2-1 To Make it 2-0

The 2026 Winter Olympics have officially come to a close. Perhaps the most exciting part of the games was the United States hockey teams. Both men and women. It was exciting, stressful, and fun to watch the games unfold. Quite honestly, 2-1 might just be my favorite number right now.

The women got off to a blazing start. Taking down anyone who got in the way of the gold medal. Rolling through Czechia 5-1, Finland 5-0, Switzerland 5-0, Canada 5-0, Italy 6-0, and Sweden 5-0 in route to the gold medal match against the rival Canadians. The U.S. Women outscored their opponents 20-1 in pool play. They then went on to beat Italy 6-0 in the quarterfinals, Sweden 5-0 in the semi's and would have a rematch with Canada for the gold medal.

That was the most laid back part of the tournament. Rolling through everyone with ease. It seemed all but inevitable that the U.S. was going to bring home the gold.

Canada, however, had other thoughts in mind. They had already been beat 5-0 by the U.S. in what was a pretty bad matchup and, quite frankly, a little embarrassing. They wanted revenge. It was their opportunity to show the world that the first game was a fluke and that they had plenty more to bring to the table.

The gold medal match came and it was more of a show this time. The Canadians came out swinging scoring the first goal in the second period. They'd hold the lead until the final minutes of the third period. With two minutes and four seconds left the U.S. women's all time Olympic scoring leader, Hilary Knight, put the puck in the back of the net.

I'll be the first to admit as I was watching the game, I couldn't help but think, "Oh man.. silver medal

here we come." But when Knight scored the goal, my mindset changed. Then came overtime. I HATE overtime in hockey. 3on3 hockey is probably one of the most nerve racking situations to watch in all of sports. So much space. So little room for error. Every time the opposing team has the puck I tense up more than I do getting a shot.

But, it didn't take long. Just over four minutes into overtime Megan Keller decided she had seen enough. A breakaway goal on a badly timed change for Canada sent the Canadians home with a silver medal after the 2-1 loss. It was a beautiful sight and man oh man did it feel nice listening to the Star-Spangled Banner.

Jump to the men's side. We can say it wasn't as easy of a journey this year compared to the women. The quarterfinals game was intense. Sweden pushed the United States to the brink of elimination. The game went to overtime, where Quinn Hughes scored a game winner to help the Americans move on the the semi's. The next game against Slovakia went a little easier as the Americans cruised to a 6-2 win.

So it was set. America. Canada. A battle of bitter rivals for an Olympic gold medal. Oh man was I excited as I'm sure many others were. This was the game that everyone wanted to see.

If you haven't paid much attention to international hockey recently, let me explain why this game would be so intense. Back in February of 2025, the Canadian fans did something that DID NOT sit well with the American team and with the American people as a whole. They booed the United States National Anthem. Oh boy, that set off a ripple that was fun to watch.

Flash forward to the game. Three fights in nine seconds. Yes you read that right, NINE SECONDS. The tensions from political policies and fan "hatred" (we'll call it that for now) spilled onto the ice and between these two teams. Since then, tensions between the two teams have been high and the rivalry was taken to a whole new level. There's even a commercial of the American hockey team, saying the biggest prize of all was bringing home Canadian tears. I'm not going to lie, I got in on that one.

So, now that we're caught up, lets get back to the Olympics. The gold medal match was going to be one to watch. Sad part is, it was on at such an early time that it was going to be difficult to watch. That didn't stop the crowd from tuning in though. There was an average of 27.6 million viewers for this game. I had to wake up at 5 AM to watch it. Boy was it worth it.

Fighting is frowned upon in the Olympics, so that was not to be expected. That doesn't mean that it couldn't be physical. Checking is still legal in men's hockey, and it could mean that both teams could be intense and bring the boom.

It was intense as it gets in this game. At least for me. The Canadians were the more dominant team for most of the game, keeping the Americans on their heels falling back, spending more time in their own zone as opposed to pushing down the ice. Nervous moments for American fans 58 minutes. They played 62. If that doesn't bring to light just how much pressure Canada was bringing, I don't know what will.

The Americans jumped out to a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game on a Matt Boldy goal. The Canadian pushed hard all game. They outshot the Americans 42-28. In the second period the Canadians broke through with a Cale Makar goal to tie it up. The goals were exciting, but that was a small portion of a game that was all around intense.

Not much happened in the third period, other than the Americans getting a 4 minute power play, that left Jack Hughes missing some teeth. This power play was cut short by a penalty of their own. It wasn't a pretty time on the PP, we'll leave it at that.

Overtime! Again, I HATE 3 on 3 OT!!! It seems like every time a team pushes forward it is a breakaway opportunity. So the amount of times I had my body clinched was ridiculous. Luckily, it didn't last too long. 1:41 into overtime, an American hero was born. Jack Hughes, bloody face and all, snuck the puck past the Canadian goaltender to bring the gold (and Canadian tears) home to the USA. 2-1, sound familiar?

Free Bird rang through the arena. It was music to American ears, and the sound of nails on a chalkboard to Canadians. The first gold medal for U.S. hockey since the "Miracle on Ice" game in 1980, where the Americans beat the Soviet Union in the ultimate underdog story. 46 years TO THE DAY. It almost seemed destined to happen.

It's a great story for the Americans, but we have to give credit to the Canadians. They played a great game, and had a great tournament. Unfortunately, sometimes the puck bounces the other way.

I'm willing to say this, the ONLY reason the United States was able to bring home gold is because of their goaltender. Connor Hellebuyck was a STUD. He stopped 41/42 shots and had some incredible, no, flat out impossible saves to keep the US in it. He was insane in net in the gold medal match. He was my Bro (MVP) this time.