The Olympics have ended in Italy, but for USA Hockey, it feels like it has a new beginning. Jack Hughes's overtime goal delivered a 2–1 victory over rival Canada and the first U.S. men's hockey gold since the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. For years, the American program has been building to this point, and this year's team made sure a missing part of the program was not forgotten—Johnny Gaudreau's family. As the team celebrated the golden moment, players carried the late Gaudreau's jersey and brought two of his children on the ice for a celebratory photo. Now it is on to the 2030 Games in the French Alps. And on to the newsletter. |
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Jack Hughes's OT goal gives Team USA first gold medal in 46 years |
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated |
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By Michael Rosenberg A 46-year wait will end in two seconds, but nobody knows that, least of all Zach Werenski. He has the puck on his stick—"kind of a broken play," he'll say later, but it's not what he is thinking at the moment, and why should he? For this United States men's hockey team, nothing really breaks. Canada should have broken this game open by now, but hasn't. A series of brutal high-stakes losses should have broken American spirits by now, but didn't. Werenski sees a flash of white on the far ice. The game is supposed to be over. The Olympics are supposed to be over. It is overtime of the final event of the Milan Cortina Games. Canada and the U.S. are playing 3-on-3 hockey for a gold medal. It's as if International Olympic Committee leaders kept checking their watches and decided to remove a few hockey players at a time until nobody was left. Putting only six skaters on the ice gives American goalie Connor Hellebuyck something he has not had all afternoon: A view. Canada has dominated play for almost the entire game, one high-quality scoring chance after another, 42 shots in all, yet the game is somehow tied 1–1, and if Canadians think there is something mystical working against them, they are correct: "The second I woke up this morning," Hellebuyck will say later, "I felt like I was doing everything right. Every step I took, it felt right." |
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Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated |
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated |
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By Pat Forde Guy Gaudreau dried his eyes in time for the medal ceremony. He put his right hand over his heart in the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena stands on Sunday afternoon as the United States flag was raised and "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played. Guy and his wife, Jane, wore No. 13 USA hockey sweaters—Guy in blue, Jane in white—with the family name on the back. They were part of this epic moment, immense pride mingling with deep pain. "He grew up with all these guys," Guy says after the anthem, gesturing to the American players on the ice, gold medals around their necks. "He's probably here with them right now in spirit, right?" If not for a horrific tragedy, Johnny Gaudreau—"Johnny Hockey," as he was known—would have been part of the U.S. team that scored one of its all-time greatest victories in the Olympic hockey final, defeating nemesis Canada, 2-1, in overtime. The seven-time NHL all-star was the all-time leading U.S. scorer in international play. With the NHL players not participating in the previous two Olympics, this would have been his chance. |
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Claudia Greco/Imagn Images |
By Andrew Gastelum The world of sports is all too familiar with the Greek myth of Icarus. After all, what more apt metaphor is there for daunting and daring athletic feats than a man who pushes the limits of his existence, flies too close to the sun and crashes out of the sky in all his glory and pride. But as much as we try to distance ourselves from cliché in search of a fresh thought, the ancient texts are the ancient texts for a reason. Specific enough to pull upon the human heartstrings, universal enough to capture the attention of all regardless of language, culture and creed. Cliché, sure, but for a reason. We try to avoid it, and yet there was Icarus in Cortina, wings melted in the snow, 41 years old and trying to defy human limits on skis before a helicopter ferries her away. And there was Icarus again in Milan, sprawled across the ice, a Quad God jettisoned from the Mount Olympus of his sport, looking at his skates with the shock of betrayal in his eyes and "Et tu, Brute?" in his heart. |
Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty Images |
By Michael Rosenberg
The official motto of the 2026 Winter Olympics, chosen through the traditional process of listing 100 candidates and eliminating the best 99, is "IT's Your Vibe." As soon as I saw that IT was capitalized, I prepared for two weeks of spotty Wi-Fi. But the IT is for Italy.
After spending the fortnight in Milan, I concluded that the locals had their own theme:
"It's YOUR Vibe."
The Milanese, at least in my experience, have been quite nice. But they have been nice in the way that you might be nice to somebody who asks to use your restroom. They are fine with us doing whatever it is that we have to do while we're here. They don't really care what we think of the place. |
United States- 🥇12 🥈12 🥉9 (33) |
Switzerland - 🥇6 🥈8 🥉8 (22) |
Nethlerlands - 🥇10 🥈7 🥉3 (20) |
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated |
The look of an Olympic hockey gold medalist. Jack Hughes celebrates after winning the men's gold medal game. |
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