The U.S. has made its first key decision in net.
Connor Hellebuyck will start the Americans’ Olympic men’s hockey opener against Latvia on Thursday, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters.
Hellebuyck started three of four games for the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, with Jake Oettinger getting the other nod. That duo is joined by Jeremy Swayman in Milan.
“He’s obviously an elite goalie,” Sullivan said. “We think we have three elite goalies. We have ultimate confidence in all three guys. These decisions aren’t easy, but we made a decision to start with Connor and we’ll go from there.”
Sullivan had previously declined to name a starter, noting that “performance matters.”
Hellebucyk, the NHL’s reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner, holds a .900 save percentage and 2.79 goals-against average in 36 starts with the Winnipeg Jets this season.
The Dallas Stars’ Oettinger sits at .897 and 2.73, while the Boston Bruins’ Swayman has marks of .903 and 2.92.
After a day off Friday, the Americans have a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday against Denmark and Germany to wrap round-robin play.
–with files from The Associated Press
