US goes winless at World Cup after loss to Czech Republic
TORONTO — Left with nothing play for at the World Cup of Hockey, coach John Tortorella told his United States players to play a game for themselves.
They played hard, gave effort in a meaningless round-robin finale but still lost 4-3 to the Czech Republic on Thursday night. With an 0-3-0 record and a minus-6 goal differential, the U.S. finished seventh among eight teams, ahead of only Finland.
“The bottom line is we leave here with nothing,” Tortorella said. “Certainly we can’t be happy about that.”
Previous losses to Team Europe and Canada eliminated the Americans from contention. While Canada, Sweden, Europe and Russia prepare for the semifinals this weekend, the U.S. and Czech Republic played out the string in front of a half-empty arena.