Q. A staple of this tournament even when you were playing. Talk to me a little bit about what Edgewood, this tournament means to you, and South Lake?
TJ OSHIE: It's unbelievable from top to bottom. When you think about what American Century does and giving back for research and then to the celebrities where I've been here long enough to where almost get giddy when I see guys, you see them once a year out here. And then the course, Edgewood, is an unbelievable course. So much to play. You can score if you play well. If not, you get penalized a lot. It's a great course in that aspect.
And obviously the fans. The fans are really what make this whole tournament. For all of us guys, we're all incredibly comfortable playing in our specific sports or on stage or whatever everyone's profession is. But out here we're somewhat equal, all the fans watching us. The fans make it all come together.
Q. Talking about U.S. hockey with you and 2014 you had the iconic (inaudible) but just coming to this year, you guys win the gold medal. How much has U.S.A. hockey changed in the last 12-ish years?
TJ OSHIE: I think it's been unbelievable seeing these young American kids come up, even the Tkachuk brothers are here. I played with their dad in St. Louis. They were just little kids running through the locker room after games, in my younger years.
And to see the skill development, the work ethic, how much far U.S. hockey has come skill-wise and being impact players. We've always been really good at having players who are very blue-collar, work hard, will do a lot of really good things right. Never a ton of top-end talent scorers, champions, captains of teams, and it seems like U.S. hockey has come a long way, and we saw it at the Olympics this year.
Couldn't be more proud not only of how the guys played but how dominant they were in some of the games, but also how they won, how they won together, talked about each other. So it's great to see that U.S. hockey brotherhood stay tight and get the job done.
Q. How has the adjustment been from playing to TV?
TJ OSHIE: It's a lot harder. Going from something that I'm super comfortable doing, knowing what I'm doing, where I'm supposed to be every second on the ice, to being on TV with the lights and the big, huge, empty studio where your voice echoes, and it's not knowing what to do with your hands, how to sit. You would think you're just up there talking, but there's a lot more that goes into it. I really gained a lot of respect for people that do it and do it well and can do it on a night-to-night basis, be interesting and having fun things to talk about and capturing the audience.
Q. You're obviously retired now. Expectations for this week? Are they higher now that you've had more time to work on your game?
TJ OSHIE: I've got four kids. I have less time than when I was younger. The swing is fine now. My career ended because of my back. That's usually kind of my, I say, a little bit of my crutch out here. My back is feeling good. I can usually get to the ball pretty well. I've had one pretty decent year. I think I'm probably swinging better right now than I ever have. We'll see how it happens.
Q. Prediction?
TJ OSHIE: I'm gunning for top 10. I'm not going to put myself up with Mardy and Pat and Steph and Romo and the good guys.
Q. Top 10?
TJ OSHIE: Top 10 is pretty good. Top 10 is the goal. Anything better than that will be a bonus.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports