USA men’s hockey team coach Tony Granato couldn’t seem to care less about the fact NHL players aren’t allowed in the 2018 winter Olympics.
“I think it’s even more exciting because of the opportunities these athletes are going to get will be the biggest stage of their lives,” Granato told the Associated Press about the fact there won’t be a single NHL player in the Olympics this year when they go down in South Korea.
NHLers or not, big brother Tony Granato is prepared for his role as US Olympic coach. More from @swhyno: https://t.co/ARfOLzvzvK pic.twitter.com/6etQHeIPdV
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) January 23, 2018
You know who he kind of reminds me of with that comment? Perhaps it’s another coach who took a bunch of nobodies and won a gold medal after defeating the Soviet Union. That coach would be none other than Herb Brooks. Ever heard of him?
Brooks didn’t do anything too exciting in his life other than pull off the greatest upset in the history of sports.
We might be about to watch history repeat itself, and I’m all about it. The only part that sucks is that the Russians won’t be competing due to a doping scandal. Don’t really care though. I’m sure I’ll forget all about that the moment we hoist up our gold medals.
The only question now is how many teams decide it’s better to just play it safe and stay home. I say that number is probably around 50 percent.