USA Men's Hockey Gold Medal Press Conference

What is that performance by Connor Hellebuck rank in American hockey history?

Well, he was a hero tonight for our team without a doubt. You know, he made a lot of timely saves throughout the course of the game. I think Connor was, he was part of the foundation of this group from the get-go Dating back to the four nations and and throughout the course of this tournament You know just a high-stakes player in a in a high-stakes environment, you know I think that's when players build their legacy and corner certainly did that tonight

Have you had any messages from the United States, from the president maybe, from the White House? This was such an anticipated game and you've done it. So can you give us an idea if anyone's been in touch? Thank you.

Yeah. So the players just had the president on I don't know what it was. What do you call it? FaceTime, whatever, in the locker room. So he just spoke to the group, expressing his, how proud he was of the group and congratulating everybody

on the win. Obviously, this game, in a lot of of ways Was an inspiration to our country and you know I can't tell you how many texts I've received over the last day or so about watch parties at 8 o'clock in the morning and You know, I think I think from a viewership standpoint in the United States There were a lot of people paying attention, the president included.

Mike, we came here, we were asking you about Jack Hughes's availability, because he was hurt coming here. And then you see him, he not only scores the goal, but he's missing a tooth that's chipped somewhere on the ice, and what he went through.

And then he's sitting in the box at time that is a key time to.

Just take me through what Jack has meant for you and what that must have been like for him too. So I think Jack had a terrific tournament from the first game on. The goals he scored were big time goals. It's an emotional roller coaster when you go through these experiences.

And I just think Jack was at the center of a lot of the good things that happened for our team. He's a high stakes player. He brought his very best when the stakes were the highest. Tonight was a perfect example of it.

Speak of the devil.

So ladies and gentlemen, welcome all the players, the gold medalists. We can continue with questions.

Mike, obviously there's been so much talk about the construction of this lineup. Going into it, could you just speak to why the construction of this lineup works so well for you?

Sure. Could you just speak to why the construction of this lineup works so well for you?

Sure, I think first and foremost, they're all terrific players. And one of the things that Billy Guerin and I talked about from the very beginning was trying to build a team in the true sense of the word. And so we looked at a deep group of American talent,

and these decisions were very difficult. They weren't easy. But I think when you look at how this group was constructed, there was a thought process that we had players that could play in all situations. And maybe the most important aspect of it

is just the character of the group, the personality of the team. As I said to the players, you guys are probably going to laugh at me when I say it, but the team was built with personality in mind. We were loaded with personality up and down our lineup.

There are whiskey drinkers and milk drinkers, and we got a lot of whiskey drinkers on this

team. Luke Fox, HorseNet, Austin, when you reflect back on these two weeks, is there a moment

on the ice or off that's going to stick with you forever?

Yeah, I think when Jack scored, I think that moment's going to stick with you forever? Yeah, I think when Jack scored, I think that moment's going to stick with me for a very, very long time. But yeah, I mean, the full two weeks was great. Just a lot of time spent with all the guys. And I think we just really embraced just

the full Olympic kind of aspect of it, from the village to everything. I mean, we just had a blast for two weeks. And to come out with a gold medal, it's obviously an incredible feeling. But I'll definitely remember the whole two weeks. And then I'll definitely remember Jack's goal.

Speaking of whiskey drinkers, you can spell the champagne from here, guys. I appreciate you taking the time to come. A lot of the guys in the room talked about how this was the best game they were a part of. Do you guys agree with that?

Is this the best game you've ever been a part of? Well, I mean, I haven't been in a big kind of game like this. Like this is, you know, the Olympics. It's the biggest stage in the world. And you're playing Canada, and they're a great team. And they've got world-class players.

And, you know, we knew it was going to be a battle. It was a lot of momentum shifts. But I think everybody was prepared, excited. Just a full top to bottom, full team effort from every single guy. Every single guy competed and did their job.

TOMI HAAPANI, MMTV Sports Finland. Austin, I'm here in front of you. Here. 46 years ago, exactly 46 years ago, Finland, Austin, I'm here in front of you. 46 years ago, exactly 46 years ago, was a miracle on ice. That's quite a long wait for you. How special do you feel about this?

Yeah, it's special.

I mean, it feels like it's been too long, I think. Over the last 10, 15 years, there's been a very big upcharge of American hockey players coming through in the NHL that are world-class players. And it's been – this is the first time in my NHL career that we've been able to compete in the Olympics.

And so to have this opportunity, I think it meant a lot to us to have that opportunity to kind of put USA Hockey back on the map. And we did that. So the goal was to come here and win the gold medal. And we did that. And yeah.

