Empty Netters Podcast - USA wins GOLD over Canada w/ TJ Oshie

Episode Date: February 22, 2026

The boys are levitating after a stunning OT win for team USA in Milan, they talk about Jack Hughes and his golden goal, the unstoppable brick wall that is Connor Hellebuyck, and honorary 3rd member of the Empty Netters, TJ Oshie joins to talk USA hockey and join in the celebration. PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager! Thanks to our Sponsors! BetMGM: Use bonus code NETTERS when signing up to receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. See BetMGM.com for Terms. First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. This promotional offer is not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Find LUCY near you at lucy.co/stores, or save 20% on your first online order at lucy.co/NETTERS with promo code NETTERS. For more information on compliant messaging and to dive deeper into each product for your own education, please refer to LUCY’s in-depth guidelines HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Empty Netters podcast. Can you believe what this has become? There was a full 48 hours where I felt like I was like literally Superman. Jumbo loves playing Fortnite, so he gets on the sticks. Did TR show you the sauna cycle or was that all year? No, no, I invented that. Almost a year now that I haven't taken a body check. That's kind of nice.

So we are back. We are horned up and we are going deep. Finish tonight with some chicken fingers and a few guineasas and ran into you guys. That's where this pod came to life. Red is the best. Red is being an incredible. That fucking sucked for Canada and for Red, and he's being an absolute champion.

We love you. No comment. The amount of fucking pictures Redvin had to take of us walk it out. Terrible. Absolutely. Hey, take this picture. Red's like, cool.

Do you have a fucking razor blade? Thank you so much. I am six feet from the edge. Oh, my God, boys. Holy shit. Okay. Listen, we're going to fucking rip through this. Yeah.

We're ripping this live, of course. We got some stuff to go do, some hangs to get to. So we're going to rip this one. We got the episode coming out later. T.J. Oshy joins. We just had a great chat with him. He'll be on the episode. So when this is uploaded as the normal episode,

you'll see O'Shea in the chat with us. It's amazing stuff. Beautiful. So much fucking going on. CP, take me down the run. Okay. To start, 80-20 Canadian fans. Holy shit.

USA women's gold medal game, 50, or you want that one? 50-50. 80-20 Canadian fans. That was fucking crazy home game. Somebody said, he flew 3,000 miles for a fucking home game. That was rattling to me coming in. of the game because I was like, dude.

All the chance that got drowned out by the Canada ones are crazy. Drowled out. That was funny. In one of the group stage games, we were doing that. Someone would start like a Denmark chant and it would be immediate like, you, USA, you. And I was like, yeah, we got them. In this game, it was like, USA, you, Canada, Canada.

It's crazy. So many flags, so many Canadian fans. And they were the best. It was just great sports, great vibes all around. Okay, also, fucking nothing would load at the rink. So we have so much content we're going to dump if we get done with the live. We took us a fucking hour to walk home. We recorded with those. So much

shit's happening. So it was chaos in the fucking streets. Hey, I'm going to ask. Is Boldie Glazer in the chat yet? Oh shit, dude. I don't know. If not, Boldie Glazer, you'll get your ass in here if you aren't fucking here, dude. So dude, to start the game, they go they didn't go Mick Mac to start the semifinal game. Correct. Even as a line

let alone to start. Starting opening lineup, Mick Mac line. And dude, we pumped them for the first two minutes of me. I agree. I was so nervous coming in and then that Eichael had a great A in like first two minutes. And I was like, holy shit, are we going to fucking throttle these guys? I legitimately thought for a second. I did.

I legitimately was like, no, I was nervous. Yeah, I just thought it was good back and forth. Don't forget. I mean, Canada had four or five shots on that before USA even got one. Yeah. Goldie was the first shot on that. Yep. But that Eichol one got blocked, I guess them because it was right there.

But that was insane. that's when I was really fired up. Then Canada settled in and got super physical. There was that one shift where Larks and Wilson collided. And Larks held his own boat. That was a big hit by King Paul thing. Then Quim got run by I think Bennett. And then Matthew got,

this is the same shift. Oh, yeah. He gets his fucking dome popped off. It was a heavy hit. Heavy hit on Matthew Chuck. I think that stung him a little bit honestly. And then he battled through. You were making that comment because a couple times he looked,

not disoriented, but he just kind of looked a little slow. And I was like, you might be hearing things right now. So that actually had me shook at first because I was like, oh, dude. Because I thought at Four Nations, I thought what we were like, we're going to punch you guys in the mouth physically. Yeah.

This isn't the game you want to play. And then in this game, Canada come up and was like, watch this, dude. How would you like to play? Would you like to play fast? Would you like to play hard? It doesn't matter where the fucking eat me. I know. So that got in that moment I was scared.

Then you get Matt Bold. Shear brilliance. Just a moment of sheer brilliance. Last episode, I was stroking him off. Wanted to stroke him off. He deserved it. And then he comes through. It's not every day that you see the best deep hair in the NHL,

get split with a little juggle, dipsy doodagh, flips it up, knocks it down, splits the two of them, forehand, backhand, slides at home. How is your mother?

Holy fuck tits. That was insane. It was such a sick fucking silly, sick goal. A couple of my buddies texting me like, that was the most disgusting goal of the tournament. I know. I loved it. We got Faber jumping into his arms, a couple of teammates, a couple mini

teammates. Yeah, that was cool. Good call. That was awesome. And it was, listen, that was a huge goal. Huge goal. I did think we needed to score first. I agree. I thought that was big. So actually that was big. I thought that was big. USA goes up one. Okay, go. I was just going to say the rest of the first period was very back and forth. I think Kana had the edge a couple times, but USA pulled it back together. They evened up the shot totals. And it just felt like, Okay. These are two very even teams. Yep. There was a late in the first, there was a really scary Brady.

Oh, actually, I wanted to say this. Austin Matthews, and you called this out live on the Boldie goal, made an incredible play on the wall. Incredible play. I sure do. Because he's not even a wing, dude. Like, he's over there, and that's, I always say to you, the hardest play for wing. Wing is not hard, except for getting pucks off the wall, cleaning. That was an incredible play by Matthews off the wall that got it to Boldie. And then, yes, he did his juggling act, which was incredible.

but go back and watch that fucking replay he doesn't even get the puck if Austin Matthews doesn't make that play off the wall that was fucking unsung legendary shit I apologize if you have this in the notes but this is a good time to say Austin Matthews that game played like Alexander Barkov

in the Stanley Cup final this past year Austin Matthews went if we're going to win this game it's not going to be me getting flashy and scoring goals it's going to be me playing fucking Selke defense and shutting down their best guys blocking shots getting in the mixer and he did job. Someone, I still don't see

Boldie Klazer, I'm sorry if he's here, someone says, I don't know if this is true, but someone says, at the first U.S. goal, NBC pan to the crowd, and it was just Chris yapping at Dan. Which I can't believe because we were in the fucking... There's no way. My nose. I need someone to say... Dude, I'm pretty tall.

