Road to the Olympics: Former NHL athletic trainer joins staff for Team USA Men’s Hockey team

COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH) — Athletic trainer Chris Mizer will be heading to Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics with the U.S. Men’s Ice Hockey team.

Mizer is a graduate of the Ohio State University where, as a student athletic trainer, he was assigned to the men’s hockey team. From there he eventually became the Head Athletic Trainer for the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2000-2008.

Pyeongchang will be his first Olympic games.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s one of those opportunities if you’re lucky to have one in your life, it’s a pretty neat thing,” said Mizer.

He currently serves in a management role at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

“But I’m an athletic trainer at heart, it’s what I love to do, so I keep my hand in it doing various events throughout the course of the year,” added Mizer.

In 2016, he served as the athletic trainer for Team USA at the Youth Olympic Games. This past summer, he was very excited when he learned he will go to Pyeongchang.

“A lot of excitement then as you can imagine then, and now, there’s excitement but there’s also the preparation of making sure you have everything you need before you go over,” said Mizer.

During his time training with the Blue Jackets, Mizer grew to love training the top hockey players.

“It’s a sport that demands so much from the athlete, you’re dealing with acute injuries and chronic injuries, so it really tests your skills as a medical professional,” said Mizer.

This past November, he had the chance to meet the rest of the medical staff for Team USA at the Deutschland Cup Tournament in Germany.

“So, that was kind of our version of getting together ahead of the Olympic games, and then when we hit Korea we’ll hit the ground running, getting to know each other, the final team per say, the staff already knows each other so we’re comfortable there,” Mizer said with a smile.