US Olympic Hockey Team 2018: Top Players, Uniforms and Latest Comments

Olympic hockey is going to be different this time around.

The NHL decided not to let its players participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and while the games will go on in South Korea, the Olympic hockey tournament will have a different look.

The U.S. team features a mix of solid future prospects, minor-league players and some former NHL players.

Perhaps the best-known player on the roster is forward Brian Gionta, who has played 15 seasons in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.

Gionta scored 48 goals and 41 assists in 2005-06 with the Devils, and that was his best season in the NHL. He scored 15 goals and 20 assists last year with the Sabres.

The 39-year-old Gionta is 5'7" and 179 pounds, and he is known for his speed and quickness. Gionta is dangerous in the offensive zone because he can change directions quickly, gain time and space and earn excellent scoring opportunities.

The American team will depend on Gionta for leadership, and if he can get off to a good start, it could lead to a fine showing by the American team.

The U.S. team will also depend on forward Chris Bourque, the son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque. The younger Bourque plays for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey league, and he has scored 10 goals and 20 assists in 24 games with the Bears this season.

He scored 60 points last year, and he has been a four-time participant in the AHL All-Star Game. He also won the AHL MVP award in the 2015-16 season.

Forward Ryan Donato of Harvard has game-breaking ability and could be one of the more explosive players on the American roster.

Donato was selected by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the 2016 draft, and he is likely to become a regular in the Boston lineup as soon as the 2018-19 season. He scored eight goals and seven assists with the Crimson in 10 games this season before he started his training with the U.S. team.

Donato scored 21 goals and 40 points in 36 games last year. He also played on the U.S. national junior team in 2016 that brought home the bronze medal in the World Junior Championships.

Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti was a former first-round draft pick by the New York Rangers in 2006. He was never able to live up to that status and establish himself as an NHL player.

However, Sanguinetti will get an opportunity to play with the U.S Olympic hockey team. 

"As a first-round pick, you obviously want to prove to people that you’re an NHL player," Sanguinetti said, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. "More than anything, with the experience, you kind of realize it’s not as easy as everybody thinks. Just because you’re a first-round pick doesn’t mean you’re going to be given every opportunity."

Jordan Greenway brings size and strength to the American roster. He is 6'6" and 227 pounds and a junior at Boston University, who has scored 22 goals and 52 assists throughout his college career with the Terriers.

Greenway is thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the Olympics. 

"I would have never been saying to myself I will probably be playing in the Olympics in my junior year of college," Greenway said, per Allan Kreda and Naila-Jean Meyers of the New York Times. "I am very excited."

It will be a different set of circumstances than most fans are used to seeing in the Olympics. But that does not mean a medal—perhaps even gold—is out of reach for the American team.