A shared silver medal
Daryl Boyle’s path to an Olympic medal took place in front of some familiar faces. However, there were plenty of other supporters tuned in from clear across the globe as Boyle and his German men’s hockey team battled their way to the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
As his mother and father Danny and Ursula, as well a his fiancée, Dwan Bannink, watched from the stands, Boyle and his German teammates battled their way to the gold medal game against the Olympic Athletes from Russia before losing losing a nailbiter 4-3 in overtime.
“I had my parents and my fiancée in Korea with me for every game,” said Boyle, back home in Germany where the dual citizen plays for the Munich EHC Red Bull of the Deutsche Eishockey League. “It meant so much to me to have them there and to go along with me on this amazing experience. I got to see them after every game, sometimes just quick, but we had a few days off so I got to bring them to the Olympic Village, we went for dinner a few times and spent the day by the Ocean.”
But as the Germans duelled the heavily-favoured OAR to overtime in a gold medal game that will be talked about for ages, the defenceman from Sparwood, B.C., who Lethbridge adopted as one of its own well over a decade ago had a worldwide cheering section.
And no gruelling time zone changes were going to prevent that.
“I had a lot of people from Lethbridge and the Sparwood area reach out to me and congratulate me,” said Boyle. “I just wanted to thank each and everyone of them for all the support, I know some games were on at 4 or 5 a.m. back in Canada but I had people telling me they set their alarms to watch those games. It just means so much to me to have that kind of support.
“Taking part in the Olympics was a great accomplishment for me. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to make the team. So when I found out I was on the Olympic team I was extremely happy and honoured to represent Germany.”
Boyle not only made the team, he came within a minute of gold medal as OAR tied the game late with a shorthanded goal before completing the comeback in overtime with a four-on-three power-play goal.
“Playing for gold at the Olympics was unbelievable,” said Boyle. “We knew that it was going to be a tough matchup but I think most people didn’t expect that type of game. It was the most intense and exciting game I have ever played in.”
The German team was made up entirely of players from the DEL.
“We had seven players from my team and the rest from teams around the league, so we are all very familiar with each other,” said Boyle. “I think the way we came together and played as a team really helped us in this tournament. The bond we now all have after this will never go away. We were like a family and that is why I think we were so successful.”
Boyle wasn’t the only local talent in South Korea as Team Germany got past Lethbridge’s Rob Klinkhammer and
Team Canada in the semifinal.
Boyle said he saw his former Lethbridge Bantam AAA teammate a few times over the course of the games and was glad to see Klinkhammer also come away with a medal after defeating the Czech Republic 6-4 the day before the gold medal game.
“I did see Rob a few times at the Olympic village. I have trained with him in the summers with Trevor Hardy (of the Orion Sports Group) for a long time now and he is the hardest working guy I know. I watched the game and seeing him get the medal I was so happy and proud of him.”
Upon returning to Germany earlier this week, Boyle and his teammates were embraced by the nation.
“The reaction in Germany has been
unbelievable, the whole country is extremely proud of us,” he said. “When we landed back in Germany there was a lot of people waiting at the airport to greet us and congratulate us on winning our silver medals. We knew we had lots of support from everyone in Germany, but when we got back to Germany and saw it first hand it was more then I could have ever imagined.”
Once the DEL post season wraps up, Boyle will be back in southern Alberta.
“I have my house in Lethbridge so I spend most my off season there training with Trevor. I am also getting married this summer in B.C. so I am very excited for that as well.
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