The Minnesota Wild are not one of the eight teams that employed Bill Guerin during his nearly two-decade career as an NHL player. But the Wild general manager skated for the home team in St. Paul once. In the fall of 2004, Guerin played for Team USA in the World Cup of Hockey.,

Before packed houses at Xcel Energy Center, Guerin had teammates like Brett Hull, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Keith Tkachuk and current Minnesota Frost head coach Ken Klee. The Americans beat Slovakia in the preliminary round, and downed Russia in the quarterfinals before falling to Finland in a tight, 2-1 semifinal game.

Between three trips to the Olympics, a pair of appearances in the World Cup and two stints with the American entry in World Juniors when he was a teenager, Guerin spent nearly 90 games wearing red, white and blue and vying for a medal on various international hockey stages.

He won gold in the 1996 World Cup, and silver in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. So, when USA Hockey needed a general manager for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, Guerin was the logical choice, and put together a team that came within an overtime goal of gold. He will serve in the same capacity for Team USA in the 2026 Olympics, which will be held next February in Italy.

In early May, as he held his season-ending meeting with the Minnesota media following the Wild’s first-round playoff exit, Guerin’s bags were already packed for the 2025 World Championship in Denmark and Sweden. And while there were seven Wild players and/or prospects dotting several of the international team rosters, Guerin was focused on his nation first and employer second.

“I put a big emphasis on it. It’s not necessarily how many goals you score or this or that or whatever,” Guerin said of the tournament held in Europe each spring. “It’s, ‘When are we going to win that tournament?’ We need to win that tournament soon. We need our best players going.”

Rite of spring

The NHL pauses for the Olympics and competitions such as the inaugural 4 Nations Faceoff so that its top players can skate for their countries. The World Championship is played at the same time as the NHL playoffs in the spring, meaning that the rosters for the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and others are composed primarily of skaters, defensemen and goalies from NHL teams that either didn’t make the playoffs or were knocked out in the first round.

Among the top players for Team USA in 2025 were former Gophers star Logan Cooley, Frank Nazar and Zach Werenski, whose NHL teams — Utah, Chicago and Columbus, respectively — did not make it to the 2025 playoffs. Wild defenseman Zeev Buium was on a plane for Europe to skate for the Americans just a few days after Minnesota was knocked out of the postseason by Vegas.

Other Wild properties in the tournament were defense prospect David Spacek (Czechia), goaltending prospect Samuel Hlavaj (Slovakia), defenseman Jared Spurgeon (Canada), retiring goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (Canada), defenseman Jonas Brodin (Sweden) and forward Marcus Johansson (Sweden).

With Guerin and other USA Hockey higher-ups in attendance for several of the games in Stockholm, the American team did something it had last accomplished in 1933. After just one loss in their seven preliminary round games, the Americans bested Finland, Sweden and Switzerland in the medal round to bring home gold.

The finale versus the Swiss, whose international hockey stock is rising fast, was an overtime thriller, with Buffalo forward Tage Thompson scoring the game’s only goal.

“It was a great experience … and the buy-in from players was awesome. There was a good feel,” Guerin said this week while taking some much-needed time away from the rink. “The guys wanted to be there, and that’s what I’ve been trying to push is (that) it’s a great experience to get to play for your country.”

Guerin noted that the 1933 team won gold in an era when rosters had fewer than a dozen players, goalies wore little to no padding, and the forward pass was a relatively new element to the game.

“This is really the first time in modern history that we’ve done it,” Guerin said.

And this gold medal may have come at what is looking more and more like the best of times for American hockey. Guerin pointed out that the American entry in sled hockey — an adapted version of the game for players who have lost limbs or dealt with paralysis — is dominating the world stage.

Best of times?

Team USA won its second consecutive gold at the 2025 World Juniors and will go for the three-peat when the tournament comes to the Twin Cities in December.

In April, the U.S. women beat Canada in overtime to claim the World Championship in Czechia. And when they get to Italy next winter, the Americans will be pushing for their first men’s Olympic gold since the 1980 Miracle On Ice, while the Team USA women won their most recent gold in 2018.

