CLEARWATER, Fla. – Aidan Miller knows a little bit about what the boys in red, white and blue were feeling on that sheet of ice in Italy.
He’s worn those three letters – U.S.A. — across his chest.
“I’ve been on both sides,” the precocious 21-year-old Phillies prospect said moments after Team USA’s dramatic overtime win over Canada in Sunday’s men’s Olympic gold medal hockey game. “Winning gold is the greatest feeling in the world. You can’t even describe it.”
Miller’s international experience admittedly came on a smaller scale, in the USA Baseball program. But it was still special, still memorable. He won a gold medal at the 15U World Cup event in 2019. Three years earlier, he was on the team that won the silver medal.
“The gold medal is hanging in my mother’s house,” he said. “I don’t even know where the silver medal is.”
The U.S.-Canada gold medal game captivated Phillies camp Sunday. The time difference between Italy and Florida cooperated nicely. The game started a little after 8 a.m. EST, just as Phillies players were going through their morning clubhouse routines before the spring home opener against Pittsburgh later in the day.
Phillies players sat in front of their lockers and on clubhouse couches, glued to the action on the big screen TV in the middle of the room.
Out on the field at BayCare Ballpark, the game was shown on the giant, new, 3,200-square-foot video board, the largest at any spring-training venue in baseball, as Phillies hitters took batting practice.
Miller has been undergoing treatment for a sore lower back – it’s just a minor thing, manager Rob Thomson said – so he did not take part in batting practice. The left-side infielder is the top-rated prospect in the Phillies system – and a big hockey guy. He watched every game Team USA played at the Olympics. He anxiously watched the first period of Sunday’s final in the clubhouse, then moved around, catching the action in the athletic trainer’s room and the weight room.
He was back in the clubhouse when Jack Hughes scored the golden goal in overtime, giving the U.S. just their third men’s hockey gold medal and first since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
“Representing your country and winning gold — you can’t even describe it,” Miller said. “It’s the coolest thing. Jack Hughes talked about it in his interview after the game. It’s like you’re only with those guys for two or three weeks and you form such a brotherhood. The feeling is unmatched. Just putting the gold medal on your chest is awesome.
“You could tell how excited (Hughes) was. He’s usually calm and collected in his interviews but the emotions were so high. That’s the feeling you get when you win gold. You’re only there to win gold. You could see the Canadians getting their silver medals — they didn’t seem too happy even though finishing second is a pretty cool accomplishment. But everybody there wants to win gold, and, being for the USA, I love it.”
Who knew Miller, a Floridian who grew up just a few miles from the Phillies’ spring-training headquarters, was such a big puck head?
“I love it,” he said. “It’s such a fun sport.”
Miller’s dad, Jason, was raised near hockey hotbed Plattsburg, N.Y., and the Canadian border. As a kid, Jason was a goalie. He introduced his boys, Jackson and Aidan, to the game and they played as youngsters. They still get on the ice for a little stick-n-puck during the winter. Aidan also attends about 20 Tampa Bay Lightning games per season.
“It’s a good way to stay in shape,” he said. “It’s great cardio. You understand why their shift times are so short when you’re actually out there skating.”
Miller wasn’t the only Phillie who watched the gold medal game closely. Bryce Harper, who, like Miller, wore U.S.A. on his chest as a teenager, was also thrilled with the outcome.
“Incredible,” Harper said during an in-game interview with Tom McCarthy and Ruben Amaro Jr., on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast. “What a game. So fun to watch. I’m so proud to be an American and so happy they were able to take over the hockey world for at least three more years.”
Kyle Schwarber admitted he does not watch a lot of hockey, but he made sure to catch this one. He was not disappointed.
“That was amazing,” he said. “So exciting. That will probably get me to watch a lot more. Right from the get go, it felt like they were skating two or three times what they normally do. That shows you how intense that moment was for everyone.”
Harper and Schwarber will soon be wearing red, white and blue. They will join Team USA next weekend for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Team USA will play its first game March 6. It will be Harper’s first time playing in the event. Schwarber played for Team USA in the last WBC in 2023.
“When they asked me again, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “They could ask me when I’m 50 and I’d say yes. I might be playing softball by then, but I’d say yes.”
Team USA lost a dramatic final to Team Japan in 2023. The climactic moment came in a battle of superstars, Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout for the final out of the tournament.
“That was kind of the movie part where you’re sitting on the rail and taking it all in, two of the best going at it,” Schwarber said. “You just sit there and you’re like, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool.’ I just remember going into the whole experience being starstruck. And the moment at the end was all encapsulating. You were like, ‘Wow, this is a great experience.’ “
As memorable as the experience was, Schwarber still has a lingering sour taste in his mouth over the final outcome. In fact, he doesn’t even know where his silver medal is. He went there for gold. He hopes to get it this time around. Just like the Boys of Winter did Sunday.
“Obviously, we’re not Olympians,” Schwarber said. “But this is our time to represent our country. What those guys did gives you that motivation.”