‘Megan Keller Day’ celebrates U.S. Olympian at hometown rink

By @MichaelCaples –

FARMINGTON HILLS – On Sunday afternoon at Suburban Ice Farmington Hills, a hometown hero was recognized for her rather substantial achievement.

Megan Keller, the lone Michigan native on the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team that won gold in PyeongChang, was welcomed back to her home rink by the Honeybaked Hockey Club, her youth hockey organization.

Keller, who put her senior season at Boston College on hold to represent her country in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, signed autographs and took photos with fans for an hour before an on-ice ceremony in her honor.

“Oh my gosh, it was a blast to be back where I grew up skating and the team I grew up playing for – to see all the kids and families that came out to support our journey was amazing.”

With her former coaches in attendance and dozens of current Honeybaked players around her, Keller watched as a giant banner saluting her accomplishments was unveiled and a framed PyeongChang-authentic jersey was displayed to go up on the walls of her home-away-from home.

Then, she was helped by former coach Rob Robinson in pulling a cord that released a black sheet hiding a ‘Keller, No. 5’ jersey banner hanging from the rafters alongside Honeybaked’s state and national titles.

“So cool, I didn’t really even know that was going to be going up – it was a nice surprise,” Keller said. “I’m just very fortunate to come through this organization and play at this rink. It’s truly a family, and to be back here and sharing it with everyone is awesome.”

Honeybaked announced a new scholarship named in her honor, and emcee Tom Anastos presented her with a ‘free slurpies for life’ card for the concession stand after revealing that she texted him that very phrase shortly after winning gold.

Check out MiHockey’s photos from the event: