GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — At the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, a record 15 alumni of the Grand Rapids Griffins competed. Four of those former players found themselves on the podium.
Valtteri Filppula and Harri Sateri helped the Finland team take home their first gold medal in hockey. Sateri made 16 saves against ROC Sunday, bringing home a 2-1 win. Finnish captain Filppula became one of two former Griffins to have taken home two Olympic medals.
Meanwhile, Patrik Rybar and Tomas Jurco led Slovakia to a bronze medal, the first hockey medal the country has won. Rybar was named to the tournament's all-star team following Slovakia's victory over Sweden.
This is the fifth consecutive Olympics that a Griffins alum has taken home a medal.
Muskegon native Justin Abdelkader just missed out on a medal, coming in fifth on Team USA. The team faced unique challenges, with eight members under the age of 21. Team USA took home the win against Canada for the first time in over a decade. The U.S. went on to beat Germany, but wasn't able to hold off Slovakia.
To read more about former Griffins players who competed in the Olympics, click here. Find out how the U.S. fared in the Olympics here.
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