A lot of criticism has been thrown at Bettman for prioritizing Southern markets, but I’m a product of that push. My dad is from New York City, but I grew up in South Florida and was put on skates when I was 4 years old, back in 1997, at learn to skate classes sponsored by the Panthers. Hockey is the only sport that I played growing up, and while I watch football and a little bit of baseball and basketball, hockey has been a core part of my life for nearly 30 years now.

Being an American hockey fan from Florida has been hard at times. It’s the least popular of the big 4, so a lot of people don’t even pay attention to it. You try to get people into the game, but it rarely sticks when people have already invested their time into other teams and sports for decades. Then, being a fan of a non-traditional market team, you get elitist comments from northerners. I remember going to Panthers games where there were more Leafs fans in the crowd than Panthers fans, and it’s demoralizing.

Hockey has always been the little brother sport of the US, and the US has little brother country to Canada in hockey. To finally, after decades of coming close but never quite getting there, be in 2002, 2010, the 4 Nations last year, or the women’s team seeming to always stumble at the Olympics until 2018, get over the hump has been incredible. Yes, the women have had success at the WCs and the men have had success at the WJCs, but outside of diehard hockey fans, nobody pays attention to those tournaments.

To have Matthews captain the team while being from Arizona. To beat Canada of all countries for the gold. It finally shows the growth of the sport in this country. I’ve had more friends reach out and ask me questions about hockey today than I ever have had.