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Team USA finally beat Canada to win gold. It was monumental, and the celebration and medal ceremony was beautiful. Then they got into the locker room, and just had to bring politics into it.
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Nick Tricome
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Tag: Jack Hughes
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Tricome: The U.S. men’s hockey team really couldn’t help itself
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Orlando-native Jack Hughes leads US Hockey to Olympic gold
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Orlando-native Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal for the United States in Sunday’s men’s hockey gold medal game of the Milan Cortina Olympics.The U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime after Hughes scored to secure the Americans a third Olympic title, and their first since 1980, famously known as the “Miracle on Ice” game. His father, Jim Hughes, was an assistant coach for the Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) for two seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-01). Reporting from the Associated Press: MILAN (AP) — No miracle needed. The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly half a century.Jack Hughes scored in overtime, and the U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday to earn the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 46 years to the day of the upset over the Soviet Union, too.Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest shockers in sports history, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a stacked roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.“This is all about our country right now,” Hughes said. “I love the U.S.A. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.”Hughes’ goal off the rush off a pass from Zach Werenski 1:41 into 3-on-3 OT sent players into a wild celebration as Canada’s entire team watched from the bench. Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk carried a Johnny Gaudreau No. 13 around the ice as the latest tribute to the beloved player who was killed along with his brother in 2024.Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jay, his widow, Meredith, and their oldest children were in attendance. It was John Jr.’s second birthday.Hellebuyck was by far the best player on the ice, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway — something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck,” Hughes said. “He was our best player by a mile.”It was only fitting the Americans needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players.Not anymore.Winning a fast-paced, riveting game that was full of big hits and plenty of post-whistle altercations, the U.S. got a goal from Matt Boldy 6 minutes in and led until Cale Makar tied it late in the second period. Hellebuyck and the penalty kill was a perfect 18 for 18 at the Olympics.“I can’t even believe this,” Hughes said. “I mean it’s such an unbelievable game, USA-Canada. Such a good game. There’s so many great players. We’re a great team. That’s exactly how we wanted it to go. We’re underdogs to Canada, (but we) beat them. It could have gone either way.”The U.S. finally came through after generations of churning out talent from the grassroots level like a production line. All but two of the 25 players on the team went through USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.That group of 23 includes captain Auston Matthews, the top line of Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel, and the second set of brothers, Jack and Quinn Hughes. Much of the team played together either at the program, under-18s, the world junior championship or some combination of them.The U.S. winning silenced criticism of general manager Bill Guerin and his management group choosing a roster full of experienced veteran players to fill specific roles and leaving four of the top 10 American goal-scorers in the NHL this season at home. Some decisions were no-doubters, like coach Mike Sullivan giving the net to Hellebuyck, who was the best goalie in the tournament.Canada, back-to-back Olympic champions in 2010 and ’14 and winners of three of the first five, fell short while playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby. The 38-year-old two-time gold medalist and three-time Stanley Cup champion left the quarterfinal game against Czechia and sat out the semifinal game against Finland.McDavid, the widely considered best player in the world who wore the “C” in Crosby’s absence, suffered another devastating defeat on the doorstep of a title. He and the Edmonton Oilers have lost to Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final each of the past two years.
Orlando-native Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal for the United States in Sunday’s men’s hockey gold medal game of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime after Hughes scored to secure the Americans a third Olympic title, and their first since 1980, famously known as the “Miracle on Ice” game.
His father, Jim Hughes, was an assistant coach for the Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) for two seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-01).
Reporting from the Associated Press:
MILAN (AP) — No miracle needed. The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly half a century.
Jack Hughes scored in overtime, and the U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday to earn the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 46 years to the day of the upset over the Soviet Union, too.
Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest shockers in sports history, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a stacked roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.
“This is all about our country right now,” Hughes said. “I love the U.S.A. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.”
Hughes’ goal off the rush off a pass from Zach Werenski 1:41 into 3-on-3 OT sent players into a wild celebration as Canada’s entire team watched from the bench. Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk carried a Johnny Gaudreau No. 13 around the ice as the latest tribute to the beloved player who was killed along with his brother in 2024.
Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jay, his widow, Meredith, and their oldest children were in attendance. It was John Jr.’s second birthday.
Hellebuyck was by far the best player on the ice, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway — something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck,” Hughes said. “He was our best player by a mile.”
It was only fitting the Americans needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players.
Not anymore.
Winning a fast-paced, riveting game that was full of big hits and plenty of post-whistle altercations, the U.S. got a goal from Matt Boldy 6 minutes in and led until Cale Makar tied it late in the second period. Hellebuyck and the penalty kill was a perfect 18 for 18 at the Olympics.
“I can’t even believe this,” Hughes said. “I mean it’s such an unbelievable game, USA-Canada. Such a good game. There’s so many great players. We’re a great team. That’s exactly how we wanted it to go. We’re underdogs to Canada, (but we) beat them. It could have gone either way.”
The U.S. finally came through after generations of churning out talent from the grassroots level like a production line. All but two of the 25 players on the team went through USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
That group of 23 includes captain Auston Matthews, the top line of Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel, and the second set of brothers, Jack and Quinn Hughes. Much of the team played together either at the program, under-18s, the world junior championship or some combination of them.
