When the U.S. women’s ice hockey team clinched Olympic gold in Milan in dramatic overtime fashion, 1991 SUNY Oswego graduate Katie Kranze Million wasn’t on the ice — but she was sprinting toward it.

“We were all jumping up and down,” she recalled of watching from the management suite. “And then we were like sprinting as fast as we could through this maze to get down to the bench to see everybody and hug everybody. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

For Million — a native of nearby Hannibal and aproud SUNY Oswego marketing graduate — the gold medal marked a moment that was many years in the making.

“It’s still a little bit surreal,” she said. “It’s an unbelievable group of women who competed and won the gold. I can’t stress enough how incredible these women are. They’re just the best of the best — not only on the ice, but off the ice.”

A foundation built in Oswego

Million came to SUNY Oswego intending to study business and stay close to home. The College of Business and Entrepreneurship “checked all the boxes,” she said. A marketing major, she joked that if sports management had existed at the time, she would have enrolled immediately.

One defining experience was her senior-year internship with Walt Disney World.

“It was an unbelievable experience,” she said. “I’ve always encouraged people to step outside of their comfort zone and jump into something like that. Go for a semester somewhere — do it. It’s amazing.”

She also credits the relationships she built, including through her sorority, Alpha Sigma Chi, as a lasting part of her Oswego experience. Decades later, those connections still surface, even internationally. For example, the daughter of sorority sister Tricia Evans Zanon ’91 played on one of Million’s U18 teams, and the two college friends reconnected during a team trip in Bratislava, Slovakia.

“A SUNY Oswego connection around the world,” she laughed.

Building a gold medal team

As general manager for USA Hockey’s women’s national team, Million oversees everything from roster decisions to staffing and logistics — what she calls “the team behind the team.”

Her leadership philosophy is straightforward: “My philosophy is you bring in the best people for the positions and let them do their jobs. I’m not going to tell the doctor how to be a doctor. I hire the best people and trust them.”

Constructing an Olympic roster, however, comes with emotional weight.

“Dec. 31 was the best day ever and the worst day all combined into one,” she said of making final calls. “Getting to tell someone they’re going to the Olympics — and then having to make seven difficult phone calls. It’s an emotional roller coaster.”

This Olympic cycle was different. Instead of centralizing for months, players balanced professional and collegiate seasons, coming together periodically for training camps. It was, she admitted, something of an experiment.

“It ended up being the right amount of time,” she said. “They were so bonded from the very beginning — just all in on whatever it takes to win.”

She made a special note of Hilary Knight, who scored the game-tying goal in her fifth Olympic games appearance.

“That goal took us into overtime to win the gold medal,” Million said. “Plus, she got engaged the day before to a speed skater [Brittany Bowe] whom she had met in Beijing during the last Olympics. You just can’t write a better story than that.”

-- Submitted by University Advancement