Minnesota Hockey Journal

MHJ_Oct26_Digital Edition

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Goals & Assists Goals & Assists 08 Photos / Karl Jaeger, KJ Branding Gold Standard Minnesota's own KJ Branding crafts a championship display for USA Hockey's historic gold medal sweep What a year it was for USA Hockey. Not only did Team USA produce historic championships on both the men's and women's side at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, but shortly thereafter, the U.S. also won Gold at the Paralympic Winter Games. It was an unprecedented sweep for the Americans, who defeated Canada in the title game of each event. Of course, all of this winning meant it was time to update the trophy case at USA Hockey headquarters. Enter Minnesota-based KJ Branding, which jumped at this golden opportunity to bring these incredible moments from Italy to life, back in Colorado Springs. " We've done a lot of work for USA Hockey over the years, and it's always special to be part of celebrating those amazing moments and unbelievable teams," said Karl Jaeger, co-owner of KJ Branding, a leading custom graphics company from Buffalo, Minn. "The goal with projects like these is to really provide a sense of the history and show it off in exciting ways." For three decades, KJ Branding has helped sports teams and organizations across the country give their own facilities a "wow factor" with colorful, branded locker room signs, mounted backlit logos and lettering, and office and concourse displays. The company's most recent inspiring installation was centered in the lobby area at the main entry of USA Hockey's offices. • Team photo display – added large photos of this year's victorious Olympic teams, along with images of the Gold- medal-winning goals for the men's and women's teams, by Jack Hughes and Megan Keller, respectively • Lighted jersey display – updated this lighted display case with the 2026 Olympic sweater, joining those from past great USA Hockey teams behind glass • Wall murals – created large, adhesive vinyl wall graphics depicting the three recent Gold-medal-winning teams, as well as a new mural featuring the 1980 and 1960 men's title teams For KJ Branding, it was the latest in a series of impressive projects the company had executed on behalf of USA Hockey, including the initial phase of transformative work in the headquarters' lobby several years ago. Previously, the company had done work at the National Sports Center's Super Rink in Blaine to help the U.S. Women's National Team feel more at home, and at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, creating temporary displays for the U.S. teams at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship. "We're all big sports fans and hockey fans and patriotic people, so it's a cool feeling to be able to help out, and it gives us a lot of pride," said Jaeger. "As Minnesotans, seeing so many of the players involved in these historic moments being from Minnesota and having a personal connection to some of them just makes it that much better." MADE IN MN | By Steve Mann MADE IN MINNESOTA | By Steve Mann UPDATES INCLUDED: M H J ON L I N E . C O M | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 KJ Branding commemorates USA Hockey's unprecedented 2026 Triple Gold.

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