USA-Canada for the gold, result notwithstanding, was by far the greatest hockey game I've ever seen at the tender age of 26.

Obviously when Team USA was one overtime shot away from a gold medal a better result was possible, but even still it was unquestionably a far better outcome than what was predicted before these Olympic Games.

Beyond the great effort by the Americans, if there's one thing we can take from the aftermath it's that Brian Burke's team-building design works. Obviously if you're Canada you can put thirteen top 6 forwards and seven top 4 defenseman on the roster, but building the All-Star team paradigm is no longer the dominant one. Get six top 6 forwards and fill out the rest of your roster with grunts who can do an NHL-quality job grinding and shutting down the opponent- that was Burke's philosophy and it worked perfectly.

Another conclusion, just as important going forward, is that the USA has already positioned itself as a team to watch in 2014, and not just on the strength of their 2010 silver medal but also in terms of roster construction.

Of the 23 players on Team USA, all but five were under the age of 30 at the start of the Olympics. Compare that to Canada and Sweden, both of which had nine players in their 30s, or Russia with eight over 30, including Sergei Fedorov at 40 years old (and what about the poor Slovaks, with over half their roster - 12 players - aged 30 or older).

Now, coming into the Games we could have made the statement that the older players were the role players. Tim Thomas (35) was the backup goalie and everyone knew Ryan Miller (29) would get all the starts unless something drastic happened. The other four players - Ryan Malone (30), Jamie Langenbrunner (34), Chris Drury (33) and Brian Rafalski (36) - were thought to primarily be depth players as well.

As it turned out the 30+ squad scored almost as many goals (10 goals) than the remainder of the roster (14 goals). Experience does count for something after all.

The important takeaway is that of those veterans who exceeded expectations, two of them - Drury and Rafalski - were repeat Olympians. Drury was a surprise pick for the team, beating out younger guys like T.J. Oshie and Kyle Okposo, and finished with two goals, one game-winning, on eight shots and a +3 +/- rating in under 12 minutes of ice time per game.

Rafalski was thought to provide a measure of veteran leadership to a defense corp that was light on international experience and ended up scoring four goals, adding four assists, earning a +7 rating in over 20 minutes of ice time, and was named to the tournament All-Star team and named the Best Defenseman.

Long story short, whereas in 2010 Team USA had a few wily veterans to lead the way, in 2014 they'll have a team full of guys who know the stakes because they've been there before and are still young enough to be a dominant physical force as well as skilled scorers.

Zach Parise, who was also named to the tournament All-Star team and finished with 4 goals and 4 assists and sent the gold medal game into overtime, will be 29 in 2014. Miller will be 33 and still in his prime. Forwards Bobby Ryan, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, and defensemen Erik Johnson and Jack Johnson will only be in their mid-20s for the Sochi games.

And consider the players in the pipeline. Oshie and Okposo, who barely missed this year's team, will be 27 and 25 in four years time. Zach Bogosian, another guy who was in contention for the 2010 squad, will be 23. And how about the players born in 1990: James Van Riemsdyk of the Flyers and defensemen Cam Fowler and John "Canadian Killer" Carlson from the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship squad (which, in its own right, demonstrated the bright future of American international hockey).

And for all Burke said about picking round pegs for round holes, so to speak, he and coach Ron Wilson took a trio of players who are talented scorers but also huge bodies, and convincing them to play the role of checking line with elan.

Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks is tied for 9th in the NHL, and leads his team with 28 goals this season, while David Backes has 13 so far this campaign after netting 31 last season and Malone has scored at least 20 goals in five of his six NHL seasons, with 21 so far in 2009-10. As skilled as they may be as offensive threats, however, the thing Burke immediately noticed was that Ryan clocks in at 6'2" and 208 pounds while Backes is even bigger at 6'3" and 225 and Malone bigger still at 6'4" and 220 (all measurements according to NHL.com).

With Zach Parise, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Peter Stastny, and Joe Pavelski all locks for the team as scoring wings (and all but Stastny generously listed at 5'10" or 5'11" and in the ballpark of 180 pounds), there wouldn't be room for both Ryan and Backes on USA's scoring lines.

Malone, who has always been a power forward-type player, knew he was going to be on a checking line, but he, Ryan and Backes were a revelation, providing an immediate infusion of energy and forechecking pressure for the Americans while also capable of scoring at a moment's notice, which they did, finishing with a combined five goals, five assists, and +7 in USA's six games.

Attempting to play down expectations for Team USA coming into the Olympics, Burke was quick to point out that the program was in a transitionary period, as long-time stalwarts like Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano, and Jeremy Roenick had retired or simply weren't invited to preliminary training camp let alone be in consideration for the team.

Instead, the youngsters of the 1980s led the way for USA, and it paid off. The pipeline hasn't dried out yet, either. Some more guys to keep your eyes out for, especially at the next four IIHF World Championships, starting with the one this May in Germany (in no particular order):

Forwards
-Patrick O'Sullivan (25, Edmonton Oilers, 2003-05 IIHF World Junior Championships, 2006 and 2008 World Championships)
-Colin Wilson (20, Nashville Predators, 2009 World Championships [as a college player])
-Brandon Dubinsky (23, New York Rangers, 2008 WC)
-Peter Mueller (21, Phoenix Coyotes, 2008 WC)
-Dan Sexton (22, Anaheim Ducks)
-Blake Wheeler (22, Boston Bruins)
-Paul Gaustad (28, Buffalo Sabres)
-Eric Nystrom (27, Calgary Flames, 2002-03 WJC)
-David Booth (25, Florida Panthers, 2008 WC)
-Max Pacioretty (21, 2007-08 WJC)
-Nick Foligno (22, Ottawa Senators, 2009 WC
-Dave Steckel* (27, Washington Capitals)
*No, seriously! Gaustad almost made the roster as a faceoff/PK specialist as well as a big body (6'5", 229 lbs.), and Steckel is leading him in faceoff % this season (2nd in the NHL, to Gaustad's 5th) and is just as big at 6'5", 217 lbs.

Defensemen
-James Wisniewski (26, Anaheim Ducks, 2003-04 WJC, 2008 WC)
-Ron Hainsey (28, Atlanta Thrashers, 2000-01 WJC, 2009 WC)
-Matt Niskanen (23, Dallas Stars, 2009 WC
-Tom Gilbert (27, Edmonton Oilers, 2008 WC)
-Andy Greene (27, New Jersey Devils)
-Matt Gilroy (25, New York Rangers)
-Keith Yandle (23, Phoenix Coyotes,)
-Alex Goligoski (24, Pittsburgh Penguins)

Goalies
-Jimmy Howard (25, Detroit Red Wings)
-Mike Lee (22, St. Cloud State University, 2010 WJC)
-Cory Schneider (23, Vancouver Canucks)