For the first time in 46 years, the United States Men’s Hockey team has been crowned the gold medal winners in the Winter Olympic games.
Thanks to an overtime goal by Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, the U.S. defeated Canada Sunday morning, 2-1.
Last time the Men’s Hockey squad won gold against the Soviet Union 4-3 in 1980, it was considered a miracle.
However, this time around, it wasn’t necessarily a miracle; it was more like the stars were perfectly aligned.
The United States was playing on the same day that the Miracle on Ice occurred, Feb. 22, and it was the birthday of the late Johnny Gaudreau’s son, Johnny Gaudreau Jr.
Gaudreau, a former member of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Team USA, and his brother Matthew passed away in August of 2024, after being hit by an alleged drunk driver while biking.
“It was good emotions. It was happy emotions.” Zach Werenski, the late Gaudreau’s teammate at the Columbus Blue Jackets, said in an article from People.com. “It was something John would’ve been at, and to have his jersey out there for all the fans, for all the people to see… His family was in the crowd. We brought his kids on the ice for the picture, I mean, it was just incredible. We wanted to make him proud, and I think we did that.”
After the squad won gold, they brought Gaudreau’s son and his daughter Noa down to the ice, holding his jersey as they took a team photo.
After defeating Sweden in the semi-finals, the United States geared up to face Canada, their long-time rival, in the gold medal game. After suffering a leg injury in the quarterfinal game, Sidney Crosby, Canada’s captain, said he would miss the gold medal game.
Despite that, defeating Canada was still a tall task for the Americans to accomplish.
Canada had won the last Olympics NHL players were allowed to play in 2010, Crosby scoring the gold medal winning goal in that game against the United States.
Heading into this matchup, with the stars aligned, the U.S. was looking for revenge.
In the first period, the United States was up 1-0, using incredible puck movement to slide through defenders, before deking the puck to backhand it into the goal.
Then, Cale Makar of Canada scored to tie the score up 1-1. Neither team was able to score another goal, sending the game into overtime.
Canada had an opportunity to win it in the third with a shot from Devon Toews, but it would ultimately be saved by U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
“It was an all-time performance from a superstar at his position. It’ll go down as one of the best performances of all-time, right up there with Jimmy Craig. If we don’t have him, we don’t win.” Matthew Tkachuk said about Hellebuyck, comparing him to the U.S.’s goaltender in 1980, in an article from NHL.com.
Hellebuyck was integral for the United States, saving 41 shots on goal for the entire game, even when Canada outshot the U.S. (19-8) coming out of the second period.
Due to this save by Hellebuyck, it would send the game into overtime, where Jack Hughes would take it upon himself to win the game for his team.
Off a dish from his teammate, Werenski, Hughes slid the puck through Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington’s five-hole and without missing a beat, ran to hug his teammates in a warm embrace.
“I can’t even believe this, I mean, it’s such an unbelievable game, USA-Canada. That’s such a good game. They have so many great players. We’re a great team.” Hughes said in an article from NHL.com, “That’s exactly how we wanted it to go. We wanted to go through Canada and beat them. It’s an unbelievable win for the Americans.”
After the game, Hughes became immensely popular with fans, including his toothless smile, after losing a couple of teeth after being high-sticked earlier in the game.
After the squad won the game, you could feel the emotion from the players and coaches as they accepted their gold medals, still in disbelief of the feat they just accomplished.
“We’ve been thinking about those guys. They’ve been in the locker room telling us, ‘It’s your guys’ turn, get it done,’” Charlie MacAvoy said in an article from NHL.com on the support they received from the 1980 gold medalists, “And we got it done, man. It just feels so surreal right now.”