Sabres' Tage Thompson ready for Olympic moment as gold medal X-factor

There was concern when the United States named its Olympic men's hockey roster that they didn't have enough scoring firepower.

The one player who flies in the face of that is Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson.

Thompson wasn't on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster. But he's on the Olympic team.

And he's not just on the Olympic team -- he's going to be a huge contributor. Thompson is slated to be on the first power play unit as well as a high-powered line with Kyle Connor and Dylan Larkin.

“It’s awesome,” Thompson told The Athletic's Michael Russo. “I mean, it’s the best players in the league, best players in the world. Just trying to fit in, do what they tell me, and hopefully help them out. Everyone’s a threat, it’s fun, a ton of skill, and like I said, I’m just trying to do my part and hopefully help contribute some goals.”

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Thompson is an absolute monster on the ice at 6-foot-6, and he's been huge to the Sabres' gigantic turnaround this season.

Through 57 games, he has 30 goals and 29 assists.

Thompson is 28 years old, and these will be the biggest games of his career.

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He certainly seems ready, and if he can deliver, he could be an X-factor.

There's still a case to be made that the United States is lacking firepower, but they've got Thompson. To win the gold medal, the U.S. might really need Thompson to score a few huge goals along the way.

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