U.S.A. hockey team has plenty of youth and bad coaching

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It has been 30 years since the United States hockey team shocked the world in the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

With the disparity in talent between the college-aged U.S. team and the veteran savvy Soviets, along with the Cold War implications of the time, that feat will never be beaten, replicated or challenged in the sports world. It’s a biased opinion, sure, but one that holds weight in many circles.

But now, 30 years later and after the Olympic games began to allow professional players to partake in the tournament, the U.S. finds itself in a familiar role: filled with youth, underdogs by a wide margin.

With names such as Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Russians bring the star power. Their top six forwards are better than anyone’s in the tournament, hands down.

The Canadians, however, are one of the greatest teams ever put together top to bottom. Their depth on the blue line exceeds any team, and they have a star-studded forward group led by Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Jarome Iginla, Eric Stall and on and on and on.

Sweden is the defending Olympic gold medalist, and it will bring its core back.

But don’t sleep on the Americans.

The U.S. has 13 players 25 years old or younger. NHL goal scorers Zach Parise and Patrick Kane — yes, the same guy who punched a taxi driver after shorting him 20 cents — along with Phil Kessel and Bobby Ryan lead the offense. Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson and Ryan Suter stabilize the blue line.

But know this: if the Americans have any shot at medaling, it’s because 29-year-old goalie Ryan Miller steals a game or two, maybe three. One of the best in the tournament, Miller has to carry his young team if it plans to upset the heavyweights.

Nice pick, Burke

That’s not to say things couldn’t have been easier for the fresh-faced red, white and blue wearers. Brian Burke, general manager of Team U.S.A. and a heck of a general manager in the NHL, may be too loyal for his own good.

After hiring Ron Wilson to coach his Toronto Maple Leafs in June 2008, he gave him the honor of coaching the Americans in Vancouver.

Let’s review Wilson’s NHL numbers: 1,173 regular season games, 552 regular season wins, but no Stanley Cups. In fact, he vastly underachieved when coaching San Jose between 2002-08.

A team loaded with talent — Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleu and Evgeni Nabakov to name a few — only made it out of the playoffs’ second round once. In 15 seasons of coaching, Wilson has only made the finals once, being swept by Detroit in 1997-98.

If he wasn’t Burke’s Olympic coach, he might not have lasted this long in Toronto, though that may be a tad unfair to say considering the rebuilding process going on in southern Ontario.

But maybe a more logical choice — other than the perennial choke artist — would be down the bench, where New York Ranger’s John Tortorella stands as the team’s assistant coach. Sure, he has only won 267 NHL games, but he has won a cup. And he did it with an overachieving team. That’s a concept Wilson may have never heard of.

But the pick was made, and it’s irrelevant now. The U.S. has already won its first game. Ryan, David Backes and veteran Ryan Malone scored in a 3-1 win against the Swiss on Tuesday.

But with Wilson behind the bench, a cloud of doubt surrounds any magical vibe around the U.S. Can it make a run? Sure. But will it? Probably not.

Maybe Burke will make the right choice if he’s given the opportunity in another four years.