Heroes on ice: Team Shuster homecoming today

By now you might know about the dramatic Olympic men’s curling tournament comeback that led to a historic Gold Medal for the United States. Team Shuster returns home to Duluth, Minnesota, today.

Team USA was led by skip John Shuster, a Chisholm native now living in Superior, and rounded out by John Landsteiner, Tyler George and Joe Polo of Duluth; and Matt Hamilton of McFarland, Wis. The group will return early this evening, along with women’s team curlers Cory Christensen and Aileen Geving of Duluth, today at the Duluth International Airport.

The Duluth Curling Club — the true home of this rag-tag team of curling misfits — encourages people to join them in welcoming the gold medalists back to the Northland. The flight is expected to land between 5-5:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the city of Duluth will hold a special ceremony at the DECC to celebrate Team Shuster and the city’s other Olympians.

From a story in the Duluth News Tribune:

A public celebration of all of Duluth’s Olympians is scheduled for 4:30-6 p.m. Tuesday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. A program, beginning at 5 p.m., is expected to include a presentation of the Olympians who are able to attend, with time set aside for the public interaction. Parking at the DECC will be free during the event, which is hosted by the city of Duluth, the DECC and the University of Minnesota Duluth.

…

Mayor Emily Larson said it has been exciting to watch Duluth be represented at the Winter Olympics this year.

“We take so much pride in watching somebody from our community be successful and to see this great story of Team Shuster, who really rose against so many challenges, and be this amazing underdog and come home with that victory, it just feels great. And to see Minnesota and Duluth so well represented in these sports, it has been phenomenal,” Larson said.

Noting that the men’s curling team members said in an NBC interview that they were excited to bring the win home to Duluth, Larson said, “It’s an amazing thing to witness and be a part of. I’m just really, really looking forward to welcoming them home.”

This will go down as one of the great sports stories in Northern Minnesota (and yes, Wisconsin) history, certainly one of the year’s biggest headlines in the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior.