Bureau County is more than 4,000 miles from Milan, Italy but its ties to the Winter Olympic Games brought it much closer to home.

Dr. Mike Stuart, a 1975 St. Bede alum, was the International Ice Hockey Federation Medical Supervisor for the USA Hockey team. He has traveled the world as team physician for Team USA, including the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, and 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

As chief medical supervisor in Milan, Stuart’s role was to help prepare for all of the team’s medical aspects working with the NHL and the NHLPA to “make sure the athletes received the highest quality care.” The medical supervisor does all the injury reporting and drug testing.

During games, Stuart was tuned into the situation room in the arena where they had all the video monitors to radio any injury or concussion concerns to him.

“I had direct connection to the team doctors on the team benches, and also to the NHL Central Spotting,” Stuart said. “Since they are NHL players, they have NHL spotters in New York or Toronto that watch the games and look for what we call visible signs of concussion.”

Stuart has developed a friendship over the years with Jack Hughes, who became an overnight hero with his gold-medal winning goal and his infectious smile, missing teeth in all. Stuart got to celebrate the moment with the young USA hockey hero.

“It was fantastic,” Stuart said. “I’ve been team doctor for Team Hockey and other World championships where Jack was one of our players, so I’ve known him for a while and had a chance to see him around the Olympics and spend some time with. After the game, I got to congratulate him in person, so that was very special.”

He joked that he got to see Hughes’ missing teeth up close and personal.

Stuart said the 24-year old Hughes, who portrayed much patriotism and love for his country draped in a USA flag after the finals, is as genuine as he seems.

“Jack is very down to earth, happy, smiling. Very friendly person. Any time I’d see him around the arena, he’d say, ‘Hey Doc, how are you?’ “ Stuart said. “Just watching him at every practice and every game, the skill level is breath-taking. Not only are the Hughes brothers elite skaters, what Jack can do with the puck is phenomenal. The way he can skate and control the puck, he just has the ability to take over the game.”

It worked out that Stuart had an off day with the men’s team that he was able to take in the women hockey team’s gold medal game, also an overtime victory over Canada, sitting at ice level right at the glass for most of the game.

“It was pretty amazing to see USA Hockey pull out two overtime victories in gold medal games,” he said.

Hockey is in Stuart’s family’s blood. His sons Mike, Mark and Colin all played in the NHL. His daughter, Cristin, was a Div. 1 captain at Boston College.

“We’ve had a lot of fun over the years,” Stuart said.

Stuart was an all-state quarterback at St. Bede and standout for the Bruins baseball team. He was inducted into the St. Bede Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and celebrated his 50th reunion with his classmates last fall.

“My best friends to this day are still my high school friends,” he said.

Stuart retired after 35 years with the Mayo Clinic’s sports medicine department.

USA’s Abbey Murphy is cousin to the Hecht family

There was also a Bureau County tie on the USA women’s gold-winning hockey team. Forward Abbey Murphy is the daughter of a cousin of Princeton’s Eileen (Murphy) Hecht. She scored the third goal in the 5-0 semifinal over Sweden with another goal in the 5-0 win over Finland, adding five assists for seven points.

Hecht and her daughters, McKenzie and Makayla, attended two Olympic watch parties in Murphy’s hometown of Evergreen Park with family members and friends, about 100 people strong.

“It’s been super cool. Just exciting to see how much she’s grown in the last for years. It’s been great to see,” Eileen Hecht said. “She was also in the Olympics four years ago, too, but that was during COVID, so nobody got to go. It’s exciting that her family and everyone got to go see her.”

“The whole atmosphere watching the games was so much fun. It’s so awesome watching her play and win the gold,” said McKenzie Hecht, 22, a two-time BCR Athlete of the Year at Princeton, now a senior at Illinois State.

Murphy, 23, was a multi-sport athlete for Mother McCauley in Chicago. She was a forward and team captain for the University of Minnesota hockey team, holding the program record for most career game-winning goals.