Filip Forsberg, Gustav Nyquist and Juuse Saros jetted off to Montreal on Sunday ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off, but they weren’t the only ones venturing north to represent their countries.
Predators Head Athletic Trainer Kevin Morley, a Connecticut native, is serving as an athletic trainer for Team USA at the tournament, which is set to begin Wednesday at the Bell Centre.
Morley, who is in his fourth season with the Preds after spending time with the New Jersey Devils organization for 14 years, has served in an international capacity with USA Hockey previously, but nothing to this magnitude.
And just like the Predators players he takes care of during an 82-game schedule, he’s equally thrilled for this opportunity at 4 Nations.
“Everybody’s really excited about it and looking forward to it,” Morley said from his office inside the medical training room at Bridgestone Arena. “It’s just such a cool opportunity, obviously for me personally, but just as a representative of the Preds and to be able to represent the USA in as much of a capacity as I can is pretty cool.”
Morley was early on in his career the last time he wore the red, white and blue for a U-17 National Team tournament USA Hockey was hosting in the mid-2000s. He got another chance in 2010 for another international tournament, but the invite came on his wedding day, and the decision wasn’t hard to make.
“I said [to the representative on the phone], ‘I would love to go, but I'm getting married in about six hours, and then I'm leaving for my honeymoon, and I don't think I'm going to stay married if I say yes to this,’” Morley laughed.
When the 4 Nations Face-Off was announced last year, he allowed his mind to wonder if there was a chance and how grateful he would be for the opportunity, but there is no formal application process. Instead, Morley just had to hope his connections across the hockey world might pay off.
And even as they were about to do just that, he was more perplexed than anything as the official invite was about to come.
“It was funny because [Preds General Manager] Barry Trotz called me earlier in the day - I think this was in September - and he said, ‘Hey, [Minnesota Wild General Manager and Team USA GM] Bill Guerin is going to call you later today, make sure you answer the phone,’” Morley recalled. “And I'm thinking, ‘Well, number one, I don't have Billy Guerin’s number, so how do I know that it's him? My mind didn't go to the 4 Nations right away… So, I’m thinking like, ‘Whoa, who does Billy Guerin want the dirt on?’”
Turns out Guerin already had the dirt on Morley, and he knew he wanted Nashville’s trainer on his staff.
“I’m just really excited, and of course, the hockey community is such a small community,” Morley said. “I've never met Billy before, but we know dozens of the same people, obviously [former Preds Head Coach and current Minnesota Head Coach] John Hynes and [Preds Head Coach] Andrew Brunette. I mean, the list goes on and on. So, as much as we've never met each other, I know enough people who know him, and he knows enough people that know me, that I think we can kind of vet each other in that regard. And his head athletic trainer and assistant from Minnesota are also part of the staff, and I've known them for 20 years. So how that all came together? I'm not really sure. I don't care, honestly, because I'm just so happy to be a part of it.”
Once that invite was officially accepted, Morley and the other trainers began swapping calls and messages before dividing and conquering to reach out to players on the American roster. And the questions that were posed?
“The guys that I talked to, [I asked], ‘What are your daily routines? What are the things that are important to you from a supply perspective? What do you need? What if you don't have it is going to take you out of your rhythm?’” Morley said. "And obviously, I have to suspect all of them have represented Team USA in some capacity - for most of them lots of times - and everybody's been to World Championships or the All-Star Game or whatever, so they’re pretty dialed in on certainly what they need.”
Morley and his staff are now undoubtedly more than prepared for Team USA’s opener on Thursday against Finland. He’ll take time to reaffirm that while the coaches and players may be different than those he’s used to working with, this is still his job, and there’s a reason he’s been chosen for this opportunity.
And no matter what colors each member wears in the NHL, they’ve all got the same ones here. Plus, there is still a common goal - to win.
“I just remind myself how few people have the opportunity to do this, and I consider myself very lucky and very fortunate to have been brought on,” Morley said. “The elephant in the room, of course, is that we're a year away from the Olympics. Even in talking to the players, we all want to put our best foot forward. They want to be named to the Olympic team. I’d love to be named to the Olympic team. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, and obviously that would be a next-level opportunity. So, the pride that comes with representing not only myself and Team USA, but also being able to represent the Preds in that capacity is so cool, because not every organization is able to say that. And so, I'm very prideful… We're set up for success, but it's on us to bring it home.”
