A U.S. hockey team with one Olympian on its roster fared better than its version from the Sochi Olympics, taking bronze at the World Hockey Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, on Sunday.
The Americans beat the host Czechs 3-0, one year after the U.S. fell to Finland 5-0 in the Sochi Olympic bronze-medal game.
Nick Bonino, Trevor Lewis and Charlie Coyle scored goals. Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 39 shots in what may have been 43-year-old Jaromir Jagr‘s Czech national team farewell.
The U.S. also improved on its quarterfinal exit from the 2014 World Championship, earning its fourth Worlds medal since 1962 (all bronze). Its last World title came in 1960.
The Americans finished the tournament behind only Canada and Russia (who play the gold-medal game at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra), despite having far less experience with the one Olympian (defenseman Justin Faulk) and an average age of 24.3 years old.
The 2016 World Championship will be in Russia.