“There have been a lot of great accomplishments, and the player pool for all of the different categories we play in is having success. It’s a good thing,” Guerin said. “We don’t want to take our foot off the gas, though. The World Championships happen every year. We don’t just want to say, ‘Hey, great, we won one, let’s back off.’ We want to continue to compete for medals. That’s where we are now.”

With an eye toward the Olympics, Guerin said perhaps the most important thing key members of Team USA gained this month, in addition to those gold medals, was the experience of playing in meaningful games while wearing the nation’s colors.

“A lot of times there are very, very good players that haven’t played in meaningful games,” Guerin said. “We had some guys in that category that really stepped up and proved that they can do that.”

The process of choosing the Team USA roster for World Juniors will begin in late July in Minneapolis with the World Juniors Summer Showcase, which will include teams from Canada, Sweden and Finland as well as the United States, and will be held at Ridder Arena on the U of M campus. Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko is the American coach for World Juniors, for the third time in his career.

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On a recording of The Zach Lowe show this week, Lowe, a national NBA analyst, pointed out the similarities between an offensive possession the Timberwolves produced in the first quarter of Wednesday’s Game 5 and what San Antonio did in the 2014 Western Conference Finals, also in Oklahoma City.

The lead guard got two defenders on him off a screen and roll. He then made a swing pass to the perimeter. The next pass hit the rolling big man, who immediately kicked out to the corner for an open triple.

In San Antonio’s case, Boris Diaw drilled the triple. In this instance, Jaden McDaniels’ attempt clanked off the iron as part of a slow start that ultimately doomed Minnesota.

What Lowe was trying to show was that Anthony Edwards, who ignited the possession by drawing the extra defender and getting off the ball, made the right play. But what also stood out was the difference between Minnesota, which lost in the Western Conference Finals, and San Antonio, which went on to win an NBA championship.

All of the Spurs’ passes in this specific clip were on point, and Biaw caught the ball right in the shooting pocket. In Minnesota’s case, Julius Randle’s pass was well behind a rolling Rudy Gobert, who had all he could handle to collect the ball before firing it off to McDaniels — and McDaniels had to reach two feet to his left to bring the ball in before rising up for the shot.

Ask any shooter and they’ll tell you how much the proximity of the incoming pass affects the likelihood of the shot dropping.

Minnesota’s roster is flush with athleticism, physicality and talent. What it lacks is the ability to consistently carry out those little details on both sides of the ball that can be the difference between winning and losing on the grandest stages. A possession here or there was the difference between Minnesota leading the 2024 West Finals 2-0 versus the reality of trailing Dallas 0-2 on the way to a 4-1 series loss.

The Wolves had a chance to square up the 2025 West Finals with Oklahoma City but were outexecuted at the end of Game 4 and lost by two points.

Just a few weeks prior, Oklahoma City played the foul game while leading by three late in a game against Denver, only to have the Nuggets rally to win the game, effectively, at the buzzer. In that case, Denver was able to keep the ball out of the hands of Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and force Chet Holmgren to take the late-game, pressure-packed free throws. Holmgren missed both.

Minnesota couldn’t repeat the formula. The league MVP caught all three inbounds passes for Oklahoma City in the final 15 seconds of regulation and went 5 for 6 from the stripe to effectively ice the game. Earlier in that quarter, Minnesota gave up a pair of key buckets as Oklahoma City players went unchecked while cutting to the hoop for easy layups.

Those are the details that will continue to prevent Minnesota from climbing the final couple of the rungs on the ladder until they’re corrected.

Wolves veterans Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert were in clear awe of Oklahoma City in the wake of the series, for good reason.

“Their body movement, their connectivity in their sets, their IQ, the things that they were doing, the adjustments they were making were just a level above us,” Conley said. “We were just a step slow at all those things. … They were like on one string defensively.”

Like 15 puppets connected to one string, Anthony Edwards added. The Thunder were locked in from the opening tip to the final buzzer night in and night out. It’s why Oklahoma City sported easily the best defense in the NBA this season — a title Minnesota held just a year ago.

