The 2019 LATAM Cup champions have transcended the tournament. Jamaica brought a team so stocked with elite players, LATAM Cup organizers thought it best they only play exhibition games rather than compete for the title again.
How stocked? Jamaica had planned to bring a goalie, Anson Thornton, but the 18-year-old signed an entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
"It's a great problem to have," said former NHL forward Chris Stewart, who is Jamaica's co-coach. "Strictly on ice, it shows we're not that far away."
"Not that far away" for Stewart and his team means competing in International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned events and the Winter Olympics.
Jamaica entered the LATAM Cup in 2019 with the mission of winning it to draw attention to its Olympics quest to government officials on the Caribbean island and persuade someone or some entity to build an ice rink there.
The mission continues at this year's tournament. Jamaica has been dominant in its exhibition contests thus far, defeating Puerto Rico 10-2, Colombia 12-0 and Mexico 8-0. Jamaica also defeated Lebanon 5-4 in a shootout.
"Coming out of this tournament, beating everybody as we're beating, is going to be just as good as defending the trophy successfully," said Don Anderson, president of the Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation. "I don't think we've lost anything by being here. I think we can gain a lot and use the positives out of this in a very constructive way."
Jamaica is among a group of Latin American, Caribbean and Middle East countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Lebanon, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, playing in the tournament at the Florida Panthers IceDen that began Thursday and ends Sunday.
Like several of the LATAM Cup participants, Jamaica is trying to overcome obstacles that prevent it from competing on the international stage.
Jamaica is an associate IIHF member largely because it doesn't have an ice rink. IIHF rules require that countries have an ice rink and work toward growing the game in-country to gain full membership and compete in tournaments.