Can Team USA survive Canada's hockey hornets’ nest?

TORONTO – David Backes has heard the buzz of the hornets’ nest before.

Like in 2010, when Team USA skated into Vancouver and faced the raucous national partisans in challenging for an Olympic gold medal, and falling short in overtime thanks to Sidney Crosby.

Team USA will be back in the hornets’ nest – coach John Tortorella’s affectionate term for the Air Canada Centre, when facing Team Canada – on Tuesday night, playing a World Cup of Hockey game that basically determines whether their tournament ends in the preliminary round or they have a prayer for the semifinal round.

Backes says they’re ready for the buzz. Or, hopefully, lack thereof.

“There’s one sound better than your home crowd cheering loud after a goal, and that’s the silence of a road crowd—when you can hear a pin drop and hear each other screaming when you score a goal,” he said. “We’re looking to have a few of those moments tomorrow night.”

Of course, it’s hard to imagine the life being sucked out of the ACC. First, because this Canada vs. USA matchup has been on the calendar for more than a year. Second, because it’s hard to imagine Team Canada as anything but a freight train of NHL all-stars that will keep pushing even if the Americans are up to the task.

“I think there’s going to be some bad blood out there, for sure,” said Jonathan Toews of Team Canada. “We can expect that. But for the most part, I think our game plan is not to back down, but also to stay out of the stuff that we know is only going to hinder what we’re really focused on.”

Team USA, for the most part, wants that same approach of controlled chaos.

“We’re comin’. We’re going to come. That’s no secret. It’s a way we’ve been built,” said Tortorella.

“Bloodbath? I don’t want to call it that,” the coach said. “We’re going to play the game the right way. It’s not about yapping after the whistle. I think we need to have just a business look. I don’t think there should be any talking, I think you just play between the whistles and play the right way, the way we’re supposed to play for us to get an opportunity to win.”

Even after losing 3-0 to Team Europe in the tournament opener, the U.S. still has several paths to the semifinal round. Nearly all of them begin with a win over Canada. Nearly all of them are closed with a regulation loss to the Canadians.

“Like what Torts said: It’s our championship game tomorrow. It’s just a little bit early,” said center Derek Stepan. “It’s a Game 7 for us. I’ve been through a couple. They’re nerve-wracking, but the biggest thing is that you have to play your game. Can’t let the emotions get the best of you.”

That said, it can’t help but be an emotional affair for some the Americans. Not only because it’s a game against Canada – and watch either of the epic battles in the exhibition tournament for a taste of that – but because it may be the last time a group of these Team USA players get a crack at the Canadians in international play again.

There are nine players on the team that also played in the Vancouver Olympics, beating Canada in the preliminary round and losing in the gold medal game. Five of them are over age 30; all of them will be into their 30s when the 2018 Winter Olympics roll around, if the NHL attends them.

“A lot of us have played together since our early teen years,” said defenseman Erik Johnson, 28. “A lot of guys on this team realize that with the uncertainty with the Olympics in 2018, this could be some guys’ last kick at the can [at Canada] and there’s a huge generation of kids and players looking up to us in the United States. Especially what the guys in ’96 did in the World Cup, you have to carry on that legacy.

“We take a lot responsibility and a lot of pride and we don’t want to let fellow American hockey players down, our country. It’s kind of weird to think about that it could be some of the guys’ last kick at the can. [There are] guys that want to really relish this moment, because it could be really the last time we get that opportunity to win one of these international tournaments.”

And, in the process, beat Canada on home ice. Not that this historic chance for American hockey should be weighing on the veteran players, considering the weight this game carries specifically for this tournament.

“If we start trying to carry the weight of generations of hockey players and defining moments or ends of tournaments, I think that starts to paralyze you and starts to make you more hesitant,” said Backes.

Team USA isn’t paralyzed, nor is it hesitant to step into the hornets’ nest.

“I can’t wait and I think our players can’t wait for this game to start. It’s going to be a blast. Playing there, against them, everybody wants us knocked out. Let’s just play,” said Tortorella.

“We’ve practiced enough. We’ve talked enough. We’ve gone through all that process. Let’s play the damn game.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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