The US wins ice hockey gold
The win is a big deal, because it’s been 46 years since the US last won – although it’s often been in the running. Back then – 1980 – the contest had Cold War implications, because the Soviet team was a powerhouses. Back then, the players from the US and most other countries were amateurs; the Communist Soviets had ways around that and it was part of the reason for their dominance.
No more. Now everybody seems to be an NHL pro – both Americans and Canadians. For example, we get this about US goalie Connor Hellebuyck:
The Winnipeg Jets star is the reigning NHL MVP and winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender. He cemented himself as the best netminder in the world with a gold medal game performance for the ages.
He stopped 41 of 42 shots against Canada, 27 of them coming from the slot and 17 of them coming from the inner slot, according to Hockey Stats.
So he plays for Winnipeg ordinarily, but he’s originally from Michigan and played at UMass in college. As far as I know, that’s typical in that it helps to be born in a place that has a long cold winter. There’s also the fact that his older brother played professional ice hockey as well, which happens quite a bit (see the story of Jack Hughes, who made the winning goal in overtime):
Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida and grew up in Toronto, Ontario, before relocating with his family to Michigan for his high school years while playing for the US NTDP. …
Hughes comes from a family of ice hockey athletes. … His older brother, Quinn, was drafted seventh overall in the 2018 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks. His younger brother, Luke, was drafted fourth overall by the Devils in the 2021 NHL entry draft. Their father, Jim Hughes, is a former ice hockey player and team captain for Providence College, an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins, and the director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, played ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer at the University of New Hampshire and, in 2012, was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Athletics Hall of Fame. She also played for the United States women’s national ice hockey team, and won a silver medal at the 1992 World Championship.
His uncle Marty, and his cousin, Teddy Doherty, were also both involved in ice hockey. Marty last played in the British National League for the Dundee Stars, and Teddy last played for the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL.
Now, that’s a hockey dynasty. And you can also see the interplay of US and Canada (as well as Britain, for the uncles).
I’ve lived in ice hockey country for most of my adult life, but I don’t skate except in the most rudimentary fashion. When my son was little I did what so many of the other parents in the neighborhood did, which was to take him for skating classes at the local rink. Where I live, this generally starts at the age of two or three.
But my son had about as much aptitude for it as his father or I do, which is to say none. He was pretty good at some sports later on, but not skating and certainly not back then. And yet other two- and three-year-olds there were skating rings around him, and I mean that literally. They obviously had begun to skate as soon as they could walk, and they already looked like mini-NHL prospects.
I was just as happy to have my son give it up, which he did by the time he was four. One of the main reasons I was happy was that it’s cold standing or sitting around ringside, when the place is almost empty. Classes usually happened early in the morning on weekends, too. Not really my cup of tea. You have to be dedicated, and those hockey families are very dedicated.
Oh, and you have to be willing to lose a lot of teeth.
[NOTE: There’s also this very sad story of ice hockey-playing brothers. RIP:
John Michael Gaudreau (August 13, 1993 – August 29, 2024) was an American professional ice hockey player. A winger, he played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played college ice hockey for the Boston College Eagles in NCAA Division I for three seasons beginning in 2011 and was selected in the fourth round, 104th overall, by the Calgary Flames in the 2011 NHL entry draft. Nicknamed “Johnny Hockey”, …
Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed by a drunk driver while cycling on August 29, 2024, in Oldmans Township, New Jersey. …
Gaudreau was born on August 13, 1993, in Salem, New Jersey, to Guy Gaudreau, a former soccer player, college hockey player, and high school coach from Beebe Plain, Vermont, and Jane Gaudreau. He had two sisters and a younger brother, Matthew, who played hockey for the Worcester Railers and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the ECHL and AHL, respectively. …
On the evening of August 29, 2024, Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were struck and killed by a drunk driver while they were cycling in Oldmans Township, New Jersey. The Gaudreau brothers were cycling at around 8 p.m. and were hit from the rear by a motorist who was attempting to pass other vehicles on a two-lane rural highway. Police responded to the incident at 8:19 p.m.; both brothers were found dead at the scene by the time police arrived.[114] The driver, 44-year-old Sean M. Higgins of Woodstown, was arrested for drunk driving and charged with death by auto, after telling responding officers at the scene that he had consumed “five or six” beers before driving and continued to consume alcohol while operating the car; he failed a breathalyzer test when administered by police, along with failing a field sobriety test. Both Gaudreau brothers were also legally intoxicated at the time of the collision. …
The brothers had traveled to the township to attend their sister Katie’s wedding, which had been scheduled to take place the following day. …
During the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the American players also kept a Team USA #13 Gaudreau sweater with them. Johnny and Matthew’s surviving family including Guy, Meredith, Noa and Johnny Jr., also attended games during the tournament. When the United States defeated Canada in overtime to win the gold medal – the first for the men since the “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid in 1980 – the players skated Gaudreau’s jersey around the ice and then brought it and also Johnny Jr., who turned two the day of the gold medal game, and Noa out of the stands for the team photo following the medal ceremony.
The tributes are nice. But the deaths are unutterably sad.]
