Guerin was super ‘stressed’ during gold medal game 

MANALAPAN, Fla. -- How stressful was it to be the general manager of Team USA for the gold medal game in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament?

Bill Guerin can show you exactly how stressful it was by opening an app on his phone.

One graph illustrates how his levels spiked into the “stressed” range for hours in Milan on Feb. 22, when the U.S. defeated Team Canada 2-1 in overtime to win Olympic gold in men’s hockey for the first time since 1980.

Another graph displays how his average heart rate stayed above 100 beats per minute, rose above 120 and spiked around 140.

“Honestly, I just tried to appear calm,” the 55-year-old said at the NHL GM meetings, where he represented the Minnesota Wild. “That was it. There was no fixing it.”

Maybe a year and a half ago, Guerin started wearing an Oura ring on the ring finger of his right hand all day and all night. The ring continually tracks more than 50 health and wellness metrics.

“I like tracking my sleep, my stress, my heart rate and all that stuff,” he said. “Really, it’s for overall health.”

The biggest thing he has learned?

Generally, he’s in decent shape, even amid the grind of the NHL regular season.

“Sleep’s a really important part of your health, and I can shut down,” he said. “I can compartmentalize, I guess, pretty good and kind of put everything to the side, and I sleep well.

“My stress levels are good, too, and that’s important. I try to do things during the day that keep me calm or things during a game that keep me calm.”

In the app, the graph tracking “daytime stress” has four levels -- “restored,” “relaxed,” “engaged” and “stressed.”

Guerin can open the app and look at the graph day by day. Typically, his daytime stress levels stay relatively low with occasional spikes into the “stressed” range.

Not the day of the gold medal game, though.

They shot straight from “restored” to “stressed,” and they bounced between “stressed” and “engaged” for hours. They peaked high above “stressed” before finally dropping into the “relaxed” range sometime after Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner.

“I probably woke up here, and it was a pretty relaxed morning,” Guerin said, pointing to the low point on the graph. “But then as it got close to game time …”

His voice trailed off.

“I’m never really that elevated, but that day …”

His voice trailed off again.

The app said he was “stressed” for seven hours and 45 minutes. Calling it a “stressful day,” the app encouraged him by saying, “This day had quite a few stress peaks, but you made it through!”

Guerin played 1,263 games in the NHL, racking up 856 points (429 goals, 427 assists) for the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1991-2010. He won the Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 1995 and Pittsburgh in 2009.

He helped the Americans win the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, when they defeated Canada in the final -- their last best-on-best tournament triumph before the Olympics in Milan. He also played in the Olympics in 1998, 2002 and 2006, winning the silver medal in 2002, when the U.S. lost to Canada in the gold medal game at Salt Lake.

As a player, he could do something on the ice to affect the outcome of a game.

As a GM, by the time the puck drops, his work is done. All he can do is watch.

“You have no control,” he said. “Over 82 games in the NHL season, I’m pretty relaxed. ‘Well, there’s 82 games, and there’s nothing I can do.’ It’s different in the playoffs, and it’s different in the Olympics -- single-game elimination and all that stuff. It’s high stakes, so I get pretty ramped up.”

The Wild have a shot at the Stanley Cup. They’re third in the Central Division behind the Colorado Avalanche and the Stars, but fifth in the NHL behind the Avalanche, Stars, Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres. They host the Chicago Blackhawks at Grand Casino Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+).

Now that he’s trying to win another ring, can he learn anything from his Oura ring to help him take care of himself in the playoffs?

“Honestly, that’s why I have it, so that I can make sure that I’m sleeping, make sure that my heart rate’s good and I don’t put more stress on myself,” Guerin said. “Those are the biggest things for me.”