Minneapolis is marked by the shooting deaths and accompanying protests against ICE agents that are still flaring up.
Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson and his family live outside the areas of concern and say they have not been affected:
It's been pretty quiet, you can obviously notice it on people, but it hasn't affected us.
He then puts a stop to further questions on the subject:
"It's very sad of course what's happening, sad to see, but I'm here to play ice hockey and not talk politics," he says.
“Wishing no one harm”
The NHL stars arrived in Milan on Sunday from North America and Tre Kronor only conducted a light training session ahead of the Olympic opener against Italy on Wednesday.
For Marcus Johansson, it's a bonus to be in place. He was - somewhat surprisingly after a strong season - initially sidelined and was only brought in when center star Leo Carlsson had to withdraw due to injury.
"It's always disappointing at first, but it turned into a positive. I knew that if something happened with injuries the possibility was there. I knew there were flaws in some players, so in a way you were of course hoping that you would get here while not wishing anything bad on anyone else," he says.
Can break records
The 35-year-old veteran - who is in his 16th NHL season - is on track for the best point total of his career and has scored 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 53 games. Those figures place him fourth on Minnesota's internal scoring list and in the top ten among Swedish scorers in the league.
His personal NHL record is 58 points with the Washington Capitals nine years ago.
He plays with Joel Eriksson Ek on the club team - a duo also on the Olympic team?
"We'll see, I don't know if we'll play together here or not. We get along well on the ice and he's easy to play with," says Johansson.
Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm was also selected after an injury to Jonas Brodin, Johansson's teammate in Minnesota.
Lindholm himself has had major injury problems - and missed large parts of last season with a fractured kneecap.
"It was a long rehab for me, but it feels really good to be myself again and to have something to bring here. It's fun to be here and compete against the best," says Lindholm.
