Thanks to a 1-0 win over Switzerland on Sunday afternoon, Team USA won its first gold medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in 92 years. Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson scored the game-winning goal in overtime, while Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman recorded the shutout in goal.
Tage Thompson, USA has scored the winning goal in the group B match between USA and Norway at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in Herning, Denmark, Wednesday May 14, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix
Following the victory, the United States team accepted the championship trophy while carrying a Johnny Gaudreau jersey in hand.
Gaudreau, a long-time member of the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as a member of Team USA during several tournaments, was tragically killed by a drunken driver over the summer. He would have almost certainly represented the U.S. at this past year's Four Nations tournament and at the 2026 Olympics.
The World Championship is not the most prestigious of the men's hockey tournaments, and is primarily made up of NHL players on teams that missed the playoffs, as well as players playing professionally overseas. But given how much Team USA has struggled on the bigger stages, there was a big push for as many top players as possible to play in this year's tournament if they were available. Thompson, Detroit's Dylan Larkin and Columbus' Zach Werenski were among the available stars who went.
Will that success carry over to the 2026 Olympics? That remains to be seen, and will largely depend on whether or not Team USA takes its best players (something it does not always do because it feels it has to get the "right" players). Either way, this is a big moment for the players who played in this tournament, and a great gesture to Gaudreau following the victory.
