The U.S Men’s hockey team slayed their personal demons on Sunday in Milan, Italy as they beat the Canadians in the finals. The United States earned themselves the gold medal for the first time since 1980 when the Miracle on Ice took place in Lake Placid. In 1980 it was college players pulling off the major upset beating the Russian machine for the gold pulling off one of the biggest miracles in sports history. Then 46 years later a U.S team made up of NHL players beat the country that breeds and bleeds hockey, the Canadians, 2-1 in overtime. They pulled off an upset against a neighboring country that was loaded as well with NHL talent across the boards. The USA Olympic hockey team has formed a brotherhood of players built like a fraternity of close friends and family. The roster actually has two sets of brothers that are actually blood related. The Hughes and Tkachuk families who made a big dent in why the US. team went a perfect 6-0. They played for one of their fallen teammates as well, Johnny Hockey. Johnny Gaudreau had his life cut down short when he and his brother were mowed down by a drunken driver in New Jersey while cycling. The motivation and the comradery of this team pulled off something special that will go down in the history books on Sunday with this team pulling off the gold medal while many loaded NHL U.S. teams have failed miserably against the Maple Leafs.

It was Jack Hughes’ shot in the extra frame that ended the demons of the past that gave the United States their second goal of the game and the decider. It was a great pass by Zach Werenski that gave Jack the perfect shot and his biggest goal of his career. Jack plays for the Devils & he had 4 goals and 3 assists in the 2026 Olympics. His brother Quinn Hughes, who plays for the Minnesota Wild, had 1 goal and dished out 7 assists in the ’26 Olympics. It was Matt Boldy who got the U.S. team on the board in the first period in the gold round to give his country the 1-0 lead. In the second period it was Cale Makar with the equalizer that tied things up after two periods. The Tkachuks made their presence in every game of the Olympics that the USA played. Matthew Tkachuk is one of the biggest cogs in this USA wheel as he had 6 assists. His play is all over the ice doing the dirty work and the little things that don’t find their way on the stat sheet at the end of the night. He has now won two Stanley Cup championships in back to back years with the Panthers. Both championships were the last two years and he now adds a gold medal to the back of his hockey card. His brother Brady who plays for the Senators had 3 goals and 2 assists in the Olympics. Back to Jack Hughes who was playing with a bloody mouth and had some teeth that went missing in this big game. He still played through the pain and really came up big. After the game he commented on the brotherhood of this USA team which goes back to other teams that have lost to Canada in the past in these Olympic games.

In 2002 in Salt Lake City, the U.S. lost to Canada in the gold medal round 5-2. In 2010 in Vancouver it was Sid the Kid Crosby’s memorable goal that ended the USA in the gold round 3-2 in OT.

In the preliminary round of 2010, U.S. did beat Canada 5-3 but the Maple Leafs would get the last laugh in that one. Then in 2014 Canada shut out the United States at the Sochi Winter Olympics 1-0 in the semi-finals. The Canadians have been a thorn in the side for U.S teams for decades in these Olympic games.

This game between USA and Canada came down to solid goal tending by both countries. Jordan Binnington for Canada was amazing but came up short giving up the second goal in OT. Connor Hellebuyck was just better perhaps with a little help from the spirit of Johnny Gaudreau, especially how the hell he got his stick on a puck Devon Toews could have gotten in the net in his sleep. Devon got the rebound and tapped it into a practically wide open net. In the last second, Hellebuyck reached out with his stick to stop that shot. In second period he also snuffed out a breakaway from one of the NHL superstars in Connor McDavid. How many goalies could say that they stopped McDavid coming right at you by themself? He also stopped a breakaway from Macklin Celebrini that was a huge save in the game. Hellebuyck stopped 41 out of Canada’s 42 shots including overtime.

On August 29th of 2024, Johnny Gaudreau was in the prime of his hockey career when he was killed at 31 years of age. Johnny and brother Matthew were riding bikes near their home the night before their sister’s wedding. He played 11 seasons in the NHL which started with the Calgary Flames. He played 9 seasons in Calgary. The last two seasons of Johnny Hockey’s career he suited up for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played in 763 NHL games & scored 243 goals while dishing out 500 assists for 743 total NHL points. He would have been a part of this gold medal team if he was not killed. The team honored him by having his number 13 displayed in the locker room. They brought it out to the bench. They had a banner with both Gaudreau brothers in their hockey uniforms. Matthew was in his Boston College uniform. The Gaudreau family was in attendance. This includes his parents Jane and Guy Gaudreau. His wife Meredith and their two children, 3 year old daughter Noa and 2 year old Johnny Jr.. After the Americans won, for the celebratory picture on the ice with the team a few of the players brought Johnny’s kids out there. They ended up in the picture which really makes this win very special in many ways. We really have never seen USA Hockey win the gold. To win it and give a player and family a tribute is really something the world should take notice of. This is how humanity should be coming together after going through some kind of tragedy. Johnny would have been 32 years of age and you have to believe he would have made the USA team and contributed to this magical run they had this season. The family of Johnny needed that. These tributes celebrate the fallen like the Billy Joel song, “Only the Good Die Young.” All these athletes playing in the Olympics have their own stories. They had people they loved that have passed away. The motivation. How they got here. How they performed for those missing people who are watching from the heavens. The NHL players are professional players. Sometimes professionals need a little reminder that life can be good, bad, and ugly. It’s how you handle yourself. They handle it by achieving their goal winning the gold. Some day I hope Johnny Graudeau Jr. becomes a professional hockey player. Johnny Hockey II, sounds like an up and coming superstar in the NHL. Maybe he will help USA win another gold medal.