U.S. Medalist Tracker: Men’s Hockey Brings Home Gold

The United States entered the 2026 Olympic Winter Games favored to reach the gold medal game against Canada — and that’s exactly how the tournament played out. On Sunday morning — 46 years to the day after the Miracle On Ice team of 1980 won gold — Team USA won gold for the first time since that unforgettable run in Lake Placid.

Jack Hughes scored the golden goal in overtime for a 2-1 win that ended a tense showdown with their long-time nemesis from north of the border, and it came just three days after the U.S. women’s hockey team also beat Canada in overtime for gold.

The result for the men in Milan wasn’t a miracle. It was the result of fielding perhaps the best team in the nation’s history. For the first time since 2014 NHL players were allowed to take part in the Olympics, and the U.S.’s 25-man roster was filled with superstars such as Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights, and of course the Hughes brothers, Jack of the Devils and Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild. Both brothers scored an overtime winner in the elimination rounds during the Olympics, with Quinn Hughes scoring to beat Sweden in the quarterfinals and Jack doing the same in the final.

In net the U.S. was led throughout the tournament by the league’s reigning MVP, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, who stood on his head throughout the gold medal game.

Each of the previous two times NHL players had taken part in the Games, the U.S. had been eliminated by Canada, including in an unforgettable gold-medal clash in 2010 on an overtime goal by Sidney Crosby at the Games in Vancouver. Canada then beat the U.S. again in the final of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-off last winter. This year, however, the U.S. looked to be the better team in the knockout rounds, beating powerful Sweden and routing Slovakia in the semifinals while Canada had to survive a pair of scares to reach the final. The Americans had their best chance at gold in 46 years, and they came through. To paraphrase the movie version of Herb Brooks, who coached the 1980 U.S. team, from the film “Miracle,” this was indeed their time.

Here is the complete roster for Team USA and each player’s road to glory in Milan. [To check out the Road to Glory for the U.S. women’s hockey team, click here. And to see every U.S. medalist in non-hockey sports, click here.]

Matt Boldy

Age: 24
Hometown: Millis, Massachusetts
Most recent team: Minnesota Wild

Road to Glory: Boldy played at Boston College where he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player before becoming a first-round draft pick of the Wild in 2019. He scored an early goal in the gold medal game to put the U.S. on top.

Kyle Connor

Age: 29
Hometown: Shelby Township, Michigan
Most recent team: Winnipeg Jets

Road to Glory: Like Boldy, Connor stayed home for college (playing at Michigan) and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist and a first-round draft pick in the NHL. He is a two-time All-Star who won the Lady Byng Trophy, given for sportsmanship, for the 2021-22 season.

Jack Eichel

Age: 29
Hometown: North Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Most recent team: Vegas Golden Knights

Road to Glory: Eichel has long been pegged for stardom and has made good on that promise. He was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft after one remarkable season at Boston University in which he won the Hobey Baker Award, and has made four All-Star teams while helping the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023.

Brock Faber

Age: 23
Hometown: Maple Grove, Minnesota
Most recent team: Minnesota Wild

Road to Glory: Faber took part in the 2022 Olympics before starting his NHL career with the 2022-23 season. He grew up a Wild fan and now serves as one of the team’s top defensemen.

Jake Guentzel

Age: 31
Hometown: Woodbury, Minnesota
Most recent team: Tampa Bay Lightning

Road to Glory: Born in Nebraska, Guentzel grew up in Massachusetts before returning to the Cornhusker State for college at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017.

Noah Hanifin

Age: 29
Hometown: Norwood, Massachusetts
Most recent team: Vegas Golden Knights

Road to Glory: The youngest player in Boston College history, Hanifin was just 17 when he first skated for the Eagles. He was the No. 5 pick for the Hurricanes in 2015 and made his lone career All-Star Game appearance for Carolina three years later.

Connor Hellebuyck

Age: 32
Hometown: Commerce, Michigan
Most recent team: Winnipeg Jets

Road to Glory: Helleybuck won the 2025 Hart Trophy as league MVP and is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie. He’s also found time to follow in his mother’s footsteps by writing two children’s books, both of which were co-authored by Thom Van Dycke and are about mental health. They are titled, “Bucky Beats the Blues” and “Is Something Wrong With Weasel?” He authored a spectacular tale in Milan, backstopping the U.S. to gold with the best save percentage at the Olympics.

Jack Hughes

Age: 25
Hometown: Canton, Michigan
Most recent team: New Jersey Devils

Road to Glory: Even as part of the ultimate hockey family — Hughes’s mother, Ellen, won a silver medal with the 1992 U.S. women’s team, and he has two brothers in the NHL: Quinn, who plays for the Canucks and is also on Team USA’s roster in Milan, and Luke, a teammate on the Devils — Jack stands out. He was the No. 1 overall pick by New Jersey in 2019 and he has made three NHL All-Star Games. He then overcame a lost tooth due to a high-sticking in the gold medal game to score the winner in overtime that instantly goes down as one of the most memorable moments in hockey history.

Quinn Hughes

Age: 26
Hometown: Canton, Michigan
Most recent team: Minnesota Wild

Road to Glory: Hughes is doing just fine keeping up with his little brother. He starred at Michigan before entering the NHL. In 2024, he won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman, is a two-time All-Star and scored the overtime game-winner for Team USA against Sweden in the quarterfinals in Milan.

