New York Times Renames Team USA, 'Team Minnesota'

From curling to skiing to ice hockey, Minnesotans are stepping up for Team USA at the 2018 Winter Games. Minnesota boasts the third-highest number of hometown athletes in the country, and "The Gray Lady" has taken notice of their achievements this week.

The most recent — and arguably most dramatic — victory Minnesotans had a major part of came from (where else?) the ice. The 20-year gold medal drought for U.S. women's Olympic hockey ended Thursday in dramatic fashion as Team USA defeated arch nemesis Canada in a shootout victory in Pyeongchang.

Goalie Maddie Rooney of Andover — one of several Minnesotans on the U.S. womens hockey team — made the game-winning save in shootouts.

"It capped a whirlwind 48 hours of Minnesota success at the Pyeongchang Olympics," reports The New York Times. "That Minnesotans are leading American success in these sports should not be surprising."

The paper notes that Minnesota produces way more girls and women hockey players than any other state and that Minnesota is one of the few places in the nation where Nordic skiing is a varsity sport.

The Land of 10,000 Lakes also produces the second-most curlers after neighbor Wisconsin.

Other Minnesota natives finding success at the Winter Games including Jessie Diggins, of Afton, who won three state titles skiing for Stillwater High School.

Earlier this week, Diggins became the first American cross-country skier to win gold at the Olympics.

Jessie Diggins Will Carry U.S. Flag At Olympics Closing Ceremony

Lindsey Vonn, who learned to ski at Burnsville's Buck Hill, won the bronze in the women’s downhill.

Later curler John Shuster, who hails from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, upset Canada 5-3 to advance to the gold medal game; the performance secured the best finish ever by an Olympic U.S. curling team.

Read the entire article over at The New York Times.

Top photo: Gold medalists Amanda Pelkey #37 and Gigi Marvin #19 of the United States celebrate after defeating Canada in a shootout during the Women's Gold Medal Game on day thirteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)