The San Jose Sharks’ Philipp Kurashev has returned to the Bay Area following his first experience at the Olympic Games and spoke about his time in Milan. 

Kurashev’s time at the Olympics kicked off when he walked with his countrymen during the opening ceremony:

Then, the work on the ice began. The San Jose Sharks winger played in all five of Switzerland’s games, scoring his first Olympic goal in the process against Italy and adding two assists. He was also promoted to the first line when Los Angeles Kings star Kevin Fiala went down with a season-ending injury in the Switzerland-Canada round-round match-up.

“It’s just so special,” Kurashev said of his time in Milan. “You go on the ice and you see all the Olympic rings on the boards, on the ice and everything. It’s just a really cool experience.”

Switzerland ended up dropping their quarterfinal match to eventual bronze medal winner Finland, 3-2 in OT.

“The games are the fun part where you can play and you can represent your country,” Kurashev added. “Of course we wish we would have finished a little bit better than than what we did, but I think the games were the the most fun.”

Heading into the Olympics, there was quite a bit of concern surrounding the size of the rink, which was about as wide but three feet shorter than an average NHL rink.

Kurashev didn’t really notice a difference in that regard, but there were some differences in the style of play.

“It was really fast, but it was a lot of fun. It makes it more interesting,” he said. “I feel like all the shots and everything from the boards were a lot more dangerous.”

With Switzerland being less than 200 miles away from Milan, quite a few Swiss fans made the trip to watch Switzerland compete at the grandest stage of international hockey.

“A lot of our fans always travel wherever we play, it’s a little bit [of a] different culture in Europe,” Kurashev said. “I think the fans, they didn’t have too many chants this time, but usually they have chants as well. It was a great atmosphere and we really appreciate our fans coming out and they always show us support.”

Kurashev also had a lot of family and friends there to watch him, which made his first Olympics extra-special.

What also makes the Olympics special is the ability to see NHL teammates face off against one another.

Kurashev had the opportunity to do so when he faced fellow San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini, who was a key piece on the tournament’s most dangerous line for Team Canada.

Celebrini played alongside two of the top players in the world, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, a super-line that debuted against the Swiss in that 5-1 Canadian victory.

“[They’re] very fast,” Kurashev said. “They play at a really high pace, they make plays at that speed, which is very tough to handle. You guys see what they do out there, so I don’t have to say too much.”

Kurashev laughed, when asked how to defend Celebrini-McDavid-MacKinnon: “I wish we knew, right? You just try to limit them as much as you can. You know they’re going to get their looks.”

Although Kurashev said he wasn’t able to attend any other events in person, he tried to watch what he could on TV, singling out the Swiss skiers and his country’s other medalists with praise: “I’m happy for everyone that got medals.”