February 22 Olympic Journal: Gold For United States Men In Hockey and the Olympics Close

February 22 brought an end to the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. The Americans beat the Canadiens in men’s ice hockey. That was the last event of the Olympics, and then there was a closing ceremony.

This was a great Olympics for the United States, as it won a record 12 gold medals. It is worth reiterating at the outset that both the men and women won gold medals, both defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime. Do you think the gold medal-winning performance will mean unity for the American team as they go back to their National Hockey League teams?

February 22 Olympic Medal Table: The Final One

United States Wins Gold In Men’s Hockey

The United States Men’s hockey team, on February 22, defeated Canada in overtime, 2-1, just like the women’s team did. For the men, Jack Hughes scored the golden goal in overtime, sending the team into a frenzy, and the same happened at innumerable watch parties around the United States. Only 37 men had won a gold medal for the United States in hockey. Now, 25 more have.

There are several unusual occurrences that all pointed to the United States winning this game. First, today is the 46th anniversary of the American “Miracle on Ice,” with the United States men defeating the Soviets in Lake Placid in 1980. There was a movie made about that, probably the greatest moment in American hockey.

Second, Brock Nelson, who plays in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, had relatives on both of the previous gold medal-winning American teams in 1960 and 1980. Nelson had a grandfather and a great uncle on that 1960 team. His uncle, Dave Christian, was one of the best players on the American team in 1980. They won the gold medal in February 1980.

Hockey is the national sport of Canada, and the United States stole its thunder twice. The win for the hockey team today, February 22, was powered by US Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. His National Hockey League team, the Winnipeg Jets, might just go from having the best record in the NHL to having the worst record.

He is also having a bad season, which is odd since he won the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL last year. It did not matter. The United States was outshot 42-28. He saved 41 of them.

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony of these Olympics also took place today, on February 22. There were some interesting performances in this ceremony. The best part of the ceremony was the parade of nations. Olympic gold medalist hockey player Hilary Knight and ice dancer Evan Bates carried the American flag in front of the record-setting team. The other nations paraded in as well and were treated to quite a show.

Parting Shots

We heard a lot during the television broadcast about the next Olympics, in Los Angeles in 2028. It will be a record breaker with more nations and more sports than ever before. There was a nice montage of the great February moments of these Olympics on the television broadcast. Some advice for you from Scott Hanson of NFL Red Zone. Do not cry because it is over, but smile because it happened.