usa articles: The Top 5 reasons USA can win gold

5. Scheduling

The Americans will get a feel for what works and what doesn’t when they get to play their first two games against teams they should be able to beat. Tuesday, they will open the Olympic games against Switzerland, a team with just a few NHL players. They should not be overlooked, as one of those players is goaltender Jonas Hiller (Anaheim). Goaltenders have the ability to steal a game, and he can do just that when he’s on his “A” game. Also, many of the other players play together in the Swiss league, so chemistry has already come to this team. All that said, USA should still cruise to victory. The Americans will then face Norway on Thursday, possibly the weakest team to qualify for the Olympics. Then the last game scheduled for the 21st, the red , white and blue will face the Canadian powerhouse to test how they are playing against the top of the tournament.

4. Luongo named the starter for Canada

Ok, so this decision that came today doesn’t directly effect the United States, but it was very unexpected that just might upset Canada. Roberto Luongo (Vancouver) is an amazing goalie, but he has a knack for blowing games that really matter (much like Russia’s Evgeni Nabokov). And the U.S. will see him on their final preliminary game, provided he still has the reigns on the starting job. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) take a few games, and who knows, maybe even Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) take a game. As a side note, St. Louis goalie Chris Mason will join team Canada if an injury occurs to one of their goalies.

Roberto Luongo

3. They can hit

The Americans don’t have the most amazing team ever assembled in Olympic history, but boy oh boy can they hit! Forwards Ryan Malone, Dustin Brown, David Backes, Ryan Kesler and Ryan Callahan along with defensemen Brooks Orpik, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson and Tim Gleason can really lower the boom on opposing players. No other team has the physical presence USA has, which in turn could lead to third period success in the Olympics.

2. The first line

I know, I know, Russia has the Datsyuk/Ovechkin/Semin line and Canada has Nash/Crosby/Bergeron, but our top line is pretty darn good, too! How does Zach Parise (New Jersey) and Patrick Kane (Chicago) centered by Paul Statsny (Colorado) sound? Kane currently ranks ninth in the NHL in points with 67 (25 goals) and Parise ranks 17th with 61 points (28 goals). Statsny, considered one of the premiere passing centers in the game, has 54 points with 42 assists. I must admit, I thought they would split up the two prolific scorers and possibly sniper Bobby Ryan (Anaheim) may crack the first line, but you have to like the all-or-few approach to the United States’ offense.

Patrick Kane

1. Ryan Miller

He could be the hottest goalie in the NHL this season — now we see if it transfers to Vancouver. Buffalo’s netminder has the league-lead in goals against average (GAA), is second in save percentage just by a hundreth of a point, and has five shutouts thus far. Even if he struggles, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner (NHL best goaltender) Tim Thomas (Boston) is a solid backup that USA has not had the luxury of for quite some time. Miller is no. 1 on my list because he really is the X-factor and the linchpin to the Americans success.