Part IV: Coach’s message resonates; suddenly Nick's going places

As the bus rolled along a two-lane highway through the dreary industrial outskirts of Moscow, trainer Jason Hodges patrolled the aisle. "Wake up," he said, nudging the sleepy shoulders of his jet-lagged USA Hockey under-17 team. "We gotta get our body clocks adjusted."

Nick Mattson opened his eyes and gazed out at the wintry Russian landscape. His first trip overseas, and he hadn't exactly landed in one of Europe's glamour capitals. But this wasn't a vacation. This trip revolved strictly around business, around proving to his hockey coaches -- and himself -- that he could turn all his backbreaking work into visible improvement on the ice.

Five days earlier, the young defenseman had been benched for the first time in his life. He was still overflowing with anger and self-pity when his parents reminded him to take his new digital camera to Russia. What for? he griped. I'm probably not going to play anyway.

And yet, when he was honest with himself, Nick knew his coaches were right. He hadn't exactly lit it up since joining the team in Ann Arbor, Mich., and he understood that everything they urged him to do was geared toward making him an elite player.

He just hadn't quite realized what a huge challenge it would be.

The day Nick and seven teammates were left behind from a road trip, Danny Kristo -- a forward from Eden Prairie on the under-18 team -- talked to them around the lunch table.

Last year, I went through the same thing you did, Kristo said. Those were tough times, and I didn't know if I could make it. But I went home and worked my butt off all summer.

Kristo, Nick knew, now wore the captain's C on his jersey.

That weekend, as Nick walked down the halls of the National Team Development Program offices, he looked at the photos of alumni who had gone on to the National Hockey League and understood that they, too, had once been in his skates. Now, they were exactly where he hoped to be one day.

That just shows how good this program is, he remembers thinking. Even if you don't make it in hockey, I don't see how you can't be successful in life. You're going to have such a great work ethic when you get out of here.

This is by far the toughest year I've had, in hockey and in life. But if I stick with it, I'm going to improve. You'll go through tough times. But you'll look back and say, I've been through this before. I can make it.

Now in Russia, he fought to stay awake while the team bused to Dmitrov, 40 miles north of Moscow. Peering through the frosty window at the gilded onion domes rising above the grit, Nick felt ready for a fresh start.

Clearing his head

When the bus pulled up to the Ice Palace of Dmitrov, in the heart of the town of 61,000, Nick helped his teammates unload the equipment and set up the locker room.

With his fingers, he ate peanut butter straight from a jar, then lay on the cold floor for a stretching session. Coach Ron Rolston explained the theme for their first practice abroad.

"If you're going to be the player you want to be," he said, "you have to be mentally tough. You have to be the same consistent player every time you're on the ice. Be focused, be crisp, be ready."

Rolston wasn't speaking directly to Nick, but the message resonated. Just before leaving for Russia, Nick had met with assistant coach Chadd Cassidy to ask how he could improve. Cassidy outlined what Nick should be doing -- how to move the puck with quick passes up the ice, how to position himself, how to strengthen his defense. Nick suddenly realized it wasn't as hard as he had made it out to be.

He had been overwhelmed by the workload, the new surroundings, the adjustments he had had to make on the fly. He was overthinking. If he could just relax and rely on his instincts -- play the game he loved, while incorporating the lessons he was learning -- maybe things would fall into place.

At the first team meal in Dmitrov, Nick felt as clear-headed as he had in weeks. He took pictures of the food: dry chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, plain spaghetti (ketchup optional), cold chopped cabbage. The next morning's practice was held on an outdoor rink covered by a tent, which only kept in the choking fumes belched out by the Zamboni.

Despite his worries, Nick was on more solid ground than he knew. Rolston had noticed that his lanky, 5-11 frame had begun to fill out, with 15 pounds of muscle building across his narrow upper body in two months' time. He had begun adapting to the grinding schedule of weightlifting, workouts, practices and games.

When Nick grew weary, he thought to himself: What are my friends doing right now? Probably sitting on the couch, drinking a Mountain Dew. He was making himself a stronger person, a better player.

