When Jake Oettinger arrived at the Olympic Village with the rest of his United States teammates, he received a couple of printed pages with warm personal wishes and words of encouragement from a variety of family members.
Included was a note from his son which is pretty impressive given that Rhodes is a little more than three months old.
“Three months and he’s already writing perfect English, so it doesn't shock me,” Oettinger joked.
As long as he doesn’t want to be a journalist.
“No goaltending and no journalism. It sounds good to me,” the Dallas Stars’ top netminder agreed.
Joking aside, the unexpected gifts some members of Team USA received when they checked into their rooms at the athlete's village were a powerful reminder that the journey to the Olympic stage is never taken alone. It is an accomplishment that requires many hands lifting up the athlete along the way. Even if those hands are rather tiny at this stage.
“It was really cool,” Oettinger said. “My family's been with me through all the ups and downs and all the good times and the bad times, so I think it's good. It's cool for us to be Olympians, but I think it's as cool or even cooler for them.”
Throughout his career Oettinger’s family has used vacation time to travel the globe to watch him play the game that has become his life, this is to say nothing of the thousands of miles travelled on snowy roads en route to games and practices in Oettinger’s home state of Minnesota.
“So, I owe everything to them,” Oettinger said. “And my wife has dropped everything for me to chase my dreams and be the best hockey player that I can be. So just to have the support from her and the rest of my family is what's most important to me.”
To read the words of those closest to him at such an important time is powerful stuff and Oettinger admitted sitting and reading the unexpected messages brought forth all kinds of emotions.
“I think it's important to tell people that you love them and how much they mean to you, so when people do that for you, it means a lot to me,” Oettinger said.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have that crew with me and behind me. No matter how many goals I let in or saves I make, I know that they're always with me no matter what, so it's important,” he added.
As for his son’s note, what exactly was the message young Rhodes penned (with help from mom of course) to his dad on his first Olympic experience?
“He was just saying how proud he was of me and that he's excited to look back on the pictures when he gets older and see all the cool stuff that mom and dad have taken him to do, so it's pretty cool to have him over here. To have him here with me is pretty fun,” Oettinger said.
(Feature photo courtesy of Getty Images)