It’s safe to say that the National Hockey League’s return to the Winter Olympic Games this year for the first time since 2014 was a resounding success.
The 11-day tournament had a bit of everything: the first Olympic goal scored via penalty shot, an unexpected fight, a scary injury to the tournament’s most respected player and overtime stunners.
Even if the tournament ended before viewers learned who would take home gold in Milan, hockey fans could be satisfied with both the excitement and drama on the ice. But one thing that would certainly be icing on the cake was a perfect ending to an objectively entertaining tournament for hockey fans and newcomers alike.
After Canada’s tight 3-2 win over Finland and Team USA’s 6-2 drubbing of Slovakia in the semifinals, the showdown between hockey’s two superpowers was set, with a gold medal and glory on the line.
Fittingly, the U.S. and Canada took very similar paths to the final. The two were undoubtedly the best teams in the round-robin preliminary round, going 3-0 against their respective groups and winning every game by at least three goals.
However, both teams found trouble in the quarterfinals. The U.S. needed overtime to fend off Sweden, and Canada trailed Czechia late in the third before rallying. However, the win came at a cost for Canada. Captain Sidney Crosby went down with a lower-body injury and would not play the rest of the tournament.
In the long-awaited final, the tension was palpable. After an opening six minutes largely dominated by Canada, it was Team USA who got on the board first, foreshadowing what was to come. Forward Matt Boldy opened the scoring with an incredible move and backhand flip around goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Team Canada continued to control the pace but couldn’t convert on its scoring chances. Aside from defenseman Cale Makar’s equalizer in the middle frame, the Canadians could not find a way to get one past U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
In the third period, Canada had multiple opportunities to take the lead. Hellebuyck etched himself into eternal hockey lore with a behind-the-back paddle save on defenseman Devon Toews in the crease that will forever be photographed and immortalized. Minutes later, Hellebuyck stopped teenage sensation and tournament goal leader Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway and navigated a Canada powerplay in the final moments of regulation.
Hellebuyck was the story in the final, making 41 saves on 42 shots. In fact, he was dominant all tournament long, posting an unreal .956 save percentage and allowing just six goals in five games.
In overtime, Jack Hughes took center stage. On a partial three-on-one less than two minutes in, Hughes wired the puck under Binnington’s left pad for the golden goal that sent Team USA into a frenzy and secured their elusive and long-awaited third gold medal.
What this means for hockey
It’s hard to overstate the significance of the victory. As Hughes put it in his postgame interview mere minutes after scoring the game-winner, “This is everything.”
The 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ was a remarkable achievement, but this 2026 gold medal represents a power shift in global hockey.
While that win in Lake Placid was an unfathomable upset for a group of ragtag amateurs punching way above their weight class, grabbing gold in Milan was the culmination of years of building and developing the program into a hockey powerhouse. The U.S. can now compete with anyone to produce the world’s best players.
Following the gold in 1980, the U.S. failed to make the elimination rounds in each of the next two Olympics and never advanced past the quarterfinals again until 2002 in Salt Lake City.
History is unlikely to repeat itself this time. Team USA’s success seems much more sustainable now. They boast an extremely deep talent pool.
The majority of the team will all be under 35 at the next Olympics, including Boldy, the Hughes and Tkachuk brothers as well as captain Auston Matthews. The U.S. has also developed a promising group of young stars likely to debut in 2030. Defenseman Lane Huston and forwards Cutter Gauthier and Logan Cooley have all shown tremendous promise in the NHL and should complement the existing core.
While the women have medaled in every Olympics since the tournament began in 1988, the U.S. men’s teams have been an afterthought in international competition.
But now they no longer have to look up to Canada, Sweden or Finland as the cream of the crop. Team USA’s unforgettable 2-1 triumph over Canada in Milan cemented their place atop the hockey world.
Any way you put it, the tournament was a victory in itself.
Anticipation was high after last year’s Four Nations Face-Off and International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships, but this Olympic tournament exceeded all conceivable expectations.
Of course, the main draw of the tournament was the return of NHL players. After watching what transpired in 2026 compared to the product four years earlier in Beijing, ensuring the league remains involved in the event is paramount.
While including NHLers brought out the best players in the world, Russia was notably absent from the tournament. It can’t be considered truly best-on-best without the likes of superstars Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, Kirill Kaprizov, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
The best part of the tournament may have been an off-ice development. The tournament brought in a whole new audience of hockey fans. In the U.S., the NHL continues to lag behind the NFL and NBA in viewership. Still, the exhilaration of this Olympic hockey tournament is bringing new attention to the sport.
Ever since the tournament began and especially after Hughes netted the gold-clinching goal, hockey has become a source of national discussion. Many members of Team USA have received tremendous media exposure. The Hughes brothers in particular, who are infamously camera shy, have been on a media tour for over a week, making appearances on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live. The rush of national pride and the increased celebrity of American players will only further popularize the sport and appeal to a wider audience.
The impact was felt immediately. According to the NHL, the first two days after the NHL returned to action following the Olympics were its two biggest days of ticket sales thus far this season. The league also reported that merchandise sales in February increased by over 100% from November and that YouTube views increased by 200%.
No matter who you rooted for in this year’s Olympics, we can all agree that the tournament was good for the game. And that, regardless of who takes gold, is a cause for celebration.