The U.S. winning silenced criticism of general manager Bill Guerin and his management group choosing a roster full of experienced veteran players to fill specific roles and leaving four of the top 10 American goal-scorers in the NHL this season at home. Some decisions were no-doubters, like coach Mike Sullivan giving the net to Hellebuyck, who was the best goalie in the tournament.
Canada, back-to-back Olympic champions in 2010 and ’14 and winners of three of the first five, fell short while playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby. The 38-year-old two-time gold medalist and three-time Stanley Cup champion left the quarterfinal game against Czechia and sat out the semifinal game against Finland.
McDavid, the widely considered best player in the world who wore the “C” in Crosby’s absence, suffered another devastating defeat on the doorstep of a title. He and the Edmonton Oilers have lost to Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final each of the past two years.
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Kyle Connor’s 3-point effort lifts Jets to 6-3 victory over Devils
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Kyle Connor scored twice and added an assist to propel the Winnipeg Jets to a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night and put him in a tie atop the NHL’s goal-scoring leaderboard.
Connor’s goals gave him 13 on the season, tying him for most goals this season with Toronto’s Auston Matthews.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a pair of goals and Cole Perfetti scored once and added an assist. Morgan Barron also had a goal and Josh Morrissey contributed four assists, tying a franchise record for assists in a game.
Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for Winnipeg (8-5-2), which played the third of a five-game homestand.
Timo Meier, John Marino and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils (7-6-1), including a pair of goals on the power play for the league’s top-ranked team with the man advantage.
Akira Schmid stopped 25 of 30 shots for New Jersey, which has lost three straight and four of its past five games.
There was no scoring in the first period, but the teams combined for five goals in the second period and Winnipeg led 3-2 after the barrage.
Winnipeg forward Rasmus Kupari left the game favoring his right arm with eight minutes remaining in the first period after falling into the boards. The team announced he wouldn’t return because of an upper-body injury.
The Devils were again without injured top centers Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
UP NEXT
Devils: Visit Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Jets: Host Buffalo on Friday night.
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Associated Press
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Devils top Oilers, tie franchise mark with 13th straight win
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NEWARK, N.J. — The young New Jersey Devils are making a name for themselves — in the team’s record book.
Nico Hischier had three assists and the no-name Devils beat the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Monday night to match a franchise mark with their 13th consecutive win.
“I guess we’re up there with the history book,” Hischier said. “Nobody is going to take that from us now and it feels good. It proves that we’re a good team, that we can win hockey games, that we don’t have to hide anymore.”
Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Damon Severson, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Devils, who haven’t lost since Oct. 24 against Washington. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves for New Jersey.
“It’s awesome winning,” said Bratt, who leads the team with 24 points. “So is everything around the rink and being with the guys and playing these important games. That means a lot, and winning is the best thing possible in hockey.”
The Devils still have three quarters of the season to go, but they are well on the road to making the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
“We’ve had a great run. We know that we’re kind of the hunted now,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We know that we’re going to expect probably the best every team can bring because we’re getting recognition. So that part we have to deal with. But 19 games in you can’t say, ‘We sent a message to the league.’”
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, beaten twice by New Jersey during its run. Stuart Skinner made 23 saves, but had the puck taken off his stick by Hischier early in the second period to set up the go-ahead goal by Mercer into a wide-open net.
“Obviously a tough game. Tough loss,” Skinner said. “They’re obviously a great team. They’re obviously hot right now as well. They’ve got some great players that make some great plays and it was just tough to lose, especially two in a row to these guys. But all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on.”
Severson stretched the margin to 3-1 on a counterattack minutes later.
Edmonton made a push early in the third. Nugent-Hopkins cut it to 3-2 at 4:52 and had a close-in chance to tie it, only to be stopped by Vanecek, who improved to 9-1.
Tatar gave the Devils breathing room about a minute later, gloving down the rebound of Mercer’s shot and beating Skinner. Sharangovich added an insurance goal with 5:15 to go.
Jack Hughes had two assists for the Devils.
ROUGH NIGHT IN NET
Not only did Skinner hand the Devils the go-ahead goal, backup netminder Jack Campbell also had a bad night.
Sitting on the end of the bench late in the second period, Campbell was cut when he was hit in the face by a puck that seemed to be deflected by Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Campbell immediately left the bench and did not return for the third period.
“I went and saw him after the second period, and he was laughing and smiling. So that’s the kind of guy he is,” Skinner said. “But no, he had a pretty bloody nose and obviously it’s hard to see that happen, especially to him. I think he’s fine.”
UP NEXT
Oilers: Continue their swing through the New York metropolitan area when they visit the Islanders on Wednesday. Edmonton finishes in New York City on Saturday against the Rangers.
Devils: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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Hughes and Sharangovich help Devils beat Canucks 5-2
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Yegor Sharangovich and Jack Hughes each scored and had an assist to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Nico Hischier, Michael McLeod and Dawson Mercer also had goals for the Devils (7-3-0), who won their fourth game in a row for the first time since October 2018.
