Casey DeSmith, Team USA working on something special at Worlds
DeSmith leading way for the Americans
Casey DeSmith is rolling at the 2023 World Championships, and hoping to help Team USA break a 90-year drought at the event. DeSmith improved to 5-0-0 at the tournament with a quarterfinal shutout over the Czech.
DeSmith only needed to make 15 stops in the win, his second shutout of the event. Nick Bonino and Drew O’Connor are also representing the red, white and blue.
As the tournament has developed, the USA and Canada have stepped up as the top two events. The US has won all eight of their games, the Canadians lone loss came in a shootout to Norway. Both teams could be on a collision course for the final, if they clear their respective semifinal game to get there.
Surprisingly enough, success in the hockey World Championships for the US has been very fleeting. Their one gold medal was back in 1933. The Americans took a silver in 1950 and since haven’t recorded such a high finish.
As you might suspect or know, the opposite has been true for Canada at the WC, who have 27 gold medals over the years. Recent victories include 2015, 2016 and 2021, with the 2015 win being led by Sidney Crosby and striking him in the Triple Gold club.
DeSmith’s arguably been the star of the show so far, with a 1.19 GAA and .950 save% while easily handling business as the American’s top goalie. It likely means as much for his future as Dominik Simon scoring 12 points in 10 WC games (as a center, no less) in 2019 not serving as any precursor for professional success, but is a nice way to cap off a season with a strong showing.
Now all DeSmith has to do is help lead his country at something they’ve failed at 11 times in a row (including last year): winning in the WC semi-finals.
Team USA’s next game is today against Germany. The winner moves to the championship against the winner of Canada vs. the upstart Latvians. Penguin Pierre-Olivier Joseph is playing for his native Canada.