That’s not to say the Americans are overconfident, however. Coach Phil Housley’s group can’t be unaware that they’re the underdog in this scenario. They dropped a 2-1 decision to Canada in round-robin action, and historically, they’ve only won six out of 39 career meetings with the perennial gold medal favourites from north of the 49th parallel.

However, the last two times the United States won, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. The Americans won the 2010 gold medal game (6-5 in OT) in Saskatoon and the 2004 final (4-3) in Helsinki. So while this team needs to stay in the present, at least there’s a not-too-distant legacy of success from which to draw inspiration.

Under the leadership of people like Team USA general manager Jim Johannson and director of player personnel Tim Taylor, USA Hockey has done a tremendous job of fostering young talent through its National Development Team Program.

Program graduates here in Ufa include captain Jake McCabe, prospective #1 overall NHL draft pick Seth Jones, key defenceman Jacob Trouba, and starting goalie John Gibson, to name just a few.

It’s inevitable that the volume of top-shelf players coming out of America will pay off internationally in the long term – and potentially in the short term too.

To win on Thursday, the Americans must stand up to Canada’s physical game while using their own speed, continue clicking with the power play as they have in their last two outings, stay out of the penalty box, contain Canada’s elite scorers from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Jonathan Huberdeau, and get a superior performance out of Gibson in his head-to-head duel with Canada’s Malcolm Subban.

IIHF.com caught up with the Americans for their thoughts going forward after their quarter-final victory over the Czechs.

Jake McCabe

On his team’s overall mix: When you can get scoring [from the first line to the fourth line], the defence pitch in, and your goaltender is, in my opinion, the best in the tournament, you have the perfect formula for a gold medal team.

On his impressions of Ufa: I knew it was a brand-new rink, and that they have a KHL team here. But I don’t know that much about KHL hockey. Especially for the Russia game, there was great energy in the building. It’s really fun when you have that. Generally you can tell the people are hockey fans. They’re here to see a good hockey game and [against Canada] hopefully we get them on our side, pop a few in early, and ride that momentum.

Seth Jones

On the round-robin game against Canada: I thought we played a really good game against Canada. It was really close and the level of play was really high. We were right there. We just came up a little bit short because Subban played lights out. We’ve just got to put some pucks in the net.

On Canada’s team makeup: They have a lot of depth on their team. They have four lines that can really play, and they have a lot of diversity. They have a lot of skilled players and their defense corps is pretty deep. We’ve just got to do what we can to try to win the game.

John Gaudreau

On scoring five goals in his last two games: Coming down the stretch, heading into the semi-finals, it’s a good time to get hot. In the first couple of games of the tournament, I wasn’t putting the puck in the net. I was a little frustrated. But I’m happy that it’s coming right now.

On John Gibson: He’s a really good goalie and it’s fun to watch him play, jumping over here or there, making saves. To watch him play like that, it’s awesome. In the locker room, he’s just hanging out. Nothing bothers him.

On whether Canada’s addition of Boone Jenner and J-C Lipon will mean a more physical tilt: I’m not sure. They played pretty physical last game, and we just used our speed and dumped pucks in. Maybe they might bring a little more [physically], but we’re just going to play to our advantages.

On his feelings about the semi-final: It’s exciting. I was excited to play them the first time, and it’s going to be even more exciting the second time in the semi-finals. It’s something you always dream about, playing USA-Canada. Hopefully we beat them this time.