It is a jersey that few wear, a jersey that represents power, freedom and equality and a jersey that DU hockey sophomores Tyler Ruegsegger and Rhett Rakhshani wore Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 at the IHF World Junior Tournament in the Czech Republic.
That jersey bears the letters USA and the colors red, white and blue.
“Wearing the USA jersey to be honest, not too many people get that opportunity; we tried to soak up every moment that we wore the jersey,” said Ruegsegger about the best part of the experience.
“It was awesome. It is something that you cannot take for granted and you just got to enjoy every moment of it. Being able to wear the jersey is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was just excited to have the opportunity,” said Rakhshani.
The DU duo were two of 22 players selected on Dec. 4 to the USA team to compete against 10 countries for the gold medal.
The U.S. team finished fourth in the tournament after losing to Canada in the semifinals.
For Ruegsegger this was his first time representing the USA, but the same is not true for Rakhshani who played for the U.S. National Development Program from 2004-06. During that time the Huntington Beach, Calif. native registered the game-tying goal in USA’s 3-1 win over Finland during the gold medal game of the IHF World Under-18 Championships.
This time around Ruegsegger and Rakhshani were in the middle of the season with the Pioneers and had to adjust to a whole new batch of players, coaches, staff and rinks.
“At first there is a little bit of difference. The nice thing is having played with a lot of the guys in camps or other teams in the past. As a team we were pretty close, obviously when you go from one team to the other there are differences that you have to adjust to,” said Ruegsegger.
Eighteen of the 22 players on the team currently play in NCAA hockey and nine of those 18 players play in the WCHA, so to say the least most of the players were no strangers to each other.
USA started off the tournament with a convincing 5-1 victory over Kazakhstan as Ruegsegger dished out two assists and Rakhshani netted one goal. In the next preliminary round game the red, white and blue defeated Switzerland 4-2 and Rakhshani contributed with one assist. The USA then fired 49 shots on goal en route to an impressive 3-2 victory over Russia as Ruegsegger scored his first goal of the tournament and Rakhshani recorded another assist. In the final preliminary round game Ruegsegger scored the eventual game-winning goal as USA beat Finland 5-3.
“The hockey is unbelievable at that high level and to play against the top guys in the world and to have success as a team and personally is fun,” said Rakhshani.
The success for the USA team would not last for long after advancing to the semi-final round. For the sixth straight year, U.S. would fall 4-1 to Canada. Neither DU player recorded a point for the USA squad.
The disappointment would continue in the bronze medal game as Russia revenged their earlier loss to the USA with a 4-2 victory. Rakhshani scored a goal in the loss for the team.
“You want to do your country proud when you go over there. It was unfortunate how it ended, especially after how good things got started in the first four games,” said Rakhshani.
Ruegsegger and Rakhshani both finished the tournament with two goals and assists.
The Denver duo missed just the Pioneer’s games in the Wells Fargo Denver Cup due to the tournament. This past weekend against Wisconsin the pair showed no ill effect of playing extra games, as Ruegsegger tallied two goals and Rakhshani dished out an assist.
“We are fortunate enough that coach was kind enough to give us a couple days off and be able to get away from hockey and relax,” said Rakhshani about recuperating from all the travel and games.
Having the tournament in another country presented a few differences to Ruegsegger and Rakhshani, most notably the food and style of play.
“There are some differences, the European teams play a different style, they do lots of traps, adjusting to that style of play and countering is a little bit different than the league we play in,” said Ruegsegger.
“The best food was the first hotel, just your standard good potatoes and meats. The worst was probably something I don’t know what I was eating,” said Rakhshani.
It is a jersey that the two players will hold on to and cherish for a lifetime.
