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What its like to play for Team USA
#1
(This post was last modified: 05-12-2020, 01:35 AM by Vandy.)

Players Tribune Special
What it's like to play for Team USA
By Eric Vanderberg
2x Media

Think back to when you were a little kid, either playing ball with your friends or shooting hoops in your driveway. Making the last shot or last catch to win the World Series or the Championship. Maybe you were scoring the last goal in overtime playing 3 on 3 with your friends to lift a challenge cup or a penalty shot to win the World Cup. All of those moments are great, believe me, I know.

But none of them compare to having an entire country in your corner.

The closest you come to with how this feels is when you watch a pro wrestler come back to their hometown. The feeling of an entire arena screaming, cheering, waving the flag and the building shaking from it all. The deafening roar of people inside the building is nothing to that of the people who couldn't get in and are standing outside. Every hit, every shot, every save, every goal.

Every move you make is watched, scrutinized, criticized by the fans of Team USA.

Because Team USA only takes the best.

That's not to say that the Swiss Federation or the British Isles don't, they take their countrymen and women in equal parts. There are some amazing players from all over the world that don't make it into an IIHF game in their entire careers. But it seems like when Team USA comes calling, they have a lot more names to select than some countries which means we only take the very best.

Luckily for me, I've been good enough to get the call and to play for my country my entire professional career.

Let me tell you how it works, because just doing the prep work is exciting on its own.

After Buffalo left the playoffs in S49, I got a call that I thought was 100% fake. I forward the call at least twice before my GM told me to answer the damn thing because the coach was starting to get pissed. Only when I answer it, its not some coach. It's the head of Team USA who I think at that point was starting to think he made some kind of mistake. He asked me what I was doing for the next 2 months of the offseason. At this point i'm swimming in my own head because this is Team USA calling me. Of course I say I'm not doing anything and within 36 hours i'm on a plane to Colorado Springs.

First thing they do is give you a physical, they don't need you dying on the ice. I believe the coach said that shit was bad for morale. After you finish that, you meet your teammates and you sit for some interviews with the Athletic, the SHL of course, some local news media back home. They tell you smile and say how excited you are. I think I talked the lady from Sports Illustrated's ear off on how excited I was.

Then they take you with your teammates and do a photoshoot. They told me when they took my first picture that "no one takes a bad picture on Team USA". I say bullshit, look at it.

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I look like I hate my life and I just got done crying because of it.

Once all the bells and whistles are done, we spend the next week practicing. Now, I see these guys on a daily basis. Some I grew up watching and some I just got done getting my ass kicked by them or kicking theirs either in the J or in the show. First thing the coaches tell you is put your hate on the backburner, this isn't about personal glory. Its about the team. That's always been my guiding philosophy and I was glad to see it carry over to the National Team.

Stepping onto the practice ice in your jersey is one thing, doing it in an actual game is another. I felt like my feet never touched the ground that first game against Canada in S49. Well, until I got called for a high stick. That sucked, but the 4-0 victory made up for it. I didn't score a point in S49's meeting of the World's best players, but the raw emotion, the pride, the feeling of national honor more than made up for the disappointment in my first season...

But we answered the call in S50.

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Nothing you do in life, nothing you do will ever prepare you for what happens when you win it all. When your coach puts your national flag around your shoulders. When they put that medal around your neck. When they play your national anthem. When you win a Challenge Cup, you are the pride of your town. When you win a Gold Medal, you are the pride of your nation.

There is nothing sweeter than that.

So to those of you who are waiting to get the call from your Fed heads for the S53 World Championships, whether you be American or Swiss, British or Russian, remember what is at stake. It's not team pride, its national pride. Its hard not to play with your heart on your sleeve, you are playing for national honor. But try to take a brief minute before you fly off to Moscow or to Ottawa and enjoy it a little bit.

Watch it.

Smell it.

Feel it.

That feeling when you first pull on a jersey with your nation's name on it never goes away.

Believe me



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#2

hell yeah brother Usa

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credit to Flappy, ToeDragon, and Carpy

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#3

“Because the name on the front means a helluva lot more than the name on the back” —Herb Brooks
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#4

Let’s get another one!

Usa

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#5

Usa

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Thanks @enigmatic, @Carpy48, @Bayley, @Ragnar, @sulovilen, & @dasboot for the signatures!



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#6

Usa Usa



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