How Bill Guerin’s Team USA roster choices led to Gold in 2026 Winter Olympics

When Jack Hughes whistled a shot past Jordan Binnington a little over a minute into overtime, Team USA had completed its mission and won the Olympic hockey gold medal in Milan. There was overwhelming joy among the Americans, as they had finally overcome their rivals from Canada when the biggest prize was on the line.

It was the 3rd hockey gold medal for Team USA and the first since the 1980 Miracle on Ice that was delivered by head coach Herb Brooks and his crew of college players. After beating the best team in the world from the Soviet Union, the United States clinched the gold with a victory over Finland. That gold medal came 20 years after the United States won gold at Squaw Valley, California.

Bill Guerin had the responsibility of putting together the Team USA roster in 2026 and his choices were clearly vindicated in the 2-1 victory. Guerin had been highly criticized when he left high scorers Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, Alex DeBrincat of the Detroit Red Wings and Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadiens off the roster.

Critics questioned where Team USA’s scoring would come from without some of the highest scoring Americans on the team. Guerin paid no attention to the critics.

Toughness was a key factor for Team USA

Instead, he made it a point to add hard-hitting and physical competitors in J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck who did not have the scoring numbers of Robertson, DeBrincat and Caufield. Miller and Trocheck were referred to as “whiskey drinkers” as opposed to “milk drinkers.”

That colorful description had nothing to do with reality, but they did indicate that the players chosen by Guerin to fill out the roster after Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Jack and Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel were there to stand up to Canada when the game got tough.

Head coach Mike Sullivan provided some insight into how Guerin put Team USA was together. “You look at how this group is constructed, there was a thought process that we had players that could play in all situations,” Sullivan said, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. “And maybe the most important aspect of it is just the character of the group, the personality of the team.”

The choices vindicated Guerin, who put together a winning hockey team and not a flashy All-Star team. He apparently knew what he was doing.

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