The 2014 Winter Olympics are now concluded, and there’s no questioning that the world’s focus was on the rink. No, I’m not talking about the latest craze of curling and its newfound enthusiasts. We’re talking hockey. The United States hockey team has captivated our nation, a nation that generally has minimal interest in the sport. Hockey has some of the most loyal and die-hard fan bases, yet their numbers and size are typically much smaller than those of the NFL, NBA, or collegiate football and basketball. However, after the dramatic finish in the USA vs. Russia game, not only has the interest among Americans increased, it has skyrocketed.

Now this has always been a trend whenever the U.S. has done well in the Olympics, yet I feel that this year in particular has shown a greater interest. The game against Russia was not only a game between two immensely talented teams, but also echoed the events of the historic 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game between the Americans and the Soviet Union. While this year’s game was equally as impressive and dramatic, something happened that peaked the nation’s interest in the sport.

One of the biggest reasons you hear people are not interested that much in hockey is that they don’t have a team to root for or even any players that they want to win. However, after the overtime victory against Russia, a relatively unknown player in the National Hockey League become a household name: T.J. Oshie.

For those of you who live in a cave with no Internet or T.V. access, USA and Russia headed into an overtime shootout. While NHL rules dictate that you must have all of your designated shooters attempt a shot before they can go again, international rules allow, if a team wishes, to have the same player take all the shots. In this case, the Americans chose Oshie, who went on to score four of his six attempts to seal the victory over the heavy-favorite Russia.

After the game, you couldn’t open your Twitter or Instagram without a tweet or picture of the 28-year-old Washington native. If you asked those same people who the guy was 24 hours previously, they would have absolutely no idea unless they were fans of the St. Louis Blues, the NHL team Oshie plays for. Since the games began, Oshie has gained 140,000 Twitter followers, and I am sure those numbers will continue to increase. In one shootout, he became not only the hero of the game, but also a national hero.

Oshie has displayed everything that would garner the praise and support from our nation. He’s shown humility in interviews. He’s got the looks. He’s got the skill. Above all, he performed under an immense amount of pressure to get the U.S. the huge victory. He has become someone the nation wants to root for and has done and said everything to help his cause. When asked about how he feels now that he is considered a hero, he responded with, “The American heroes are wearing camo. That’s not me.” In today’s world of professional athletes, it is refreshing to find someone with great character and humility such as that.

While Oshie has been in the spotlight since the win, the USA hockey team has been the spotlight of most of the world. No one really picked them to have this much success. As most people would say, “I think we will do well, until we play Russia or Canada.” This team has continued to shock the world in stunning fashion, blowing out teams and of course the victory over Russia.

It seems the nation is starting to love the game. I have seen tons of tweets of people waking up as early as 5:30 a.m. to watch the games and support the team. If you go online hoping to find a USA hockey jersey for sale, you may be out of luck, as they are sold out on just about every website.

Yeah, it is easy to say that this is just a fad and interest in hockey will decrease and be reserved for those die-hard puck heads, but I can’t help but feel (and hope) that this year’s Olympics has changed that. There are now more people than ever that are talking about the sport, with people asking, “What team does (insert USA team member name here) play for? I’m going to start rooting for them.”

I feel like we can start calling this the “Oshie Effect.” People generally root for professional teams that either are close in proximity or that have players they can relate to, respect and admire. Many Americans find themselves detached from the sport, citing that they don’t know any players, and it’s hard to root or relate to a player when you can’t even pronounce last  names. (Datsyuk, Pietrangelo, ect).

With Friday’s heart-breaking loss to Canada, the dreams of taking home their first gold medal since 1980 was diminished. However, I feel that this group of Americans has planted a seed in the viewers of this year’s Olympics, and although they aren’t coming out on top, they provided some excitement and a reason to all come together and support the USA.

kparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu