HOCKEY HEROES HIT THE POST
U.S. WOMEN’S VICTORY TOUR STOPS AT ALL THE N.Y. HOT SPOTS /
The difference is unmistakable, but the emotions just as vivid as they were in the previous Olympic aftermath.
Four years ago, when the U.S. women’s hockey team returned from Sochi with another silver medal in hand, its members spent a few solemn days in Boston before returning to their respective homes.
“It was just silent,” Hilary Knight said. “Our journey had come to an end, we weren’t successful and it just felt like no one really wanted us at the same time.”
These days, the only silence comes from lost voices.
Ever since they landed in Los Angeles last Monday after winning it all in Pyeongchang, the historic group of 23 women has been on a victory tour fueled by cough drops, adrenaline and the chance to share their gold medals with the next generation of women’s hockey players around the country.
“Obviously this team worked really hard to achieve the goal that we did, so to be able to come back and celebrate and be celebrated has just been a whirlwind for us,” captain Meghan Duggan said Monday during a visit to The Post’s newsroom. “We’ve been a part of some amazing things.”
The team continued its encore in New York by heading to the Empire State Building, an autograph session at the NHL Store and an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” On Sunday, they were halftime guests at the SheBelieves Cup match between USA and France at Red Bull Arena. They’ll also split up to be special guests at Tuesday’s Rangers and Devils games — the fourth and fifth NHL games they’ve been to after being honored by the Kings, Lightning and Capitals.
Those previous stops in Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Annapolis, Md., also included taping an “Ellen” show, visiting the U.S. Department of State and hosting a clinic for local youth hockey players.
“It’s been pretty crazy just because you think of how you worked so hard for four years to win a gold medal and you never think of what the aftermath of that’s going to look like,” Monique Lamoureux-Morando said.
This victory lap has been years in the making.
Ever since they saw the 1998 USA team win gold in the inaugural women’s tournament in Nagano — besides Calya Barnes, who hadn’t been born yet, and a few others who were too young to remember — they wanted to be next. The journey to get there included heartbreak, culminating in 2014 when they fell to Canada in overtime of the gold medal game. But it made this year’s championship rematch, a 3-2 shootout win over their archrivals, all the more rewarding.
“It’s more than just four years,” said a hoarse Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, whose shootout winner will be replayed again and again for years to come. “This has been our lifelong dream.”
Now they’re hoping to make it the same for the next generation — just as their imaginations were captured by the 1998 team.
“That’s such a big part of the why — why we do what we do and why we want to grow the game of hockey to inspire that next generation like the ’98 team did for us,” Lamoureux-Morando said. “Hopefully that’s what we’re going to be able to do for the next generation for the girls that don’t even know they’re going to be on the national team one day or don’t even know they’re going to play hockey yet.”
The victory tour formally ends Tuesday night, but it’s also just beginning. When the players finally get to go home Wednesday — to everywhere from Grand Forks, N.D., to Rockville, Md., and Sun Valley, Idaho, to Danvers, Mass., and beyond — they’ll tell all the stories again to the families and friends who helped get them here.
They’ll be welcomed to hometown parades and celebrations, get asked again about the origins of a certain “Oops, I did it again” shootout move, and retrace all the steps they took to get to the top of the world. Maybe then it will all sink in. “I’ve never been a part of something this powerful,” Knight said. “I said it at the Olympics, I wish you guys could come into the room and experience it, just because it’s something so fantastic. Wherever we move on to in our lives, whether it’s in another industry or not, this is a memory we’re going to take with us and try to recreate because this is the recipe for success right here.”