Michelle Bruton from Forbes. This question is for all three of you. There was a lot of conversation about how not every team was staying in the Olympic Village, but you guys did. And now that you're here, do you feel like the team building, the chemistry, anything

that might have been experienced in the village, do you feel like that played a part in your win?

Would you like to put it?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it played a part in us winning, but we were so close. It felt like a family. And I was able to room with Jack for the two weeks or whatever it was. And it was very special for me.

And right across the hall with the Tuchucks, and they left their door open the entire two weeks. They never closed it. And just to have all the guys there on the same floor was special. And we'd always hang out in the cafeteria together and meet different athletes and whatnot.

And to me, spending time in the village with these guys, it was one of my favorite experiences of this whole thing. And whether we stayed in the village or not, you still got to go out there and perform. But for me, I really enjoyed the village.

Jack, over here. Take from the tooth to your penalty, to the golden goal, to being the guy who scored the golden goal. Just take me through everything that you have experienced here.

Yeah. I mean, my first thought was draw the penalty. Actually, my first thought was I looked down the ice and saw my teeth. I was like, here we go again. I know the last time that happened, it wasn't very fun.

But yeah, I just thought, we got an elite first power play. Four minutes, I thought they were going on the ice and going to score. And that was going to be the gold medal game. Then obviously I come on the ice and I take a penalty. I think we had two good looks too.

I think Jake Ensel had a good look in the slot. And I think even my shot from the point was a good look. It was like a, you couldn't really see it. There was so much traffic in front of the net. So I thought those were two pretty good looks. And obviously, I'd take the penalty. I pictured myself on barstool being

like the guy that America hates because Canada scores in the power play. And I was like, oh my god, here it is. And Larks and Nelson did an unbelievable job on that penalty kill. So just glad we got out of that pickle I put us in.

And then obviously, over time, anything can happen. I mean, they have very skilled players. We have very skilled players. It's just up and down the rank, kind of like a little grudge match, like who's going to make the first mistake? Who's going to give up the first odd man rush.

And just a good play by Larkson Z, getting up the ice. And then obviously Z found me.

You should explain the experience when McDavid was coming down at you, and you were defending in overtime. What was that feeling like?

Like, yeah, I came up right off the bench, Sully. You probably were loving that, huh? McDavid coming down on me. No. Like when the best player in the world, maybe ever, comes down on you in overtime in the gold medal game and you're a forward, my first thought was I got to gap up. Then I was like, I can't gap up.

Hole would just blow right by me. So I just sunk in. And hopefully, like, you can't gap up. Paul would just blow right by me. So I just sunk in. And hopefully, like, he can't get around me because there's not enough space in between me and the net. And that's honestly kind of what happened. But like, even the whole game, when McKinnon, McDavid are on,

you've got to be so aware. And like, obviously, Sully's line matching. But there's not much you can do about it in overtime. You want to get your dogs on the ice, too. So just, yeah. Yeah, Sully. So that's it.

You did a great job defending that.

Thanks, man.

Hi, Guillaume LeFrancois. I was actually going to ask about that play. So Mike, what did you like about Jack's play on that play

with McDavid?

Well, he did a great job. He recognized that he didn't have an opportunity to gap up on him. He just absorbed it. And he didn't give him the opportunity to cut inside. I thought he did a terrific job defending him.

And we've talked a lot about overtime. We talked about it at the start of the very tournament because we felt like overtime was going to be a difference maker by nature of how the tournament is designed. And so we had. Get away with the hurt man.

So we talked about how we were going to defend and some tactics offensively. And I thought Jack did a terrific job. He just absorbed it. You've got to value defense. And in overtime, we played a lot in the NHL

when the best chances usually occur off your defense. And that was an example of it there.

Cheers.

Jack. Over here. Ethan Sears from the New York Post. Quinn was telling us in the mix zone just a little bit about all the stuff you've gone through recently

with injuries and sort of the criticism and everything. Can you just give us a little bit of what that's been like from your end over these last number of months?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, last couple of years, a lot of things have happened to me. But I was talking about it earlier. It's not even so much the injuries or anything. It's your whole life, you're going up against things. There's always new adversity, new challenges.

And every single player in that game tonight, Canada, US, when they were like six, seven, eight years old, man, every single player went through so many things. And you're just grinding, and you're grinding, and you're working your way up. So as much as I've been dealing with stuff,

and you guys like to talk about it, that doesn't phase me. Because when I was 12 years old, I was dealing with stuff. When I was 14, I was dealing with stuff. And just like every single player in that game tonight. There's a reason every single player in that game was in the game tonight. It's a journey.

