Louisa Thomas on Team U.S.A.’s men’s hockey team winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics against Team Canada.
MacKinnon glided toward the puck—and toward Zach Werenski, who’d beaten him there. Then the Canadian hesitated, ever so slightly. That was all it took. Werenski was able to fight him off, turn back, and get off a sharp pass across the ice to Hughes, who was flying up the left side.
Hughes was ready for it. He shot and scored, a goal that gave the U.S. its first gold in men’s hockey since 1980, when a bunch of college kids beat the mighty Soviets on their way to the final. There is now, as there was then, a political context that seemed to inform every hard hit, every ringing chant for Canada or for the U.S.A. Donald Trump, after all, has made no secret of his contempt for Canadians or his disregard of their sovereignty. And the Canadians have made hockey, the country’s national sport, a kind of referendum on their strong identity. “You can’t take our country—and you can’t take our game,” wrote the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the Canadians’ overtime win over the U.S. for the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy last year—one of the wildest, most highly charged sporting events I’ve ever seen. But the thrilling reality is that these U.S. and Canada teams were well matched in most measures, and together put on a display of unbelievable speed and skill. The competitive intensity between them had less to do with some narrative of freedom versus tyranny based on the two nations’ differences and more to do with their familiarity. The U.S. and Canadian players face each other all year long, crisscrossing the border. Some of them are teammates, and might even refer to one another as family. They know each other’s weaknesses and tendencies. They respect each other, sometimes grudgingly. But it was obvious from the determination on both sides that they understood friendships don’t define rivalries. “There’s hatred there,” the quick-to-brawl American forward Brady Tkachuk said before the game. “I mean, they’ve been the top dog. They’ve been the best for the last bunch of years, and, for us, we want to be in that position, be the best. So it’s going to be a game where I think a lot of guys could say, This is the biggest game that they’ve ever played in.” And after Hughes’s golden goal, that’s the way it seemed. Blue gloves and helmets flew into the air, and the players poured onto the ice in jubilation. “It was just euphoria,” Charlie McAvoy said. “I can’t even explain what I was feeling, just pure joy.” The Canadians, meanwhile, are left with silver medals and regrets over missed opportunities. Because for most of the game, right up until the moment that Hughes kicked the puck out of the corner to begin Team U.S.A.’s winning attack, Canada had the clear edge in every respect—except goaltending. The Canadians outshot the Americans 42–28. Hughes’s goal will be the single moment from this game that is long remembered, but it was Connor Hellebuyck’s performance that made it possible. Hellebuyck stood up in traffic, stuffed Connor McDavid on a breakaway, and somehow managed to reach back and use his paddle to deflect what should have been a tap-in by Devon Toews near the start of the third. Hellebuyck, with forty-one saves, is the game’s true hero. That Hellebuyck was capable of such a performance is no surprise; he’s the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, which is awarded to the N.H.L.’s best goaltender. But the knock on him was that he faltered in big games. Playing for the Winnipeg Jets, he struggled so badly during a playoff series against the St. Louis Blues that he was pulled three times. No one can doubt now what Hellebuyck can do under pressure, just as no one can fault Hughes for putting the U.S. in a tight spot late in the third, with his own high-stick penalty. There is room in sports for second chances. Becoming better, after all, is the basis for the hard-won pride of athletes, and perhaps of nations. “So proud to be an American,” Hughes said after the game. Werenski also expressed his sense of pride: “Representing the U.S.A., it’s been an honor of a lifetime doing this on this stage. We felt the support from back home. We felt it in the Village, we felt it from all the other athletes, around the city, tonight in the building. I feel like we maybe united the country, and that says something.” President Trump called the locker room to congratulate the team on their win, but he will surely try to co-opt the U.S.’s victory. He will try to turn the win into something jingoistic. But the game and the Olympics as a whole serve as a reminder that national pride isn’t always a bad thing. It can be a source of resilience, and a wellspring of improvement. “Olympic spirit, team chemistry, and there’s something to that,” Dylan Larkin said. “When you’re around all the other athletes, the best athletes in the world, and you get to talk to them and be around that environment, it’s contagious.” Maybe the athletes understand something about competition we would all do well to learn. A hockey game might be zero-sum, but pride isn’t, and shouldn’t be. “I think every single person in that game can be proud,” Hughes said. “Obviously, a great game, and we had the better outcome, but just a great game between U.S.A. and Canada.” ♦
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