Next man up: Key players of the U.S. men's Olympic ice hockey team

USA Hockey's men's ice hockey team compete tomorrow in their first match of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

If the youthful team wants to win a first USA men's Olympic gold medal since 1980 - when a team primarily comprised of college kids upset the heavily favoured Soviet Union in Lake Placid - they will need to fend off elite competition from around the world. Four years ago in PyeongChang, a U.S. team that was also without its NHL stars finished seventh at the Games; the OAR, conversely, were able to select players from its renowned domestic league (the Kontinental Hockey League [KHL]), and won the gold medal.

Below we highlight some of the members of a youthful USA team (the 2022 Olympic squad has an average age of 25.1, making it the youngest U.S. men's Olympic team since 1994) looking to make history in Beijing.

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O'Neill, 33, is the only Olympian on the 2022 roster. The forward, who is currently third in the KHL with 33 assists and 11th in points with 42, was a member of the 2018 U.S. team that finished seventh in the Republic of Korea. O'Neill, who is known as "Mr. Helsinki" by the fans of Finland's Jokerit, also played 22 games in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils.

At just 19-years-old, Beniers is one of the more experienced members among the younger players of the Olympic team; the center represented the USA at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, winning a bronze medal.

Beniers is currently a sophmore at the University of Michigan, and in 2021 became the first-ever draft selection of the Seattle Kraken when he was drafted second overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

19-year-old Jake Sanderson has experience with international hockey and as