GOIN’ FOR GOLD
Athletes with local ties competing in Winter Olympics >> PAGE 3
Carlijn Schoutens
A handful of U.S. Olympians looking to bring home gold from PyeongChang, South Korea have connections to the Trenton/Bucks County region.
Three players on the U.S. men’s hockey team have roots on both sides of the Delaware River.
Born in Trenton, former NHL player Bobby Sanguinetti played at Lawrenceville School. The 29-year-old who grew up in Lumberton was a first round pick by the New York Rangers in the 2006 NHL draft.
The defenseman played a total of 45 games in the NHL from 2009 until 2013, posting two goals and four assists for the New York Rangers and the Carolina Panthers.
Sanguinetti, who split his time in the minors, then took his professional hockey career overseas to Russia and finally landed with HC Lugano in Switzerland this season.
Since the NHL changed its stance last year about current players participating in the games, Sanguinetti is eligible to suit up for the Americans.
“Thanks to everyone who played a part in getting me this far. Honored and excited to represent @TeamUSA at the 2018 Olympics!” Sanguinetti tweeted on Jan. 2.
The U.S. team is made up of a bunch of rat-tag guys like Sanguinetti, who had short NHL stints, and some retired veterans like former New Jersey Devil Brian Gionta, who is the team’s captain.
Another former Devil, Brian O’Neill, will be joining Gionta on the team. The 29-year-old forward grew up in Yardley, Pa. and played hockey at Yale University.
In his brief NHL career of 22 games for the 2015-16 season, O’Neill posted 2 assists. For the past two years, he has played for Jokerit, a Helsinki, Finland-based professional hockey team.
“Super excited and fortunate to be heading to the Olympics in South Korea. Big thanks to everyone who helped along the way,” O’Neill posted to Instagram.
O’Neill is not the only Bucks County native on the team.
Ryan Gunderson, who grew up in Bensalem, also made the roster. The 32-year-old defenseman played hockey at Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem before he tied up his skates for the University of Vermont for four years. Unlike O’Neill and Sanguinetti, Gunderson never
played in the NHL.
After college, he spent a handful of years in the minors and eventually played professionally overseas. He last played for Brynäs IF in
Sweden.
The members of the U.S. hockey team start their quest for gold on Wednesday when they take on Slovenia.
On the women’s side, bobsledder Jamie Greubel Poser was born in Princeton and attended the Hun School. She lists Newtown, Pa. in Bucks County as her hometown.
The 34-year-old is already a decorated Olympian, winning bronze in Sochi in 2014. Poser, who is the driver of the bobsled, is also the defending world championship bronze medalist and is ranked third in the world.
She also has a knack for predicting champions.
In April 2017, NBC recorded a video of Poser correctly picking the Eagles to beat the Patriot in the Super Bowl this year. Her final score prediction was 43-29 Eagles. That was not too far off as the Eagles took down the Patriots 41-33.