'Nothing's Going To Ruin This': USA General Manager Bill Guerin Speaks On Olympic Celebration Controversy

· Yahoo Sports

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The noise and backlash USA hockey and he himself got didn’t surprise Bill Guerin when it came to the USA Men's Olympic Hockey Team's celebration.

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The Minnesota Wild General Manager, who also served as GM of Team USA during its gold-medal run, addressed criticism surrounding the team’s post-championship celebration and the White House visit.

Guerin made it clear he’s not engaging in what people say.

“I’m not surprised at anything nowadays,” Guerin said. “I’m not surprised, but I’m also not letting it bother me. You know what? We just won a gold medal. Nothing’s going to ruin this. I don’t care what people say or what they think.”

Following Team USA’s win, players including three key members of the Wild — such as those who participated in the celebration and White House visit — drew strong reactions online after a phone call with President Donald Trump was shown publicly.

The team later visited the White House, which sparked further debate among fans. Some criticized the optics. Others defended the tradition. Some Wild fans even canceled season tickets over the controversy.

Guerin wasn’t interested in either side.

“That’s one hell of a team,” he said. “Those kids are all great people, good family men and nothing that anybody could ever say would make me change my mind. I don’t care.”

For Guerin, the moment belonged to the players, not the discourse.

Before the Wild's game against the St. Louis Blues, which happened to be the first home game for Minnesota since the Olympics, the Wild did a ceremony before honoring the Wild players and staff that participated in the Olympics.

They started with Nico Sturm on Germany and then went to the four players on Sweden before touching on USA. Before even talking about any of the men for USA, the Wild honored the Women's Olympic team for winning Gold.

After that the Wild introduced the training staff and then John Hynes followed by Guerin. There were a stray of faint boo's but those were overshadowed by a loud roar of cheers.

After the staff it was the player's turn.

It was so loud in the building when they recognized Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes that my watch notified be of it being a loud noise environment.

As the Wild continue with the season there will still be some outside noise of people stating their opinions but as Guerin said, nothing that is said or will be said will make him change his mind. "Nothing's going to ruin this."

The tournament itself was the most emotion Guerin said he had felt ever when it came to hockey.

"Oh my God. No, it was, it was pretty brutal, like, the emotional swings, and, yeah, it was gut wrenching watching the games," Guerin said. "Like you said, like the first part's fine. You feel we're going to get through that. But then it's, yeah, you lose, you go home, and Sweden gave us some big time scare.

"The game against Canada, it was just torture from the drop of the puck. And I'm not normally like that. But that’s what makes it great too. Like everybody works extremely hard to put themselves in pressure situations, and some people may not want the pressure, but in this line of work, that's what we thrive off of. That's what we need. That's why we play and that's why we coach and manage and things like that. You want that pressure, and sometimes it doesn't work in your favor. And sometimes it does."

This experience will only help Boldy, Faber and Hughes but also Guerin himself.

He was scrutinized for building a USA team that left off top goalscorers Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield for bottom six guys like JT Miller and Vincent Trocheck.

"I don’t look for that from anybody. Like, we won the gold medal. That’s enough, you know. I mean, I knew that going into it that I wasn’t going to make everybody happy. It’s just impossible. I still don’t, and that’s just the way it is," Guerin said on if he feels any validation for constructing a team that won Gold despite being scrutinized for the roster beforehand.

"Everybody’s got an opinion now, everybody’s an expert. And, you know, there are people out there that think they are, and they have a voice and that’s fine. A lot of them are just doing their jobs. That’s ok. So, I’m good with it. I signed up for it."

Even as the trade deadline approaches, the gold medal stuff is behind them and the Wild can focus on the goal they set before the season.

All eyes are on the Wild to make a big trade but Guerin said he wouldn't even be surprised if they do nothing. He is confident in this group. Building team based on chemistry helps make a team go far. And USA's Gold proves that.

“I’m confident in this group. I really am. I think when we put it together and play our game and our style and we’re executing, I really believe in this group. I have a lot of confidence. Can we tweak certain things and get better in certain areas? Probably yeah. But again, we’re an extremely competitive team right now and I have a lot of confidence in this group.”

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