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“OKC was really impressive. Their togetherness and their consistency, I mean they’ve done it all year, and really for the last couple of years,” Gobert said. “This is a group that enjoys (playing) together, but they build championship habits. For us, this is where the area of improvement is (needed). We have championship talent, but how can we keep building those championship habits and championship mindset? Because this is what I think is going to help us.

“We can point to a million things, but those things are things that we can all control as a team, individually, collectively as an organization. What I’ve seen from OKC this year is they’re really just like this. And it’s not about making shots every night, playing great every night. You’ll have better stretches, not as good of stretches, but they were together the whole season, and they were doing the little things the whole season.”

That’s what title teams do. Minnesota appeared to have more of an “on” and “off” switch this season that it would toggle depending on the opponent or time of year. Or it would fall back into bad habits until Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and the coaching staff spent another week drilling them back out.

That’s not required for championship teams. Wolves wing Donte DiVincenzo said those “little things” were the separator in the West Finals. The challenge, he noted, is for Minnesota to execute those consistently throughout the campaign.

“Then once you get to the playoffs, it’s second nature,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s a habit at that point.”

Finch said concentration is an “acquired skill.”

“The more you do it, the better you get at it,” he said. “And the more you prioritize it, the better you get at it.”

There lies the key in Conley’s mind. Those details — from understanding opponent scouts to executing defensive coverages to understanding the importance of offensive movement and spacing — need to become more important for everyone in order to improve as a team.

“Maybe that means studying the game more. Maybe that means doing more individual coaching, taking coaches on the side and getting some individual stuff there. Bringing me aside every now and then, even more often, and just using the minds around you to help you grasp certain concepts and certain things about the game,” Conley said. “The game is different than when I came up (and was) starting to play. It might even be taught different at a younger age, or however they go through the circuits and through college. What I know is a lot different than what they know.

“You’ve got to try to bring them up to a certain standard or a certain level where the non-negotiables are things you just do by habit and not something that we have to ask for or show on film a thousand times. It will be on us as a team to try to figure that out.”

If the Wolves don’t, they won’t win. Not at the level at which they hope to.

“I think this group can win a championship. It has the talent to do it, but it’s about keep learning, keep growing. Year 12, and I’m learning every year. Everyone learns,” Gobert said. “I was really impressed with OKC. I think they deserve to be where they’re at, and it’s a credit to them. They have a special team, a special group, and so do we. But I think they were a little more ahead of us in terms of their attention to details.”

“They had a plan, they executed it and they didn’t deviate from it,” Conley added. “Those guys really, really locked in on that and you can tell on both ends of the floor, it didn’t matter who scored, who had the ball — they were just finding the open person and making the next reads.

“(Those are) things that we’ve gotten better at. What we’re still working towards, I think. So, we’ve got a lot of room to grow and to get better at.”

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What makes the Timberwolves’ 3-1 deficit feel even larger? That Oklahoma City crowd.

Nothing could stop Sandi Braunstein from carving her way down a ski run at Snowmass Resort in Colorado. She glided over the snow alongside her two coaches, Jeff and Erik, who were there to instruct and support her as she made turns down the mountain.

Braunstein uses a bi-sit ski, which consists of a molded seat mounted on a frame with two skis underneath. This adaptive equipment is designed for people who ski in a seated position and might have difficulty balancing on traditional skis.

“When you go down the hill, it is both thrilling and terrifying,” she said. “I’m like, don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall.”

Sandi Braunstein of Grand Rapids, Minn., center, and her coaches, Jeff and Erik, take in the view at Snowmass Ski Resort in Colorado in April 2025. (Courtesy photo)

Braunstein is a full-time mom, student and hobby farmer in Grand Rapids, Minn. She is also a military veteran who served for nearly a decade in the Minnesota Army National Guard.

During a training exercise in the Guard, she broke her leg and three vertebrae in her back. After seven unsuccessful surgeries over the span of nine years, Braunstein elected to have her left leg amputated below the knee. Now she is an avid member of the group Disabled American Veterans. That is why she was downhill skiing in Colorado.

“I love sports, and this is the winter sports clinic that they do every year. I skipped last year, so I am happy to be back on the slopes,” Braunstein said.

