USA Hockey Wins First Worlds Gold Since 1933 On Tage Thompson's Goal
'We addressed it — since 1933. We were embarrassed by it,' said U.S. head coach Ryan Warsofsky. 'And now we've put it to rest.'
Sunday's gold-medal game in Stockholm was a goaltending duel between the United States and Switzerland. It went to overtime tied 0-0 after 60 minutes.
Then, 2:02 into sudden death, with both teams playing 3-on-3, Tage Thompson broke into the offensive zone with Logan Cooley on a 2-on-1. One of hockey's hardest and most dangerous shooters, the 6-foot-6 center for the Buffalo Sabres used Swiss defender Jonas Siegenthaler as a screen and beat goaltender Leonardo Genoni high to his blocker side to ignite the celebration that has been 92 years in the making.
It was the Americans' 40th shot of the game on Genoni, who made 23 saves when Switzerland beat the United States 3-0 during round-robin play. Genoni also earned shutouts in Switzerland's two previous knockout-round games as his team beat Austria 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Denmark 7-0 in the semifinals.
Finishing the tournament with seven goals allowed in seven games for a 0.99 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage, 37-year-old Genoni was named tournament MVP. But even though the Swiss finished as the highest-scoring team in the tournament, they were shut out in the gold-medal game for the second-straight year, after losing 2-0 to Czechia in 2024.
At the other end of the ice, Team USA's Jeremy Swayman went 7-0-0 in his second world championship appearance. He gave up 12 goals over those seven games for a 1.69 GAA and .921 save percentage, and logged two shutouts.
The Americans were the tournament's second highest-scoring team, finishing with 46 goals in 10 games. They were also the youngest team in the tournament, with an average age of 24, and the roster was assembled by GMs Jeff Kealty and John Vanbiesbrouck with an eye toward giving a larger role to younger players who had already won on the international stage, whether that was at the world U18s or the world junior championship.
That thinking paid off. After losing 12-straight times in the semi-finals, the Americans dominated the host Swedes with a 6-2 win on Saturday to advance to the final and end the drought.
Of course, the U.S. did win gold medals at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. While there was no standalone world championship in either of those years, the International Ice Hockey Federation does not count Olympic gold toward world championship totals.
In the bronze-medal game earlier on Sunday, Sweden defeated Denmark 6-2.
While the Americans also beat third-ranked Finland 5-2 in their quarter-final game, they did not have to go through the top-ranked Canadians. In one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, the Canadians were eliminated by No. 11 Denmark in their quarter-final match. Playing on their home soil in the tournament's second venue in Herning, the Danes advanced to the playoff round with a shootout win over Germany in their final round-robin game. The win over Canada was their first in program history in the knockout round.
The Canadian roster was anchored by goaltender Jordan Binnington, who help his country win the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. It also featured 4 Nations stars Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim along with 2024 first-overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini and 2025 draft-eligible forward Porter Martone.
The U.S. worlds roster featured just two players who suited up at 4 Nations: Swayman — who did not see any game action in February — and Zach Werenski. He was named best defenseman and earned a spot on the world championship media all-star team.
Some others who just missed the cut in February signed on for worlds in hopes of of bolstering their cases when U.S. general manager Bill Guerin makes his final roster decisions for the 2026 Winter Olympics. That list includes golden goal-scorer Thompson — whose 4 Nations snub triggered 18 goals in 28 games after the February break, tying Alex Ovechkin for the most in the NHL. U.S. worlds captain Clayton Keller of the Utah Mammoth also had a strong finish to his season after missing the cut for 4 Nations, finishing with 30 points in 26 games.
The Americans' long sought-after worlds win caps off an outstanding year for USA Hockey. The U.S. programs also brought home gold at the 2025 world junior championship and 2025 women's world championship, and won silver at the women's U18 tournament and bronze at the men's U18s.
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