GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA — When Amanda Kessel came back from her first Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she was forced to carry two burdens that would define the next four years: a silver medal and concussion symptoms.
Both were devastating. Both were motivational.
An iconic gold medal hockey game against Canada ended in anguish for the United States, losing in overtime. It wasn’t until Kessel returned to the University of Minnesota for her senior season that she started feeling concussion symptoms sustained after crashing into the boards headfirst during a pre-Olympics scrimmage. She had no choice but to sit out for the entire year.
Long past her lost year, Kessel, who most recently played for the National Women’s Hockey League Riveters franchise when it was based in Brooklyn, has worked to make a gold-plated comeback in Pyeongchang.