During the offseason, forward Luke Kunin made waves when he was selected as the first sophomore captain of the Badgers since former head coach Mike Eaves captained UW in the 1975-’76 season.
Midway through Wisconsin’s season, he was selected for another captain role, this time for the U.S. Under-20 team that competed in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. That marked the second time that Kunin was named the captain of a U.S. team, as he captained the Under-18 squad coached by current UW associate head coach Don Granato.
“[He has a] real determination to not settle for anything less than winning, anything less than success. Just a burning desire to win,” Granato said. “So he’s ultra-competitive, very comfortable being ultra-competitive, he doesn’t care if it pisses somebody off or he steps on somebody’s toes.”
Apparently Team USA knows what it’s doing when it comes to selecting captains. The boys representing the stars and stripes have won gold both times under Kunin’s leadership. For Granato, this comes as no surprise, as he saw first-hand what Kunin was capable of, both emotionally and physically, at the ripe age of 17.
“He knows what needs to be done and is willing to pay the price to do it. And he showed that confidence at that age,” Granato said. “Some guys drive is to score a goal. And he wants to score goals, too. But some guys lose sight of winning. He’s a bottom-line competitive guy.”
That mentality helps to explain why Kunin only found the back of the net twice throughout the seven-game tournament in Canada. While he is a prolific scorer and often scores sensational goals while wearing the Cardinal and White, Granato says Kunin couldn’t care less if he scores, provided the team comes away with a win.
And win Team USA did, coming out victorious in each of its seven games. That included two wild contests in the single-elimination round, a shootout victory over Russia and then a shootout win in the gold-medal game against arch-rival Canada. In the championship game, Team USA fell behind by two goals in the third, but rallied to send the game into extra time.
When Team USA emerged victorious after the shootout, Kunin was the first to receive the trophy before passing it along to the rest of his squad.
“It’s very special when you win for your country and wearing that sweater,” Kunin said. “It’s been a dream of mine to play in and win and for it to come true, it’s pretty surreal.”
With seven Big Ten series remaining, Wisconsin still finds itself in the thick of things in the conference race. To keep pace, they will have to continue winning tight games against the nation’s best teams, as they did in the second contest against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Those white-knuckle games against rivals in a packed house can be made a little easier by Kunin’s cool leadership.
“Is he gonna be comfortable among his peers, to maybe get in their face when he needs to get in their face? Is he gonna be comfortable with pressure when things aren’t going right? The answer for him is yes,” Granato said of why Kunin stands out as a leader even among the nation’s top young talents.
Kunin, who is soft-spoken and has a quiet confidence to him, knows the feeling of big games all too well. And as Granato pointed out, he is focused on keeping his troops relaxed.
“I think you just gotta stay calm and just stick to it,” Kunin said. “You gotta trust the process. You know they’ll wear down if you play the right way.”
The Badgers now head east take on Ohio State, before hopping on a plane for a game in the famed Madison Square Garden.
For Kunin, leading his team into a hostile environment and then under the bright lights of the Big Apple will just be another chance to show why he continually gets that “C” stitched onto his sweater.
