With a huge player pool to select from, you would have expected a some better choices than those who were selected. The decision of General Manager Dean Lombardi to select the players he did was baffling.

Of course, despite the grand name, the World Cup of Hockey is just a preseason tournament as we gear up for the NHL, so it is important to keep it in perspective. Although, that won’t be an acceptable excuse to the fans that paid their money who were expecting better.

Lombardi and Coach Tortorella, appeared to favour a more aggressive approach, going with players who would have a lot of determination and passion but a questionable skill-set. The most notable absentee was the Pittsburgh Penguins talented goal scorer Phil Kessel, who responded with a cheeky tweet as Team USA went down to their rivals – which didn’t sit well with the management.

His mind will now be on the upcoming NHL season and getting into shape to replicate his form with Pittsburgh and you can find their odds, and all the other sides, with Betway, who will have everything covered.

This should lead to Team USA adopting a riskier approach in the future, trying to develop on the skills that they players have to play a more open game instead of resorting to intimidation and muscle to get through games.

Overall, the defeat to Canada and Europe may have been a shock to fans from the outside, but in reality it was due to the fact that the side entered the tournament without the sufficient quality. With scarce attacking intent and a lack of speed it was never going to end well, but fans can hope the lessons have been learnt.