Team USA started the World Cup with a confident victory over Latvia (4:1), but it was clearly premature to talk about America’s claim to gold after this match. Moreover, the Stars and Stripes have not seen the main prize since 1960.

And now the team’s chances of success, as it turned out, are not too high. Already the second game of the States in the tournament was almost a failure.

The United States miraculously escaped defeat in a match with an outsider. But Austria was brought to the World Cup instead of the excluded Russia! It’s scary to think what our team would do with such Americans.

USA relaxed without Russia

It is well known that for the Americans the World Cup is a minor tournament in which the country develops talented youth. It is no accident that the composition of the US national team consists mainly of young and promising hockey players who have not yet become the main players in the NHL. To balance, the coaching staff also brought experienced players: Chicago leader Seth Jones and Belarusian American Alex Galchenyuk, who has MFM-2013 gold.

But even with such a roster, the Americans are expected to perform on equal terms with the giants and beat the “non-hockey” countries without any problems. And certainly run on one skate team from the second division. But the Austrian national team belongs to this category! The team received a place in the World Cup only due to the fact that Russia and Belarus were excluded from participation in it.

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In a word, in the class the Austrians are inferior to almost all the participants of the tournament. And the Americans, it seems, this circumstance, coupled with the disqualification of Russia, greatly relaxed.

A few centimeters saved the United States from shame

The Austrians started the match very cheerfully and were not going to sit on the defensive or play number two. On the contrary, the US team looked more faded against the background of an active opponent, although it transferred the Austrians twice: the American attacks were noticeably lacking in sharpness.

The Austrians, in the first period, were lit by the youngest player of the tournament – 18-year-old Marco Kasper. The forward stood out not only with the only helmet with an iron mesh on the court, but also with a bright game. In the middle of the period, Casper entered the zone at speed, performed a stick-skate-stick feint and dangerously threw it in opposition to the goalkeeper. But in this episode, he failed to excel.

But after a couple of minutes, Casper nevertheless showed himself. Forward at speed laying a turn over the gate, but at the last moment gave a pass to the near post, and Benjamin Nissner closed the transfer.

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The US team did not wake up after the goal, and in the middle of the second period, the American keeper again had to get the puck out of the goal.

Only after that, the “stars and stripes” finally cheered up. The Americans answered the goal already after 17 seconds – Kieffer Bellows scored. Soon the game leveled off, but the authority of the more titled team still did not put pressure on the Austrians. The American team, on the other hand, could not cope with the opponent’s defense. The US team was helped only by the majority earned already in the third period: the States equalized the score in the 49th minute.

The meeting went into overtime, where the main sensation of the tournament could take place: the Austrian national team player threw dangerously, but the puck hit the goal frame. A few centimeters to the left – and the Americans would really disgrace themselves. However, a few minutes later, Luke Hughes saved the team – and brought the same victory over the stubborn outsider.

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If the United States suffered so much with Austria, it is curious how the American youth would have looked in the confrontation with Russia, whose place in the tournament was just taken by the European team. Recently, Alexander Ovechkin, Kirill Kaprizov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and others went on vacation – they certainly would not have refused a trip to the World Cup. So the Americans with our disqualification, of course, were very lucky: if the Austrians were already able to create this team problem, then the Russians would not have shied away. It is a pity that these arguments in the subjunctive mood have no power.