The Chicago Blackhawks sent two Americans to the IIHF World Championships. Alex Vlasic, in the role of a defensive defenseman, and Frank Nazar, in the role of an offensive depth piece, played huge parts in helping the team get to the Gold Medal Game for the first time since 1934.
Playing against Team Switzerland, who found themselves in the Gold Medal game for the second year in a row, Team USA knew that they needed a big effort to get it done.
This Gold Medal game was a very different kind of match for Team USA. They are usually a team that loves scoring tons of goals. In this one, regulation time ended scoreless. Overtime was needed where one goal would turn someone into a hero forever.
Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson was that hero as he scored the Golden Goal for Team USA. This is USA Hockey's first Gold Medal victory at this tournament since 1933.
This is a young team, the youngest in the tournament. They don't have the Hughes brothers, the Tkachuk's, Jack Eichel, or Auston Matthews. A bunch of young stars took over and got the job done.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman earned the shutout, which was needed to secure this victory. Without his brilliance at the most important time, the United States might have never found that big game-winning goal.
Now, after what was a good NHL season for both of them, Alex Vlasic and Fran Nazar will come back to North America with Gold Medals. This has been an incredible run for them. Another valuable experience is in their back pocket as they look to take big NHL steps with their NHL team in 2025-26.
USA Hockey has been on quite a run. They have won the last two Gold Medals at the World Junior Championships, they came in second place at the 4-Nations Face-Off with an overtime loss off the championship game, and now they have a Gold Medal at the World Championships.
Next up for USA Hockey is the Olympics. You'd think that both Vlasic and Nazar will have a chance to be a part of it following this tournament. They are slowly becoming prominent pieces to USA Hockey overall at this time. Going to the World's tournament and winning Gold certainly won't hurt their case.
Nazar finished the tournament tied with the team lead (Logan Cooley) in scoring. He had six goals and six assists for 12 points. To say he exceeded expectations would be an understatement. Nobody on Team USA took more advantage of their ice time than Nazar.
Vlasic didn't create as much offense with this team, but that wasn't his role. It was hard to score against the Americans in most games, and he was a big reason for that.
Next up for these two is a summer preparing for the following NHL season with the Blackhawks. With a new head coach in place, they will all be looking for bigger and better things going forward. Now, Alex Vlasic and Frank Nazar have a taste of big-time winning, which should fuel them even more.
