The first US Olympic men's hockey gold since 1980 happens without needing a 'Miracle'

MILAN — Dave Christian got emotional throughout the Winter Olympics watching nephew Brock Nelson play for the U.S., just like he did during the magical run in 1980.

Then it got even better: He got to congratulate Nelson after he became a gold medalist, just like him.

''Fun to share this with him,'' Nelson said after the U.S. beat Canada in overtime 46 years to the day of Christian and his teammates pulling off the ''Miracle on Ice'' by defeating the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to gold in Lake Placid in upstate New York.

Christian and Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 team, were in attendance at Milano Santagiulia Arena to witness just the third U.S. men's hockey gold medal in history. Eruzione had been around the team before, including a dinner at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago in Montreal, and has been willing to dole out advice whenever current players ask.

He just doesn't want their accomplishment to be overshadowed too much by looking back nearly a half-century to what Eruzione and Co. did.

''I'm happy for them,'' Eruzione told The Associated Press by phone. ''It's got nothing to do with me or the 1980 Olympic team. I think my teammates and I are just proud at what these guys did and congratulations to them. They're part of the family. They joined the gold medal club.''

It's a different time than 1980, and the game is viewed very differently in the U.S. Back then, on Feb. 22, 1980, the U.S. win over the Soviets was aired on tape-delay. This win, on Feb. 22, 2026, was aired live, though the broadcast started at 8 a.m. Eastern on a Sunday.

''I think every single person in that game can be proud,'' said Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal like Eruzione did. "Just a great game between USA and Canada.''

Milan is obviously also a different setting than Lake Placid, but U.S. players stayed in the athletes' village in Italy — unlike Canada, which moved to a hotel — and soaked up the full experience of the NHL being in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

''We just really embraced the full Olympic aspect of it,'' captain Auston Matthews said. ''From the village to everything, we just had a blast for two weeks. To come out with a gold medal it's obviously an incredible feeling but I'll definitely remember the whole two weeks.''

That 1980 team was famously made up of players largely from Minnesota and Boston. This team showed how much the game has grown in the U.S.

This team had plenty of players with Massachusetts and Minnesota ties, sure, but there were players from Missouri, New York, Ohio, Connecticut, Alaska, Colorado, Montana and more.

He's certain the 1980 team sparked growth within the game in the U.S. He's just as certain that the two golds in Milan -- ''the ladies, too,'' Eruzione said -- will get even more kids to say they want to play hockey.

''Dating back to 1980, it's been a long time,'' center Jack Eichel said. "I know the 1980 team did and what that meant for generations that came after in USA Hockey. We wrote our own story here. It's a really proud moment for every guy in that room, every person that's a part of the team.''

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Reynolds reported from Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

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