3 'Star' keys to success for United States against Switzerland at WJC

The NHL Network will air every game of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick.
It includes comprehensive coverage of the United States National Junior Team (1-0-0-1), which will play the third of four preliminary-round games in Group B against Switzerland (0-2-0-0) at Avenir Centre in Moncton on Thursday (4 p.m. ET). The United States won 5-2 against Latvia on Monday and lost 6-3 to Slovakia on Wednesday. They will play Finland on Saturday. The playoff round begins Monday.
Longtime NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman, who will handle the broadcasts along with Stephen Nelson and Jon Rosen, will give his three keys to victory for the United States before each of its games during the 11-day tournament.

"The biggest challenge you face as a coach for the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland at World Juniors is you can wind up with a roster full of really skilled players and doesn't that sound awful?," Starman said. "I jest because it can be a small problem when you have so much skill, many skill guys who want to use that and only that, and don't bring the intangibles with them.
"That was a little of what summed up Canada's loss to Czechia and the U.S. loss to Slovakia. As U.S. coach Rand Pecknold told me this morning, there was a little too much cuteness in our game. The U.S. had two in its own net off its own players, hit a pipe or two, and ran into a hot goalie playing for a motivated team champing at the bit to stay relevant in the tourney. Today brings a new day and three things to keep an eye on."
Here are Starman's 3 keys to victory for the United States against Switzerland:

1. Better play in own end

"The loss to Slovakia was not on (goalie) Kaidan Mbereko. I know the goal he wants back, but don't blame him. The U.S. needs to tighten up defensively as a five-man unit. We discussed the lack of size throughout the defense corps, but 5-foot-9 doesn't seem to be an issue for (Boston Bruins defenseman) Torey Krug putting players on their rear ends, net-front and net back. It's not the 1970s, but there has to be some form of message to the Swiss, legally, that the U.S. defense corps is going to let the goalie see the puck and not face screen after screen. As a group, forwards included, 50-50 puck battles need to be won with much more frequency."

#

2. Mental recovery

"Every team in the tournament has a clunker and even some teams that go 4-0 in the preliminary round play a game they'd like back even if they won it. It's just part of the process in a short seven-game sprint in 12 days that follows a lengthy evaluation camp and travel. The U.S. looked out of it at times and that can happen. It really can't happen twice. Not for record- or placement-wise, but for team stability. If the fog settles in, it can be hard to remove as an attitude, so park Wednesday's games. It is what it is, move forward."

#

3. Game management

"The Swiss are in the most unique of positions. They might be the favorite here based on records; Switzerland has two overtime wins and are undefeated, playing a U.S. team that has a win and a loss. How do they handle this? I'm not a Vegas kind of guy but I'd love to see the line on this game. So that being said, the United States can play a role it rarely plays, the underdog looking for a big win against a team ahead of it in the standings. That's a nice mental motivator. The No. 1 concern for the U.S. is to keep building as a team, keep getting better, keep getting to know each other through good and adverse times. That's how you win. The sidebar story is stay north of .500 and avoid a tougher quarterfinal-round matchup. Then again, in Group A, it has been anything but smooth, so stay tuned! Happy Hockey."
---
Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class