Thomas Hudson is very excited for the trip to Japan. The chance to showcase the game to a different culture is very exciting.  A lot of sports are very regional, and aside from football/futbol there isn't a lot of "global games".  Hockey being an Olympic sport does mean there are teams from all over the world, but they may not have a lot of pro teams or even college/school clubs that play, so it can be hard for those other nations to be competitive or even field a team. Plus, getting to experience another country and culture at a young age is very exciting. Despite hockey being very North America - centric, the players come from all over the world and speak dozens of languages.  One international trip won't make anyone an expert on other cultures, but opening yourself up to learn about other places in the world builds empathy and understanding that everywhere is not like America.