It's the whole lifetime of work, and I'm just a part of that. So I think every single person in that game tonight can be proud, and obviously it was a great game, and we're the team with the better outcome, but just a great game between USA and Canada.

Congratulations, guys. I'd love if you could talk about your mental preparation going into the gold medal game and what advice you'd give to younger athletes on how to build that kind of resilient champion mindset.

Thanks.

You want me to take this?

Yeah.

I mean, I think everybody knows how big of a game it is. It's a gold medal game. You're playing Keanu, but I don't think the approach is really much different than you're just trying to treat it like a regular game. You're not trying to do anything abnormal, anything

that you wouldn't necessarily do typically. And obviously, the focus and the discipline and everything going into it it's it's heightened just because of the you know because it is the gold medal game but I think for us like just the energy in the room was great the locker room you know I just go out there have fun everybody's just got to got to do their job that's it you don't have to go do anything out of the normal,

out of your zone. Just go out there and do your job and let the rest kind of take care of itself.

Hi, guys. This is Shreya from Essentially Sports. Austin over here. Hi, congrats, guys. So sorry to take you guys away from the fun. But when you guys ended up winning, we saw an emotional moment when you brought out Johnny's jersey

on the stadium. So can you guys take us through that moment and what it means to you guys?

Yeah, I think he's had a big impact on a lot of guys in our room. A lot of guys grew up with him, played with him, spent a lot of time with him, whether that's the NHL or World Championships, different settings like that. We've had his jersey in our room last year at the Four Nations. We had his jersey in the room here at the Olympics. Just a subtle reminder that you know him, his brother, that they're kind of with us in spirit and to be able to get it done like that,

to win, to have his jersey out there and the team photo and have his kids come out and be with us. We're obviously you know thinking of thinking of him and, you know, we just felt like his, the impact that he's had on so many guys in our room was special and he was with us here in spirit the whole tournament.

Ladies and gentlemen, I was just asked that coach is about to leave. So is there any question for him for the moment from the room or remote? If not, thank you very much. Congratulations. And we can continue with questions for the players.

Thank you. Should I take that?

Are we done?

Solomon Benrimo, Olympic Channel. Austin, I don't want to take you away from this moment, obviously. It's a tremendous accomplishment. But in a couple of days, we're going to have to get back to the NHL regular season.

But how do you think you're going to take this winning experience, everything you learned with this incredible group, and take that for the rest of the season?

I'm trying to live in the moment, man.

Come on.

I think it doesn't matter what anyone says now. Austin Matthews is a winner. Austin Matthews is an Olympic gold medalist. He's a winner. Yeah, that's an Olympic gold medalist. He's a winner. Yeah, that's what the media in Toronto should be talking about. Austin Matthews led us to a championship.

I got nothing else to say.

Are you all going to travel together now to celebrate Summer in the U.S.? Is there a plan? Do you know where you're going? Or are you...

I don't want to say.

I don't know.

I think the travel plan has been switched up a little bit. But I'll keep that in-house.

I don't know.

We'll see. a little bit, but I'll keep that in-house. In Miami? I don't know.

We'll see.

Anywhere we want.

Quinn, what does it mean to you that it was

your brother who scored the goal?

Yeah, I mean, he's right next to me, so I don't want to get too soft. But I don't know. I just know, like, I remember when he got injured. He got injured last year in Vegas, and he was just crushed.

And a couple of days after that, he sent me a text message of what he wanted to say to the media, like post on Instagram. It was basically like a long message about how much he loves the game, and he's sorry to the fans.

He just wants to play. And I was like, hey, just maybe put some of that stuff out. It was so raw when I told him to take some stuff out. But I remember thinking, this guy just loves the game. He just wants to play. And for him to make that impact, I'm

not surprised because when I look around the room before overtime, there's probably three or four guys that look at him. That guy's not nervous. He wants to be that guy. And I felt that way about Jack. And I felt that way about Austin, of course.

But just a special guy. Happy it happened to him. And just my best friend, but also a special player. And yeah.

Do we have some more questions in the back?

Yeah.

Hi, Sydney Henderson with USA Today. Coach Mike said that you guys had a FaceTime call with President Trump in the locker room. Can you share a little bit about the call and what that meant to receive?

Yeah.

I mean, we're all proud Americans, obviously. And I mean, this is a huge moment for us. It's a huge moment for the United States. And he just called and just congratulated us. You know I think there's a lot of moving parts as far as you know our travels back home but yeah we'll kind of see what happens but obviously you know it's it's an honor to wear this jersey

and to represent the US and to go home with a gold medal. I mean you know how much that means to the guys in this room and how much it means to all the people watching and how much it means to all the people watching and rooting us on, too.