Coach John Hynes, other Wild staffers on Team USA won Olympics gold, but don’t get the gold

John Hynes was on Team USA’s journey to becoming Olympic champions, but he doesn’t have the gold medal to commemorate the achievement.

Those went to the players and not the coaches.

“World Championships you do,” Hynes said. “But Olympics they don’t. In any [Olympic] events they don’t.”

Still, the Wild head coach didn’t leave Milan empty-handed: Hynes expects helping the Americans snap a 46-year gold medal drought as an assistant to improve his coaching chops, and that can only benefit the Wild as they try to hold their ground as one of the NHL’s top teams when the season resumes Feb. 26 at Colorado.

“It’s a high-stakes environment, and you’re trying to do the right things to try to win, and what’s your focus level, preparation and getting yourself and the team ready to play,” Hynes said. “But then also, it’s in the game of how you handle the highs and lows and things like that.

“So, it was a great experience. I learned a lot from it. Happy to be part of it. It’s going to make me a better coach. I think same thing for the players.”

Hynes was back on the ice with the Wild on Feb. 25 for their last practice before traveling to play the Avalanche, but Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes were still absent.

“It’s not a political thing,” Hynes said. “On the team there’s Democrats, Republicans. It’s more about the celebration of the team, and I think the life experience for the players to be able to do what they were able to do, which is go to the White House, meet the president, be at the State of the Union.

“It doesn’t really have anything to do with politics. It’s about a life experience for the players, and I’m happy that they had the opportunity to do it if they chose to.”

The Wild also had their athletic trainers John Worley and Travis Green and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joel Boyd in Italy supporting Team USA, and assistant general manager Chris Kelleher was on the U.S. management staff helmed by President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin as its GM.

“It was nice to see him just how relieved he was and how proud he was of the players that he picked and the staff and the team,” Hynes said of Guerin. “It was nice to see him almost relax. He had tears in his eyes on the bench. I’m really, really happy for him because I think he did a great job in leading everyone.”

The spotlight won’t ease up with the Wild.

“It’d be awesome to catch them and surpass them,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “For a team that’s been in the NHL kinda looked at as the Goliath a little bit, to be right there with them as the break was huge. We feel confident.

“We want that No. 1 spot, for sure. We’re happy with the way we’ve been playing, and getting into the playoffs is the most important thing.”

But advancing isn’t the Wild’s only priority.

They want to be on a roll when the regular season ends, and they have 24 games left to build up momentum.

“You’re trying to put yourself in the best position,” said Nico Sturm, a two-time Stanley Cup champion who played for Germany at the Olympics. “There’s probably not a ton of room for us to move around in the standings, but I think regardless of where you end up you want to go into the first round of the playoffs with a good feeling about where you’re at as a team.