The U.S.A. Women’s Hockey team is seeking the gold medal in the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy. On Tuesday, February 10th the Women’s Hockey team routed their arch-rival Canada 5-0. So far they are at a perfect 6-0 as they look like they are the best team in the tournament overseas right now. With the win yesterday against Italy, they advanced to the semi-finals. It’s a team with plenty of firepower along with crippling defense that has made them a well-oiled machine on the ice so far. One star on that Olympian team is from my hometown of Evergreen Park, Illinois. 23 year old Abbey Murphy has been outstanding on the ice doing a little bit of everything to help her team and country win games. The town of Evergreen Park is a south suburb of Chicago and has had their share of athletes come through town, who have played well enough to do it professionally.

The most famous resident in Evergreen Park history still belongs to the Unabomber. Ted Kaczynski was a genius growing up in the EP and went to Evergreen Park High School. After high school he was accepted into one of the top schools in the country, an ivy league school known as Harvard University. Something snapped in his mindset as he became a mad bomber using the U.S, mail to deliver his blows in society. A reign of terror that lasted from the late 1970’s into the middle of the 1990’s. It continued until his own brother figured it out and turned him in to the authorities. You can never erase such history like Ted Kaczynski from the town of EP. Sometimes a story about another resident from the town EP may come, like Haley’s Comet returns every 17 years. Something that gives the small suburb hope and provides the feel good story about the town of Evergreen Park. This year Abbey Murphy is that Evergreen Park glory we have been seeking.

Sports run in the Murphy genes. Her father is a former Marine and played college football. Her mother played softball. Her brother wrestled and played football at the college level. Abbey’s love of hockey came at the early age of 6. She skated at Daniel V. Capuano ice rink in the EP. She then joined the St. Jude Hockey Club in Crestwood, a suburb about 15 minutes away. It was there she played mostly on all boys teams and was one of the best players in the league for years as she learned the sport and improved her craft. Then she joined the Chicago Mission Youth, an all girls hockey league. It was a league which had these girls playing 80 games a year. This is the league that developed not only Murphy, but some of her teammates on the U.S. women’s team currently. Those teammates are: Kendall Coyne Schofield, Megan Bozek, Alex Cavallini, Jesse Compher and Savannah Harmon. Murphy went to the same grammar school I did, Most Holy Redeemer, which has a big sign above their gymnasium supporting Abbey. In 2020, Abby graduated from Mother McAuley high school which is in Chicago, but borders on the EP. Then she took her talents to Minnesota University and plays hockey there for the Golden Gophers which is one of the better schools for the sport. After her freshman year, she joined the U.S. women’s hockey residency program. She trained in Blaine, Minnesota with some of the best female hockey players. Then got the call on New Year’s Day of 2022 at the age of 19 as she made the Olympic roster. She was the second youngest player selected. That team won the silver at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. She would return to Minnesota where she trained and continued to improve her craft on the ice. She then helped her team win the gold in the IIHF World Championships in 2023 & ’25. Now at the age of 23, the USA Women’s hockey team looks unstoppable as Murphy is hoping she can help deliver the gold in Italy this season.

The town of Evergreen Park has produced some other Olympian athletes over the years. Brad Guzan was on the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team as the goal keeper. Patrick Gasienica was an Olympic ski jumper back in 2022 in the Winter Olympics.

Maybe the best ever athlete in Evergreen Park history goes to Chris Chelios, who played on the Men’s USA Olympian teams in hockey. Chelios played decades in the NHL and was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013. He played for the Blackhawks as the they retired his number. He won Stanley Cups with the mortal enemy, the Detroit Redwings. The town of Evergreen Park has also produced some solid baseball players like Jim Dwyer, who was one of the best pinch hitters in the game and won a World Series with the Orioles in 1983.

Dwyer was on that Orioles team that beat the winning ugly White Sox playoff team in the AL post-season to advance to the World Series in ’83. Other baseball players that originated form the EP were Ed Farmer, Donn Pall, and the great Billy Pierce. All three pitchers played for the Chicago White Sox in their respective careers.

Abbey Murphy, at only 23, may be the best female athlete in Evergreen Park history. The U.S. Women’s hockey team is a very talented group & Murphy has been a big part of that so far in Milan. Before she left to play in this year’s Winter Olympics, she was leading the NCAA with 36 goals in 26 games. She also racked up 23 penalties. In the Olympics she has shown other things she does on the ice very well. She has drawn 9 penalties because she can be very chippy on the ice. She’s an agitator who can get under opponents’ skin. The way she plays on the ice, it’s the work ethic she has on every play that could easily get under the skin of the opponent. If a teammate is in trouble, she is there for the rescue. Not scared to throw down the gloves if needed. Her play is not always on the stat sheet at the end of the night. She can dish out the punishment on the boards. She can generate three assists on goals like she did in the massacre of Canada. Murphy has not scored many goals, but the little things to help notch wins she has been awesome at. Her play is why she has a following back at home in one of the EP Italian institutions of Barraco’s where all these hockey games are being watched by many fans of hers and of the team. She has thrown out the first pitch at a White Sox game for her past accomplishments. Winning the gold like this team is pursuing, is a different animal. This team has outscored their opponents 26-1 in six games.

This has that feeling of the Men’s U.S.A. Hockey team that beat the Russians in 1980. Yes, that, “Do You Believe In Miracles?” line used by Al Michaels that has been replayed a million times since that team won it all. The work & preparation all these Olympians do to get to this point. What they do to their bodies to be the best is not human, but more superhero like. So far watching all this unfold has been a fun ride. If this team does win the gold, it will be very special to the entire nation who at this point are together and on the same team. That is not always the case when you bring up the word, “Politics.” What makes it extra special is rooting on someone from your own town doing it all. Plus, having multiple girls on that team from he Chicagoland area is special. I normally do not watch many female sports. Women’s hockey has been very fun to watch in a month where sports usually go dormant after the Superbowl. Abbey has been golden, Let’s hope they all come back with gold medals around their necks as we are witnessing something that does not come around often. Let’s enjoy it and take in some cool history that is unfolding in front of our eyes.