Team USA wins gold medal in men’s hockey final vs. Canada
USAT’s Helen St. James breaks the men’s hockey gold medal game, giving the United States its first gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” 46 years ago.
take sports seriously
The second guessing began on January 2 when Team USA general manager Bill Guerin announced the name of the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team.
It was mostly a four-nation faceoff team, which was impressive, but lost to Canada in the final. There were several other players who were named to last year’s team but were unable to play due to injury, such as Quinn Hughes.
Tage Thompson and Clayton Keller were welcome additions. But why did big-time scorers Cole Caufield, Jason Robertson and Lane Hutson leave, and why did the struggling New York Rangers’ JT Miller and Vincent Trocheck return?
Guerin said he’s building a hockey team, not an all-star team.
Well, he was right. The United States defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win its first gold medal since 1980, capping an impressive year for the top national hockey team in the United States. There was also a women’s hockey gold medal against Canada, a men’s and women’s world championship, and a women’s rivalry series victory.
Here are the winners and losers of the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament.
winner
Jack Hughes, USA
The Devils star had to overcome a lot to play in the Olympics. He was recovering from season-ending shoulder surgery last year when he suffered a freak accident at a team dinner that required finger surgery, and he also missed games leading up to the Olympics. He joined his brother Quinn in Milan, where he made a sweet pass against Latvia, scored twice against Slovakia and scored a golden goal against Canada. Naturally, he went high-stick after the injury and did it after losing a tooth in the third period.
Auston Matthews, USA
With the Toronto Maple Leafs unable to make the playoffs, the city’s toughest hockey media have doubts about the team’s star players, including captain Matthews. Well, Matthews was named captain of the USA as well as in the 4 Nations and can now answer that he can lead the team to victory.
Connor Hellebuyck, USA
Last year, he won the Vezina Trophy and was the rare goaltender to win the Hart Trophy. However, he missed three games on the road against the St. Louis Blues in the playoffs. Can’t win in important games? Now, the U.S. can’t win on Sunday without Hellebuyck, who made 41 saves.
Sending NHL players to the Olympics
The hockey was great, especially in the quarterfinals, where three games went into overtime. But the best part was the gold medal game. Canada pressed, and it looked like they would come back and win their third straight game. But in the end, the United States prevailed over its fierce rival. Best on best is the best way to host the Olympics.
winners and losers
Connor McDavid, Canada
The 4 Nations’ overtime goal scorer had an impressive tournament and was named MVP, scoring 13 points, a record for an Olympic NHL player. However, the award was bittersweet as Canada won silver instead of gold. This is the second time that the team has won an individual award when it came in second place. He was named the Conn Smith Trophy as playoff MVP after the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.
loser
Sidney Crosby absent from finals
As the Canada-USA game went into overtime, memories of Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010 came flooding back. But there was no chance. The Canadian captain was injured after being hit twice in the quarterfinals. He missed the semi-finals and was unable to reach the final and aim for a third gold medal. And now the Pittsburgh Penguins need to figure out if he will miss part of the stretch run.
Los Angeles Kings
They acquired Artemi Panarin in a blockbuster trade and were looking for him to add enough offense to get back into playoff contention. However, the team suffered a setback when Kevin Fiala broke his foot against Canada and underwent surgery, forcing him to miss the remainder of the regular season. NHL owners are concerned about players getting injured at the Olympics, and to varying degrees Fiala, Crosby, Josh Morrissey and Mikko Rantanen have been injured.
Pierre Crinon, France
He gave a questionable hit to Nathan MacKinnon, which led to his break-up with Tom Wilson. The International Ice Hockey Federation had banned the game and could have suspended him, but that didn’t happen. However, the French team said: “The provocative behavior of Pierre Crinnon, who came off the ice even though he had just been excluded from the match for fighting, clearly violates the Olympic spirit and undermines the values of our sport.”
3 on 3 overtime
There were four overtime periods in the final tournament, and in theory, extra time could have lasted 10 minutes, and the gold medal game could have lasted more than 20 minutes. However, the longest overtime was 3 minutes and 27 seconds. That’s because of the 3-on-3 play in overtime. The NHL uses this in the regular season, but switches to 5-on-5 in the postseason. That’s because they know that important matches should not be decided by some trick. The IIHF should reconsider its position towards the 2030 Olympics.
