PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Matt Hendricks is the only guy on Team USA who is married with children.

It’s not the only reason they made the 33-year-old Edmonton Oilers Masterton Trophy (perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey)nominee the captain. But it’s one. He’s helping raise a lot of kids here.

It’s been a phenomenal experience for the Blaine, Minnesota product who was never able to make a Team USA of any variety at any level before.

There he was Friday arriving at the Praha Hlavni Nadrazi main train station with his USA team-mates, lugging their own luggage from the three hour trip from Ostrava and living the moment of captaining a team in the medal round of the IIHF World Championship.

Wearing a ‘TC’ baseball hat, which stood for Twin Cities not Team Canada, Hendricks raved about the experience.

“To be brought here to a foreign country where I’ve never been and get to put the USA jersey on for the first time in my career has been just incredible. Having that ‘C’ on the sweater means a lot, too. And, yes, I’m the only guy with kids. I have boy-girl twins that are three and a half,” he said of Gunnar and Lennon.

Hendricks found out that he was going to Worlds to play with five college players, a couple KHL guys and a pair of minor leaguers, on the final day of the regular season.

“We were going in to play our last regular season game in Vancouver and my agent phoned to say there was a possibility that they were going to ask me and to see if I was interested.

“I was excited and called my wife right away and had to cancel the walleye fishing opener plans I’d made for last weekend and this weekend.

“I was ecstatic to get the invite. I always wanted to play on one of these teams. I always wanted to have this opportunity.

“Then we were in Vienna just before our exhibition game with Austria and our coach, Todd Richards, said ‘I’d like to make you our team captain.’ ”

The closest Hendricks ever managed to get to making a Team USA was in 2002 when he was invited to a World Junior camp in Lake Placid and broke his leg.

“I think the first time I got cut from a USA team I might have been 14,” said the mostly fourth line energy guy who has played 411 NHL games and scored 40 goals with 41 points including eight and eight in Edmonton this past season.

“I’m like a fine wine though, right? Better with age.”

There’s not much other fine wine around him with the American team that plays Russia in the semi-final (TSN 1:15 p.m. Eastern, 11:15 a.m. Mountain) with the winner advancing to the gold medal game against the winner of Canada-Czech Republic earlier in the day.

“It’s a young team. Obviously we have a lot of young talent. I just try to lead by example and by my work ethic,” said the centre that looked liked a superstar when he scored a pair to lead the USA over Finland in the tournament opener.

One of those kids, of course, is Jack Eichel, the expected No. 2 draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres.

“He’s a great kid. Big body. Skates great. And the game looks easy to him. You don’t think an 18-year-old would play the way he plays and have the composure he has.”

And if he’s that good and Connor McDavid is a no-brainer for the Oilers to pick No. 1 overall in the NHL Entry Draft with the pick they won in the draft lottery...

“It kind of makes me wonder. Somebody told me he has 45 points in 15 games in the playoffs or something.”

Like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Oscar Klefbom and Anton Lander in this tournament, Hendricks is pumped about everything that’s been happening around the Oilers.

“I’m personally excited for this season. I think things are moving in the right direction. To be honest, since I was traded to the Oilers it hasn’t been much fun. This has been the toughest hockey I’ve played in my career.

“I know there’s a lot of Edmonton fans that don’t want to hear me say that I look at Calgary as a great example of the type of team that you want to be. You want to be a team that never feels you are out of a game. With their third period comebacks, it was incredible what they did this year.

“All odds were against them. Nobody thought they were going to be where they were. I’ll bet in their heart of hearts their organization didn’t believe they were going to be where they were. But the way their team played together as a group, a lot of things are possible.”

It’s what Hendricks is leading the Americans to do in this tournament.

“We have more talent in Edmonton than we’re showing in the standings. We have a better team than we’re showing in the standings. But we need direction.”

Then Todd McLellan walked through the lobby and I said ‘There’s your next coach.’

“I’ve heard great things,” said Hendricks.

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