The chance to travel to Europe and represent the United States had helped lure Nick to the USA Hockey program. Russia -- the first of three international trips for the Under-17 team -- seemed tremendously exotic to a Minnesota boy who had never been outside North America. The Ice Palace featured a flea market that sold fur coats alongside sausages and underwear. The heavy smoking, the bad techno music, the kamikaze driving, the mullet haircuts -- all were weirdly fascinating.

He didn't know much about the Cold War, but Nick still felt some animosity toward the Russians -- his team's first opponent -- and a deep pride for the USA on his jersey. That didn't help on his third shift. Nick lost control of the puck near the boards, and a Russian player knocked it away, starting a two-on-one that ended with Russia's third goal.

Nick skated forlornly to the bench and sat at the end, near the backup goalie and the equipment manager.

When he got back on the ice, Nick tipped away a Russian shot. He was trapped along the boards and protected the puck this time. He threw a sharp elbow at an opponent, in retaliation, and intercepted a clearing attempt that he fed back to a teammate for a quick shot.

The U.S. team came back from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-4. Nick wasn't thrilled with how he played, but he had done well enough to get more ice time in the second game, against Switzerland. With a flock of European NHL scouts in attendance, he played with poise, consistency and savvy in a 4-2 victory. He also did well in a 6-3 victory over Slovakia, earning time on the power play.

Rolston could see Nick beginning to turn the corner.

But on the tournament's last day, Nick feared he had made a mistake that would haunt him.

A wild, tumultuous finish

The second game against the Russians quickly spiraled out of control.

Nick held his own through the slashing and the jawing and the brutal hits, as the children who had earlier asked the U.S. players for "peens'' and "steecks'' began a spirited chant of "Rossiya!"

The U.S. team spent much of the game killing a dozen penalties called by the Russian officials; the Russians were called for two.

Tempers rose sharply. The Americans were deeply frustrated by the time the final horn sounded, and one of Nick's teammates, forward Jerry D'Amigo, plowed into a Russian in the corner.

Two Russians jumped D'Amigo, setting off a melee. The ice filled with players -- even the backup goalies rushed out.

Nick lay on the ice, crushed by the 2-1 loss. He pushed himself to his feet to hear teammate Kevin Lynch telling him to stay out of the fight. As Nick and a couple of teammates skated on the periphery, many of the other players battered one another bloody as the overheated crowd chanted, "Down with USA!"

Rolston pulled his team off the ice. He was so upset by the officiating and the hostile crowd that he refused to allow the team to come back out to receive the second-place trophy. Almost immediately, Nick regretted not joining the fight. Would his teammates be angry? Would his coaches think he wasn't a stand-up guy?

Neither happened. Nick absorbed some gentle ribbing from his teammates, who asked if he felt like an idiot returning home without a war story. His coaches, on the other hand, were gratified to see Nick doing exactly what they had envisioned.

Rolston assured Nick he hadn't been brought into the program to fight.

Nick was expected to provide some offensive spark, play solid defense, be part of the power play. He was expected to become a leader.

In Russia, Nick started to feel like his old self. Only better, now that all his effort had begun to show results. After the game, the team boarded a bus for Moscow to see the sights. On a moonlit, bitter-cold night, they wandered through an empty Red Square.

Nick got out his camera and photographed St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Tomb and the Kremlin. A lone souvenir vendor popped out from around a corner, offering fur hats for American cash. Nick haggled with him before bagging two rabbit-fur beauties for $20.

Julie Mattson was shocked to hear that her son had the nerve to bargain in a foreign country. "He did what?" she asked. "My Nick? Are you kidding?"

She was just as surprised to see activity on Nick's credit card after the team arrived home. Her mall-phobic son had gone to lunch with his friends, bought some clothes and gotten a haircut. Those small, seemingly insignificant acts, Julie knew, telegraphed something much greater.

Nick was comfortable. He was happy. And she knew that when she saw him in a couple of weeks, he would be a different boy than the one who left home three months before.

Rachel Blount • 612-673-4389

COMING THURSDAY Back home, Nick makes an important decision.