I could get the ceiling. Folks, we were... CP and I were hanging from the rafters that game. We pulled... Just so people though, we're here on our own We're just having fun. Those tickets were like fucking two grand each. We're hanging from the ceiling, folks. Worth every fucking penny, boys.

Worth every fucking penny. Holy shit. Okay, so that fucking shout out Matthews. Really scary Brady Kachuk turnover to Zook. Remember? There was a few of those in this game. I'm sorry. Do you mean that absolute beauty tape to tape pass right in the slot?

I was like, yo, bro. And it was clear that that was what he wanted to do. And he fumbled the puck and then he got it. And he was like, I'm still doing it. And I was like, no, no. Oh, no. no. So that freaked me out. Then this I just loved with five minutes left.

I doubt anyone on TV even saw this because it kind of happened after the whistle. Five minutes left. There's a scrum in front and McAvoy gets like tangled and it swings his stick and fucking drills Boldie in the face. And Bolte's like, I was like, Charlie, relax. Every fucking game, Charlie's like he's got that, he's got that troll club. Jesus Christ, dude. He's on our team.

You want to fucking hit somebody else. I said after the first period to a couple of Canadian fans walking to the concourse, I was like, everyone's drunk out there. The ice must have been a little shitty, and I also said this. The puck was bouncing around like someone sitting on their granddad's knee. It was insane.

It was sloppy out there, so many turnovers. I'm sure, obviously, the nerves are going, are firing, but the puck was just bouncing around like crazy. I also love that if Charlie, I think players on the U.S.

are volunteering his tribute because he's got a high stick someone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just hit me. Boldie was like, we can't take time. Because then it's not, just hit me. Okay.

Then, incredible. play from Brock to draw the penalty. Remember, he was taking it in and we were like, just go yourself, go yourself. We almost fucking McCard through the whole team. Truly. Draws the penalty. And then I, that was the first time I got greedy as a fan

where I was like, dude, Canada kind of flipped the momentum. I was just trying to get to the period break. And if we grabbed a second right there, I was going to be like, we're going to win. Can we also talk about quickly because I just pumped his tires and he deserves it? The Austin Matthews, uh, unwillingness to shoot.

the fuck. This was my next thing here. Tonight was crazy and he had that Ben Simmons moment. Okay, part of my take posted that. It was so funny. Everyone did. Yeah. He got the puck right in the slot. And yeah, PMT was like, sorry, but this is literally Ben Simmons. I don't remember it. Oh, I did that bad live. It was so open. Redd was sitting next to me and he goes, oh my God. Like, what the fuck was that backdoor? You know what it is? And this is, look at it. That's how I played. This is, this is sharp action by me. Clearly, and OSHA, this is going to sounds like such bullshit because Osh just said it too. Binner is a very aggressive goaltender.

Yeah, yeah. And if you watch any of these games, if you watch any blues games, you can see it. Binner comes out. He gets big, he fronts shots. Clearly, the U.S. team sees that and has been taking notes on that, checking and watching the game notes, because they were going for the backdoor pass all fucking night. They were just trying to get Binner to come out, get, you know, front the puck, and then leave the backdoor open because they were looking for that extra pass all day. And on that one, Austin,

I'm like, buddy, let it rip. So, and dude, you said it best. You said it live to us. It's not just that it's wide open. It's that you're Austin Matthews. Like, you got a pretty good shot on you, I'm like, well, you know, he tried to get it, tried to get it done. 69. You are a 69 goal score in the fucking national. Give me that fucking curl and drag J shot, baby. Like, come on. A little J shot for the boys. That was insane. Not getting one dagger. Matthew sees to shoot more.

Then we go to the second period. We go to break. I feel like okay. I feel weirdly fine. Yeah. And they come out with McKinnon's entering Marner and Stone. And I was like, interesting to go away from the middle. And they kind of ended up just putting them back out there.

But it was interesting to see them like, oh, let's mix it up now. Yeah. But boy, did it work? Didn't ever. The second period. Fuck me. My note here is the U.S. just got fucking massacred.

for the first six minutes of the second period. It was truly a beatdown. And it was like, I was like, dude, we are in trouble here. Like, it is insane how efficient that line. And this is Coop, man. Ready. This guy is the best fucking coach I've ever seen to break up the Mick Mac line, which has been the best line in the entire tournament,

to spread those boys out. And then the way that it just kept the U.S. hemmed in. It felt like the Finland game. It felt like the Czechie game. We put that on Twitter. I was like, this is brutal because this is exactly how Finland lost. You're just getting hemmed in for 30 seconds. Then you get the puck and you think you have any gas.

It's like what Ranton said, you think you have any gas to try to get on offense? No, that's why you just kept seeing them spooning the puck out. Like these little flips out to Center Rice just to get a line change. And it just felt all period. It was like, this is a fucking joke, dude. You are slowly dying. Way later in my notes here and someone in the comments, I don't know if I can find it. It was like, I got to see Chris's notes app.

You do not want to, you don't want to live there. Serial killer. You don't want to live in that notes app at all. But later in this, I had, US looks like Finland, just flipping it out every chance we get, ran. And you have no energy for off.

That was my lowest. The end of the second period, even before the goal, was my lowest moment where I was like, yeah, with this is a fucking joke. Taking a quick break, you talk to you about our sponsors from BedMGM.

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goal during that game, you win your bet and you win a share of 10 G's in bonus bets. If you haven't joined the BetMGM family yet now is the time. Use bonus code netters. That's any T T T-T-ERS and you'll enjoy up to $1,500 in a new player offer on your first wager. bet MGM, make it legendary, and go USA. Okay, so we were getting killed and so sloppy. I don't know if the ice was bad or they were nervy, but it was like chances to get the puck out or start a rush, and it would just be like, they'd look up in a puck.

It happened both ways, but pucks were just like bouncing over sticks. And then it would turn around and now it's a fucking nightmare the other way. It was really ugly. Both teams too. They looked fucking drunk. During that chaos, Taze had a Brady-Cach level turnover on Brock's tape. Yeah, he sure did. slot and Binner made that nice toe save.

Brockwood delayed shot back across his body. Just wanted to shout out Binner there because those are the moments where I'm like, that's a massive saves. Sixth save. It's also, I think it's one of the sexiest saves in hockey because he did that, like, his leg swung out in the butterfly and it like booted the puck out. Yeah, yeah. It looks like.

Yeah. Hey, that's exactly what it looks like. Nice. Then, uh, in this onslaught, um, McDavid breakaway. McDavid, of all people, McDavid sprung on a breakaway. Whole crowds on their feet. Everybody going fucking nuts. I think he tried to hold it almost too long.

Yeah, he might have, but I also want to give a shout out. I believe it was Faber. But someone in the chat, check me on that if it wasn't. That was a phenomenal back check. Just to even put pressure on him. Chasing down the fastest man alive. To make him feel it. And what just fucking Connor Hullabuck, man.

