Beijing 2008 - Going for Gold

I woke up yesterday with a great feeling. The first thing I thought is “this is our day” it is our time. The Serbs have dominated us for some many years. It has been obvious to me that with each scrimmage and with each game we have closed the gap between us and now finally the guys believe that we CAN and we WILL beat them. As I headed out the door for breakfast, I had to smile. It was a beautiful day in Beijing – blue skies, sunshine and a nice breeze. It reminded me of a nice sunny day back home in California. I just had that feeling that it would be a great day to beat the Serbs and move into the gold medal game.

We all know it takes more than a feeling to win a game like this but I was feeling very confident. We went over to the pool at the Village for a swim and as the guys began to arrive I could just see it in their eyes too. They were hungry – they had waited a long time for this opportunity. Some of the guys swam a few laps and were done and some swam for an hour. I spent some time in the water too. I had a good swim and then hit the exercise bike for 30 minutes. Ryan Brown came with me and we spent the time talking through different scenarios that might arise in the game. We talked about plays that might work if we were one goal down…

I then when back to my room and finished watching “Miracle”. I actually just wanted to go back and review some of my favorite parts of the movie. I watched the highlights of the team coming back and tying Sweden and the team beating Russia (actually I watched that part a few times) and then I watched the ending - it was more than a hockey game as Herb Brooks said. It was a life changing experience for all of those involved. I can’t help but believe that these guys have all experienced that here at these Olympic Games. They have learned the power of team work at the highest level and they have learned about believing.

In our pre-game meeting I talked to them about how great moments are born out of great opportunity (OK I took that one from Miracle) and that they had earned the right to have this opportunity. I reminded them of how we had outplayed these guys the last two times we had played them and that all we had to do was to stick together and do the simple things well. Play the way we have been playing with the focus on defense. I told them that we would wear them down and frustrate them. I also told them that we had already exceeded everyone’s expectations of how we were going to do – so there was no pressure on us – just go out and enjoy your moment. I closed by telling them that this was our night. No one was going to take it from us.

When we got to the pool and started our warm up what I saw encouraged me even more. For the first time since I have been coaching I saw uncertainty in the eyes of the Serbian coach. I knew we had them.

The game started tight. They were trying to do what I thought they would do - they wanted to slow the pace of the game. I knew that we could not fall into that trap and reminded the guys that we needed to push the tempo. Layne Beaubien scored and early goal to break the ice and we were on our way. That first goal was huge since we had only scored twice on them in our previous game. Then Tony scored and we were on our way. Although the score was close at the half I knew that we would wear them down. As the game went on our defense grew more and more confident and Merrill was a wall in the cage. We were up 7 – 5 heading into the fourth quarter and they were dragging. Serbia would not score again and we pulled away with 3 more goals to win 10 – 5. It was a huge team win. These guys are playing well. It is on to the gold medal game vs. Hungary on Sunday.

It is hard for me even to fathom just how far this team has come in the past 8 months. When we were training with Serbia in February of this year they were blowing us out of the water in every scrimmage. We lost the first day 17 – 3. We did close the gap a little while we were there but on one of the last practices while we were there – the Serbs all showed up with alcohol on their breath. I think they came directly from “happy hour” and the bad thing was that they still beat us pretty easily. Wow – it has been an incredible journey.

I have been in this place twice in my life – playing for a gold medal. Both times we lost. I don’t want that to happen again and I will do everything in my power to help these guys win that gold. Honestly, the way they are playing they might not need any help. I am so proud of them.

GO USA!

See you on the podium!
Coach