SALT LAKE CITY — Bill Guerin doesn’t usually get stressed during games.
Whether that’s a big regular-season matchup or a playoff game, the Minnesota Wild’s president of hockey operations and general manager can stay on an even keel. He can tell by the settings on his Oura Ring, which measures heart rate, temperature and other metrics to detect stress. You’re either recovering, relaxed, engaged or stressed.
But during the Olympic gold medal game between Team USA and Team Canada, all his levels spiked.
“My entire day was in the stress level,” Guerin told The Athletic on Friday in an extended conversation. “It’s like, ‘warning signs’ of your body doing this or that. I’m like, ‘Oh s—.’ But that’s the beauty of it, too. That’s why we do it. That’s why losing is so hard and winning is so great. It’s just everything everybody put into it.”
With Guerin as the GM of Team USA — his roster decisions scrutinized from the get-go — there was a huge level of pressure involved. So there was also extreme elation when the Americans beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim their first gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” team in 1980.
“It was like a dream,” Guerin said. “It was a grind going through those games. In a playoff series, you have to take your wins and losses as they come. You get into the medal rounds, and it’s one and done. It’s not like you start back up in September. It’s the Olympics. You have four years. And some of us, some guys, you don’t know if we’re going to get another crack at it. So there’s just a lot. There’s a lot on the line. And everyone feels it.”
From the moment Jack Hughes scored the “Golden Goal” a couple of minutes into overtime, it was a blur. Guerin and his management staff did a big group hug. Tears were shed. They tried to navigate their way from their suite behind the U.S. net downstairs to join the rest of the team, but one elevator was full. So was another. They took the stairs.
Meanwhile, Guerin’s first call was to his wife, Kara, who was in the arena but wasn’t able to get downstairs due to credentials. “I could barely talk,” Guerin said. “I was crying.” So was Guerin’s mother, Ligia, who had immigrated from Nicaragua to the United States when she was younger. Ligia had tears, too.
“The support I got from my family was incredible,” Guerin said. “You can’t do it alone.”
Guerin has since been asked multiple times how the gold medal compares to winning the Stanley Cup, which he did twice as a player and twice as an executive with the Pittsburgh Penguins. “In a way they’re very, very different, but in a way the same,” Guerin said. “Most of the guys have a history of playing for the U.S. in the (National Team Development Program). We put years and years into it, and we finally came together and got a victory on the biggest stage. It’s really hard to compare when the two things are so incredible.”
The 2026 Olympic men’s hockey gold medal was the first the United States won outside of the U.S. (Photo by Elsa / Getty Images)
Guerin and his staff received their share of second-guessing for roster decisions, such as leaving some top American goal scorers off the team, including Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield. They went with veterans J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, who filled specific roles and were part of an 18-for-18 penalty kill.
Was this a validating experience for Guerin’s picks?
“I’m proud of the team we built,” Guerin said. “I had a vision of what it should have been or what it could be and how we could win, and my staff, who was an incredible group of guys to work with, were extremely supportive and on board. We felt this was the way to go. I knew going into this, I’ve been around the game a long time, we’re in these positions that get criticized and criticized.
“Our validation is the gold medal. That’s all I care about. That’s all I ever care about. I don’t need anybody to say, ‘Oh, you are right.’ Honestly, it’s just the gold medal. I know we had the right team.”
Guerin, who said the “Miracle on Ice” team had a profound impact on his life, said he thinks this team’s gold medal, like ’80 and the 1996 World Cup victory, could impact hockey in the States in a big-picture way. “We’ll get a spike in the number of players we get, the popularity of the sport,” he said.
Would Guerin consider being part of the U.S. staff again, for the World Cup in 2028 or the Olympics in four years?
“I’m still enjoying this,” he said. “I haven’t even thought about that stuff. I’m just trying to survive right now. We’ve got a lot of capable people within the U.S. management ranks.”
Guerin said the experience offered some lessons he can use in building a championship team with the Wild in the NHL. He’s most proud of how the group of players came together chemistry-wise and how unselfish they were.
“I really believe even more now that it’s about the team,” he said. “You need everybody pulling in the same direction. You need everyone to play their role the best they can, accept it. Understand that it’s important, no matter what line you’re on, what position you are. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t play together, you won’t win.”
“Our validation is the gold medal. That’s all I care about. That’s all I ever care about,” Team USA general manager Bill Guerin said. (Photo by Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
The celebration by the team drew worldwide attention. And there was a healthy share of criticism levied for a few areas, including how the men’s team reacted to President Donald Trump’s off-color joke about inviting the women’s gold medal team to the White House. But there was also the fact the team’s brass invited FBI director Kash Patel into the dressing room after the game. Patel was the one who got Trump on a speakerphone call, leading to the group’s invitation to visit the White House a few days later.
Guerin was asked if he had any thoughts on how all that went down, from the decision to bring Patel in to the pushback on how political everything got.
“People react to everything nowadays,” Guerin said. “The most important thing, and the guys have all said it in their interviews, we were in lockstep with the women’s team. There was nothing that was set out to be political. There was nothing that was meant to harm anybody. But people take it that way. What I can tell you is that, I’ll just say our group, we have unconditional love for our country. And what we did was for everybody.
“I don’t care what your political stance is, what your gender, race, view on anything is. I don’t care, this win was for you. This win was for our country, no matter what you think of anything. I have unconditional love for my country. Not just when it’s good for me. And this win was for our country.”
There was also blowback on the players who visited the White House and their association with Trump. Guerin didn’t visit the White House this time, saying it was for the players, but he has several times in his career.
“I’ve been to the White House five times, four with championship teams and one with a friend who worked in the Clinton administration,” Guerin said. “With both Democrat and Republican presidents. It doesn’t matter to me. They’re the president. They’re the leader of our country in the free world, and the White House is a really special place.
“I’m just a kid from Wilbraham, Massachusetts. If I get an invitation to the White House, I go, I don’t care who is in office. Everyone gets to make their own decisions. If someone doesn’t want to go, that’s fine. I’m going. I don’t care who is in office.”
