Polina Edmunds - USA Hockey

When you’re a kid you love being able to express yourself no matter what. I always loved playing church when I was little and whoever would come home I would immediately bring them into the basement and proceed with a well-served Sunday mass. I would also play house with my younger sister Rachel, we both would be on our A game no matter what the situation was. We pretty much were always together doing something; she was my best friend and still is. Whenever I would do something different she would always copy me; especially when it came to hockey. If I was outside or inside the house she would always ask me to play her for a bit. Coming home pulling the net out from the garage and playing one-on-one became a tradition every day after school; it was amazing and felt so good. I would always try to be better. I even wrote down our scores on the sidewalk with chalk so whoever was walking by would know that the Wilkes-Barre Penguins were always winning. But growing older I never got my start in the NHL as a coach like I wanted, but for those 20 or so young men representing our country who get to play for gold every 4 years do. No matter how they got their start or where – they worked hard for it. Being able to represent your country in any sport is an amazing accomplishment. Polina Edmunds who attends Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose has returned back to classes today. At 15 years of age she attended the Olympic Games for Figure Skating this year and had so much fun and she still looks to continue skating for next Olympics in 2018. I feel so inspired because she’s so young and to make a dream come true it showed hard work and dedication. But for the men of hockey it was a show down for the ages which stunned not only Team USA but also the Russians. Getting knocked out of the tournament early for Russian leaders such as Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk was something they were not looking for and for Team USA getting shutout in their final games after looking for gold was a surprise by many. The game between Team Canada and Team USA was a close one. The only score came in the second period from a shot pass that was directed in from Ryan Getzlaf and Jay Bouwmeester to Jamie Benn for his 2nd of the tournament that gave Team Canada a 1-0 lead that eventually was the game winner. The score stayed the same for the rest of the period and through the third period Team USA was able to get some shots through, but Team Canada overpowered the puck and came out of their zone with confidence. The better team played; Team Canada with the win. Team USA went on to lose to Finland the next day for the Bronze and Team Canada went on to defeat Sweden for the Gold. Team Canada was led by Captain Sidney Crosby along sides of Jonathan Towes both who scored goals in the game as so Chris Kunitz. Despite the fact that these players play in the NHL as enemies they take two weeks off every 4 years to play for their countries as a family. In the future the NHL might stop sending players over to play in the Olympics, I like having NHL players play in these games but at the same time it’s almost boring to watch. You already know who has skill and who can do what. What country has a full roster skill and what country is semi. I’d rather watch kids play their hearts out for a chance to go pro. Kids who start young playing on their pond outdoors or even after school so they can have a chance to dream and to believe. The competition would be amazing and to build another dream team like Herb Brooks did, would be a “Miracle.”