The way he just stood tall, unbelievable. Oh, my God. So he had nothing too. He got too close and he barely got anything off. He really barely got a shot off. You're absolutely right. that's completely correct red because i was waiting for him to come almost like reach back around something and just got to like ran out of real estate but that's a huge moment

um then right after that and we are not chirping anybody tonight because everyone played the games of their fucking but jake gensel with the craziest just fall down i've ever seen and then get back up and then hold the guy i was like dude it was a true meld why why there's a truth that was a true that was a true shit your pants moment i was like jake no i was like when he fell i was like oh jesus jake and then he And I was like, Jake, Jake, stop. I remember thinking, we can't take any penalties tonight. We just can't. And I was like, how do you even take a penalty? Because just don't do it. And then that happened.

And I was like, that's how. Panic. Panic sets in. You're drowning. So I'm thinking of myself, just make sure we get this kill. Penalty kill's been amazing. Boom, McAvoy immediate hold on kale, which I thought was a hold. I know you thought was soft, but I was with red. Because Charlie stick up between the kale's legs. Oh, did it?

Yeah, in the replay, if you watch, he doesn't trip him. But his stick is literally like this. And you read, you said, you said, said it was a hold and they called it was a hook. I thought it was, I thought his arm was around him like he was taking him to prom. Because it was, because it was stick was between his legs. It was getting stuck. It was just a mess. It was a mess. And like, I just, I always I always hate those one-armed calls because I'm always like, there's just like, it's not that much of all. But it was a penalty. Honestly, he, I think if he had, his stick was stuck,

which is why his arm was still there. Honestly, I think if Charlie had gone like this, he could have moved and they would have been like, you're good. But that would have been the one billionth stick that was dropped tonight. I have never seen more fucking sticks on the ice. Shout out, Sully, I don't know if he's in here. I have never seen more sticks on the ice in a fucking game in my life. So fucking stressful. But now we go five on three for damn near two minutes against Canada. Yeah. And we said out loud in the moment, you pray they only score one time here. Pray. It was so, it was such an early five on three. And I was just like, you're fucking kidding. And it did feel like they were going to get two roles. And then, boom,

you take care of business. and you kill that penalty. And this is what's for the craziest thing? You kill a five on three against this fucking Canada team. I thought that the momentum after that was going to be so visceral. It was going to be shooting out of your cock. And I thought they were going to score immediately.

And then literally all that happened was Canada kept throat fucking them for the next 10 minutes. And I was like, dude, holy shit, man. Like this is, you were getting ragdled by this team. Legit, bro. I thought, too, you thought we were jacking off last night. I thought the jack-off session. the Bukaki that was about to be coming from the USA

and then instead the gang bang continued in the other direction. There was literally zero. We were just watching the big short. Zero. Zero. Zero momentum swing from that kill. Less than zero. Here we go.

Come on, boys. And it was like, no. It felt like Canada was still on the power play. Correct. Literally, we killed it off. And they were just like, anyway, we will continue to pass it around. It was mad. It was a fucking rammed down your throat.

That was a fucking nightmare. And then I would say, A very, if you're a U.S. fan, a very stressful 10 to three minutes left in the second where it just was inevitable, a goal was about to come. every fucking loose shot that was like hell he couldn't see shit and dude we're going to get to hellie obviously but he's fucking plicking picking pucks out of the trees and then but you just knew one of them was going to go one of them was going to sneak through and then fucking kale mccar walks down not quite main no no but just a good swing up to the point good step in and just such a sick shot i love a low shot obviously everyone loves bar down but that shot that's just high enough to

get over the pad and just low enough to sneak under the block yeah it's just a beautiful fucking shot. You know exactly what you're doing on that. Exactly. Like that is a fucking all-star shot. And it was also nice because I've been waiting for Kail to show up. Yeah. I really have been waiting in this tournament. He drew that penalty too. Yeah. I've been waiting for Kail to have his like, you are Kale moment. And that

was it. I said it on the video that you'll see. I was like, there's Kale. You know, there he is. Fucking shows up. And I really like, I said this to you, I think, or somebody after. I really like these tournaments, Stanley Cup Finals, things like that are such legacy things for these players where people,

fairly or unfairly judge you big time Austin Matthews, Jack Hughes took a lot of heat for four nations I love I love an unsung hero story but I actually like more when guys like Kale and Mac and Nate and Connor and Sid even before you got hurt. I look back on these tournaments and go I played great. Yep. I hate when mega stars

go I really fucking I fumbled the bag in the tournament. I'm like no dude kale was money. That goal goes in. It's probably two minutes-ish left. That was bad. We were like we're fucked. Like they're absolutely fucked.

Hell, he's playing so well, but it just felt like this is, here comes the onsla. I thought, I thought there was a high chance that Canada was going to take the lead in in the second period. But, you know, it was on whatever it was, that last two minutes was a total U.S. flurry. The goal kind of snapped them out of this, like flip it out, flip it out. Matthew Kuch had a huge chance. God, he played so great, but I just thought he should have had one tonight. There were so many right there.

I know. But Matthew Kichuk, huge chance. and then Faber, I thought it rang both posts, but it actually hit someone sick, I think. Hit a stick, then hit the post. It felt like a double doink, but it was a double doink, but just not a double post. Yeah, it was a dud doink. Yeah, dud doink.

A clunk, don't. Clunk doink. That one. Actually, dud doink is way better. Thank you. That one, to me, and I'm being over, overreactionary right now, but that one to me made me sick to my stomach because it just felt like if that had gone, we were going to win because I was going to be like,

see, it's fine. Like, we got the lead back. And like, that was a free. but we got it. And when that didn't go, I was like, oh no. I actually think if that had gone,

I actually think this game might have like, I don't want to say blown open, but it might have been like all of a sudden we had some more goals in the third. Yeah. The fact that it stayed one, one, I was like,

this is electric. Yes. Oh my God. Okay, so fucking brutal ending. Second period, we're intermission. We're miserable. Tweaking.

We fucking sprinted outside the ring to pee. Because we were like, we got to pee. The lines are insane. There's like, port of potty's outside. fucking sprint outside. USA fans outside were actually pretty confident,

which I thought was fucking delusional. But I was like, yeah, okay, here we go. But it was, it was drunk confidence, though. That's what we need it. I'm over here, fucking the little coward bitch that I am, being like we're dead. Like, we're there, they're all over us. They're fucking too much.

They're bigger. They're faster. They have more facial hair. That's genuinely how I felt. But that's what it takes. Your superstitions are what it takes. And my superstitions helped us win. So we come back into the third and you go,

first five, because we can't play, we can't play scared. You cannot play scared. You gotta try to go score. I'm telling you, I was talking to people. I was shout out Aaron Ambrose, our homie.

I was talking to her and I was like, USA feels dead. This is like, this has been an onslaught. And I was like, the first five minutes are going to tell us everything. And it wasn't as bad. Yeah.

But it was still, the shots were just terrifying. And I was like, we've got to get something. It's the same story. It's the Czech game. It's the Finland game. Like they are fucking murdering.

We've got to get something. And I want to jump ahead in your notes, but it really felt like there was nothing going in that period. It felt the penalties. Disagree because you mean in the third period? Yeah. Yeah, because you're going to remember this. Connor Halebuck with the safe.

