MILAN — Approximately two-thirds of NHLers skip college, so not all of them have a freshman dorm room as a point of comparison for the spartan accommodations at the Olympic Village.
For those who do, though, the two-bed, one-bath dorm rooms in Milan’s Navigli district do feel awfully similar to being in college again.
“You got a roommate who’s two feet away from you in the same room and you’re in a small little dorm,” Team USA’s Jack Eichel told reporters Sunday after the Americans’ first practice. “But I think it just brings the guys together. There’s not a whole lot to do and spend time together, so we’ll get to know each other pretty quickly.”
Though the NHLPA has made hotel rooms available that are closer to the five-star accommodations players are used to, Team USA is embracing the athletes’ village.
The two sets of brothers — Tkachuk and Hughes — are both in rooms together, Auston Matthews is “the biggest” celebrity (at least according to Matthew Tkachuk), and the American hockey players are enjoying meeting the figure skaters and speed skaters who are staying in the village too.
“We have a hangout area and then just every American athlete has their own separate lounge area and it’s been absolutely incredible so far,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “Trying to meet and say ‘hi’ to every American athlete I’ve seen so far.”
Matthew Tkachuk, one of Team USA’s alternate captains, has already branded the room he’s sharing with his brother Brady as “Club Tkachuk.”
“I think they probably push their beds together,” Eichel joked. “I’m sure maybe they’ve roomed together before. If we hear someone go through a wall in the middle of the night probably know where it came from.”
While Team Canada pointedly said they would stay in the Village the first night after arriving, leaving the rest open to interpretation, it doesn’t sound like the Americans will be making much use of the hotel option, if at all.
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“We think that part of the experience is to immerse yourself in the whole Olympic experience and the village is part of that,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “That was part of the discussion that was had.”
Most other teams appear to be following the same design.
“We’re gonna stay in the village,” Sweden’s Victor Hedman said. “Feels like we’re back in junior, kinda living in dorms.
“Me and Erik [Karlsson] in the same room, I don’t think I’ve had a roommate in over 12 years in the NHL. [We’re] combined 70 years old, we pretty much grew up together on the national team stage. First got to know him when I was 13 or 14. Now we’re 35, together once again, so we’re super pumped.”