Bo Horvat replied for the Canucks (2-6-2) with a pair of power-play goals. J.T. Miller assisted on both.
New Jersey netminder Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves and improved his career record against Vancouver to 5-0-0.
“I think we’ve been doing a good job of capitalizing on our chances as of late and really limiting stuff that the other team was getting in our end,” Blackwood said. “Tonight we did a good job of burying chances.”
Jesper Bratt had an assist on Hischier’s fifth goal, extending his season-opening point streak to 10 games (four goals, 12 assists), which equaled a franchise record.
“I think (Bratt’s) playing a team game and he’s getting rewarded,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said.
“He’s taking advantage of the opportunities and he’s finding a way every night to get on the board.”
Thatcher Demko stopped 32 of 36 shots for Vancouver.
The defeat snapped a two-game win streak for the Canucks, who lost seven in a row to start the season.
“We need our veteran guys and our better players to be better players consistently, every day, not just one good game here and one good game there,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “And that goes not only for (defensemen) but it goes for the forwards as well and the goaltending as well.”
Boudreau pulled his goalie with less than two minutes left and Hughes scored into the empty net.
Vancouver made a late push, pulling Demko in favor of an extra attacker after New Jersey’s Ryan Graves was called for holding with 3:34 left on the clock.
The move paid off when Horvat buried his second of the night with a one-timer from the high hash marks at the 17:12 mark, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
“Obviously, the puck’s going in right now. But I’d rather be getting wins than scoring goals right now. I’d rather have none and be 9-0-0,” Horvat said. “But it’s not the way it’s going right now. And we’ve got to put this one in the past and keep plugging away here.”
NEW FACES
Canucks defenseman Ethan Bear and center Jack Studnicka made their debuts for Vancouver after being acquired in separate trades last week. Star blueliner Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury.
NEW THREADS
The Canucks wore their new navy blue “Johnny Canuck” reverse retro jerseys. The sweaters pay homage to the team’s namesake, a lumberjack-looking character called Johnny Canuck, which served as the team’s logo when it entered the Western Hockey League in 1945.
UP NEXT
New Jersey: At the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Vancouver: Hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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Hughes scores to back Vanecek, Devils beat Avalanche 1-0
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NEWARK, N.J. — Jack Hughes scored on power play early in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves for his first shutout with New Jersey in the Devils’ 1-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
The Devils won for the fifth time in six games after dropping the first two games of the season. New Jersey also denied defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado’s NHL-best power play six times.
“Honestly, it was really good game. The guys played really well and we just scored the goal,” said Vanecek, who won his first contest with the Devils 6-2 on Tuesday night in Detroit. “That felt really good and now a home game, so I’m really happy with that.”
Hughes scored his third of the season on the power play at 2:59 of the third, shooting the puck past Pavel Francouz. Assists went to Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton. The assist was a team-leading 10th for Bratt who has points in all eight Devils games this season and leads New Jersey with 13 points. Francouz made 22 saves.
“It was a great game by both clubs. It felt like a playoff game,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “This was the right team to play at the right time. We blocked shots. There was a lot of good stuff tonight.”
The Devils appeared to open the scoring with just over five minutes left in the first period but an apparent goal by Miles Wood was nullified when the play was deemed offsides on review.
New Jersey outshot the visitors 8-4 in the opening period. In the second, the Avalanche had a 10-7 shots advantage over the home team as both goaltenders made sterling saves to keep the scoreless game intact.
“We just didn’t have jump,” Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues said. “We didn’t get enough odd-man rushes.”
The Avalanche were coming off 3-2 shootout win over Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in which former Rangers netminder Alexandar Geogiev was the winner in his return.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was impressed with the new-look Devils who are showing promise after missing the playoffs the past four seasons.
“They have great team speed, good skill,” Bednar said. “Give them credit, their PK is really good.”
Vanecek also denied Colorado forward Dryden Hunt in the second on a point-blank shot from between the faceoff circles.
The 26-year-old netminder, who had six shutouts with the Washington Capitals prior to this season, made a dazzling pad save on Rodrigues midway through the third and foiled a one-timer by Arturi Lehkonen with just over eight minutes left. He made 10 saves in the third.
“He made the big save when we needed it. That lifts the whole bench,” Ruff said about Vanecek’s save on Rodrigues. “And our penalty killers did a great job. We limited their key players.”
Avalanche leading scorer Valeri Nichushkin did not play Friday because of a lower-body injury.
Following their game Saturday night against the Islanders at UBS Arena, the Avalanche will fly to Finland, where they will play the Columbus Blue Jackets twice next weekend.
“We had too many turnovers and we didn’t do enough to win the hockey game,” Bednar added. “Tonight we just didn’t have the jam.”
NOTES: The Devils scratched forwards Alexander Holtz, Ondrej Palat and defenseman Kevin Bahl … Colorado also scratched defenseman Kurtis MacDermid.
UP NEXT:
Devils: Host Columbus on Sunday.
Avalanche: At New York Islanders on Saturday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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