Gold medal win will grow American hockey

The United States was due for another instance of international men’s hockey glory. Nothing will beat 1980’s Miracle on Ice, when an underdog American team beat the heavily favored Soviet Union at the Lake Placid Olympics. In 1996, a generation of American players inspired by that 1980 team won the inaugural World Cup of Hockey. It’s been a long 30 years, but American hockey finally has its next indelible moment to spur on its future generations.

The United States captured Olympic gold on Sunday, edging out Canada in a 2-1 overtime thriller that will go down as one the greatest games ever played. Connor Hellebuyck, Jack and Quinn Hughes, and the rest of the American squad will forever be remembered as Olympic heroes. It will be interesting to see if this victory will invigorate American hockey as much as the Miracle on Ice.

On Daily Faceoff’s Post Game Show, Jeff Marek, Tyler Yaremchuk, and Jonny Lazarus discussed the potential impact of this win within the United States.

Jeff Marek: This is a huge moment for U.S.A. hockey. Is there going to be a massive cascading, or a massive spike now, for hockey in the United States?

Jonny Lazarus: I know this audience is largely Canadian, and I do not want this to be a comparison. I’m prefacing that right now. I interviewed Wyatt Cullen earlier this week, the son of former NHLer Matt Cullen, who plays for NTDP U-18s. I asked him who his favorite player is, and he said Jack Hughes. So for the younger generation of American players, who look up to Jack Hughes, similar to how our generation looked up to Sidney Crosby, whether you were American or Canadian. Sidney Crosby was the best in the game, I am not implying that Jack Hughes is the best in the game, but for the American kids, and the younger kids coming up now in American hockey, Jack Hughes is that guy for them, or one of those guys. I’m not saying he’s the only guy, there still is Eichel, there still is Matthews, and Quinn Hughes, and all these talented guys. But Jack is on that level for the 18-year-olds all the way down to the 12-year-olds.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Sunday’s episode here…