STOCKHOLM, May 25 (Reuters) — Tage Thompson fired a sudden-death winner for Team USA as it claimed a thrilling 1-0 victory over Switzerland in the final of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship on Sunday, its first gold medal at the tournament since 1933.
The United States’ victory brought to an end a long wait for a gold medal for the Americans, who despite sharing the biggest professional league in the game with Canada, have struggled at the international level.
Hockey history is clouded by the awarding of world champion status to the winners of the Olympic competition for many years, but the United States’ only stand-alone victory had come in 1933.
‘It feels awesome. I mean, it’s been so long for the U.S. It feels great putting this jersey back on; it’s been a long time for me, and to be able to come out with a gold medal, it’s pretty fantastic,’ Michael McCarron told Reuters.
‘And in overtime fashion, there’s no better way to win a game,’ the forward added.
Given that the Americans have not won Olympic gold since 1980, not one of the current team was even born the last time their nation stood on the top step of the podium, and Sunday’s winning squad was overcome with joy and relief as they celebrated their win.
‘I mean, we had some jam (good play), they had some jam. There were some lulls in the game for us, and sometimes that we were able to take it over, and both goalies played really spectacular,’ McCarron explained.
‘And three-on-three, anything can happen. It’s a little worrisome – going into three-on-three, you never know what can happen. Luckily, we have some great shooters on our team, and Tage was able to get it in there for us.’
Fellow forward Drew O’Connor was on the bench with McCarron when the game was decided.
‘Honestly, I feel like sometimes it’s tougher when you’re watching and you’re not on the ice. When you get up and go out there, it’s a little easier, you’re just kind of playing. But, yeah, there’s a lot of nerves,’ he told Reuters.
Many of the American players didn’t even see the winning puck hit the net.
‘I don’t know when it did! I just heard the buzzer, and I just jumped out and I thought, hopefully it went in, so I’m glad it did,’ a beaming McCarron said with his historic gold medal hanging around his neck.