Oh, fucking. Hey, guys, everyone forget what I just said. Rewind. There's actually a couple things that you forgot about. So I'm going to, I'll take you through it. But Connor Hullivuk with the same. That paddle save on Devon Taves. I think a lot of people immediately were like,

Devon Taves, you clown, you whiffed it, you biffed it. Whatever, Chris, get me one of those. and you see the replay and you've yeah that's pretty cheeky that's a classic it's an Uber pack is what they call it a lot of people were calling out Devon Taves and then you've seen the photo now

that puck gets behind Helly it's sitting right there in the crease Devon Taves comes in to just try to pool cue it in and Helly throws down that fucking paddle and you'll hear when you listen to this episode back with Osh that was the Braden Holpey safe and the Capps Cup here like

that is one of the all-time saves you will ever see in your entire fucking life and it absolutely saved the US as he did multiple times. Multiple times. That was just truly insane. Put that save on a fucking postage stamp. Put it on a Wheaties box.

Put it on a Wheaties box. Tattoo it to my fucking forehead. That was absolutely incredible. And actually, I'm gonna interrupt you. There are a couple of heartbreaking Canada US photos that have come from both the men's and women's game. Great point, Dan.

Great point, Dan. And I will say this too. Taze, I feel bad for Taze because it's like he was kind of there on the boldie goal and he's going to have that memory. And I just don't think it was his fault. Like in that play, it's hard to describe it. What happened is the puck squirts right to him and he just shoots it in the open net and he reacts immediately. He doesn't hesitate. It's just a crazy play.

It's just a crazy play that happened to hit fucking Hala Bucks paddle and like all hell breaks loose. People will remember it forever, but not much more he can do there. No. But it was insane. And not that he needed any confidence, but man, Hellabuck after that must have been like, oh, dude.

I don't even know. I will never be scored. I think he was genuinely so fucking, he was Patrick Bateman brain. Yeah. And if anyone can say that, it's me. I don't even think he was like jacked up.

He was kind of like, hyping the crowd up when he got his gold medal. But I think during the game, he was just, he was serial killer focused. Yeah, yeah, totally. It's unbelievable. Totally.

All the pocks that were bouncing around. though, like in the crease, all fucking game. How many? Over it. Dude, he went full. Seven, eight. Like, Hellebuck might just be like, this is going great. Pretty great for me.

I'm having a good time. How is this not going on? Not a care in the world. He went full Jimmy Craig in that game. It was insane. He was all, the first period, he was doing, he had the, uh, it felt like he had the X-ray vision. Shots were coming through stains and he was going like this.

Seeing everything. And then he had that one in the second. Remember that it was after the kale goal, full split glove save when he was like, Oh, yeah. That was. Like, oh my God. Yep. Someone in the chat called McDavid McSilver.

And listen. We will have none of that. All right. I want to get ahead of this right now before you jump to the next bullet point. We're going to get ahead of this right now. USA fans. Peacock all you want, dance all you want, enjoy this moment, celebrate this moment. This is what hockey's all about.

This is what sports are all about. This is what patriotism is all about. It's fucking amazing. America is the shit. It's an amazing country. We're pumped to be American. We're pumped to have a gold medal. We're pumped for these boys representing USA and winning a gold.

metal, but we love Canada and we love these boys. Yes, we do. And they played a fucking great game. It was an incredible hockey game. And again, celebrate all you want, but do it in good fun because those neighbors to the north are exactly that. There are neighbors, there are brothers and our sisters, and we fucking love them. And they played an amazing game.

They fought an amazing battle. And I will not sit here and hear a single morsel of talk about Connor McDavid can't show up in the big game. We've seen a couple of tweets, a couple things people have said. It's like, oh, you know, Stanley Cup, Game 7. And then this past year, game six, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm tired of it. I don't care about it.

He's the greatest player on earth. He constantly shows up in a loss, Olympics MVP in a loss. Like game winning overtime goal in four nations. He constantly knows how to show up and he's the best player alive. We will not even, we will not even hear a whisper of any of the clickbait bullshit of Ken Connor McDavid not get the job done. You also forget how fucking, he's, we're not. Dude, also, also Laura, as in our hat, Laura.

Laura just said this, which I forgot about. We can never play in the Olympics without a member of Brock Nelson's family ever again. I forgot that Brock Nelson has now completed the literal like 60, 80, 26, only Nelson. Legitimately correct. I also, this is going to be one of two Alice shoutouts today because we're going to get to one later. But Alice in the beginning of the game was like, I don't know if I love the Jersey situation. But I was like, we wore white against the Soviets. And the Soviets wore red.

So I loved that Canada was in red. ruined white today. Okay, same. All right, second thing, before the penalties, Macklin breakaway. Mac got sprung. I thought he shot it a bit early than he needed to. Maybe he wanted that shot because I think he was,

I don't know who was chasing him, but I thought he had a step. I think he felt the footsteps. Not in a bad way. I think he was like, I got to get a shot. God, this is such an in the weeds thing. But it's like, if you are, I welcome everyone to go watch Zuccarello's penalty shots.

If you see a goalie without, with his plant foot, not dug in, you can kind of beat him under the pad right here because they can't just get down in time. And Max shot, like, he just shot it right there and hell he just like slown the door. And then he almost got the rebound. But that's, you've now survived the McDavid and Celebrini, the two leading points score breakaway. Insane. Fucking nuts. And then I'm going to have to watch the replay because I don't even know how this turnover happened

because it was like a loose puck. Quinn Hughes kicked it to himself and then somehow didn't have it. didn't have it, and then it goes backdoor to Nathan McKinn with a literal gaping net. This is the other one that- Gaping. Gaping net. This is the other one that kills me because I know Nate is going to be seeing that shot in his nightmares for the next four years, and I hate that.

Because Nate has played incredibly well. Obviously, he had the power play goal against Finland to seal the win there. Nate has no one to answer to. But that one will haunt him. But I said it was a weird I thought this was good It was a weird play It was like

The US seemed like they had it for a second It was like a turnover But then it went back to Canada And then the past got thrown across I think Nate was straight up getting ready to back check Like he wasn't ready for it Yes, it came to him And it almost surprised him

And he was like fuck get the shot off And it hit the post Like it was like outside of the post And out like it was I thought it missed by a lot No no There's a screenshot It's actually devastating

But there's a screenshot It's just like fuck me But man And I said to you guys I'm legitimately worried about Nate because he takes the shit in the good way so seriously. He's about to want to stand. I'm sure. Yeah.

So, yeah, good point. So I'm sure he's fucking guy. Because he has a gold medal winner of Brock Nelson on his team. Yes. Dude, that's actually going to be so funny. Brock showing up to K.L. Nate, like, yo. I hope he wears that gold in first practice.

