We always believed we might have an outside shot (at earning an Olympic berth) and that if we did our jobs and trained hard on and off the ice it could be a possibility.

That gave us a great energy looking to the future knowing we have the potential to be near the top. They were a great experience for us.

It felt smooth and, not easy but comfortable out there, and we love that home-town crowd.

It's prepared us. It's made us mature as a team and be ready for the sort of things that can happen at any moment.

I was always a visual person. I could see things visually. I had a harder time with numbers and logic, and I always had more of an artistic sensibility. So that I could do. And it was something that I really loved.

I think tolerance is something everybody needs to be reminded of, especially in a reactionary political world. Well, actually, I should say, a reactionary political climate.