavin Brindley	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	77 kg (170 lb)	(2004-10-05) October 5, 2004 (age 20)	Columbus Blue Jackets
46	D	Petry, JeffJeff Petry	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	(1987-12-09) December 9, 1987 (age 37)	Detroit Red Wings
51	D	Kessel, MatthewMatthew Kessel	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(2000-06-23) June 23, 2000 (age 24)	St. Louis Blues
57	F	Pinto, ShaneShane Pinto	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(2000-11-12) November 12, 2000 (age 24)	Ottawa Senators
72	D	Vlasic, AlexAlex Vlasic	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(2001-06-05) June 5, 2001 (age 23)	Chicago Blackhawks
79	G	Lindgren, CharlieCharlie Lindgren	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	(1993-12-18) 18 December 1993 (age 31)	Washington Capitals
85	D	Sanderson, JakeJake Sanderson	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(2002-07-08) July 8, 2002 (age 22)	Ottawa Senators
86	F	Farabee, JoelJoel Farabee	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(2000-02-25) February 25, 2000 (age 25)	Philadelphia Flyers

IIHF World Championship directorate awards

The IIHF has given awards for each year's championship tournament to the top goalie, defenseman, and forward (all since 1954), and most valuable player (since 2004). The following American team members have won awards.

• 1955 – Don Rigazio (goalie)
• 1956 – Willard Ikola (goalie)
• 1959 – Bill Cleary (forward)
• 1960 – Jack McCartan (goalie)
• 1962 – John Mayasich (defenseman)
• 1967 – Carl Wetzel (goalie)
• 2004 – Ty Conklin (goalie)
• 2014 – Seth Jones (defenseman)
• 2018 – Patrick Kane (MVP)
• 2021 – Cal Petersen (goalie)

Uniform evolution

• National team jerseys
• 

  1980 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1988 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1989–1992 jerseys

• 

  1994 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1998 Olympic jerseys, later used at IIHF tournaments in 1998–2000

• 

  2001–2004 jerseys

• 

  2004 WCH jerseys

• 

  2013 IIHF jerseys (no USA Hockey logo)

• 

  2014 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2014–2017

• 

  2016 WCH jerseys

• 

  2018 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2018–2021

• 

  2022 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2022–present

See also

In Spanish: Selección de hockey sobre hielo de Estados Unidos para niños

• List of United States national ice hockey team rosters
• List of Olympic men's ice hockey players for the United States