Okay. Then, remember this play? There was that weird Matthews near too many men where it's like he flipped it near the boards and everyone lost their shit. But then the U.S. bench got so confused that we had three guys on the ice. It was insane. And then that, was the one where Marcy, it was like Marcy and Tom Wilson were like doorstep. And somehow like

Hellabuck saved the Wilson first one and the second one like, I think a defenseman maybe blocked it. But that was another one like you were talking about Red where it was just chaos in the crease. This has to go in and just somehow didn't. Absolutely nuts. Then Sam Bennett high stick six 34 left. Okay. So let's get into the penalties. Number one. It doesn't like high staking penalties. I hate high sticking penalties. I think they're, I think they're sold too much. But red. is right. At the end of the day, a high stick is a high stick. And that is correct. Sometimes I think they're just like sticks that get up high that I'm like, that wasn't really a high stick, but it's a high

stick. That was an obvious penalty. Look at Jack Hughes's face. US gets four minutes and then 634 left. Yep. In a fucking. And I swear to God, this is not retroactive because US still won. In that moment, I did not celebrate because it goes against all of my beliefs and everything that I've said, I don't like when these games get determined by special teams. We said it. We said it all the same time. And by the way, I would have said it if it was a complete stranger.

Exactly. But I love Sam Bennett. And I was like, I don't want to live in a world where he has to go. Same thing I said about Mikula. Yeah. It's not even the fact that it's anyone in the box and I feel bad for them. It's just I want you to win five on five.

I want you to win and be by being the best, even hockey team. So US gets a double or Canada gets a double minor US with a four minute power play and then proceeded to shit in their diaper like nothing. thing I've ever seen. There was one flurry where they had a decent chance. It was Matthew, Matthew, Chuck, not Matthews, again, where I swear if you could have just found it.

It was an open fucking neck. They had one little flurry, but other than that, it was like pretty sloppy. They couldn't really get in the zone. And Jack Hughes, the man who just got his fucking jibs knocked out, crack someone in the face, and he takes a high-staking penalty. Dude, well, we were laughing first where we go, we were all sitting there when the penalty because Jack was down for a while. Yeah.

And we go, I'm not saying he did this, but I would be biting my lip if I was laying there. And then he gets up and he's fucking mangled. We're like, oh, okay, never mind. Red, Red ghost, don't think you can fake that. He's snapping and down the ice, punching himself from the face. Everyone's got, everyone's got pliers in their pants. There is nothing gnarlier and it's, it's happened to me, so I know the feeling. There's nothing gnarlier than when you get a stick or a puck and then the teeth break.

Oh, but like, when they get knocked out clean, fine. But, like, his, one of his front jibs is like snapped. Dude, and I, I, it got, I chipped my chest. I promised you those mini coronas in the locker room were stinging on the way down. I was going to say the nerves. It exposes these nerves. in your teeth and it's like fucking nightmare. He must have been into hell.

So anyway, yes, everything you said is correct. Fucking Brutel power play with the gold medal on the line. And I'm glad if he didn't score. I didn't want to win that way, but fucking get your shit together. Then think about the powerplay Canada had against Finland. Even if they didn't score on that one, they were snapping it for two minutes. So then Canada has about minute 20 of their power play gets killed off. And that's a great point to talk about that.

Yes. That the U.S. team went 18 for 18 on the P. And I almost, yeah. No. You know it's 18. I don't know if it was that's the right number. 18 on the PK in this fucking tournament. And I want to say this.

On Twitter, we said before the game, hope the refs swallow the whistles tonight. No power plays. Let's just play a clean game. Most people were like, fuck yeah, agree. And some people were like, no, if it's a penalty, call a penalty, blah, blah. And one Canadian fan said, I would feel that way too if the other team had a 43% power play.

and I wanted to go, have you seen U.S.'s penalty? What if one team has a 100%? But I just felt like that was playing with fire to say that. Yep. And I'm so glad I didn't because the U.S. then killed every penalty. But so did Canada. Yep.

And I am just so fucking happy that we can all look back at this game and see that neither team capitalized on those power plays and this game was won straight up. I was so happy because they were completely unintentional high six as they always are. And it was, I didn't want, yeah, not always, but most of the time. And I didn't want either. those guys in the box. I didn't want over time at all, but I said to you both, good. Clean slate.

Let's just fucking decide this. Fair. Fair. Sure. You know, whatever. But fair is fair. That was a massive kill and go back and watch the, I must have been the after the semis pod when I was like, all right, we're doing finals predictions. The last thing I said was keys to the game will be the U.S. perfect PK against the Canadian

power plant. I even looked at you read and said, if the U.S. doesn't give up a power. play goal, I think there's a chance we could win. If we give up power play goals, we will lose. You know, easy to say now that I was right, but I was fucking right. Yeah, you were. Okay, so we finish regulation. At this point, Connor Hellabuck has already Jimmy Craig.

He's already Jimmy Craig. He had already made 40 saves enough. Yep. Two observations going into OT because I couldn't even fucking type. I have no notes over time. Two observations. One, I find it weird that Canada against Czechs, Finland, and U.S., dominated for large portions of those games

and all three of them were absolute barn burners. It's just kind of weird. Maybe it's just because every team is good at this level. There's part of me, because I want to give a shout out to Dostal. Yep, yep. Part of me is like, did they run into three fucking nuclear goaltenders?

Because Soros was great in that Finland game. Yep. And obviously Hellebuck was the player of the game tonight. But I agree. It was weird. How are you not winning? You're killing us. And while they had 40 plus shots watching the game,

other than like the crazy missed nets, I didn't feel like that many of the shots were like, Jesus Christ, he's standing on it. Obviously he stood on his head. Connor breakaway and Mac breakaway and Nate open net. What the fuck am I talking about? There was like at least 10.

I'm like, and like that's enough. Like that's 10 goals. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fuck man. I mean,

he was just, that was the best goaltending form. I have ever seen in my entire life. I think certainly, without question, live. I think some of those Jaguars in O3s. That was the best goal. I am telling you, that is the best goal tending performance

you have ever witnessed in your entire life. Even on TV? Even on TV. I got to go back to the tape. I got to go back to the tape. But that was incredible, dude. That was incredible. Okay, we'll get to him.

And then the other one, you said this, but I agree with you. Take fucking notes. Why are we flipping the ice in overtime in the NHL? Yeah, it's so dumb. Like, just play. I don't need the long change in overtime. Thank you, IOC.

There's some things you do that I think are weird. This is one that I'm like, correct. Just fucking go. Dude, it's so fucking moronic. So we go. Again, I have no notes. Absolute edge of our... I think it was only a minute 40.

I looked at you guys and I said, enjoy the last six minutes maximum of Olympic hockey because this will be over very soon. Canada didn't really. have any chances. David had a steam twice. Yep. But broken up quickly.

So like wasn't a chance, but good call him skating. Yeah, it is scary. I actually have never seen anything more scary. It is scary. Gallop, gallop, gallop.

But Mac had one good shot in OT, just like a curl and drag high slot. Uh-huh. Made a good say. Or maybe he missed the net. He missed the net. He wired it. So we get the one play.

And here's my second, Alice shout out. Before overtime, she sends a text and goes, Jack Hughes is going to score the game win goal. I know what's crazy. Two O. for the U.S.

Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes. And before the Quinn Hughes one, I said I have the text for Sandra that goes, Quinn Hughes is going to score an O.T. And then in this one, it was your girlfriend who said the other one. That's fucking electric. Well done, ladies.

Gas. That play, I think people need to rewind and watch. Yep. Jack Hughes continues to just make me look like a fucking big brain. Oh, man. Because boy, oh boy, did my man fucking show up

in this tournament. And today, no one other than Hellebuck was really shining that bright. Everyone was playing great, tight. Dylan Larkin though. Fucking. Dylan Larkin. Jesus Christ. He was savage. But Jack Hughes was going for it. He was taking chances

tonight. He was getting in the dirty areas, the mucky areas tonight. On that goal, Jack Hughes makes a very risky poke check against Kail McCar. Because I was screaming. If that doesn't get out, we'd lose. If you look at the freeze frame of that

God damn it. If Jack Hughes does not get that puck poked out to Zach Werenski. That is a two on O going the other way for Camden. So he does that. It gets to Werencki and then Werenzki like a fucking beast with Johnny Goddrow's spirit on his shoulders. Gets that puck, pulls up on the brakes and then finds Jack the last man trailer and puts it on a stick. And dude, there was a moment where everyone in that arena went like this. Yep, yep.

There was a true millisecond of silence in that arena. And I know that because when it went in, there was no reaction for a quick second. Because it went in weird. Yes, correct. It was like kind of five holes. It was like five hole under his leg. It felt like a change up shot almost. But he waited for Binner to make a move and then he slid it.

And dude, we're up in the stands and I just went, Jack. Yeah. And then I was silent. I couldn't speak. Well, dude. So I had such a same reaction because when he swung at it, and someone says here, I'm playing my car. He was trying to win the game too.

Correct. Because if he keeps that in, he went. Oh, my gosh. Please, no one think that I'm saying anything about McCar there. That was, yeah. I was actually mad at Jack for the fucking Swordsman. Yeah. Because I was like, bro, just go body on body there.

Because then the worst case scenario, we're fine. Yeah. So he goes like this. And I was like, no. And then it got by him. And I was like, oh, go, go, go. But then it looked like Werensky wasn't quite going to get there. And I was like, no.

She was like reaching for it. I was like, what are you doing? Get the fucking buck. And then he did get it, curled it, but it looked like there were no lanes left. But he's Zach Rewensky. There's always a fucking lane if you're Zachorenski. True. Hits Jack, but Jack almost smartly also wasn't net driving because then we would have been too exposed.

So I was like, oh, Jack's too far. But then he was like kind of cruising in. I was like, wait, fucking score. Yeah. And then from our view, it just, I couldn't, I was kind of looking high glove because I was like, just look for the net, look for the net. But then it went fiver. And I was like, I didn't even celebrate properly because I was like, did that go?

Yeah. fuck happened and he kind of doesn't see it like he shoots and he's doing the like look over your shoulder thing to be like that go in and dude i wonder so awesome i really want to watch that replay i know this is like the golden goal all time fucking moment i remember this his whole life i need to know if he was shooting there or if it or if it came off weird the replay looks the replay the pop's kind of like going crazy because i think he's i think he was waiting for bina yeah like i don't think he put all of himself behind it because he was like make a move bennar like he's got it on a stick for a minute yes he does He was like, you make a move.

He waited for Ben at a front and, like, you know, show his angle. And then I think he just like, yeah, went to school. I'm dinner getting so big, honestly. Dude, like that's the whole fuck, man. We've got a little over five minutes left here. But the few things I want to say, Jack Hughes scoring that goal. When I see Jack, I can't wait to ask him if he meant to throw his helmet in the stands. Dude, that was.

Because he pulled it off and he windmilled his helmet. And I was like, this is going to be so sick when he tosses the bucket in the stands. And then it just went straight backwards. Yeah. And I was like, I think it got caught on the finger. I literally, I saw him going like this and I was like, what a souvenir this is about to be. And he goes, but still all time selling. Maybe last minute.

He was like, no, I want this. Yeah. Still all time selling silly fucking epic moment. Watching him and Quinter get their moment together, like both with American flags on their shoulders hugging. Yep. Brady and Matthew doing the same thing. I look a lot of these boys like Werenzki and Larks grabbing Johnny's kids. Okay.

Now's our picture. Next. there was just like watching the boys skate around with Johnny's jersey was so fucking special chills what yeah chills chills the words that they were saying after

about you know his spirit being in there in the locker with them getting them that win I think Lark said something like Johnny Johnny Spirit was keeping all of the pucks out of the net around helly which is funny because it's that's in the defensive zone and he would never be back there yes correct but it's just like the love that

the Godreau family has showed all these boys and the U.S. hockey program and vice versa is just so amazing to see that was just so fucking fun. Dude, absolutely emotions pouring out of me moment. I didn't even know how I was going to react.

Just seeing the Goodrow stuff, seeing just the boys draping American flags on their back and cruising around, seeing on a personal level, like seeing Brady and Matthew, Jack and Quinn going up to their parents and, you know, like, touching glass waving him. Charlie McAvoy, I have an incredible video of him with his family.

I have an incredible video of Sway with Ken Bone and Allie. And like, Sway is like touching the, you know, touching the baby. Like it's just, it means so the soon to be baby. Oh, I was like, you know, doing the like, yeah, doing the basketball palm. Just, this means so much. And, you know, you always say, yeah. Dude, it's everything. So when you guys, if you watch the episode back as we post, this live. Again, we have, Osh joins us and is in there. And we talked about this. Before the

game, the three of us here, me, CPN Red, we're talking about how if you go down Canada's roster, more than half those guys have won a Stanley Cup. Yep, yep. Three guys on the U.S., Matthew Kachuk, Jake Gensel, and Jack Eichel have won Stanley Cups. This is a Stanley Cup. Winning a gold medal, the NHL players in the tournament against Canada, against this Canada team. That is a Stanley Cup. They'll tell you, it's better. It's bigger. 100%. And this is a monumental moment for these players. For these guys, the motherfuck that this is, again, I'm kind of repeating myself here, but the motherfucker that this is for a guy like Connor Helbuck who listens to all this flack, a guy like Austin Matthews, a guy like Jack Hughes, who heard all the criticism. This is a massive moment of these guys now coming into the biggest game of their life on the biggest stage against the best competition and winning. This is going to translate into the NHL in a big way. Yes, it's such a good moment, too, to, And even like the, I think forwardations of this too, but just this season, let alone your whole career, but just like this season coming back being like, yo, I'm fucking ready to go.

Correct, man. Yep. This is like this. It's so fucking awesome what this moment and knowing what this was and what it took does for players. And that will go into their teams. It will go into the way they prepare and the way they approach big games like this, knowing that they've done it. the Leafs might win 10 straight

Stanley Cups I'm telling you this is a big fucking deal I was really happy for Austin Matthews he did a couple flag He was happy Going crazy

Going crazy for him in the crowd And that pumped me up He and Jack Hughes Jack Hughes is amazing interview If you haven't seen it Go check our Twitter page Or TJ O'Shee's page We both posted the interview

With Jack Hughes Where he's just so selfless He's talking about everyone else Yeah But the big thing was Jack and Austin Are very similar In that they're very cheeky

In their interview They're funny. They don't show too much emotion. They were both just so happy, childlike, after this. And if that's not what it's all about, I don't know what. Yeah, agree, bro. I can't wait to talk to them and just hear about the experience in locker and everything. Because it's like, this hasn't happened in fucking 46.

