U.S. Men Claim 2026 Olympic Gold Medal

The Miracle on Ice finally got some company.

Exactly 46 years to the day that the Americans defeated the Russians at Lake Placid, the U.S. men's hockey team won its third goal medal ever with a 2-1 victory over Canada in overtime in the championship game Sunday at the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.

Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils scored less than two minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime, assisted by Zach Werenski (Michigan), to give the U.S. the win and its first Olympic men's hockey title since 1980. Cale Makar (Massachusetts) had tied the game in the second period for Canada, which was seeking its first Olympic men's gold since 2014, the last time that NHL players participated in the Olympics. Matt Boldy (Boston College) scored Team USA's first goal of the day in the first period, assisted by Quinn Hughes (Michigan), on the Americans' first shot on goal.

Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) stopped 41 shots for the Americans, including a point-blank save on Devon Toews (Quinnipiac) in the second stanza. Toews later posted the lone assist on the goal by Makar, his teammate with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Canada outshot the U.S., 42-28, overall but went 0-for-3 on the power play, including a two-man advantage in the second period, while the U.S. finished 0-for-2.

It was America's first Olympic men's hockey gold medal won outside the United States, as the first came in California in 1960. The U.S. won both Olympic hockey gold medals this year, with the American women also defeating Canada, 2-1 in OT, on Thursday.

UAF Claims 15th Straight Governor's Cup

For the 15th straight time, the Alaska Airlines Governors Cup belongs to the University of (Alaska) Fairbanks.

The Nanooks sewed up their annual in-state rivalry with Alaska Anchorage with a pair of wins in southeastern Alaska this weekend, defeating the host Seawolves by 4-3 and 6-2 scores. UAF has won four of its six meetings with UAA this season, while also recording a tie.

On Friday at Sullivan Arena, Braden Birnie scored with three seconds remaining in regulation to lift UAF to the win. On Saturday, Birnie supplied a goal and two assists, while Chase Dafoe and Alexander Malinowski both scored twice. 

Lassi Lehti stopped 26 of 31 shots for the Nanooks over both games, which drew over 3,000 spectators each night to Sullivan Arena. Tyler Krivtsov stopped 51 of 60 shots in all for UAA, which got goals from five different skaters over the weekend.

The Nanooks (12-15-2 overall) and Seawolves (5-23-1) will close out their 2025-26 NCAA independent season series on Feb. 27-28 at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Princeton Ties with Colgate

Princeton and Colgate skated to a 1-1 deadlock on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink in ECAC Hockey men's play. The game will officially go into the NCAA's books as a tie, although visiting Colgate won the ensuing shootout, two to one, to earn an extra point in the conference standings.

Following a scoreless first period, Max Nagel put Colgate on top, 1-0, midway through the second period with his 10th goal of the season. The score remained unchanged until more than 11 minutes into the final frame, when Princeton defenseman Tyler Rubin knocked home a rebound to tie the contest for the Tigers.

In the shootout, Brendan Gorman scored for Princeton (14-11-2 overall, 10-8-1 ECAC Hockey), while Nagel and Jack Brandt connected for Colgate (11-16-4, 8-8-3).  The Raiders are now unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Princeton.

Arthur Smith finished with 25 saves in regulation for the Tigers, while Reid Dyck made 47 stops for the visiting Raiders. Both teams finished 0-for-1 on the power play and also won 26 of 52 faceoffs overall, while Princeton outshot Colgate on the night, 42-26, before 1,811 spectators.

U.S. Women Win 2026 Olympic Gold

For the second time in three Olympic Winter Games, the United States has won gold in women's ice hockey.

Megan Keller (Boston College) slipped home a backhander just over four minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime to lift Team USA to a 2-1 victory over Canada in today's women's ice hockey gold medal game in Milan, Italy. The U.S. last won women's hockey gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, with Canada winning four years ago in Beijing. It is the third gold medal all-time for the American women.

Keller's game-winner came after Team USA tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on an extra-attacker goal. Team captain Hilary Knight (Wisconsin), playing in her fifth and final Olympics, tipped home a shot by rookie Laila Edwards (Wisconsin) to push the contest into the extra session. For Knight, it was her 15th career Olympic goal, tops among American women all-time. Keller also assisted on Knight's goal, after Kristin O'Neill (Cornell) had put Canada ahead, 1-0, early in the second period on a shorthanded goal.

Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) stopped 30 shots for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 31 saves for the Canadians. The two rivals combined to go 0-for-4 on the power play before 11,171 on-lookers at Milano Santagiulia Arena. The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0, while Canada's only two loses came to the Americans.  

Team USA's Caroline Harvey was named Olympic MVP and Best Defender after tallying two goals and seven assists for a tournament-high nine points in her second Olympics. She helped the U.S. to a silver medal four years ago as rookie.

Switzerland defeated Sweden, 2-1, in OT in this year's bronze medal game, with Alina Muller  (Northeastern) notching the game-winning goal. It was the first Olympic medal for the Swiss women since they also won bronze in 2014 in Sochi.

U.S. Men Edge Sweden to Reach Semis

Two former Michigan Wolverines made it Team USA's night.

Dylan Larkin (Michigan) scored the first goal of the game in the second period, and Quinn Hughes (Michigan) wristed home a shot early in overtime to lift the United States over Sweden, 2-1, in a men's ice hockey quarterfinal matchup at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.

Hughes helped set up Larkin's deflection goal midway through regulation to open the scoring. After Sweden tied the contest on an extra attacker goal with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Hughes won it just over three minutes into the 3-on-3 extra session with a shot from the slot after taking a pass from Matt Boldy (Boston College). Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) finished with 28 saves in the American net.

The U.S. now moves on to face Slovakia in one semifinal on Friday, while Finland will take on Canada in the other one. Canada outlasted Czechia, 4-3, in OT in the quarterfinals thanks to a goal and two assists from Macklin Celebrini (Boston University).

ADDENDUM: Team USA routed Slovakia, 6-2, and will face Canada, a 3-2 winner over Finland, in Sunday's gold medal game.

2026 Richter Award Top 10 Announced

A list of the 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award, which is annually awarded to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey, was released last week, according to collegehockeynews.com:

Trey Augustine, Michigan State (Jr. – South Lyon, Mich.)

Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell (Fr. - Trois-Rivières, Que.)

Emmett Croteau, Dartmouth (Jr. – Bonnyville, Alb.)

Michael Hrabal, Massachusetts (Jr. – Prague, Czechia)

Jack Ivankovic, Michigan (Fr. - Mississauga, Ont.)

Josh Kotai, Augustana (Jr. - Abbotsford, B.C.)

Tyler Muszelik, Connecticut (Sr. - Long Valley, N.J.)

Jan Spunar, North Dakota (Fr. - Olomouc, Czechia)

Alex Tracy, Minnesota State (Sr. - Chicago, Ill.)

Lawton Zacher, Northeastern (Jr. - Buffalo, N.Y.)

Augustine is currently third among Division I men's netminders with 20 victories so far this season, while Ivankovic is fourth with 18 wins, and Tracy is first with five ties. Kotai is second with 1,080 minutes played, while Tracy is fourth with 1,755 minutes. Tracy is fourth with a 1.91 goals-against average, while Augustine is fifth (1.96) and Kotai is 10th (2.06). Kotai and Zacher are tied for the national lead with four shutouts, while Kotai ranks first overall with 890 saves made, and is also tied with Muszelik for second overall with a .935 save percentage.

The 2026 Mike Richter Award winner will be announced on April 10 at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

Quinnipiac Tops Princeton, 4-1, for Sweep

Ethan Wyttenbach and Matthew McGroarty each scored one goal and set up another as fifth-ranked Quinnipiac topped host Princeton, 4-1, this afternoon at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink before 2,230 on-lookers. The Bobcats thus completed a two-steep sweep in ECAC Hockey play, having bested the visiting Tigers by the same score on Saturday evening in Hamden, Conn.

McGroarty opened the scoring on Sunday, wristing a shot from the right circle into the far side of the Princeton net just over three minutes into the second period. David Ma responded for Princeton on a power play just under two minutes later, before Quinnipiac's Alex Power put the Bobcats ahead for good less than 90 seconds later off a deflection in front for his first goal of the season.

Antoni Verreault made it a two-goal game with a shot from the right circle on a power play nine minutes into the final frame, before Wyttenbach closed out the scoring on an empty-netter from center ice with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

Dylan Silverstein finished with 21 saves in goal for Quinnipiac (24-5-3 overall, 15-2-1 ECAC Hockey), while Arthur Smith made 21 stops for Princeton (14-11-1, 10-8-0). The Bobcats outshot the Tigers, 25-22, and also won 40 of 70 faceoffs in all. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.

Quinnipiac remains in first place in ECAC Hockey, while Princeton falls to fifth.