This is an excellent article from The Athletic’s Max Bultman:
As the United States’ world junior team stormed the ice in Edmonton on Tuesday night, celebrating the country’s first gold medal at the event since 2017, Ryan Martin was off in the background, where he prefers it.
In his ninth world junior tournament working in player personnel for the U.S. — and throughout his time as Red Wings assistant general manager and general manager of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins — Martin has experienced his share of championship celebrations before. None, however, featured circumstances like these.
Team USA’s 2-0 upset victory over Canada capped a tournament in which participants spent an entire month away from their families, split their time almost exclusively between the team hotel and the rink and, in Martin’s case, did so while also balancing obligations back in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
“It was a tournament like none other,” Martin said, and the players’ swarming celebration in a mostly empty Rogers Place reflected that.
Continued (paywall)
