Must Read: Wild’s Suter pens heartfelt letter to his father

Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter was born to be a hockey player. His father Bob Suter was a rugged NHL defenseman who played on the 1980 USA national team in the “Miracle on Ice” Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. His uncle Gary Suter is a former NHL All-Star and member of the USA Hockey Hall of Fame. So, you could say that hockey has always been in Ryan’s blood.

In a heartfelt letter for The Players’ Tribune, Suter is opening up for the first time about his childhood in Wisconsin, what his father and uncle have meant to him throughout his life and how he’s coping following the death of his father in 2014. It’s a riveting story filled with ups and downs, happy tears and sad tears. Suter recounts the day he brought his father’s Olympic gold medal into class for show-and-tell:

I got to school with the medal, and I just shoved it inside my desk with all my papers and stuff. Then, at some point, we were doing show-and-tell… then I pulled the medal out, totally oblivious, like, “Is this what you wanted me to bring in?”

All the teachers were freaking out. They thought it was the coolest thing. They were trying to explain what the medal meant to all us kids, and they kept saying, “The Miracle on Ice, the Miracle on Ice.”

And I’m like, Wow, this is a pretty cool show-and-tell.

Incredible. The Miracle on Ice is one of the most historic moments in sports history… and here’s Ryan with his Dad’s gold medal just shoved into his desk next to his spelling and math homework.

For a full read, and we definitely recommend it, check out Suter’s article by clicking the link below: