re: TEAM USA WINS GOLD | USA 2 Canada 1 FINAL/OT | Gold Medal Game | Olympic Hockey

These whites are so clean. Way better than their blues.

The old clips make me realize how shitty and 2000s the US jerseys used to be. These are so classic and clean this year.

2010 was a better time and the games were in Vancouver, giving people here more of a connection to the games. These Olympics seem more under the radar being in Europe.

Plus there was the theater of playing Canada for gold in Canada.

The hype from 4 Nations last year will help a lot. It will be a huge number for being 8 AM eastern

This jersey matchup is a nightmare on the eyes.

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A win Sunday for the US would be the biggest win since “miracle on ice”

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I would break out the Cubans I've had in my humidor for years.

You talk about the stars aligning. 46 years to the day.

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Still crazy to see the strides US hockey has made from Sochi. You'd never have dreamed we could have a roster like the one we have right now

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A much more skilled team than any with NHL players they've had in the past. Though I disagreed on some of the snubs, it was obviously the right call to take who they did.

Having the NTDP to train and prepare the elite players is huge. Having many of their players continue playing at the college level certainly hasn't hurt either. Hellebuyck sure has been locked in for the Olympics, looking a lot like the MVP he was last season.

That's one way to look at it. I'm aware a couple USHL teams were approached to join the CHL which hasn't been decided yet. You already get kids in the USHL who have also had their rights drafted by CHL teams. The third and new option of the NCAA for CHL kids looks more like it's taking the best of the best (unless it's Ryder RItchie at BU, among others!) from CHL.

Could this lead to expanding the number of NCAA teams at the D1 level? I know some schools away from the east coast have been looking at the possibilities. For now it's gonna suck for the lower-tier D1 schools who have limited resources and can only get the scraps other teams don't take.

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Could this lead to expanding the number of NCAA teams at the D1 level?

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Yes. I think the intriguing thing is what the Big Ten does. I think it's highly likely that we'll see all of the original 10 (& Penn State) have programs. I just don't see it for the east/west coast schools. So you could very well have divisions within the conference due to the stupidity of nationwide conferences. The SEC is never going to have hockey and I highly doubt the Big 12 will either. The interesting conference is the ACC. Hockey has taken to Florida better than either of their baseball teams. Throw in the "ACC Ivy" schools in the Carolinas and Notre Dame (no longer needed by the Big Ten) and they could have enough to be a hockey conference.

Of you like hockey history, take a look at Minnesota under Doug Woog (a Herb Brooks protégé). The guy put a wall around the state. In fact he was able to keep nearly all of the best from leaving (and when they did it was for WI or ND). He refused to roster anyone not from Minnesota. They won two championships thanks to Thomas Vanek after he retired but have done well without bringing in a ton of foreign talent.

I think you'll see most Canadian players staying in the NE. Alums in the Midwest will not support their NIL collectives if it's hurting American hockey. If you need a visual of who cares more about US hockey, go back to the quad box of the OT wonder yesterday. Midwest going crazy. NE sitting on their hands.

All NCAA schools are living in a new world where they are revenue starved because they have to feed the beast, football. If you think there will be D1 hockey expansion among the big schools in this environment you are mistaken. Heck, Iowa has a ready made arena sitting right in town and they still won't start D1 hockey and have no intentions to.

Just because there are more hockey players than ever does not mean schools will drop millions on a program just because the players are there.

What hockey fans should root for is for the entire model to blow up and the rise of club sports on college campuses just affiliated with the schools. In that environment, the ACHA has a head start and you could see Cowledge Hockey explode. The quality of play at some ACHA schools is dang near D1 level right now.