The Monday after they won in 1980, I started my first day at The Boeing Company. I was in so far over my head. To be that young and green again.
My wife has a scar in her scalp from a puck to head while a spectator hit by her brother no less. His comment, “it’s ok, it’s only my sister.”
The gold medal game was high caliber stuff throughout. I’m just glad the Canucks went with Binnington rather than Logan Thompson, who is my guy from the Caps.
I lived in Michigan (outside of Detroit) for several years. In the winter, a LOT of people put down plastic sheeting in their back yard and flood it for a small, backyard ice rink. A lot of pick-up games. Locally, the city would flood rinks in various parks during the winter. There was pee wee hocky on up. (The Michigan schools do very well in the NCAAs in hockey.)
“Jack Hughes is Jewish, had a bar mitzvah, and grew up celebrating Passover. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, is Jewish, and his father, Jim Hughes, is Catholic.”
TR:
Indeed. And I’d say that’s not typical of ice hockey families or ice hockey players.
I saw that, TR, but I don’t see what it has to do with hockey.
Kate: So sue me, it makes me happy.
Oh, I have not the slightest objection; I just don’t see what it has to do with hockey.
Our NHL team just got Quinn Hughes here in Minnesota on a trade from Vancouver. He made an immediate impact. Look for his highlights on YT. With that last piece in place, the Wild have legit Cup talent for the first time in maybe 20 years.
Neo’s mention of 3-yr-old skaters is so a propos. My son started hockey in 1st grade, and they put him with the kindergarteners–too humiliating, so he didn’t come back the next year. His coach for most of the first few practices was the retired NHL player who coached the varsity team. They want practices to be uniform for these boys for their entire development. And they compete for state championships year after year.
For myself, I played in my old little town’s first varsity team in 1976. We were all self-taught to the point of unteachable, but we loved our sport and had a great time. They put us in a playoff against a suburban team, and we lost 11-1. So I later came to understand what long development is needed for real success.
Yesterday felt great. It feels like Canada may never win another gold. Feels that way for now, anyway.
I see the Woman’s team won’t go to the WH. Oh well, have to maintain street creed.
For both men and women, there are professional games long-scheduled this week. I don’t think declining invitations on short notice is a snub.
Hard to believe it’s been 46 years since the Miracle on Ice. I remember watching the game on tape delay and although I didn’t know for sure the US had won you could kind of tell by the smirk on Jim McKay’s face. I used to be a big sports fan and that was probably the most thrilling game I’ve ever watched.
The 1980 team was the beginning of the emergence of American players in the NHL, which used to be 95 percent Canadian. I think Bobby Orr probably had a lot to do with that generation of kids playing hockey. He was a huge star in New England in the late 60’s and early 70’s and was probably the reason I started playing hockey. My career ended in middle school in Providence where the team I played on got beat 14-0. It was so bad they turned the scoreboard off at 8-0 so as not to embarrass us.
I don’t understand why sports teams refuse to be honored by the President.
The hypocrisy of the Left is getting old. All I heard from them was “it’s the office, not the man” during the Clinton and Obama eras. And what’s with the (liberal) Women in this country? Trump is protecting females from the woke transgender nonsense, making towns and communities safer by expelling CRIMINALS, some that are VIOLENT. The US Woman’s Hockey Team needs to reevaluate that refusal to attend the WH invitation. Put aside your selfish pride and prejudice.
The film “Miracle on Ice” with Kurt Russell as the legendary (University of Minnesota) coach of the 1980 team’s Olympic glory is excellent. It shows how it was done, and what managerial steps and pep talks are needed along the way. Notably concise and instructive.
I haven’t done a search, yet I’m sure it’s been examined and used to teach teams from sports to all kinds of business. The movie is based on coach Herb Brooks own book on that epic season.
Instapundit posted the Canadian rooted satire site, The Babylon Bee’s headline as “Communists Once Again Suck At Hockey”. A deserved skewering. And LOLz for me!
TR wrote “Jack Hughes is Jewish, had a bar mitzvah, and grew up celebrating Passover” :
I actually think that’s cool AND relevant in a way, since we are living in a sad and bizarre rash of antisemitism in this country, which is a topic of routine discussion, here.
Thus I was happily surprised to hear that piece of Jack’s story, simply because it’s great to see a group of smart, young, masculine Amercans with such team spirit and brotherly love, no matter some differences that have been treated like poison elsewhere.
James Sisco @ 1:50 am, I wholly agree! Sports teams snubbing Trump’s WH invitations are disgusting and immature.
Future regret and shame is warranted!!
…
That aside, I do hope the gold winners have patience and stamina for tonight’s SOTU speech. Trump promised a marathon!
Just a reminder. When the USA hockey team beat the Soviets in 1980, it was NOT for the Gold Medal. It was the semi-final game played to get into Gold Medal game. The 1980 USA hockey team beat Finland to win the gold medal in 1980.
Drunk driver hits drunk bicyclists. I just don’t understand this urge to get drunk or high.I guess as a society we just accept the loss of life. Two lives lost two families destroyed.