MILAN (AP) \u2014 Dustin Gazley grew up in Novi, Michigan, played hockey at Michigan State, led the ECHL in scoring one season and skated in more than 300 games in the American Hockey League. Then he took his talents to Europe and settled in Bolzano in the Italian Alps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t looked back,\u201d Gazley said.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s playing for Italy at the Olympics<\/a> on home ice in Milan. Since the host country opted against seeking out NHL players with Italian ancestry, more than half of the roster is homegrown talent while the rest is made up of foreigners with heritage whose winding roads through the sport unpredictably took them to this point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a melting pot for sure \u2014 we are all proud to be Italian,\u201d said Thomas Larkin, who was born in London to an Italian mother and an American father, grew up in Varese just outside Milan, played college hockey at Colgate and also spent some time in the AHL and ECHL. \u201cA melting pot is really what Italy has always been, historically, so I think it\u2019s a pretty good representation in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Gazley and Nick Saracino, a St. Louis native like Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, are Italy\u2019s two U.S.-born players. Eight are from Canada and one is from Sweden.<\/p>\n The women\u2019s team also has some help from abroad, with five Americans and three Canadians. Calgary\u2019s Gabriella Durante backstopped Italy into the quarterfinals<\/a> at the Olympics for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an absolutely amazing ride,\u201d said Amie Varano, who\u2019s from Duxbury, Massachusetts and whose family came from Calabria. \u201cI\u2019ve always been proud of my Italian heritage. I grew up with all the culture. And once I got my passport, it was just like this proud feeling that I could someday represent this amazing country on the world stage, let alone an Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n A similar process unfolded for other players from North America to get an Italian passport and\/or citizenship, who then have to spend two years with the national team to be eligible. Even then, Saracino knew it wasn\u2019t a sure thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew Italy was hosting an Olympics … but didn\u2019t know if I was going to be able to make the team as I was getting older and the way your career goes,\u201d said Saracino, who is 33. \u201cI was able to stick it out, and it\u2019s been a pretty cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Now 37, Gazley got his passport while in high school, right around the time he was playing under-16 hockey in the same league as Patrick Kane, just in case he ever went overseas. Before that, he spent time with the AHL\u2019s Hershey Bears and attended Washington Capitals training camp, where he shared the ice with Alex Ovechkin.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to go one on one against that guy in practice,\u201d Gazley said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t fun.\u201d<\/p>\n