Clayton Keller

Age: 27
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Most recent team: Utah Mammoth

Road to Glory: One of several Team USA players from St. Louis, Keller was named the top rookie in college hockey during his lone season at Boston University in 2016-17.

Jackson LaCombe

Age: 25
Hometown: Eden Prarie, Minnesota
Most recent team: Anaheim Ducks

Road to Glory: Like Keller before him, LaCombe starred for the Shattuck-Saint Mary’s boarding school team before heading off to college. He played at the University of Minnesota and is now in his fourth NHL season.

Dylan Larkin

Age: 29
Hometown: Waterford, Michigan
Most recent team: Detroit Red Wings

Road to Glory: Larkin and several family members founded the Larkin Hockey School at Lakeland Ice Arena in his home state of Michigan, where he starred for the Wolverines in college and has spent all 11 of his NHL seasons for the Red Wings, making three All-Star Games.

Auston Matthews

Age: 28
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Most recent team: Toronto Maple Leafs

Road to Glory: Perhaps the most decorated member of Team USA, Matthews was a youth sensation growing up in the unlikely hockey hotbed of Arizona. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL draft by Toronto, and has won the league’s Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, is a seven-time All-Star and led the league in goals scored (69) in 2023-24.

Charlie McAvoy

Age: 28
Hometown: Long Beach, New York
Most recent team: Boston Bruins

Road to Glory: McAvoy grew up a New York Rangers fan on Long Island, but that isn’t why he moved to Michigan for his final three years of high school — it’s because he joined the USA Hockey Development team. He has spent nine years with the Bruins in the NHL but he has another Rangers connection: his wife, Kiley, is the daughter of New York head coach Mike Sullivan, who is serving the same role in Milan for Team USA.

J.T. Miller

Age: 32
Hometown: East Palestine, Ohio
Most recent team: New York Rangers

Road to Glory: Now back with the Rangers, with whom he started his NHL career in 2012-13, Miller is a 14-year-veteran who didn’t make his first All-Star team until more than a decade in the league. He is the captain for the Blueshirts.

Brock Nelson

Age: 34
Hometown: Warroad, Minnesota
Most recent team: Colorado Avalanche

Road to Glory: Nelson has a personal connection to the great U.S. teams of Olympics past. His grandfather, Bill Christian, and great uncle Roger Christian, were on the gold-medal-winning squad of 1960. And his uncle, Dave Christian, played for the Miracle On Ice team of 1980. His wife, Karley Sylvester, played under another Miracle On Ice legend, Mark Johnson, at the University of Wisconsin. Nelson spent his first 12 years in the NHL with the Islanders before being traded to Colorado in March 2025.

Jake Oettinger

Age: 27
Hometown: Lakeville, Minnesota
Most recent team: Dallas Stars

Road to Glory: Oettinger was a first-round pick by the Dallas Stars and an NHL All-Star in 2024, but his path to playing time in Italy has been largely blocked by Hellebuyck.

Jake Sanderson

Age: 23
Hometown: Whitefish, Montana
Most recent team: Ottawa Senators

Road to Glory: Sanderson has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship and is the son of Geoff Sanderson, who played 17 seasons in the NHL. Jake was the fifth pick in the 2020 NHL draft.

Jacob Slavin

Age: 31
Hometown: Erie, Colorado
Most recent team: Carolina Hurricanes

Road to Glory: Slavin has spent his entire 11-year career with the Carolina Hurricanes, which drafted him in the fourth round in 2012 out of Colorado College. He is a NHL All-Star and a two-time winer of the Lady Byng Trophy.

Jeremy Swayman

Age: 27
Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska
Most recent team: Boston Bruins

Road to Glory: Swayman was a Hobey Baker Award finalist at the University of Maine before being drafted by the Bruins, with whom he made the 2024 All-Star Game. He is a backup to Hellebuyck in goal for Team USA.

Tage Thompson

Age: 28
Hometown: Orange, Connecticut
Most recent team: Buffalo Sabres

Road to Glory: His father, Brent, played and coached in the NHL, and so Tage moved frequently as a child, attending 11 different schools before going to college at the University of Connecticut. His brother, Tyce, has also played in the NHL. Tage made the All-Star team in 2023.

Brady Tkachuk

Age: 26
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Most recent team: Ottawa Senators

Road to Glory: Both Brady and his brother Matthew are part of the Team USA pipeline from St. Louis and another pair of brothers on the squad, along with the Hughes’ brothers. The Tkachuk boys are the sons of Keith Tkachuk, who played 19 years in the NHL and took part in four Olympics for Team USA. Brady was the fourth pick in the 2018 draft by Ottawa, for whom he has reached three All-Star Games and played a leading role on the U.S. team at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Matthew Tkachuk

Age: 28
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Most recent team: Florida Panthers

Road to Glory: Tkachuk was the sixth pick in the 2016 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames, and made the first of his two career All-Star Games for them in 2020. Before the 2022-23 season he was traded to the Florida Panthers, whom he has helped to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2024 and ’25 while making another All-Star Game in 2023 and playing for the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face Off.

Vincent Trocheck

Age: 31
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Most recent team: New York Rangers

Road to Glory: Trocheck has played for the Panthers, Rangers and Hurricanes and made two All-Star teams in his 13 NHL seasons.

Zach Werenski

Age: 28
Hometown: Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Most recent team: Columbus Blue Jackets

Road to Glory: After a star-studded career at the University of Michigan, where he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Werenski was picked eighth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2015. He led NHL defensemen in scoring in 2019-20 and has made one NHL All-Star Game.