{"id":484902,"date":"2026-02-23T02:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484902\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T02:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:40:14","slug":"bruins-watch-team-usa-beat-canada-for-gold-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484902\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins watch Team USA beat Canada for gold medal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2-1 OT win over Canada<\/a> brought the Yanks their first Olympic gold since 1980 and their third overall (1960). They were carried on the wide shoulders and blocker of UMass Lowell product Connor Hellebuyck (41 saves), who received some sensational backup from Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins\u2019 franchise defenseman who slipped behind Hellebuyck under heavy fire with 8:15 to go in a tied game. <\/p>\n

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\"GoalieGoalie Connor Hellebuyck got some help from Charlie McAvoy, who kept Canada’s Nick Suzuki at bay in the third period. Pool\/Getty<\/p>\n

The Canadians, including Nick Suzuki and Devon Toews, were buzzing all around the crease and it was McAvoy, trapped in the US net, who blocked Tom Wilson\u2019s Grade-A go-ahead attempt. McAvoy was still pinned in the net when ex-teammate Brad Marchand delivered one more shot from short range, an attempt snuffed out by Hellebuyck. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty crazy,\u201d said Mittelstadt, noting McAvoy\u2019s impromptu Vezina performance. \u201cWe were watching and someone yelled, \u2018I think Chuckie saved it!\u2019 Then we saw the replay . . . a pivotal point in the game. It probably gets overlooked by the overtime goal, but who knows if they get there if [McAvoy] isn\u2019t there, right? . . . Pretty cool, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins delayed the start of practice by an hour (to 11:30 a.m.) to accommodate the players\u2019 moveable feast of a watch party leading up to the workout A good-sized group started out in the Guest Street weight room, watching Period 1 on TVs. Then it was on to the players\u2019 lounge for Period 2 and eventually over to the meeting room (tiered seating) for the third.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were spread out,\u201d said a smiling Mittelstadt. \u201cEspecially the third \u2014 that was a pretty electric period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA flag-draped Charlie McAvoy celebrates his new gold medal with his child. ALEXANDER NEMENOV\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Beginning with a practice Monday morning (weather permitting), Black-and-Gold Olympians David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, and Elias Lindholm will be repatriated with their Spoked-B brethren. It could be another day or more before Finns Joonas Korpisalo and Henri Jokiharju are reunited with the group. <\/p>\n

No telling, as of Sunday night, if gold medalists McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman will get in a skate here prior to Thursday\u2019s game vs. the Blue Jackets at TD Garden. The Americans were on a post-game flight to Miami, the impending blizzard nixing plans to land in New York.<\/p>\n

Whenever McAvoy and Swayman do come walking through that door, it will be the first time the club has welcomed home US gold medalists fresh from the Olympics. Jim Craig, whose heroics in net backed the \u201880 USA win at Lake Placid, had a four-game NHL debut with Atlanta following the Adirondacks. He was traded to the Bruins that June before his short run here during the 1980-81 season.<\/p>\n

Dual citizen Mark Kastelic, whose parents grew up in Canada, was a touch more subdued than Mittelstadt. In a room full of split allegiances, his emotions about a USA-Canada final played down the middle.<\/p>\n

\u201cA crazy game with near-misses . . . power plays for both teams near the end . . . exciting to watch,\u201d mused Kastelic. \u201cGood on the US, I guess, for winning the gold medal. I am happy for our boys [McAvoy and Swayman] here. I imagine it\u2019s a tough one for the guys on Canada, but I am happy for Charlie and Sway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any temptation to let out a joyful scream at the end, noted Kastelic, was muted because, \u201cWe weren\u2019t the ones over there doing it, so at the end of the day, I felt like everyone has respect in here for each other. So no one\u2019s rubbing it in anyone\u2019s faces, I don\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bay State\u2019s Jordan Harris, healthy again after a lengthy stay on injured reserve, tapped into the US Olympic hockey dream as a kid watching \u201cMiracle,\u201d the movie about the \u201880 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is one thing that is as close as pulling on the USA jersey, it\u2019s playing for your hometown [NHL] team,\u201d said Harris, who played four seasons at Northeastern before beginning an NHL career that brought him here in the offseason. \u201cOf course it\u2019s your dream to play in the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

If pressed, said Mittelstadt, after watching \u201cMiracle\u201d countless times, he could recite from memory the famed speech coach Herb Brooks made to his USA charges prior to taking on the mighty USSR. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou were meant to be here tonight,\u201d said Brooks. \u201cThis is your time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came time for the 2026 USA team to claim the gold Sunday, Mittelstadt, born 18 years after the win at Lake Placid, watched on the TV in admiration and quiet respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, we tried to keep it a little classy,\u201d he said of his fellow Black-and-Gold Yanks. \u201cBut we were a little excited . . . obviously there\u2019s some bragging rights. But I think most of us, more than anything, were cheering for a good hockey game. That\u2019s what\u2019s best for the sport and it was a heck of a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2-1 OT win over Canada brought the Yanks their first Olympic gold since 1980 and their third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[19859,385,99],"class_list":["post-484902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-bruins","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}