Keller’s Olympic Dream Comes True

Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller was at UBS Arena on Long Island getting ready for a practice day. All of the sudden his General Manager Bill Armstrong told him to check his phone. Upon inspection, Keller had two missed calls from another NHL GM, Minnesota Wild’s Bill Guerin. Guerin is also the GM of the U.S. Olympic Men’s National Team and Keller quickly called him back.

Over a FaceTime call, Keller was told he made the cut for USA’s team, and he would be going to his first Olympic Winter Games.

“Obviously super exciting,” Keller smiled when reflecting on the call. “I didn’t know what to say at first, just a super special feeling. Something that you dream of. For it to actually happen it’s amazing.”

Keller has dreamed of representing his home country at the Winter Olympics throughout his career. On the path to this moment, he’s played for USA at multiple levels including the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship, World Junior Championship, and Men’s World Championship. However, Milano Cortina 2026 will allow him to achieve this lifelong dream.

“I always had that goal and dream,” Keller explained. “It was something that I wanted to achieve. I truly did believe it. Even from a young age, even just (making the) NHL, looking up to those guys, it was just a deep belief in myself that I could get there one day, with a lot of work and a lot of people in my life that sacrificed to get me to where I’m at today.”

When it comes to an international pedigree, Keller’s resume is stacked. Last summer he was the captain of USA’s Men’s Worlds team that brought home the country’s first gold medal at the event in 92 years. Out of the seven major international tournaments he’s played in, Keller has brought home medals four times. Keller will look to bring this success to the Olympic Winter Games as he’s chasing gold with his teammates.

“There’s honestly no better feeling,” Keller shared. “I’ve been able to represent USA before at the USA program, U18s, World Juniors, World Championship. I’m sure this will be a whole different level and just so exciting. I’ve got a gold at U18, U20, the World Championship, it’ll be nice to finish this one off too.”