TORONTO -- Watching grim-faced Team USA players Zach Parise, David Backes, Kyle Palmieri and Derek Stepan walk into the media center at the World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday afternoon was reminiscent of a Sean Penn scene from the movie "Dead Man Walking."
Dead team walking. That's pretty much Team USA at this tournament as the Americans prepare for a final, meaningless preliminary-round game against the Czech Republic on Thursday night.
The outcome may be meaningless, but the flameout of this team in this best-on-best tournament has created a cottage industry of USA Hockey-bashing that may be unrivaled for the sport in the age of social media.
Less than 24 hours after the Americans' 4-2 loss Tuesday night to Canada, which eliminated the U.S. from playoff contention, USA Hockey was in retreat mode rather than meeting the issue head-on.
Team USA officials initially tried to shut down any media access to the team on Wednesday, but after pressure from reporters and tournament organizers the team made four players available.
GM Dean Lombardi is expected to speak to the media Thursday after the team's morning skate. Team USA head coach John Tortorella presumably will as well.
But since the questions about the construction of the team, the lineup decisions, and the overall mindset of USA Hockey regarding international tournaments were still burning in the hours after their fate at the tournament was sealed, it's inexcusable that those four American players were hung out to dry.
And let's take a moment to acknowledge that the players would rather have been anywhere else than surrounded by dozens of reporters and cameras and being forced to answer questions about whether Phil Kessel was ripping them on Twitter after the loss to Canada on Tuesday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins winger wasn't selected for the U.S. World Cup team.
Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.
— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016
"It's disappointing," said Backes, a two-time Olympian, when asked about Kessel's tweet. "It's almost to say we were coasting or don't care or weren't representing our country as well as we could have. For other guys who have worn the jersey, it's disappointing.
"I understand there's hard feelings if you weren't picked for the team or whatever, but the comments are, I think -- as a team guy and a guy who stands by my teammates win, lose or draw -- it's a little distasteful and aggravating."
And don't expect Backes, the longtime St. Louis Blues captain who is now a member of the Boston Bruins, to forget about the dig.
"Those comments don't get lost in the fray, and those comments are there and have been read and I think will be remembered when whatever happens going forward," he added.
Parise, another two-time Olympian who was the captain of the U.S. squad at the Sochi Olympics, asked aloud whether Kessel would have been able to play in the tournament considering that he suffered a hand injury during the playoffs.
"Didn't he just have surgery? I thought he did," Parise said. "His tweet didn't really make sense. Regardless, I don't really care what Phil said."
Regardless of Kessel's health, the goal scorer was ignored by Team USA's management team, as were Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson and Buffalo Sabres power forward Kyle Okposo along with offensive-minded defensemen Justin Faulk, Kevin Shattenkirk and Cam Fowler.
After Tuesday's game, Tortorella insisted that he wouldn't change the roster, which was outscored 7-2 in these first two games. One suspects that was an impulsive response rather than one based on reason.
Of course, since no one from USA Hockey or team management was available on Wednesday to address the implications of this disastrous showing, it was left to the designated players to answer the hows and whys of this tawdry tale.
And really, how fair is it to put players in the position of having to address whether they should have been selected to represent their country? Not very.
"Again, our job as players is to play, not pick teams," said Parise. "I don't know what goes into how they pick teams and that's none of my business. Our job is to play. I don't plan on getting in the managing business."
The players control only the moments on the ice.
They weren't in charge of organizing a tournament that denied both Canada and the United States access to top players under the age of 24. Those players formed the entertaining Team North America entry, which is still in the running.
The U.S. players didn't pick the team or the coaching staff. They played and they accepted that what they did here in Toronto was not nearly good enough.
"There's a different look, perhaps, if everyone's available," said Backes, who admitted that if every American player had been available to Team USA, maybe he wouldn't have been on the roster. "Perhaps a gut check for everybody who's on this team to evaluate what they were able to give or what they gave for the red, white and blue, those colors they wear so proudly.
"That's something, no matter what jersey you're in, the pride as a competitive athlete should be that you're giving everything you got, every shift, every period to help your team win, and we didn't play near well enough."
Something this ugly doesn't get resolved in one day. Or two. Or three.
There are organizational issues at play here, philosophical ones with hard questions aplenty. If there isn't a lot of soul-searching going on at USA Hockey about how this smoking crater came to be, there should be. And in a hurry.