{"id":462180,"date":"2026-02-18T16:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/462180\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:17:15","slug":"will-mike-sullivans-vanilla-offense-keep-team-usa-from-winning-gold-minnesota-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/462180\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Mike Sullivan’s Vanilla Offense Keep Team USA From Winning Gold? – Minnesota Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTeam USA has been accused<\/a> of losing itself in the story of the 1980 Olympic team. Snubbing skilled players like Adam Fox<\/a> and Jason Robertson<\/a> in favor of role players certainly made headlines around Team USA.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe common response: They\u2019re not looking for the best players; they\u2019re looking for the right ones!\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut that erases the actual identity<\/a> of the 1980 team: \u201cSkating, passing, flow, and creativity.\u201d The US hasn\u2019t overindulged on Herb Brooks\u2019s secret sauce; if anything, they\u2019ve lost it.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not an issue with the roster either. Overall, Team USA sports a roster stuffed with exceptional playmakers. Both forwards and defensemen possess world-class vision, stickhandling, and edgework, rivaled only by the Canadians’.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat skill has led to exceptional scoring chance numbers, as tracked by Dimitri Filipovic. Team USA dominated<\/a> their opponents through the group stage.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, that\u2019s to be expected against the weaker teams in their group — Germany, Denmark, and Latvia. Still, USA\u2019s numbers are on pace with Canada, which played an arguably weaker group.\u00a0
So, the team has performed steadily against weaker competition. So, what am I so worried about?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPut simply, head coach Mike Sullivan<\/a>\u2019s coaching staff lacks a creative plan. Even worse, their current systems don\u2019t take advantage of USA\u2019s strengths.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe offense is old-fashioned and stagnant. That\u2019s no surprise, given that three of the four coaches on the US staff run a very vanilla offense: the 2-1-2.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"PHI\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Jack Han\u2019s Hockey Tactics 2025<\/a>, he diagrams the offenses of Mike Sullivan (2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins) and assistant coach John Tortorella (2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers). David Quinn, another Team USA assistant, worked under Sullivan in Pittsburgh at the time.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth Pennsylvania franchises ran the 2-1-2 as their primary offense.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2-1-2 is your garden-variety (dare I say beer-league?) offensive system. Two players post up at the blue line (usually defensemen), and two players attack deep. The third forward patrols the medium-danger areas of the ice.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt builds strong-side attacks and allows all five players to get involved in the offense, which should open space on the weak side of the ice for an offensive attack. However, it\u2019s hard for anybody but the weak-side defenseman to get into that space, and the defense can clog up passing lanes because play is compressed to the strong side.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat typically means the only way to generate high-danger chances is small-area plays or shooting for rebounds, which aren\u2019t very sustainable.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn fairness to Sullivan, this is one area that could potentially change as the Americans play stronger competition. It\u2019s possible that the top teams at the Olympics took notice after Slovakia upset Finland in the first game of the tournament.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA great way to avoid this problem is to take advantage of shots wherever they come. Given the Americans\u2019 exceptional shooting talent, it\u2019s hard to get goalie\u2019d if you take a high volume of medium- and low-danger shots.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAgainst stronger competition, though, the Americans need to find a more creative offensive state. John Hynes is an assistant on this staff, and his Minnesota Wild ran a 3-2 shape in 2025. It\u2019s diagrammed below, also from Hockey Tactics 2025.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"MIN\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe system above creates opportunities for long shifts with the puck, which tires out opponents. It also takes advantage of offensive defensemen by providing them opportunities to attack downhill. It\u2019s an exceptional fit for players like Zack Werenski, Quinn Hughes<\/a>, and even Brock Faber<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHughes should be an X-factor for Team USA, but he\u2019s been relatively quiet so far compared to his impact in Minnesota. Sullivan\u2019s offensive shape is likely one reason for that.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s notable that John Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Canada, loves to create opportunities for his offensive defensemen to attack downhill.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2-3 also starves its opponent for the puck. And, even if someone turns the puck over, there are three players ready to defend the rush — a great way to keep skilled opponents like Sweden and Canada off the scoreboard.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe other phase of USA\u2019s game that I hate is the breakout. In both the defensive and neutral zones, the breakout sacrifices speed for security.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMinnesota Wild fans are probably used to seeing Quinn Hughes snap absurd breakout passes<\/a> from his own zone into dangerous rushes. That\u2019s because John Hynes\u2019s breakouts have a disciplined plan of attack: one forward stretches past the red line, and two intermediate targets get open beneath that.