Bombay's Mismanagement During USA's Shootout with Iceland

It is well-documented that Gordon Bombay of Minneapolis, Minnesota was a terrible coach. In just two seasons behind the bench there were multiple incidents of immoral tactics, unpreparedness, and off-ice distractions. Supporters of the coach acknowledge these actions for the most part but love bringing up his moments of brilliance. One such moment being when Bombay put in Julie "The Cat" Gaffney to face Gunnar Stahl in the 5th round of the winner-take-all shootout of Goodwill Games:

‍

While the decision itself was perfectly sound, there were several bad decisions that led up to it, and I can't let this be what "Bombay backers" hang their hats upon. I just won't.

This article will prove that a better shootout strategy for Team USA would have guaranteed victory in the 4th round (at latest!) and that Bombay's late-game tactics should be downgraded to questionable, at best. Let's first review USA's shootout order (noting that they shot first). We'll then break down each round in more detail and come to some undeniable conclusions. We'll end the article with a list of players that should have been chosen instead.
‍

The order:
‍

‍

Round 1: Jesse Hall

To be fair, you gotta give Bombay his due here. Off-ice tensions between Bombay and Jesse were obvious in D1, and D2 saw Bombay cut Jesse's younger brother, Terry, from the squad. Yet Bombay's on-ice trust of Jesse never wavered, and giving this straight-up-gamer the first slot should not be questioned. Of course, Jesse scored and Team USA took a 1-0 lead.
‍

Round 2: Guy Germaine

Guy is Bombay's first mistake and maybe his biggest. Germaine has never shown an ability to rise to the occasion, taking 3+ movies to seal the deal with Connie "The Velvet Hammer" Moreau. This was another example of Bombay's unbridled loyalty to the original Minnesota team, and whispers of "Russ" must have started to already penetrate the bench.
‍

Fortunately, Guy was able to take advantage of a goalie that had now seen the last 3 shots go in, and Bombay's weird decision went unnoticed.
‍

Round 3: Dwayne Robertson

With only one assist all tournament (which was a set play!), the Robertson pick was a clear example of a coach not knowing his team. Sure, Dwayne had the fastest hands in the West, but I think even the Texan would admit he didn't operate well when given too much room. He was NEVER a scoring threat and didn't even take an on-camera shot prior to the one he embedded into the glove of the Iceland goalie.
‍

Round 4: Fulton Reed

With Goldberg's first and only save, Bombay comes back to his senses and puts Fulton Reed out there for an auto goal. Fulton's supreme confidence to go off the tendy's beak only highlights Bombay's incompetence in rounds 2 + 3 even more. At this point, Conway was probably actively trying to get Bombay's attention to plead his case for Russ.
‍

Round 5: Adam "Cake Eater" Banks

As D3 shows, there's no doubt that Banks is cut from a different cloth. Normally, putting him in the anchor position would be a good idea, but we all know he was banged up. I mean just look at this vicous slash from Sanderson:

Only Adam would know the extent of his injury. All we knew was that he could now rotate his stick. This is probably just Gordon being Gordon here, trying to put another stamp on this game.

‍

Snubs

As we know, Gordon ended up putting in Julie "The Cat" and the rest is history. That being said, let's take some time to tap on the shoulders of those who should have been picked:

‍

Julie "The Cat" Gaffney

Yes, she got in on the last shot, but it was super clear that she was the better than Goldberg ever since the "Ducks vs Others" scrimmage. If she's in net from the start of the shootout, I think Conway's waving the American flag after round 3. Hell, give her the start and the game doesn't go to shootouts.
‍

Russ Tyler

With 30 seconds left in regulation, Bombay considered Russ' knucklepuck shot from the far blue line (IN GOALIE PADS!) to be his best option to tie the game. So how do you not put him out there to fire home another knuckler from the hashers?! Unforgivable.
‍

Charlie Conway

Yes, Charlie was only chosen to take the pivotal penalty in D1 because Gordon had yet to close Ms. Conway, but by D2 Charlie was becoming a household name. There's no way he should have sat the final game, and most other coaches would have had Germain pick up the clipboard instead. I mean, just look how much net the Real Minnesota Mircale Man exposes on his championship-clinching move—no helmet and all:

‍

I hope everyone loses sleep tonight over this. Now that you know Bombay is a total fraud, you should pick other heroes like Julie or Russ to model your life after.
‍

Go Trinidad,

Alex

‍

*Thumbnail image courtesy of Disney