Getting To Know Your 2010 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team: Ryan Suter

How awesome is this section of defensemen? Pretty awesome. So awesome, in fact, that after this post, there's only one installment left. C'mon. That makes you happy. Skip past the leap for some olympic lineage, HoG-style.

Ryan Suter turned 25 last month. He was selected in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators. He hails from Madiscon, Wisconsin, and spent his college time playing for the University of Wisconsin. Like a handful of other members on Team USA, Suter has some family history associated with the NHL in that his uncle Gary logged an impressive 17 years in the pro. The familial standout for this young man, however, would be his father Bob, who happened to win olympic gold for America as part of, yes, you do believe in miracles, the 1980 team that shocked the world in Lake Placid, New York. The elder Suter's olympic teammate Jack O'Callahan calls the presence of the younger Suter on the 2010 squad a sort of "Olympic Kevin Bacon."

Suter has played no fewer than 71 games a season since entering the league, and is on pace to achieve that feat again in the current campaign. In terms of career numbers, he is steadily approaching 8000 minutes of ice time, and he has lit the lamp 25 times, while serving up 117 assists. His career PIMs have just crested the 300 mark, and his total plus-minus weighs in at a decent +15. Ryan Suter is your fourth and final alternate captain for Team USA.