On a whirlwind journey that led him from the Olympics in Italy, to South Florida and Washington DC, Buffalo Sabre Tage Thompson found himself in New Jersey Wednesday afternoon answering questions about his experiences before returning to action in a Buffalo Sabres jersey.
Thompson was serious in tone and clearly full of pride as he discussed how it felt to represent the United States in the Olympics and be invited to Washington to celebrate at the White House and be a guest at the State of the Union Address.
"Everyone in that locker room is a patriot, we love the country," Thompson said. "It's the best feeling in the world representing your country...I couldn't be more proud to be an American."
Thompson described the winning of the gold medal and the past few days as a 'once in a lifetime experience', and he found himself being welcomed back to the country in Florida, before celebrating inside the White House and then attending the State of the Union.
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"At the end of the day, we're Americans," Thompson said after being asked about the controversy swirling in the days following the gold medal game. "I don't think anyone on our team is going to shy away from any sort of criticism."
Before the game against the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night, gold medal star Jack Hughes was honored by his team and skated to be arm and arm with Thompson on the ice to celebrate his Olympic teammate and opponent for the evening.
After Hughes spoke to the crowd he joined Thompson at center ice for a ceremonial puck drop.
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