This is not like, we feel that we're getting close to level. Because I do want to give, we had talked about it. I want to give Canada some flowers where I'm like, There was a stretch in that game where I was like, we are not level. They are fucking murdering us. They're amazing. But this doesn't happen often. Even though we think we're just as good now, this is a very unique thing that is happening.

You just want a fucking gold medal. I'll say it again. We were one more Olympics away from being a half century from winning a gold medal on the men's. This is fucking awesome. Now, we've got about two minutes left. I want you to say whatever you got next, but I do just, I want to just give another quick tire pump to the Canadian voice. I mean, they're one of the best teams I've ever seen in my entire life.

They played so fucking well. They made it as hard as humanly possible for this USA team. And any Canada fan, if you're looking at your wounds right now, you got nothing to feel but pride for that group and the way they played. That was fucking unbelievable. I feel for Sid, Nate, or excuse me,

I feel for Connor, Nate, Mac because I'm like, you guys are superstars. Drew, Drew, Marcy. I thought all of them played incredible. I'm so gutted. Yeah, true. This is probably going to be Bitter's last. I'm so gutted for Sid.

I spent most of my time in the celebration filming Sid coming out there because I was just like, God. And honestly, like, weird legacy game for him where he's like, I bet it goes differently if he's on the ice. Yeah. It's hard to say it doesn't. So just as such a killer for him, I fucking crossing every finger in tow that he's still in the fucking league and comes back for one more Olympics. absolute legend. Kind of crazy Finland didn't hum. Like we were at the women's gold in Switzerland.

I bet they bounced. Yeah, I was like, where is Finland? I mean, they put the carpet out for them. And here's the third place team. They were like, not coming in two days. I bet a ton of them are just gone. I was like, that was crazy. But yeah, very emotional metal moment for everybody.

You could see on Max's face, like just devastated. It was actually a little rattling. Not many of them were crying. They just looked so pissed off. Oh, yeah. So dejected. And that's just heartbreak. I think it was disbelief, dude.

Yes. True. I genuinely think that they're going, are you fucking kidding me with lost the game? Perfect word, red. Perfect word. Because they know how good they are, dude. They know they're the best team in this tournament.

We were walking back and I said, we were walking back and I said out loud, if I were on that Canada team, I would be going, are you fucking kidding me that we lost that? They right now are going, that was one in a hundred that they won that game. Yes. Yeah, it's a shit thing.

It actually felt like that. There was a long stretcher. I was like, this is insane. And the Chan, we had said, all the chances start adding up, then it starts feeling like, actually our boy Jake said, I was talking in between periods and he goes, I was like, I don't feel good in between the second intermission.

And he goes, dude, sometimes you just see God. And like Hellebuck, that might be happening right now. We see performances that are touched by the gods and that Connor Hellebuk performance was. And that was insane. And, oh, I do want to say this too. I said it with OSHA, I guess, but all the boys going when they were doing the medals

and they say everyone's name and they get to Hellebuck, every dude on the USA team when Hellebuck's name got called. They were like, oh, my God. Yeah. And dude, I haven't seen him that fire that you said this, but I haven't seen, he was doing like selfies,

he was going the crowd. It's amazing. That was awesome. All right, closing thoughts. We got to wrap up here. Closing thoughts, man, what a fucking tournament. Other than the USA Slovakia game,

go back into the quarterfinals and on. What else can you ask for? We've been clamoring for NHL players in Best on Best Olympics. We got nail biters, golden goals, OTs, You know, some upset, some near upsets.

We got a shoot penalty shot. We got missing T. What's been a fucking tournament. End of the day, USA wins gold twice. Yes. We were at both games. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. And truly, it is all because of you guys.

And we can't tell you how much we love you enough. It's so fucking fun. Thank you for joining on the ride. And there's going to be plenty more content about these games coming out. We're going to keep everything ripping as usual. But let's go get fucked up and celebrate the fact that USA just won gold medal in both the women's and men's hockey tournament here at the Olympics in Milano. Greatest fucking country in the world. Let's fucking go.

The miracle in Milan, USA all the way. We love you guys. Can't wait to see you soon. More content will be coming out. CP as we go rip it up. Tell them what to do. Skate fucking. I got to talk to you guys really quickly about Lucy, the official pouch partner of Almost Friday.

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flavor. It is amazing. Lucy's the only pouch that delivers long-lasting on-demand flavor. So find a store at lucy.co slash stores or get it shipped with 20% off your first order at lucy.com slash netters. That's N-E-T-T-T-E-R-S using that promo code netters. Lucy products are only for adults of legal age and every customer is age verified. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine isn't an addictive chemical. I just, we're official boys. All three of us right now are gold medalists as far as I'm concerned. And we called in the big guns. The third empty netter, T.J. O'Shee. Holy fuck. We did it. They did it. I can't believe it.

I can't, like, I've never felt so a part of something that I'm not a part of, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not on the team. Like, I feel like, yeah, I feel like I just won a gold medal. And clearly, I was not on the ice. But it's, uh, I'm so happy for those guys. And like, the way they handle themselves after in, like,

the interviews, like, man, what a squad. Dude, I said this, and it's like, go ahead. There's, there's been a number of things that have happened that have been funny. Just like you said, we're like walking around Milan here and people are congratulating us. And I'm like, guys, we're fucking morons. But it is how I feel. I'm like, yeah, I'm a part of this.

But, um, dude, I, I said to Chris right before you hopped on watching Jack Jack's, interview at the end there where he's got the flag draped around his shoulders and he's just talking about USA hockey. it's shit like this man it's just being patriotic is so fucking awesome it feels incredible and I love seeing it from the boys it just fires me up so much

yeah honestly I so I watched that in my living room and the second the interview ended I'm going on X Instagram I'm like refreshing I'm like someone has to have that so I can repost it and nothing was coming through and so I just

I just paused it rewound it, replayed it, took a video and posted it. What, like, that's, it's a perfect interview. His emotion, like, you could tell he was on Cloud 9 and, like, he couldn't even, it wasn't necessarily answering the questions really, but like, just like almost pouring his heart out. Like, and, like, the first thing he says is like, like, I'm so proud to be an American. We did this for the country.

and then they ask him, KT asked him, what does it mean like for you to win a gold medal? And he immediately goes, Connor Hellebuk. Hellebuck was our best player out there. He was unbelievable, you know what I mean? He said nothing about himself. Not one thing about him, his family, his brother.

