Team USA Wins Gold in Men's Ice Hockey, Silencing Roster Doubters

Coach Mike Sullivan praises "whiskey drinkers" on the team after defeating Canada in overtime

Published on Feb. 23, 2026

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Team USA won the gold medal in men's ice hockey at the Winter Olympics, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime. The victory came despite criticism of the roster selections made by head coach Mike Sullivan and GM Bill Guerin, who chose gritty players like J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck over some high-scoring young forwards. After the game, Sullivan defended the roster decisions, saying they looked for players with the right "character and personality" to complement the skill players.

Why it matters

This gold medal ends a 46-year drought for the U.S. men's hockey team, who last won Olympic gold in 1980's "Miracle on Ice" team. The roster decisions by Sullivan and Guerin were controversial, but the team's success in penalty killing and grinding out close games proved the value of their choices.

The details

Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal, with the game-winning goal scored by New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes. Much of the team's success was attributed to the strong goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck and the gritty play of forwards like J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, who were criticized for making the roster over higher-scoring players. After the game, coach Mike Sullivan defended the roster decisions, saying they looked for players with the right "character and personality" to complement the skill players, including "whiskey drinkers" to provide the right locker room dynamic.

  • Team USA won the gold medal on Sunday, February 23, 2026.
  • The 2025 calendar year was the deadline for international teams to finalize their Olympic hockey rosters.

The players

Mike Sullivan

The head coach of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team who defended his roster decisions after the gold medal win.

Bill Guerin

The general manager of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team who worked with Sullivan to construct the roster.

J.T. Miller

A New York Rangers forward who was selected for the U.S. Olympic team despite some criticism, and helped the team's penalty kill unit.

Vincent Trocheck

A forward selected for the U.S. Olympic team who helped on faceoffs and the penalty kill, and spoke proudly about silencing the team's critics.

Connor Hellebuyck

The U.S. men's Olympic hockey team's goaltender who had a tremendous performance in the gold medal game.

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What they’re saying

“One of the things that Billy Guerin and I talked about from the very beginning was trying to build a team in the true sense of the word. So we looked at a deep group of American talent. and these decisions were very difficult. They weren't easy. You look at how this group is constructed, there was a thought process that we had players that could play in all situations. And maybe the most important aspect of it is just the character of the group, the personality of the team.”

— Mike Sullivan, Head Coach, U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team (The Athletic)

“The team was built with personality in the locker room. We were loaded with personality up and down our lineup. There are whisky drinkers and milk drinkers, and we got a lot of whisky drinkers on this team.”

— Mike Sullivan, Head Coach, U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team (The Athletic)

“I'm pretty f*cking proud, I'll be honest. Yeah, we heard all the talk, that we shouldn't be here...We were able to come here and we had a job to do, and it was to be good penalty kill guys, faceoff guys, character guys. We took that role and we ran with it.”

— Vincent Trocheck (Unspecified)

What’s next

The U.S. men's hockey team will look to build on their gold medal success and defend their title at the 2030 Winter Olympics.

The takeaway

Mike Sullivan and Bill Guerin's unconventional roster choices for the U.S. Olympic hockey team paid off with a gold medal, proving that character, chemistry, and complementary skill sets can be just as important as pure scoring talent when building a championship team.