Lindgren: At home alongside his country's best

MONTREAL - While Charlie Lindgren hasn't seen any playing time at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championship, he is still enjoying every single second of his stint overseas.

That was definitely the case last Friday night when the 24-year-old goaltender suited up for his one and only game, watching from the American bench as countryman Scott Darling backstopped head coach Jeff Blashill's squad to a 13-1 preliminary round win over Korea.
Before hitting the ice for warmups, something caught Lindgren's eye when he came upon his uniform for the very first time.
"I remember, it's not something you see on the outside of the jersey, but on the inside of the collar. It reads: "Land of the Free. Home of the Brave". Being able to throw on that jersey was extremely special," said Lindgren, who is currently in Copenhagen ahead of Saturday's semi-final matchup against Sweden. "It carries a lot of weight. That stuck out right away, just seeing the USA across the front. It's kind of everything you dream about."

Going up against some of his country's best players in practice on a daily basis has also been a major highlight for the Lakeville, MN native.
"It's been huge. Guys like Patrick Kane and Johnny Gaudreau, two of the elite hockey players in the NHL today. It's been fun and challenging. But, I feel like I'm not out of place at all. I feel like I'm doing extremely well in our practices and anytime I'm on the ice with them," said Lindgren, one of three goaltenders on the roster along with Carolina's Darling and New Jersey's Keith Kinkaid. "I know when they come down on me, I've got to give my best to make the saves."
According to Lindgren, the coaching staff has certainly taken notice of his confident demeanor in between the pipes during the on-ice sessions.
"They've loved the way I've carried myself and loved the way I've worked hard. I believe in myself that I'll be able to get those minutes and play games down the road at a different time," affirmed the St. Cloud State University product. "For sure, it makes me hungry. I want to be able to be that guy that's in the net and be able to fight for a gold medal… It keeps putting gasoline on the fire."
Of course, Lindgren has enjoyed himself away from the rink, too, bonding with his teammates during their downtime.
"There was one day where pretty much the whole team, we went 15-20 minutes outside of Herning to an oversized pond, a small lake kind of area. We tried to do some fishing. We heard it was supposed to be pretty good," mentioned Lindgren. "Of course, we get there and we've got 16 poles in the water and not one guy caught a fish. It was hilarious."

Lindgren isn't thinking about the great outdoors right now, though, with a key matchup against good buddy Jacob de la Rose on the horizon.
It's business as usual as the Americans will try to dethrone the defending champions.
"Our goal is to take home the gold. That's what we've got our sights set on. We've got to play a really good Swedish team that I've heard a lot of good things about," concluded Lindgren. "We're going to have to play our best hockey in order to get to that gold medal game."