The men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament is underway, and Team USA opened it up with a lopsided win over Latvia.
Entering the tournament, Team USA had some intriguing lineup decisions to make. Head coach Mike Sullivan had to determine who would start in net, who would be the backup, and who would fill the roles of 13th forward and seventh defenseman.
Ultimately, Sullivan named Connor Hellebuyck the starter, and scratched Clayton Keller and Jackson LaCombe. Yet, the surprising decision was to have Jeremy Swayman as the backup goalie, rather than Jake Oettinger, who had served as the backup at the 4 Nations last February.
After Team USA’s 5-1 win over Latvia on Thursday, Sullivan pointed to Swayman’s hot start to the season as to why he was named the backup.
“That was another difficult decision,” Sullivan said. “They’re all elite goaltenders. Sway has had a really good start to the season and that was the thing that weighed into the conversation. … Not that Jake hasn’t.”
Swayman has been stellar this season for the Boston Bruins and is a key reason why Boston is holding onto a playoff spot.
The Bruins star goalie is 22-12-3 with a 2.92 GAA and a .903 SV% this season. With Swayman serving as the backup, he’ll likely play either against Denmark or Germany as they are back-to-back games.
Team USA Going With Hellebuyck in Net
Team USA has three stellar goalies, and although Hellebuyck is having a down year, Sullivan decided to roll with him as the starter.
Sullivan said the decision wasn’t easy, as USA has full confidence in all three goalies.
“He’s obviously an elite goalie,” Sullivan said. “We think we have three elite goalies. We have ultimate confidence in all three guys. These decisions aren’t easy, but we made a decision to start with Connor, and we’ll go from there.”
However, Sullivan made it clear that with how quickly this tournament is, there will be opportunities for players and other goalies to get into action.
“We start right away playing three games in four nights,” Sullivan said. “It’s a lot of hockey. It’s a condensed schedule when you look at it from a 40,000-foot view, which we have. We have a game plan on how we’re going to go about it. That’s not to say that things won’t change depending on how the team plays, how people play, things of that nature.”
Team USA will play Denmark on Saturday before playing Germany on Sunday to conclude its group stage.
USA Having Gold-or-Bust Focus
Canada and the United States entered the Olympic tournament as favorites to win Gold.
Although Team USA fell short at the 4 Nations, they entered the 2026 Olympics with a gold-or-bust focus.
“It is unique, for sure,” said Werenski. “But I think that’s a good thing. I think it just proves how far USA Hockey has come, and how we feel about it. Now it’s time to win. We have a lot of high-end NHL talent — superstars. But we haven’t won in a long time, so it’s time now for the U.S. to finally win a gold medal.”
Team USA has odds of +195, trailing Team Canada with odds of -105.
Team USA Coach Explains Surprising Lineup Decision After Opening Win Over Latvia