Ranking the Best Team USA Men's Hockey Teams Since the 1998 Olympics
The men's side of the Olympic hockey tournament is set to get underway, and Team USA makes its debut on Thursday against Latvia.
As fun as it's been to look ahead to what this latest iteration of the Americans could be with their lineups and how they might fare against the rest of the world, it's got us thinking about how Team USA has done in the past, particularly with NHL players leading the way.
Pros started representing their countries at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, and ever since then, whenever Team USA has taken the ice with their very best players, the bar has been set sky-high, even more so now that the talent pool is deeper and more talent-laden than it's ever been.
Gold medals have been hard to find for the United States since 1980. They've had a lot of success with the World Junior Championship teams, but with full-blown NHL rosters, it's been either close to a championship or a total disappointment.
We're going to take a look back at how Team USA has done since 1998 and rank them appropriately from the Olympics to the World Cup of Hockey to the 4 Nations Face-Off.
9. 1998 Nagano Olympic Team
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This was the most disappointing Team USA squad in many ways, but with NHL players making their Olympic debuts at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, this team also drew the most attention.
Team USA was coming off a stirring victory at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey after they came back to beat Canada, winning twice in a row in Montréal to secure the title.
The Americans rode that high into the 1998 Olympics and were one of the favorites to win gold. Instead, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals 4-1 by the eventual gold-medal winners from the Czech Republic after a lackluster preliminary round; they barely squeaked through.
Team USA's performance was overshadowed by reports of poor behavior by the team after its defeat in the last eight. In the end, they played four games and won once, a 5-2 beatdown of Belarus in the prelims with other losses to Sweden (4-2) and Canada (4-1).
If there's a silver lining to that performance, the negativity of it all spurred Team USA to figure things out better when the United States hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
8. 2016 World Cup of Hockey
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If you're having a hard time remembering how Team USA did during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, you're probably not alone, and that might even apply to some of those who took part in it, too.
The oddly designed tournament held ahead of the 2016-2017 NHL season featured the U.S., Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Team Europe, and Team North America, made up of U.S. and Canadian players who were 23 and under.
This meant that the U.S. and Canada had teams that suffered because they didn't have some of their most dynamic young stars and Team USA not having guys like Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Johnny Gaudreau and Seth Jones did them far more harm than good as the United States didn't win a game in the group stage and didn't qualify for the knockout round.
Team USA went 0-3-0, losing to Team Europe (3-0), Canada (4-2), and the Czech Republic (4-3). Despite having guys like Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, John Carlson, and Jonathan Quick, the Americans just didn't have their legs yet and not a ton of chemistry with each other. A deeply forgettable performance in a tournament that's best remembered by how fun and exciting the youthful Team North America was. Long live Team NA!
7. 2006 Torino Olympic Team
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The last time the Olympics were in Italy proved to be a brutal experience for Team USA in 2006.
The United States not only didn't medal at the Games, but they barely qualified for the quarterfinals, edging out Kazakhstan thanks to a tie against Latvia.
In the last eight, they were bounced by eventual silver medalists Finland 4-3, thanks to Olli Jokinen's two goals and Antero Niittymäki's fantastic goaltending.
Team USA was only able to win once in Torino, a 4-1 handling of Kazakhstan in the preliminary round. With that win and a draw against Latvia, they advanced, but losses to Slovakia, Sweden, and Russia kept them down in the standings, and they still had to face Finland in the knockout round.
The 2006 roster was older and captained again by 44-year-old Chris Chelios. With Rick DiPietro as the No. 1 goalie but veterans like Mike Modano (35), Keith Tkachuk (33), Bill Guerin (35), and Mathieu Schneider (36) leading the way and a severe lack of youth, this was the "old guard" of USA Hockey's last real kick at the can. It didn't pan out well at all.
6. 2004 World Cup of Hockey
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It's hard to remember much about the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, not because the tournament itself was bad, but because of the ominous circumstances under which it was played.
The NHL was about to lock out its players, but before that, the World Cup was held in North America and Europe. Team USA had a familiar roster of veterans, and coming off the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and a silver medal there, they were favorites to do well again.
Unfortunately for Team USA, their preliminary group featured Canada, Russia, and Slovakia, and they were only able to get a win against the Slovaks, which was enough to get them away from facing Canada in the quarterfinals, but instead earned them a rematch with Russia, which they were able to win 5-3. In the semifinals against top-seeded Finland from the European group, however, they weren't as fortunate, losing 2-1 and missing out on a rematch against Canada in the finals.
The U.S. got solid goaltending from Robert Esche, and goals came from Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk, and Bill Guerin, with Mike Modano setting them up, but running into Miikka Kiprusoff in his prime in the semis came at a cost.
Canada took gold, but it was a win quickly forgotten by the season-killing lockout that soon followed.
5. 2014 Sochi Olympic Team
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The 2014 Sochi Games had such a big opportunity for Team USA to do something incredible, to go along with the lifetime memories that T.J. Oshie helped produce.
The U.S. finished atop their group, which featured Slovakia, Slovenia, and the hosts, Russia, after winning their first two games and then playing a legendary matchup against Russia.
