Mar 01, 2026
3 min read
Guerin was under tremendous pressure to win gold with the Team USA roster he helped assemble.
SALT LAKE CITY - Bill Guerin is not used to being pressured when he plays.
Whether it's a big regular season game or a playoff game, the Minnesota Wild president and general manager of hockey operations can stay on the same level.He can tell through the settings on the Oura Ring, which measures heart rate, temperature and other metrics to detect stress.Whether you are recovering, having fun, participating or feeling stressed.
But in the Olympic gold medal match between Team USA and Team Canada, all his grades rose.
"My whole day was a stress level," Guerin told The Athletic in an extensive interview on Friday.It's like your body's 'warning signal'.
When Guerin was the general manager of Team USA — whose roster decisions were scrutinized from the start — there was a high level of pressure.There was also a special feeling of joy when the Americans beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win their first gold medal since the 1980 Miracle on Ice team.
"It was like a dream," Guerin said."It was difficult to go through those games. In a series of games, you have to take your wins and losses as they come. You get to the medal games and one and it's done. It's not like you start in September. It's the Olympics. You're four years old. And some of us, some guys, you don't know if we're going to get another break. " So there's '
From the moment Jack Hughes scored the 'Golden Goal' a few minutes into extra time, it was a blur.Guerin and his handlers embraced the crowd.The tears flowed.They tried to walk from their suite behind the US net.down to join the crowd but one elevator was full.So was the other.They went up the stairs.
Guerin, meanwhile, was the first to call his wife, Kara, who was in the arena but couldn't come down due to credentials."I could barely speak," Guerin said."I cried."So was Guerin's mother, Ligia, who immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua when she was younger.Ligia was also in tears.
"The support from my family has been incredible," Guerin said."You can't do it alone."
Since then, Guerin has been asked several times how a gold medal compares to winning the Stanley Cup, which he did twice as a player and twice as manager with the Pittsburgh Penguins."In some ways they're very different, but in some ways they're the same," Guerin said.we won on the biggest stage.It's hard to compare when both are great."
Guerin and his staff have faced their share of doubts about selection decisions, such as leaving the team with some of America's top scorers, including Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield.They join veterans J.T.Miller and Vincent Trocheck, who filled specific roles and were part of an 18-for-18 penalty kill.
Is this an experience that validates Guerin's choice?
"I'm proud of the team we've built," Guerin said."I had a vision of what and how and how we could win, and my staff, an amazing group of people to work with, were very supportive and worked hard. We felt that this was the right way. I knew going into this, I've been in this game for a long time, in places where I was criticized and criticized.
"Our confirmation is a gold medal. That's all I care about. That's all I care about. I don't want anyone to say, 'Oh, you're right.'
Green, who said the Miracle on Ice team had a big impact on his life, said the team's gold medal win in '80 and the 1996 World Championship could have a big impact on hockey in the United States.
Would Guerin consider creating a US crew again, for the 2028 World Cup or the Olympics four years from now?
"I still enjoy it," he said."I don't think about it. I'm just trying to survive. We have a lot of talented people in the American administration."
Guerin said the experience provided some lessons he can use as he builds a championship team with the Wild in the NHL.He is very proud of how the group of players came together chemically and how unselfish they were.
"I think it's more about the team now," he said."Everybody's got to pull in the same direction. Everybody's got to play their role to the best of their ability and embrace it. Know where you stand, whatever line you're on. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't play together, you're not going to win."
The team's celebration attracted worldwide attention.And there was plenty of criticism from some quarters, including the men's team's response to President Donald Trump's inappropriate joke of inviting the women's gold medal team to the White House.But there was also the fact that the team management invited FBI director Kash Patel to the locker room after the game.It was Patel who reached out to Trump on loudspeaker, which led to the group receiving an invitation to visit the White House a few days later.
Guerin was asked if he had any thoughts on how it all turned out, from the decision to bring in Patel to the suppression of how it all became political.
"People react to everything these days," Guerin said."The main thing, and all the boys said in their interviews, we went together with the women's team, nothing was done to be political, nothing to harm anyone, but people like that, what I can tell you, I will say to our group, we have unconditional love for our country, and what we did is for everyone.
"I don't care what your political position is, what your gender is, your race, your opinion on anything. I don't care, this victory was for you. This victory was for our country, no matter what you think. I have unconditional love for my country. Not just when it's good for me. And this victory was for our country."
There are also athletes who have visited the White House and their relationship with Trump.Guerin has not recently visited the White House, speaking about athletes, but several times in his career.
"I've been to the White House five times, four with winning teams and one with a friend who worked in the Clinton administration," Guerin said.
"I'm just a kid from Wilbraham, Massachusetts. If I get an invitation to the White House, I'll go, I don't care who's in office. Everybody can make their own decisions. If somebody doesn't want to go, that's fine. I'm going. I don't care who's in office."