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"MIN\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat creates chances for three-man rushes from the underneath options, or a stretch pass to a lone man near the offensive zone.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s somewhat aggressive because it demands a long, accurate breakout pass from the defensemen. Passing through more opponents presents more opportunities for a misread and a turnover.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNeither Sullivan and Quinn nor Tortorella runs these aggressive breakout plays.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir breakouts are much more stagnant. Tortorella, for example, has this simple and effective breakout. The defensemen work with two forwards to methodically exit the zone and reach the red line. From there, they have the option to hit a streaking weak-side forward for a rush into the zone or dump the puck.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"PHI\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat makes sense for Tortorella\u2019s NHL teams, which he molds around a defensive, forechecking identity. However, this has its advantages under a salary cap or when rebuilding around young players. However, there are no constraints on the roster except for headcount in the Olympics. With an infinite skill ceiling, this play doesn\u2019t maximize a medal contender.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSullivan\u2019s defensive-zone and neutral-zone breakout plays both feature a forward facing his own zone as an easy target.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"PIT\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"PIT\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI won\u2019t lie: this sometimes creates beautiful passing plays. But, sometimes it\u2019s flashier than it is effective, because it forces one forward to lose his momentum into the zone.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are two advantages to this play. First, it presents an easy passing target for the defenseman on the breakout. Back-checking opponents usually try to stay between the \u201cbumper\u201d and their own net, and the \u201cbumper\u201d isn\u2019t moving. However, Team USA has elite passers on their blue line, so there\u2019s no need to baby them on the breakout.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother advantage of Sullivan\u2019s breakout is that it can lead opposing defensemen to make mistakes. If they pressure the bumper, the streaking F2 and F3 can create a two-on-one rush.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRealistically speaking, though, it won\u2019t be Canada\u2019s or Sweden\u2019s defensemen making that mistake. Their blue lines feature defensemen with elite lateral skating and vision. It simply doesn\u2019t make sense to pair these breakouts with a USA roster that\u2019s aiming for Gold.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with the Offensive Zone system, American coaches could tweak the existing system to modernize it.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Vegas Golden Knights run a bumper breakout in which the weak-side defenseman joins the rush, replacing the bumper forward.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"VGK\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt allows Vegas to keep three threats off the rush while still getting the easy pass to the bumper. If their opponent covers the rim play up the boards, they can pass to F2 for a four-man rush.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis system does require the bumper player to be capable of replacing the rushing defenseman in some cases. With Team USA\u2019s deep stable of two-way wingers (Matt Boldy<\/a>, the Tkachuk brothers, and many of their bottom-six forwards as well), that could be a good fit.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s also an obvious fit with USA\u2019s long list of mobile defensemen. From top to bottom, their defense corps can skate as well as any other team — including Canada. Including their defensemen in the rush \u2013 again, something with which assistant coach John Hynes is familiar \u2013 would fit the X\u2019s and O\u2019s to their Jimmies and Joes.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTo Sullivan\u2019s credit, the rest of the team\u2019s systems are acceptable. More than that, the team is well-coached. It\u2019s not as sexy as routes on a breakout, and you can\u2019t really put it into a diagram, but discipline and details are just as much of a coach\u2019s job. In a short tournament like this, you could argue that they\u2019re even more important due to limited practice time.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd, these iterations that I\u2019d like to see are very natural to integrate. It could already be part of the plan for the knockout rounds. Perhaps they\u2019re waiting for stiffer competition before they put it on tape. After all, there\u2019s no reason to blow through all their best material against Germany, Latvia, and Denmark. They already beat all of them with Sullivan\u2019s current systems.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTime will tell if the current systems are sufficient or if they\u2019ve already planned improvements. The knockout game against Sweden will be a major test.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the stakes are high. This could be the most talented US men\u2019s hockey team ever assembled — past, present, or future. The National Team Development Program has put the USA at the forefront of international hockey, but they won\u2019t be able to retain those secrets forever.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf an unimaginative coaching staff fumbles this elite roster, they\u2019ll take it to their graves<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Team USA has been accused of losing itself in the story of the 1980 Olympic team. Snubbing skilled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5118],"tags":[5,1955,161,38,5280,4,2602,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-462180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mike-sullivan","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-minnesotawild","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-olympics","15":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116092538872914462","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}