Mike Sullivan uses a staggering history lesson to motivate Team USA for gold

In the high-pressure environment before an Olympic final, most coaches talk about systems or X's and O's. But for Mike Sullivan, the path to the gold medal game for Team USA involves a history lesson. The New York Rangers' bench boss revealed that he challenged his players with a startling reality that really brings to focus how important Sunday morning's game is.

Not many American men have won Olympic gold in hockey

The Team USA, and Blueshirts, bench boss met with the media on Saturday afternoon, and was asked to comment on what some of his players had mentioned about his history lesson on how few American players can say they've won a gold medal in hockey.

Via Mollie Walker of the New York Post:

"The history of the sport is important, and in particular, in this instance, the history of American hockey is important. We tried to bring it to their attention, because I think what it does is it heightens the opportunity that that we have. It's a privilege to be here. It's an honor to represent your nation. I know these guys take it very seriously. When you think about over the last 100+ years...There's been two gold medals."

Sullivan then went on to get into the specifics about the 1960 team, the roster size it had back then, and then the Miracle on Ice squad that won gold in Lake Placid in 1980. The Squaw Valley squad had a roster size of 17 which included two goalies, four defensemen, and 11 forwards. The 1980 squad, coached by Herb Brooks who was a late cut from the 1960 squad, had 20 players on the roster. Between those two teams, that makes 37 men who have won gold.

The women's side has been much more successful since they started participating in 1998, and that includes three gold medals (1998, 2018, 2026), four silver medals (2002, 2010, 2014, 2022), and a bronze medal in 2006.

An Olympic gold medal would be crowning achievement for most of this roster

For many players on the roster, a win on Sunday would be the crowning achievement of their career to date. Only Jack Eichel, Jake Guentzel, Noah Hanifin, and Matthew Tkachuk have won a Stanley Cup, but I think they would agree that a gold medal for Team USA would be more impressive than that. It is a stark difference for Canada as their roster over a dozen Stanley Cup winners, and several players who already won Olympic gold.

This chance to make history is something that should motivate this squad, especially when you consider there are a number of players on this team who are unlikely to represent Team USA again in four years. This is most likely it for Rangers like J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, two players who many felt shouldn't have made the squad in the first place. There's no telling what Connor Hellebuyck's game will be like as a 36-year-old netminder.

When you factor in how the 4 Nations Face-Off ended, this game is going to be full of tension and passion. It was a game Team USA could have won, and their hope is that they made the right roster tweaks. In many ways it feels like every decision was made specifically to try and take down Canada, and now all fans can do is wait and watch and hope this is the year USA can once again win gold.