“That’s just the dreams,” he added. “We’re living in the facts.”
Fact is, the United States should not take them lightly when opening Olympic play on Thursday. Team USA only needs to look as far back as the last best-on-best tournament.
At Sochi 2014, 21-year-old netminder Kristers Gudļevskis nearly took down Canada in the quarterfinals. He stopped 55 of 57 shots, keeping the game tied until Shea Weber beat him with 6:54 remaining.
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A hot goalie has already made an impact in Milan. In Wednesday’s men’s tournament opener, Minnesota Wild prospect Samuel Hlavaj stopped 39 shots for Slovakia, 18 in the first period, in a 4-1 upset of Finland.
Latvians will long tell the tale of Artūrs Irbe, the 5-foot-9-inch giant who served as the foundation for a fledgling hockey nation during the 1990s and early 2000s. He is their goalie coach at these Olympics.
Merzlikins was 19 during Gudļevskis’ 2014 run, cut from national team camp while his buddies on the team were hounding Sidney Crosby for autographs. He was a star in the Swiss League, taking the common Latvian path of leaving for better competition. He signed with the Blue Jackets in 2019.
He is 31 now. He has experienced tragedy — his two young sons, 3 and 1, have middle names of fallen Columbus teammates Matiss Kivlenieks and Johnny Gaudreau — and remains a sunny fellow. He is happy to be here, ready for what’s to come.
“Just go and enjoy, don’t even overthink, don’t get nervous,” he said. “Just enjoy. What you got, Elvis? Show me. Show it to yourself what you have.”
Familiar faces in the crowd
The biggest fans of the US women’s team might be the men, most of whom attended Tuesday’s rout of Canada.
“Caroline Harvey’s like Bobby Orr,” said Matthew Tkachuk, making the same comparison women’s hockey legend Angela Ruggiero told the Globe recently. “She was the best player on the ice, and felt like, by a lot, like she was incredible.”
Harvey, the Salem, N.H., resident and projected No. 1 PWHL pick, leads the tournament in assists and is tied for the scoring lead (2-5—7 in 4 games).
United States men’s general manager Bill Guerin, who has attended all the games, was struck by how connected and fast the Americans play.
“It’s unbelievable,” Guerin said. “They’re going on all cylinders, really proud of them. They play hard, and their skill, I mean, some of them can really skate.”
One player in particular drew the attention of Guerin, the Wilbraham-raised former power forward. She had three assists, drew four penalties, and drove Canada nuts.
“I called my wife last night before she took off [for Milan],” said Guerin, “and I said, ‘I have a new favorite player, and it’s Abbey Murphy.’ ”
Lineup coming into focus
American coach Mike Sullivan didn’t name a starting goaltender — nor did his Canadian counterpart, Jon Cooper — but it looks like Jeremy Swayman will open the tournament as the No. 3. Based on practice reps, expect Connor Hellebuyck for the United States (against Latvia) and Jordan Binnington for Canada (against Czechia) . . . Hampus Lindholm was scratched for Sweden’s opener against Italy. Elias Lindholm, meanwhile, was Tre Kronor’s second-line center . . . Henri Jokiharju didn’t play much for the Finns and Joonas Korpisalo didn’t dress . . . UConn product Tage Thompson — he spent some of his youth in Orange, Conn., though he calls Arizona home — practiced on the Americans’ first-team power-play unit with Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, and Quinn Hughes . . . Charlie McAvoy will be a first-unit penalty killer for Team USA.
Sturla Holm Laegreid, one of Norway’s top biathletes, finished third in the 20-kilometer individual race, but was full of remorse when he spoke to TV crews.
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on BlueSky at mattyports.bsky.social.