USA Hockey: The New Gold Standard

Jordan Leopold and his father listened to Team USA’s pitch that day in 1996 and instantly dismissed it. “No way,” they thought to themselves. “This is not going to happen.” Leopold had briefly left Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minn., during his junior year to represent his country in the Viking Cup in Camrose, Alberta. When the tournament ended, every player on the American squad was offered an opportunity to join a new Team USA, the National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. Beginning in 1997, the NTDP would groom elite talent for future national teams. They would…