The Wild’s trio of men’s gold medalists made it back to the State of Hockey on Wednesday morning, flying in from Washington, D.C., where a night earlier they had been honored guests at the State of the Union address.
But their stay in Minnesota was brief. Wild coach John Hynes was back on the ice with his team for a morning practice at TRIA Rink, but he gave Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes the day off, preferring that they meet the team for its charter flight to Denver in the afternoon.
“They should be ready to go for us tomorrow night in Colorado,” Hynes said, adding that he will rely on the three Americans to manage their own bodies as they dive back into NHL play with four games in the next six days.
“You’re not just going to be able to recover from it, even if it is a day or two off,” said Hynes, who was an assistant coach for Team USA. “I think it’s gonna be on those three guys to be able to manage themselves the right way away from the game. Like we always do with the players, we’ll talk to them about what they need, but the plan is for them to play, and I know they want to play.”
When they were introduced by President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night, the hockey team members who chose to attend got a rare bipartisan standing ovation. But their appearance came with some backlash from those who felt the players were being used as a political prop by the president.
Hynes said he feels the players’ trip to the White House and the Capitol were about the red, white and blue, not just the red and blue political divisions in the country.
“It’s an unbelievable experience for them that they were able to win a gold medal and, you know, they get invited to the White House,” Hynes said. “It’s not a political thing. On the team there’s Democrats, there’s Republicans. … It’s more about the celebration of the team, and I think the life experience for the players to be able to do what they were able to do, which is go to the White House, meet the president and be at the State of the Union. It doesn’t really have anything to do with politics.”
Hynes had his family with him in Italy and spoke of an unforgettable experience with his wife and daughters leading up to the finale. He also offered praise for Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who assembled the team that claimed the nation’s first Olympic men’s hockey crown since the 1980 Miracle On Ice team.
“As the general manager of the team, you have to make hard decisions. And I give him a lot of credit,” Hynes said. “He communicated really well with the players that made the team, but also with the players that didn’t make the team. And obviously, anytime you have to make those hard decisions on a national stage, with the type of players and the talent level of the players who don’t make the team, unless you win … you’re probably under criticism or second-guessing.”
Hynes added that one of his lasting images from the post-victory celebration was Guerin’s look of relief and happiness, with tears in his eyes, as U.S. players reveled in their hockey glory.
The Wild have back-to-back road games Thursday at Colorado and Friday at Utah to get back into NHL play. Both games face off at 8 p.m. CST.
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