Zach Werenski has a very busy summer ahead of him. On top of the usual stuff of preparing for next season, he’s preparing for one of the most important days of his life.
Werenski is getting married. So are two of his best friends.
At Blue Jackets’ exit interview day, Werenski said that he was not going to play for Team U.S.A. at the World Championships. No one would blame him given how much he played throughout the course of the season plus everything upcoming on his plate.
But once the tiredness started to subside, Werenski had a nagging feeling that he needed to be there. After taking care of some business first, he made the decision to join Team U.S.A.
Werenski Explains His Decision
For Werenski, this decision to play at the World Championships came down to one fundamental thing. It was another opportunity to put on that jersey, even if his decision was late.
“I love playing for USA Hockey,” Werenski said. “I think it’s some of the most fun hockey you can play. You don’t do it for anything else besides the jersey that you’re wearing. I’ve had really great experiences doing that the last couple of times I’ve done it. I thought it was important this year for me to come here and be here for as much of the tournament as I could be. I’m just thankful to USA Hockey for allowing me to come in a little bit late.”
Werenski took it a step further and said he wanted to be around the guys embracing being an American.
“I feel like right now with playing in the World Championships last year, playing in the 4 Nations, I had a ton of fun in those two events and putting the jersey on and being around guys that really embrace being American. It was hard to say no for me right at the beginning. If my summer was just coming here and playing hockey for 3.5 weeks and coming home, I would have been all-in from the beginning, but I had some other things to attend to.”
Werenski is with the team ready to go. However, he said his gear hasn’t arrived yet. That’s why he didn’t play in Monday’s 3-0 loss to Switzerland. Assuming his equipment arrives on time, he anticipates being in the lineup on Wednesday against Norway.
Werenski will be one of the veterans on this version of Team U.S.A. He pointed out they are one of if not the youngest team in the field. He’s looking forward to playing with and helping those players such as Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith and Frank Nazar among others find success in this tournament.
For Team U.S.A. to take the next step and to build off the momentum generated from the 4 Nations Faceoff, Werenski says they need to get a medal at this tournament.
“I want to see us have success in tournaments like these. The U.S. hasn’t won this tournament in almost 100 years. We don’t medal very often at this World Championships. I feel like it’s something we have to get back to doing consistently is every year at the end of the season, if you’re not in the playoffs or you’re not injured, guys should want to come here consistently every single season and build U.S.A. Hockey to be a consistent winner at the men’s level. That translates to 4 Nations and World Cups and Olympics.”
“I think just having those experiences, just enjoying it, embracing what it means to be American, putting that jersey on, I feel like that’s the standard that we need to set, especially as older guys,” Werenski said. “I’m not that old, but being a guy that’s been in this league for a number of years now, I feel like it’s on us to show up to these tournaments and start building this thing and starting getting medals consistently at the men’s level.”
Werenski and Team U.S.A. hope their effort at the World Championships is the start of bigger and better things consistently for the program, especially at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
