Benched in Beijing, Harvey emerges as driving force behind USA Hockey's offensive attack in Milan

MILAN — Two distinct memories come to Lee Stecklein while recalling U.S. hockey teammate Caroline Harvey's Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games.

The first is of a then-19-year-old Harvey spending a large majority of America's final three games anchored to the bench.

The other is the confidence and deft ability Harvey showed during her lone two shifts, spanning 62 seconds, in the second period of a 3-2 loss to Canada in the gold medal game.

''I remember watching her and she was like a spark,'' Stecklein said Thursday. ''After having not played much, and now you're in your first Olympic gold medal game, to just go out there and be able to turn it on like she did, that's really special. You don't see that often.''

Four years later at the Milan Cortina Games, Harvey is unmistakably putting on a show while making up for the time she lost at Beijing.

Rather than riding the bench as she did under former coach Joel Johannson, Harvey is the driving force behind a creative, up-tempo, quick-strike offense as the U.S. enters the quarterfinal knockout round facing Italy on Friday. The Americans swept their four-game preliminary round schedule with a tournament-best 20 goals, with Harvey tied for the Olympic lead in points with two goals and five assists.

Maturity and development have factored in Harvey's emergence, just as much as coach John Wroblewski, who has provided her the green light to create.

A night later, Harvey had another one-goal, two-assist outing, this time in a 5-0 win over Canada.

Crediting coach

''His words mean a lot to me. He's been such an integral part of my development and building my confidence up in the last couple of years,'' Harvey said of her coach. ''A lot of credit to him.''

Soft-spoken and humble, Harvey refuses to say anything negative about her experience at Beijing, in which she was held without a point. As for her production in Milan, she deflects the credit to others.

''I'm just happy for whatever role I'm given,'' she said. ''It's just the players who are out there. The teammates I have, they're unbelievable and they're making things happen.''

As a freshman, she earned WCHA rookie of the year honors and scored the deciding goal in Wisconsin's 3-2 win overtime win against Minnesota in the Frozen Four semifinal. From New Hampshire, she's a two-time national champion, two-time conference defender of the year, and currently ranks second among NCAA women with 54 points (17 goals, 37 assists).

The ‘It factor'

''She's sort of got the ‘It factor,''' Badgers coach Mark Johnson once said of Harvey.

Wroblewski has compared her to NHL playmaking defenseman Quinn Hughes.

One Professional Women's Hockey League general manager in November privately predicted Harvey would be the No. 1 pick in this year's draft in a class that includes several other blossoming stars, including U.S. teammates Abbey Murphy and Laila Edwards.

After being limited to an assist in her first two games, Harvey found her legs against Switzerland. She set up the opening goal by working down the left wall and threading a pass through the middle to set up Haley Winn. Harvey scored by driving from the left point, eluding several defenders and jamming the puck inside the left post.

Against Canada, Harvey scored the opening goal by driving from the left point, pausing long enough to throw off goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens' timing, before rifling in the puck.

''It feels like a fourth forward out there and really drives the offense,'' teammate Hannah Bilka said.

Green light, go

This is what Wroblewski envisioned of Harvey upon taking over the team in the leadup to the 2022 world championships.

Wroblewski then recalled her struggling in an exhibition game against Canada the following summer.

''I said to her that she's accomplished basically everything she could accomplish as a young girl,'' he said. ''You're only 19 turning 20, but you're an Olympian. Just go with it.''

At 31, Stecklein remembers the two being paired during one of Harvey's first national team camps.

''I was like, who is this kid? She just plays hockey. And it's just such fun,'' Stecklein said. ''And she's done it the whole time. She's done it under pressure. And I feel like that's what you're seeing now. She's just continuing to get better and better.''

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