Great moments are born from great opportunity.
Outside of dragging the Soviets over their assumed dominance, this has always been the most memorable part of the speech coach Herb Brooks delivered to the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team before their "Miracle On Ice" in 1980.
Thirty-eight years later, these words are entirely applicable to the team headed to Pyeongchang in February: The potential for great moments, for a collection of players who never believed this great opportunity would ever come around -- as long as the NHL was sending its superstars to the Olympics.
Thanks to the avarice-drenched showdown between the NHL and the International Olympic Committee, there will be no Jonathan Quick nor Cory Schneider nor John Gibson nor Connor Hellebuyck on Team USA.