Team USA nearly lost to Russia on a late third-period goal, but it was overturned on review, and the game went to overtime. The extra period didn't settle things out, and a shootout decided who would win the group. Oshie was the United States' ace in the hole for game-winning shots, and after the third round, he took every attempt after that. He beat Sergei Bobrovsky four times through the eight-round shootout, and Jonathan Quick was able to hold it down for the U.S. to win.
The win gave the U.S. a free pass to the quarterfinals, where they faced and beat the Czech Republic to earn a semifinal meeting with Canada. But Canada was ruthless and clinical on its way to winning gold in 2014, and it showed every bit of that in a 1-0 win over the Americans.
What made 2014 go from a potential dream to a disaster was the 5-0 drubbing they took at the hands of Finland in the bronze medal game. The punch in the gut they received from losing to Canada carried over so hard that it prevented them from even earning a medal.
Brutal.
4. 2025 4 Nations Face-Off Team
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It wasn't a long tournament, but it was an entertaining one.
The 4 Nations Face-Off whetted our appetites for the upcoming Olympics by pitting the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Finland against each other and scratched the itch we've had since the last World Cup of Hockey in 2016. Fortunately for Team USA, they played infinitely better this time around.
Team USA earned a bye into the finals of the 4 Nations Face-Off after they finished with the most points in the round-robin portion of the tournament. It earned wins over Finland and, in one of the most memorable games in recent history, Canada, 3-1, at the Bell Center in Montréal.
Even though the U.S. got a free pass to the final, it couldn't defeat Canada after Connor McDavid buried the game-winner in overtime for a 3-2 victory.
Even though the United States played well, it was another reminder of how tough it is to beat Canada in a big moment. That said, their play in that short tournament set the table for what we're about to see unfold in Italy.
3. 2025 IIHF World Championship
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Even though the IIHF World Championship isn't a tournament that gets much attention in North America because it runs concurrently with the Stanley Cup playoffs, it's still a big deal every year.
It's also a tournament at which the U.S. has always performed uninspiringly. The years when Team USA won bronze were a big deal, especially since the roster wasn't always made up of the best players, with the NHL Playoffs as the priority.
That all changed last summer when Team USA won gold at the tournament for the first time since 1933. Team USA pulled off the feat when Tage Thompson scored in overtime against Switzerland.
We understand that the level of competition at the world championship isn't at the peak level, but it's as close to getting Olympic-like action as you can get on a yearly basis, and that the U.S.A. put a team together that was able to finally pull off a title is more than noteworthy in this case.
Additionally, five players from that side are on Team USA at the Olympics in Milan Cortina: Thompson, Jackson LaCombe, Jeremy Swayman, Zach Werenski, and Clayton Keller. Not a bad audition for a few of those guys.
2. 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Team
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After how disastrous things went for Team USA at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the entire team and all of USA Hockey knew they could not have a repeat of what happened on and off the ice while on their own literal home ice in Salt Lake City, Utah, and fortunately, no copy of that performance was to be found.
Team USA brought in legendary coach Herb Brooks to run the bench and bring some of that 1980 good fortune back on home soil. Despite many of the members of the '98 team returning for 2002, the results were completely different.
The U.S. won their group, going 2-0-1 in the preliminary round, which earned them a quarterfinal date against Germany. That led to a semifinal matchup against Russia, while on the other side of the bracket, Canada, which finished third in its group, knocked out Finland in the quarters and earned a semifinal matchup against Belarus after it upset group leader Sweden.
The U.S. took out Russia, and Canada rolled over Belarus, setting up a U.S.-Canada showdown for gold in the most hotly anticipated game on U.S. soil since the battle against the Soviet Union in 1980 in Lake Placid. Unfortunately for the Americans, the absolutely star-studded Canadian roster would not be stopped, and after a 5-2 win, Canada claimed its first gold since 1952, while the host Americans took silver.
The highly experienced U.S. roster was very good, with Mike Richter in goal, Brett Hull and John LeClair leading the way offensively, and Chris Chelios and Brian Leetch on the back end. It felt like the United States had balance again in hockey despite not coming away with gold.
1. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Team
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It's as close as Team USA has been to gold since 1980, and the sting of the overtime loss to Canada in the gold medal game in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver still reverberates for those who played in the game and Americans who watched it.
The brilliant play throughout the Olympics of goalie Ryan Miller, who was in the middle of one of the best seasons a goalie could have (he went on to win the Vezina Trophy that season), was virtually forgotten about thanks to Sidney Crosby's golden goal on home ice.
The U.S. had a brilliant tournament in 2010 and won their group, which included Canada, beating them 5-3 in the preliminary round. That allowed them to get a bye to the quarterfinals, while Canada and others had to get through the qualifying playoff. Team USA rolled to a 2-0 win over Switzerland in the quarters and then beat Finland 6-1 in the semis before their rematch against Canada in the gold medal game.
Canada's early 2-0 lead in that game had the home fans eager to start celebrating, but Team USA tied it after a second-period goal from Ryan Kesler and then Zach Parise's tying goal with 25 seconds left in the third. But Crosby's goal 7:40 into overtime gave them the win, and despite Miller saving 36 shots, he wasn't able to lead the U.S. to gold.
The shots off the post and missed coverages will stick out in Americans' minds as much as the image of Crosby celebrating does in Canadians'. But for Team USA, this was their best chance at gold since 1998, and it remains so ahead of the 2026 Games.
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