Milano Cortina 2026: There Were Cheers across the Country, after US Men Win First Olympic Hockey Gold since 1980

The Associated Press

11:54 JST, February 23, 2026

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — They chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and a few openly wept at Lake Placid’s Olympic Center, the same building where the “Miracle on Ice” happened exactly 46 years earlier. In Ohio, some waved flags inside a packed bar. And in Florida, a man played baseball wearing a USA Hockey jersey.

The man was George Springer. He plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Canadians might not have appreciated his wardrobe.

USA 2, Canada 1. The U.S. men are Olympic hockey gold medalists for the first time since 1980, after topping their rivals to the north in overtime on Sunday in Milan. The country — even though the game started at 8 a.m. in the East, 5 a.m. Pacific — was clearly watching, and when it went final overjoyed reactions could be found from sea to shining sea.

“I wasn’t here for the Miracle game, obviously. since I’m only 44,” said Jackie Palmateer, a vacationer who watched from the arena in Lake Placid on Sunday. “We were going to go skiing, and then this happened, and you have to watch the game, and I said, ‘Why would we want to watch this from the hotel?’ So, we came here. It’s like seeing history happen when you’re already in the museum.”

In Madison, Wisconsin, the goal horns went off at the Badgers’ hockey arena before the powerhouse women’s team hosted St. Cloud State — because the gold-medal game was being shown on the arena screen. When Jack Hughes scored the winner, people inside the arena began cheering.

Among those people: the St. Cloud State women’s team, because they were watching even though they had their own game to get ready for. Wisconsin — coached by Mark Johnson, who played for the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team — won the game 4-2.

“We were all watching that game. I was up early and doing my video and watching the game. Man, I think hockey in general won out, whether you’re a female player who likes females’ hockey or you’re a male player and like males’ hockey,” Johnson said after his team clinched the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship.

“We saw a great final game with Canada and the U.S. in the women’s game, and then today was a classic. The USA figured out how to win a game they didn’t play their best in. Canada’s a proud country. They played a real solid game and came up a little short, but I think in general hockey won, because I guarantee you every house, restaurant and bar in Canada had the game on and they were all watching it, and I’m sure a lot of people in the States that maybe had never watched hockey before watched.”

The White House took notice, with President Donald Trump posting on social media, “Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW!” Other politicians also weighed in; Sen. Amy Klobuchar posted a video of a hockey bar — Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub — in St. Paul, Minnesota, jammed at 7 a.m. local time. “They don’t call Minnesota the State of Hockey for nothing,” she wrote.

And in South Florida, the Elbo Room — a preferred hangout spot for Matthew Tkachuk — was filled as well for the early morning start time, then went bonkers when the Americans prevailed.

“Extremely proud,” Florida Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich said.

It was must-see-TV, even across different sports.

Some NBA teams might not have been watching customary pregame film on Sunday. They were watching hockey instead.

“I wasn’t waking up at 5:30,” Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But incredible, what an incredible sporting event, competition at its highest, amazing to watch.”

Kerr had dual rooting interests: He coached the U.S. to the men’s basketball gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024, And the Warriors’ vice president of player health and performance is Rick Celebrini — the father of Canada forward Macklin Celebrini, someone the entire Golden State organization follows and roots on, for obvious reasons.

The Miami Marlins gathered in their spring training clubhouse to watch overtime, chants of U-S-A breaking out in there when Hughes got the game-winner. Springer, according to MLB.com, bolted from the Blue Jays’ clubhouse to celebrate outside when the U.S. won the game, then took live batting practice in the USA Hockey jersey.

And in Mesa, Arizona, the Athletics watched the Olympic hockey final together in the clubhouse of Hohokam Stadium — and Canadian center fielder Denzel Clarke was the one left heartbroken afterward.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay said the game was “pretty incredible.” But he felt for Clarke as well.

“Well, it was one against 72 in there,” Kotsay said. “He would have definitely let us all know about it. So, we kind of got fortunate and very thankful for Team USA to win the gold today. Not much does quiet Denzel, but it definitely quieted him.”

It wasn’t quiet in Lake Placid. Or just about anyplace else in the U.S. that had the game on Sunday. What happened on Feb. 22, 1980, with the “Miracle” team will resonate, and odds are, so will what happened on Feb. 22, 2026, with this golden group.

“The next generation,” U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck said, “has something to look up to.”

On Sunday, it seemed like an entire nation felt that way.