April 20, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Thirty-five members of the U.S. hockey teams that competed in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., are reconvening today in Washington, D.C. While in the nation's capital, the athletes will join nearly 200 other Olympians and Paralympians to participate in multiple events, including a White House visit on April 21 to meet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
 | The Paralympic Sled Hockey Team and members of the U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team will be on hand. | *More info and coverage:TeamUSA.org
* Live webcast of the President's speech on Wednesday (April 21) from 3:30-4:30 p.m. EDT atTeamUSA.org. |
The entire 15-member gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team will be on hand on Capitol Hill, as well as Head Coach Ray Maluta, General Manager J.J. O'Connor, and Director of Player Personnel Dan Brennan. In addition, 19 of the 21 players that made up the silver medal-winning 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team will be in attendance, along with General Manager Michele Amidon and Assistant Coach Jodi McKenna. Finally, David Backes of the St. Louis Blues will be representing the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team, which also brought home the silver medal from Vancouver.
Other athlete activities include a Team USA reception at the Supreme Court of the United States, a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a Gold Medalist Public Meet-and-Greet at BP, a Deloitte study break at Georgetown University, a visit to the National Naval Medical Center and a Department of Education Title IX Event. In addition, 10 members of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team will participate in an Olympic build day on Thursday (April 22) with Habitat for Humanity.
Through these activities and appearances, the three hockey teams will join other Olympians and Paralympians in celebrating Team USA's successes in Vancouver. There, USA Hockey matched its best-ever Olympic and Paralympic performance with a gold medal and two silvers, which equaled the results at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
NOTES: Taylor Chace, a member of the 2010 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, will be among a group of athletes appearing on NBC's Today on Wednesday (April 21), to unveil new Olympic and Paralympic logos ... Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, will present President Obama with an autographed puck from Ryan Miller, goaltender for the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team and MVP of the tournament, who is currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League playoffs. Miller signed 139 such pucks to commemorate the number of saves he made during the Games and President Obama will receive number one of 139 ... For more information and coverage of the events over the next three days, visit USAHockey.com or TeamUSA.org. There will be a live webcast of the President's speech to the Olympians and Paralympians on Wednesday (April 21) from 3:30-4:30 p.m. EDT, which can be viewed at TeamUSA.org. |