B/R's All-Time Team USA Men's Hockey Roster

It won't be a "Miracle."

Even if Team USA storms through the 4 Nations Face-Off with the ferocity of an untamed eagle, a victory at the four-team round-robin tournament is unlikely to launch the career of a play-by-play man or spawn a motion picture with Kurt Russell.

But while it can't match the pluckiness of the red, white and blue-clad unit that took the ice 45 years ago, there's plenty of reason to believe this year's team can make America golden again as it lines up against Finland on Thursday night in Montreal.

The "Star Spangled Banner" wing of B/R's hockey headquarters is hyped to the rafters and decided the best way to prepare for puck drop was to create the best roster of U.S.-born players who've represented the country on an international stage.

We built the team to 20-player spec, meaning we've got four forward lines, three defensive pairings and two goalies, each of whom has worn a Team USA sweater at least once in his career.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the app comments.

John LeClair, Auston Matthews, Patrick Kane

You want to argue that it doesn't have the street cred of Canada's modern-day trinity of McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby? Fine.

But we're happy rolling out two guys who stand 6'3" and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, alongside a winger who's won every individual award there is, not to mention playing a vital role on three Stanley Cup teams.

LeClair scored 50 goals three times and wound up in the 40s twice, too, while riding shotgun to Eric Lindros on some pretty good Philadelphia teams, and Matthews is the player most likely to be making a serious run at what will soon be Alex Ovechkin's all-time NHL goals record.

As for Kane, well, the resume speaks for itself. He's 17 goals away from 500, has better than 1,300 points and is one of just three U.S.-born players to score 20 goals in an NHL season at least 15 times. Spoiler alert: The other two are also on our roster.

Better make that uh oh, Canada.

Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano, Joe Mullen

Oh, did we mention those other two U.S.-born players who were automatic 20-goal scorers in the NHL? They're both here on our second line in the form of Tkachuk and Modano, who combined for 1,099 goals in the league, and they'll jump over the boards with Mullen, who netted another 502 of his own from 1981 to 1997.

It's hardly a surprise that the gritty Tkachuk, who stood 6'2" and weighed 235 pounds, would spawn another pair of left wingers who are irritating today's opponents in a fashion similar to the old man during his days with Winnipeg, Phoenix, St. Louis and Atlanta. He blends nicely here with Modano, who had elite top-end speed but was no wallflower at 6'3" and 212 pounds himself.

Similar to the first line, the smaller-framed Mullen provides sniper qualities on the right wing, which he used to become the first American to reach 500 goals and 1,000 points. He was no slouch when it came to international play, either, appearing with the U.S. crest in two world championships and three Canada Cups while scoring 13 goals in 29 games.

Matthew Tkachuk, Pat LaFontaine, Bill Guerin

There's something old and something new on the third line, where a reigning Cup champ in Tkachuk takes a post on the left side opposite from two-time winner Guerin on the right.

And in between, well, if you're too young to have seen LaFontaine play live, do yourself a favor and search up some clips on YouTube.

Though ultimately undone by concussions, the St. Louis-born center was as lethal a weapon as the league has produced, combining elite speed, vision, hockey IQ and skill across the early 1990s, particularly in a 1992-93 season in which he scored 53 goals and assisted on 95 others for a career-best 148 points.

LaFontaine played just 38 games over the subsequent two seasons, though, and exceeded 90 points just once more before ending his career after 67 games in 1997-98.

Still, having him as a dynamic pivot for another beefy line with a pair of 6'2" wingers averaging 211 pounds with seven 30-goal seasons between them seems almost unfair to our international opponents. But we won't let it keep us up at night.

Zach Parise, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte

Sure, coach. Go ahead and tell these fourth-liners they'll only get eight or 10 minutes.

There simply aren't enough shifts in the game to allow for the trio of Parise, Roenick and Amonte, which melds breakneck speed and scoring touch on the wings with "JR's" unique blend of sublime skill and undeniable snarl.

Parise was a two-time Olympian and a silver medalist, while Amonte netted a particularly clutch goal while wearing the Team USA sweater, coming late in the third period of the deciding game of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Roenick was also a two-time Olympian in 1998 and 2002, picking up a silver with the latter squad at Salt Lake City.

Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios

If you've got four Norris trophies and four Cups across your entire defensive corps, you've got a pretty solid unit. If you've got that hardware across your first defensive pairing, you're a lot more than solid.

That's precisely what's on the collective resume of Leetch and Chelios, with the latter providing a physically imposing presence alongside the (almost) life-long Ranger whose 102 points in 1991-92 made him one of just six blueliners in league history to reach triple digits in a season.

Chelios played in four Olympics and captained three U.S. teams from 1984 to 2006, while Leetch had three Olympics and several other international events on his resume and produced 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists) in 55 games.

Phil Housley, John Carlson

Housley was plucked sixth overall by Scotty Bowman’s Sabres in 1982 and never produced fewer than 62 points across eight seasons in Buffalo, then peaked at 97 (18 goals, 79 assists) in the final year of a three-year stay in Winnipeg.

He represented the U.S. at six world championships, was on the winning side at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and won silver at the 2002 Olympics.

He’s paired with a modern-day complement in Carlson, whose top-end production wasn’t quite as high as Housley’s but is certainly not cringe-worthy with three seasons of 70 or more.

Meanwhile, Carlson’s 6’3”, 215-pound frame allows for more physical play atop an elite set of wheels, and his leadership skills have been lauded by those who know what they’re seeing. 

Mark Howe, Quinn Hughes

There's definitely a family vibe on our third pairing, where a son of the man known as "Mr. Hockey" lines up alongside the reigning Norris Trophy winner who's one of three brothers from the same family now playing in the NHL.

Mark Howe played six seasons in the WHA before graduating to a rock steady 16-year career with the Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings that ended with 742 points in 929 games and a Hall of Fame induction in 2011.

Hughes isn't there yet, but he's already been on the All-Rookie team, played in two All-Star Games and got a first-team All-Star nod by age 25. His speed, decision-making and offensive creativity are otherworldly, and he's rarely lower than second (alongside Canada's Cale Makar) on any legit list of today's top defensemen.

Connor Hellebuyck, Jonathan Quick

Given the players in front of them, the goalies on our dream roster aren't going to face an inordinate amount of rubber. But who better to have stopping those pucks than the winningest U.S. goalie ever and the guy most likely to break the record.

Would-be record-breaker Hellebuyck gets the No. 1 nod amid another stellar season in Winnipeg. The Michigan native has 34 wins in 43 starts and is a strong bet to surpass the career high of 44 he established in 2017-18. That was the first of two Vezina seasons, and it would be a surprise at this point if he didn't get a third.

Still going strong at age 39, Quick passed Ryan Miller to snatch the U.S. wins record late in the 2023-24 season and has pushed the number to 401 in his second go-round with the Rangers. He reached 30 wins five times and 40 wins once with Los Angeles, with whom he started on the way to Cups in 2012 and 2014.