On a frigid day in December, the U.S. men’s hockey team gathered in the ice arena for a practice session at the rink, the only one in town, and they went home.
They didn’t even have to stop at a restaurant for snacks and beverages.
They had a drink and a snack and they were out there for nearly an hour, grinding and grinding and grumbling.
There was no time to think, they decided.
They needed to get the game started and get going.
The players had to get their bearings.
They could not allow their opponents to take a lead and then start a comeback.
The only thing that stood in their way was one thing: the ice.
It was cold, the weather was chilly and the ice was thin.
They were so close to a run and they knew they had to make it work, to go for it.
The last thing they needed was another two-goal loss.
That was their ultimate goal.
They just had to do it.
After all, this is the kind of hockey team they are.
And the coach, Brian Grunwald, was there, too.
He had to be.
As the team got ready to leave the rink for the first time in nearly four years, they were still on their feet, and it was time to get going again.
They made it back to their dressing room, and for the most part, they made it.
They won 4-2 in overtime, and then the score was tied 2-2 with 4:08 remaining.
They kept playing.
They beat the visiting St. Louis Blues 3-2, and the team had a 2-1 lead going into the fourth period.
Then came the shootout.
As Grunlund took his team out of the zone, the scoreboard read 0-0.
It wasn’t a huge margin of victory, but it was enough to give them the momentum going into overtime and ultimately get the win.
The victory marked the first in the past 11 years that the UH men’s ice hockey team had been able to beat a team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It is the first one in more than a decade.
The UH beat the defending champions the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Monday night to move into the conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The win gave Grunholm his 100th career win as the coach of the UOHL’s No. 1 team, a record he has held for a total of six seasons.
The team’s record of 1-0 is also a school record.
They have won at least one game in each of the past five seasons.
In their history, this team has won 11 games in a row and three straight.
“We’re playing the best hockey in the world,” Grunstein said.
“I’m really proud of our team.
I think this is one of the best teams we’ve ever had here.”
The UOHS defeated the St. Lawrence Warriors 2-0 on Tuesday, and on Wednesday night, the team will play the University of Minnesota Duluth at the North End Ice Arena in Minneapolis.
It will be the second meeting between the UOH boys and girls ice hockey program and the United States.
The first was in 2006 when the UHS beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers in overtime in the final game of the season.
They then lost to the defending champion University of Connecticut-Brooklyn.
In fact, the first meeting between these two teams was in 2012 when the Golden Gopher defeated the UoHS 4-3 in overtime at the Ice Arena.
“It was a fun atmosphere, and I’m proud to be a part of it,” said senior forward Alex Oduya, who scored the game-winning goal in the fourth overtime.
“You don’t want to go down there, you want to come back, but you have to go out there and do it.”
The two teams will be competing for the fifth and final spot in the standings.
Grunfeld and his coaching staff have not yet announced which team will host the second round, but the Uohs are confident they will be in a position to win the tournament.
“They’ve got to be in the top four,” Grunnwald said.
He added, “We’ve been winning and they’ve been losing a lot.
This is a team that knows how to play hockey.
They’re very competitive.
They’ve got a great goaltender in Josh Johnson and they’re playing hard.”
He continued, “If they can do it on the ice, if they’re physical on the rink and we can score a goal and then score a few more goals, that’s when it’s going to be.”
The team scored a goal in each period, and both sides were forced to defend the other side.
Grunswald said, “I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a team do that, so we