Returning to civilian life after military service can be a welcome change, but the abrupt transition can also be stressful and overwhelming. The reintegration process can feel isolating, and especially difficult for veterans who come back from long or dangerous deployments, or who found a deep sense of community in the military. Reentry can provoke anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.

Braunstein has been exposed to multiple traumas over the course of her life and lives with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.

She said nature has a positive influence on her mental health.

“Even if you go to a park, just touch the grass,” Braunstein said. “I know it sounds mundane, but it helps. It has helped.”

Spending time engaging in outdoor recreation is known to improve general health and well-being. And research shows that veterans, in particular, benefit from outdoor activities as part of a complementary approach to treating mental health.

Studies indicate that outdoor recreation and multi-day wilderness trips can reduce symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. Outdoor excursions also build on veterans’ strengths and can echo positive aspects of military service, like being physically challenged, having a defined purpose and building camaraderie.

“To me, it’s more healing and fulfilling than anything else I’ve experienced,” Braunstein said. “I’ve met so many incredible people, and I’ve done so many incredible things that I don’t think I would have had the spirit to do otherwise.”

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says about 13% of female veterans and 6% of male veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD. The percentage is higher for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

Symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, hypervigilance and detachment manifest differently from person to person. They can persist for an extended period of time and impact a person’s relationships, ability to work and daily activities.

The Veterans Administration’s health care system sets clinical practice guidelines to identify first-line treatments for PTSD. Psychiatric medication may be included in the treatment plan, but psychotherapy is generally the first line of treatment.

Engaging in beneficial activities, such as wilderness adventures, can complement both medication and therapy.

Getting outside is something Matthew Kaler, a psychologist with the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis, encourages wholeheartedly. He said it is a way for people to introduce rewards into their day-to-day life that may have been taken from them by their symptoms.

“Getting to a place where you feel like you have meaning in your life again is critically important, and so we want to encourage people to find those things that fit for them,” Kaler said.

Some veterans have found that fit and are sharing it with others.

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Sean Gobin lives in southern Virginia and served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Marines. Gobin was a tank platoon commander in 2003 during the initial invasion of Iraq and fought in Fallujah in 2005. He then spent 2011 in Afghanistan training the Afghan national security forces. Gobin says this was his breaking point.

“I did not realize it at the time, but I was obviously struggling with pretty severe post-traumatic stress symptoms. I was having a really hard time connecting with people and talking to people and being around people. It was a lot,” he said. “I was like, I have to get out. I have to make a change or else everything is just going to implode.”

On Gobin’s last day in uniform, he left his base in North Carolina and headed to Springer Mountain, Ga., to begin a 2,200-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. He trekked across rugged mountainous terrain all the way to Maine to “walk off the war.”

“What started as a bucket list item of something I always wanted to do since I was a kid — and I just looked at as a personal physical challenge — ultimately ended up saving my life,” Gobin said.

It took him 4½ months to hike through 14 states on the Appalachian Trail.

“Towards the end of the trail, I was like, wow, this has been so beneficial to me,” Gobin said. “I wonder if it would be beneficial to others.”

The experience inspired him to form a nonprofit called Warrior Expeditions, an outdoor therapy program that aims to help veterans transition from their wartime experiences and recover from PTSD.

Vets process their traumas, reconnect socially and improve their physical health through long-distance hiking, paddling and biking expeditions. The trips last three to six months.

“There’s enough duration within the experience to actually rewire the brain,” Gobin said.

Numerous studies show that spending time outside has a direct impact on the brain and body. Outdoor experiences can lower blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol and improve cognitive function.

Gobin said being on extended outdoor trips allows for decompression and the ability to process emotions.

Warrior Expeditions collaborates with two psychologists who are also veterans. They measure post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression among participants before and after each journey. They say the results show a clear reduction in symptoms and an improvement in psychological well-being. Gobin said when you see somebody at the end of a trip, it’s like a light switch was turned on.

“Eyes are bright. They are super exuberant and enthusiastic while talking and telling you about everything, and they are laughing,” he said. “It is a night-and-day difference in interacting with the person I met six months ago.”

Veteran advocacy groups around the U.S. successfully backed federal legislation in 2020 that launched programs and policies to help veterans with reintegration, mental health and treatment. The legislation also requires a Veterans Administration task force to research the benefits of outdoor recreation therapy.

