Sunday was a gold-medal homecoming for Lake Superior junior Steven Ruggiero. The Lakers’ rugged defenseman has lived countless hockey lives, but his most memorable was when the Long Island native lived in downstate Michigan, representing his country for the National Team Development Program (NTDP) back in 2014-15. Here he was back in USA Hockey’s inner sanctum, now wearing the blue and yellow for Lake Superior State. He preceded his team bus to allow himself a tour of the facility, a visit that set off a surge of warm memories.

USA Hockey Arena is akin to Superman’s North Pole fortress—every historic artifact from days of yore are on display: Olympic celebratory photos, World Championship rings and enormous team photos of sweaty young men celebrating around the International Ice Hockey Federation’s most coveted trophy.

When Ruggiero left Long Island to spend his senior year representing his country, Ann Arbor’s Ice Cube was the NTDP’s home. Today, its operational base is now spacious USA Hockey Arena. 

“This is unbelievable,” said Ruggiero, who shook his head after exchanging hugs with national team trainer Jason Hodges. “We had it crazy, but this is even more crazy. Unbelievable. Awesome.”

Ruggiero leads us on a memory tour.

Ruggiero headed upstairs, and pulled open the glass double doors to the corporate-style offices of USA Hockey. Walking down the corridor he passed glossy photos of former IIHF World Championship squads in reverie. Ruggiero paused in front of the image from 2015 in Switzerland, seeing a moment in time that he will never forget. 

He began reeling off names of his brothers in arms: “I can name everybody,” Ruggiero said. “There’s Matty Tkachuk, Auston Mathews, Colin White,” all current NHL stalwarts. 

Ruggiero then pointed out his fellow Long Islanders. 

“There’s Charlie McAvoy and Tage Thompson, two kids I grew up with. That year we played 60, 70 games. You go to war every day, you become really close.” 

Dead center in the back row, leaning in with wet hair spiked by his own electricity, was an 18-year-old version of Ruggiero. 

“There’s young Steve at the top,” he said.

Ruggiero's glory with Team USA.

“When you’re singing that national [anthem] after the win, and you realize you got a gold medal, it’s second to none,” said Ruggiero. “You have to experience it to understand. It’s one of the most surreal feelings ever, something you’ll remember the rest of your life.” 

As for his gold medal? 

“It’s stored away in my bedroom back home. No one can touch that.”

Ruggiero finished his tour of USA Hockey’s NTDP headquarters with a stop at the IIHF trophy case, a half dozen gleaming World Championship mega goblets, something straight out of a scene from Marvel hero Thor’s celebration scenes. These are the same trophies that Nordic hockey gods like Peter Forsberg and Niklas Lidstrom quaffed champagne from during their glory days in Europe. Eighteen-year-olds are considered men by the IIHF, and U-18 annual champions receive the same chalice as the world’s greatest adult hockey players. 

The trophy case.

His head nearly spinning from his Harry Potter-like trip to Gringotts, Ruggiero proceeded to join his mates in the visitor’s dressing room. They had some serious business here at USA Hockey Arena: stealing a win from the best U-18 players in America, a squad that had already upset two reigning Frozen Four programs. 

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Ruggiero started at defense for the Lakers, and barely 10 seconds into the game, he did what he does best, pancaking Team USA’s unsuspecting center at mid-ice. It set the tone for LSSU’s stirring 7-2 exhibition win. He is evolving into one of the Lakers’ leaders.

“I wanted to send a message that we were here for business,” Ruggiero said post-game. “It can sometimes be tough right before break, guys might take the foot off the pedal a little bit. We harped on having a good start that first shift.” 

Lake Superior countered Team USA’s quickness and world-class skill with rugged determination, hunting down all loose pucks and exploiting their size advantage. On the Sunday touted as “Yooper Day” at USA Hockey Arena, the men from the Sault gave U.P. hockey fans cause to celebrate. Prior to stepping on the ice, Ruggiero made a point of clearing his mind from all his heady flashbacks during his pre-game.

“It’s a little emotional to come back here, see some of the familiar faces when I was a senior in high school,” Ruggiero said. “But obviously you have to focus for the game and clear that out.”

“Suitcase” Steve Ruggiero has been to proverbial hockey hell and back since winning gold for Team USA, feeling his body break down while at Providence College, then leaving school and being dropped by his family advisor. After a sobering return to junior hockey, he is now a stronger and wiser man, dedicated to returning Lake Superior’s hockey program to its former status as a national power. This latest victory downstate, and recent wins over nationally ranked squads, are steps toward that goal. Ruggiero is already looking past the Christmas break to the prestigious Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit.

“As much as we’re grateful to be in the game, we mean business, and our goal is to win,” he said. “We don’t look at it as, ‘Aww, we’re playing Michigan State.’ It’s a hockey game, we belong here and we’re going to compete. That’s our focus, no question.”

And with that, Ruggiero said goodbye to several of his teammates who were heading back to their families for the holidays. His last act at USA Hockey Arena was to visit with his billets from 2014-15, Mary Jean Raab and John Boyer. Ruggiero blocked out all distractions as he caught up with his surrogate parents from that magical year, steps away from the IIHF gold chest, locked under glass.

Ruggiero admits he gets a little emotional going over the past.

This is one more intense chapter in Ruggiero’s rich hockey story, one now etched in his special chest of memories, glittering like the precious metal he mined four seasons ago while wearing the colors of his country.

Tim Rappleye is the author of "Jack Parker's Wiseguys" and "Hobey Baker, Upon Further Review," released in November. He can be reached @TeeRaps.