Bjork Gained Confidence From Team USA Experience
There’s nothing like a small dose of confidence to boost a young athlete’s potential.
After tallying five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in Notre Dame’s first semester — tying for the team high — sophomore forward Anders Bjork was among 29 players named to the U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster Dec. 7.
The word “preliminary” notes the initial squad of nearly 30 players wasn’t a finalized group. The first phase of the camp included a session from Dec. 14-18 in Boston, and then a second phase occurred from Dec. 19-23 in Vierumaki, Finland.
Cuts would be announced by Dec. 24, when the list would be trimmed to 23 total players.
“I didn’t think I was like a lock to make the team at all,” Bjork said. “I was pretty nervous about it.
“I really didn’t want to get cut, so I told myself that I had to be confident.”
Those positive thoughts worked. Bjork was one of 13 forwards to earn his way onto the final team, making him the 19th Irish player to participate in the IIHF World Junior Championships since 1997.
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “It helped me hockey-wise, learning things from the coaching staff.
“Then just mentally, playing against some of the top players in the world and realizing that those guys are freakishly good, but I can play with them. It’s helped my confidence and helped me believe in myself more.”
That was only step one of his confidence-boosting journey over Christmas Break. Bjork would go on to play in all seven games for Team USA, tallying three points on three goals over the entirety of the event.
Maybe his best game came in the bronze medal matchup against Sweden, an 8-3 victory in favor of the Americans. The Irish sophomore scored the first goal of the game, and then added a highlight tally later that put Team USA ahead 5-2. Numerous folks on social media picked up the latter goal, including the NHL Network’s official Twitter account.
“It was a little lucky,” said Bjork, reflecting on the goal. “Sonny Milano made a nice pass to me and I was coming into the zone, and I just had one defenseman and the goalie. So I just kind of pulled it in tight and make a quick turn.
“I saw the short side was open and I just tried to flick it in there.”
The game experience combined with practice sessions provided Bjork some valuable lessons to bring back home and use on the ice for his second semester with the Irish. He made many memories of a lifetime, too, outside of just the notable playing moments.
Christmas Day was tough for Bjork to be apart from his family. With the rest of his teammates also unable to celebrate the holidays with their close ones though, they used the opportunity for some bonding — forming relationships that will last down the line.
“It was a great group of guys, so that helped cheer us up,” Bjork said. “A bunch of us just hung out after Christmas Day practice and watched ‘Elf’ together. It was fun.
“I called my family every day. But that was hard; last year I was away for Christmas as well. They understand though that it’s a great opportunity. It’s hard, but it’s worth it. I try to make it up to them and talk to them as much as I can.”
On Christmas Eve, the team held a meeting where they each had to stand up and say something about the others, then they received a present — a Nike USA Hockey collared shirt.
Bjork joked he may not make much use of his new gear for a while. Notre Dame is an Under Armour school, which competes head-to-head with Nike in the sporting apparel world.
“No Nike around here,” Bjork quipped. “I’ll wait until summer for that.”
All the positives aside, there’s no doubt it was a little taxing for the Irish sophomore to represent his country while others received a Christmas break. In addition to the training and competition, there was a grinding travel aspect to consider.
“You worry about the fatigue, mental and physical,” head coach Jeff Jackson said. “We did give him a couple of days off.
“He had to take care of four final exams when he got back here, so it wasn’t easy for him. I give him a lot of credit, he had to get that done right when he got back before we played Merrimack for his eligibility.”
“We played a lot of games over there,” Bjork added. “But I got some time off when I came back, so I made up some rest. It was a little tough just getting back and getting in the swing of things, though.”
Going forward, the biggest takeaway for Bjork from his Team USA experience was a newfound belief in his own abilities.
“It’s a tremendous experience for him; we’ve seen confidence since he’s gotten back,” Jackson said. “It works both ways for some guys — some guys get relegated to the fourth line or 13th forward, and they come back and they’ve lost confidence.
“Anders moved up to the second line because of injury and he never relinquished that. He played with great players and scoring some points, it’ll give him some confidence going into the second half.”
Bjork and the No. 9/10 Irish are currently riding a nation’s best 12-game unbeaten streak (9-0-3). They host No. 5 Boston College Jan. 29 at 7:35 p.m. in Compton Family Ice Arena.