Once Olympic officials allowed Ryan Miller to honor his late cousin on his mask, the U.S. goalie had no trouble shutting down “Miller Time.”
Miller covered up the phrase with a sticker Tuesday before his team’s 3-1 win over Switzerland in its Olympic hockey opener. Officials had told him several designs on the mask didn’t conform with IOC rules barring “advertising, demonstrations and propaganda.” However, he was allowed to keep the phrase “Matt Man” on the mask after explaining it was a reference to cousin Matt Schoals, who died of cancer two years ago.
Officials made a similar demand to U.S. backup goalie Jonathan Quick, who had “Support Our Troops” on his mask. It’s unclear what Quick did with his mask because he did not compete.
And U.S. bobsledders didn’t escape the IOC’s grasp. U.S. driver Steven Holcomb’s four-man bobsled won’t have “The Night Train” emblazoned on its side. It was not clear why the IOC flagged that logo.
