For the first time since 1980, the gold medal in Olympic men’s ice hockey belongs to the USA.
Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner to lift USA to a 2-1 win over Canada in the gold-medal game of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Italy on Sunday.
The U.S. roster includes 20 former NCAA D-I college players, including Matt Boldy (Boston College), who scored the game’s first goal at 6:00 of the first period. Quinn Hughes (Michigan) recorded an assist.
U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck (UMass-Lowell) finished with 41 saves, including a number of impressive stops during 93 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play for Canada during the second period. Canada outshot USA 42-28 on the afternoon.
Cale Makar, who played college hockey at UMass, scored late in the second period for Canada’s only goal.
At the 1:41 mark of the extra frame, Zach Werenski (Michigan) carried the puck into the offensive zone and sent a cross-ice pass to Jack Hughes in the slot, who fired a shot five-hole net for the game-winning tally.
Quinn Hughes was named the tournament’s top defender while Hellebuyck took best goaltender honors. It was the USA’s third Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey overall, and first since the “Miracle on Ice” team of 1980.
The other former college players on the USA roster included Noah Hanifin, Boston College; Kyle Connor and Dylan Larkin, Michigan; Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, Jake Oettinger, Clayton Keller and Brady Tkachuk, Boston University; Brock Faber and Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota; Jake Guentzel, Omaha; Brock Nelson and Jake Sanderson, North Dakota; Jaccob Slavin, Colorado College; Jeremy Swayman, Maine; and Tage Thompson, Connecticut.
In all, 49 former and current NCAA men’s hockey players were on the rosters at this year’s Games.