Friday, July 18, 2025
Chase Goldman was wrapping up a meeting June 13 with his United States ice hockey teammates in preparation for the upcoming Maccabi Games in Israel when he received a disturbing news flash on his phone.
It said that Israel carried out strikes on Iran just hours earlier, and the news quickly spread around the room. Questions were suddenly asked about the players’ safety, if the games would go on as planned and, if so, would it be wise to even travel there.
Three days later, event officials decided to postpone the Games until the summer of 2026.
Because of his Jewish heritage, Goldman, who just completed his junior year at John F. Kennedy High School, was relieved that he wasn’t in Israel already when the strikes happened and was understandably disappointed about having to wait a year to represent his country. But unfortunately, an athletic event took a back seat to a war that personally affected him and his family.
“It took a piece out of me because not only did it ease down from Oct. 7, but it kind of kicked back up and it was disappointing that both countries couldn’t come to peace,” Goldman said. “More people are getting hurt and dying, and many civilians as well, so it really impacted me very much.”
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups launched a large-scale attack from the Gaza Strip towards Israel resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people and 251 abductions. Some captives reportedly remain there today. It is the first invasion of that territory since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
A little over a year ago, Goldman was in New Jersey trying out for the Boys Under 18 American team. He said his confidence “drained” when he first saw the 80-90-person tryout list and thought his chances of making the team were minimal because of his competition, many of which had the chance to go onto playing collegiately.
“I had no intentions of making the team,” he recalled. “I thought I had no chance. I didn’t like the odds. I thought the players were much better than me.”
The three-day tryout featured several skating drills, but Goldman noticed that as time passed, he was being moved into other groups with what he thought were better players. He scored a couple of goals on the final day to increase his chances, but would it be enough to persuade the coaches?
About a month or two later, Goldman was on a field trip to Lake George when he got a text from his mom asking to FaceTime her. He thought the tryout results would be coming weeks later, so he found it strange that his father would be video recording the call. But his parents announced the results and told him that he made the team.
“I started tearing up a little bit,” he said. “I was so excited. I was so ready to tell all of my friends that I made it. I was so proud of myself. My parents were crying and so were my sister. We were so excited that I made the team, and I am able to go to Israel. I wanted to make the team so badly.”
And the best part about making the team was having the ‘USA’ crest across his jersey.
“It’s one of my biggest dreams representing the USA,” he explained. “I love hockey. It’s my thing. And watching my favorite hockey players having ‘USA’ across their chest is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Goldman has been a member of the Bellmore-Merrick high school varsity team the past two seasons. He had four goals and eight points during the Bulldogs’ four-game championship playoff run last February to help the team claim their first New York Islanders High School Hockey League title since 2016.
He had just five goals and 14 points during the team’s 15-1 regular season.
“When our best guys needed to be our best guys, they were, him included,” Bulldogs coach Patrick Braglia said. “We don’t need a lot of flash. We don’t need to score 50 goals in a game. Could we, yeah we probably could, but we don’t choose to play that way because we know as the season goes on and you get into playoffs, they’re not walkover games, so we’re always preparing to do things the right way, and that’s why he saw such a big improvement from regular season to playoff time is because now we’re in full throttle.”
Braglia recommended Goldman to the Team USA organizers and was not surprised that he made the team.
“He’s a fantastic player,” he said. “Very smart, he puts a lot of time in. He definitely brings something to the table that every coach wants to have on their team. He can play with skill, he can play with speed, he plays with a little grit if you need him to.”
Unlike hockey seasons, wars don’t have a definitive end. They could last months, or they could go on for years. Goldman would like to see Israel-Iran conflict end sooner just for the safety of his people alone and does envision a scenario where he will be skating on Israeli ice next summer.
“Obviously, there’s a little bit of fear in me that the Games will get canceled straight up,” he said. “But I am confident I will be in Israel next year playing for USA.”
