The United States Olympics women’s hockey team won a thrilling 2–1 game in overtime to secure a gold medal. Besides country pride, I have a special connection to the team.

About 20 years ago, I heard John Wroblewski was playing for the Fresno Falcons of the East Coast Hockey League. Finding a namesake playing pro hockey was pretty cool, but it got even better.

Wroblewski played four seasons with the Falcons before embarking on a coaching career. After a couple stints elsewhere as an assistant coach, Wroblewski was named head coach of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, a minor league affiliate of the NHL Buffalo Sabres, in 2013.

At that time I covered the Rockford IceHogs. When the Americans came to Rockford, I met and interviewed Wroblewski for the first time. During his two years coaching Rochester, I met him a few times. He also gave me a signed jersey from his playing days and his bobblehead.

In 2022 Wroblewski was named head coach of the U.S. Women’s national hockey team for the 2022 IHF Women’s World Championship. He remains in that role, leading the team to gold yesterday.

Heading into Thursday’s game, Team USA looked strong. They were undefeated, scoring at least five goals in every game, including a 5–0 preliminary round against Team Canada, Thursday’s opponent and longtime rival.

After a scoreless first period, Canada’s Kristin O’Neill scored just 52 seconds into the second period. That ended Team USA’s shutout streak of 352 minutes.

The score remained 1–0 until Hilary Knight tied it with 2:04 left in the game. Team captain Knight’s 15th career goal moved her into first place in her fifth and final Olympics.

In overtime, the game became a bit different, with three skaters for each team instead of five. Team USA’s Megan Keller took advantage of the roomier ice, scoring the game-winner just 4:07 into overtime.

As Coach Wroblewski and Team USA were all over the news, I had many texts and messages asking about our connection. While there is no known familial connection, I do take extra joy in his success.

— John Wroblewski, podcaster