Trent Dilks is the Minnesota legislative director for the group Disabled American Veterans. He advocates for veterans at the state and federal levels and said the VA task force study is overdue. Dilks also served 10 years with the Minnesota National Guard and did two combat tours in Iraq.

Trent Dilks, the Minnesota legislative director for the group Disabled American Veterans, takes a selfie in the mountains and snow in Colorado. (Courtesy photo)

“Being in Iraq and seeing all of that, and then the culture shock of coming back to all of the excess and all of the things and all of the noise here, it was difficult,” he said. “I was restless. I was not comfortable where I was. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety. Later, I would realize it was post-traumatic stress.”

Dilks coped with his PTSD in destructive ways by partying and trying to numb his feelings. He tried therapy and medication but did not like how the drugs made him feel. Dilks recognized that he needed to find his own path to healing. A significant part of that journey involved spending time outdoors.

With a burst of excitement, Dilks grabbed his phone and tapped open a video from a trip to Colorado. In the clip, he and his former roommate from Iraq are summiting a peak. Snow is blowing in every direction.

“It was him and I hiking up there, and the wind gusts were just absolutely crazy,” he said.

Watching the video, Dilks burst into laughter, and a smile spread across his face as he noticed the icicle hanging from his beard. He said that whenever life feels difficult, he returns to the outdoors, because nothing beats fresh air and the space to breathe.

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There’s a reason that the announcement from the Vikings didn’t even feel like breaking news.

As much as the conspiracy theorists on social media tried to make this into a bigger deal than it was over the past few months, it always felt like only a matter of time before the Vikings worked something out with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

That’s exactly what happened on Friday morning when the Vikings announced that they had signed Adofo-Mensah to a multiyear contract extension.

There wasn’t any other choice.

Since being hired in January 2022 to oversee a competitive rebuild, Adofo-Mensah has steadily built the Vikings into a perennial NFC power.

Maybe even a Super Bowl contender in short order if future franchise quarterback J.J. McCarthy is as special as everyone in the organization thinks he can be.

That’s a testament to everything Adofo-Mensah has done throughout his tenure. He’s taken some big swings along the way, and while some of resulted in home runs and some in strikeouts, the Vikings have consistently been heading in the right direction.

There’s no sense in shaking up the status quo. Not when the Vikings are in a good spot as currently constructed.

After inheriting an aging roster that looked to be past its prime, Adofo-Mensah slowly but surely dug the Vikings out of salary cap hell, which allowed them to be among the biggest spenders in free agency this offseason.

There were some tough conversations along the way, such as releasing beloved receiver Adam Thielen, parting ways with star running back Dalvin Cook and, most notably, moving on from franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The changes haven’t stopped the Vikings from competing at the highest level. Not only have they made the playoffs twice with Adofo-Mensah at the helm, they have managed to produce 34 wins in that span. Only the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens have more.

So, why does it feel like a large portion of the fan base is disappointed that Adofo-Mensah is sticking around? Most of the frustration seems to be rooted in the inability to hit on draft picks.

To say that Adofo-Mensah has struggled with that part of the job would be an understatement. It started a few months after he took over. He selected 10 players in the 2022 NFL Draft, most of which are no longer on the roster, and he hasn’t been able to escape it.

Though he certainly deserves his fair share of criticism for missing so badly on safety Lewis Cine, cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., and right guard Ed Ingram, that shouldn’t completely overshadow some of the savvy moves Adofo-Mensah has made in the aftermath of that dumpster fire.

Just look at the roster he’s built. It’s among the best in the NFL.

On offense, Adofo-Mensah gets credit for drafting McCarthy, signing running back Aaron Jones, extending receiver Justin Jefferson, trading for tight end T.J. Hockenson, and completely revamping the interior of offensive line.

On defense, Adofo-Mensah gets credit for signing defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, signing edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, all while building depth across the board.

You can’t pillory him for his failures without praising him for his successes.

That’s why the Vikings signing Adofo-Mensah to a multiyear contract was the right move. He has earned the right to see it through.

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