Ryan Dixon of the Hockey News makes the case for the Hall of Fame induction of the 1996 USA World Cup team, arguing that they were the best team assembled at the event.
Hull, Richter and Leetch were the backbone of the ’96 squad that stunned Canada by winning the best-of-three final in three games. Hull led the event in scoring, Richter was named tournament MVP and his performance in Game 3 of the final is the stuff of legend. Leetch, meanwhile, was the top scorer among all defensemen.
That American team pulled off the sporting equivalent of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon and planting the stars and stripes into something it previously had no real claim to.
Bah, how about Brett Hull’s high-stick gets inducted along with his skate in the crease. Perhaps the two can be displayed along with my continuing bitterness. In any event, they were a good team but this induction idea seems like a long shot.