Like, oh, man, what an American. Like that's, I love that. Like I have chills right now. Dude, oh, shit sitting in my car. Yes. It was so sick, man. and the, I don't know if you could see on TV, but when they were doing the medal presentation,

when they got to Connor Hellebuck, all the boys on the U.S. team started going nuts, like pointing at him and everything, because they were like, dude, he was, that paddle save on Taze will live forever, dude. Like, that was fucking insane. And I've seen a save like that change, change, that was how he became Stanley Cup champions.

You've prayed and Holpey. The exact same, like almost the same. Yeah, buddy. Holtz is like out of midair, but, dude, like, Conor Hellebuck for, like, all the grief he's been getting, like, MVP last year. And now, like, everyone's talking about Biddington, rightfully so, like, absolute gamer. Like, some of the saves he was making. Absolute gamer.

But now He almost, like, showed up, like, I'm the guy. And he's not cocky like that. But, like, I'm so happy for him. I did yesterday. I was on with Lindsay and Ace at NBC. and they're like, what are your keys to the game? Ace's key to the game was penalty kill. I don't think they scored a power play goal today, right?

So they went 100% for the whole tournament on the penalty kill. 100%. How fucked is that? That's like, I think how many penalties were that day? Three or four? That means they were 14 for 14 going into the game. So they're 18 for 18 or something. That's unbelievable.

That has a lot to do with your goalie, but the players do. And my point was the goalies. I was like, it's going to come down to the goalies. always is going to be a tight game. All these games that they play each other are one goal games or OT games. And I just pointed out like Binnington, he is like a gamer. He adjusts his style of play based on like the danger around him. If there's danger, he'll stay back so he can recover.

If there's not, he's aggressive. He'll not like that. He's consistent. That's like a superpower. He is a blocker. He's big. He stays in his net. He's very technical.

And I mentioned, I was like with, the type of D that U.S. have right now, I think the best D decor in the whole Olympics, like he can play that way because they can help around the net. Man, I'm so happy for him. I'm sorry, that was long-winded. I'm jacked up. I'm on cloud nine. No, dude.

I'm absolutely fucking juiced, dude. So I feel you. And you're so right about Hellebuck. I feel like this win for the U.S. boys is so validating. and it's such a motherfucker to so many people for so many guys. Hellebuck being one of them. Jack Hughes being another. The people being like, oh, he was so bad in four nations and all tournament.

He's been unbelievable. Then he goes and gets the golden goal. The two golden goals for the U.S. were both Hughes brothers fucking insane. Austin Matthews, a guy who everyone is like, oh, he can't get the big win. He can't lock in. He was playing fucking Selky winning defense in that game,

all fucking game for 60 plus minutes. It was just, I mean, that was obviously a, massive victory for USA and for USA hockey, but that was such a huge victory for so many of those players. And you just love to see it. It's unbelievable. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, even like, you can go down the line. Dylan Larkin was one of the best players for US in the tournament, I think. He's played five. Last three games, oh, sh. He's played five playoff games in his career. So like, wow. Like for him, like, like, caged lion, right? A caged lion. Yeah, to like, he's been wanting to play for this.

And I spoke to him when he was in Minnesota after the game, probably a little under a month ago, three weeks ago maybe. And, like, you could just see, like, he was, like, just so fired up to be on this team to, like, be able to represent America. Like, I'm so happy for these guys. And, like, I sent them a bunch of the old Olympians, American, sent them letters that they kind of hung on the wall in the locker room. They asked me for one Probably about six days ago

Five six days ago maybe and I wrote one And I said a bunch of stuff You know inspirational whatever That we support them And one of the things I said was I'm so excited for the Like That this could be a new era in USA hockey

And I'm so excited that they get to embrace that challenge And they've embraced the living hell out of it Man it's just like I can't stop thinking about the fact that it's it's all we're we're about to hit half a fucking century half a century without the u.s men winning gold so this there was just you can say all you want about you know that i'm not saying it's a passing of the torch canada is still obviously incredible those boys played so so well that team's a wagon but this is more just the the this is just as good of a program it's

just as good of a nation at hockey i mean that we can play with those guys and to to to be able to finish the job and get that win. Good Lord, Connor fucking Hellebuck. Put a goddamn statue of this motherfucker in Milan. I mean, that was one of the most insane performances. That was full Jim Craig. That was full Jimmy Craig shit right there. And you're right, just like guys like Larks and guys like Vinny Trotech and J.T. Miller,

who are getting dogged on a ton who just go out and play fucking defensive specialist hockey. And it was crazy. And second period, it was like, oh, my God, this looks like the Finland game, the Czechia game. Canada's just ramming it down their throat, but it was almost like the boys were ready for that. They were like, yeah, listen, like we might get ragdolled here for a bit, but we can just survive. And shit, did they do it? That was unbelievable. It really, just like what a, you know, it was kind of like, it's similar to the games, like even in 2014, social, we played them in the semis. It was a one-nothing game.

And so, like, you just, yeah, we needed someone to step up in that moment and score a five-on-five goal, like, or an OT goal. And this team just has it But I think one thing that I think this has been coming Because unlike my era This era, this era of American players They won, they were winning U-18 worlds They were winning World Junior Championships

Ooh, great call So I think this has been coming They don't have I don't think they have maybe the I don't want to say fear But like They don't look at can Canada, I don't think as my era looked at them because they've been beating them when they were younger.

We weren't. I never beat Canada one game, even round robin my entire career ever, not one time. Wow, that's fucking nuts. And these guys, but these guys did. They have been beating them since they were 18. And so I think they went into this with a completely different mindset than we would have in Soshe. I know 2010 obviously You know one goal away from being right there

But still we didn't get it done These guys these guys did Yeah dude We have a caught I know you sent another letter recently with inspirational stuff But we have a copy of the one you sent to the boys With the care package with all the gear The hat and everything And we've been playing with the war road cards

Getting going in our Airbnb all trip All trip because you were like that's those are some of my favorite memories And you've said on a million times but on our show too about what the Olympic experience did for you as a player in your career and everything. What do you think this moment is going to mean to these guys moving forward and the way it'll shape their careers and the national spotlight they're going to get and all that stuff? I think in a lot of different ways. I think some of it they probably won't realize it's going to be a whirlwind here for a little bit. It was for me until the next hockey season started until the next season after 2014.

Yeah, yeah. But they're going to get, you know, everything. Like they're going to get so many opportunities for partnerships. They're going to get so many people coming up to them doing what people do for me even to this day saying, this is where I was when we watch you win the gold medal. This is what the bar look like. These are the USA chance. These are the things that like still make my like give me goosebumps right now talking about it.

These guys are going to have that for the rest of their lives. People coming up to them for the next. 30, 40 years, like, who knows where USA hockey is at that point, but everyone's going to remember this one. They'll remember where they were, who they were with, how drunk they were, or how if they were with their kids, or like me, I was at my kid's hockey game, like watching in the lobby with all the, you know, I'm in, I'm probably going to be in one of those videos cheering, you know, just like fans were in 2014 for me. So it's going to change their lives, but I think also there's a lot of Americans on this team that haven't won a Stanley Cup. Canada has 20 plus Stanley Cups on that

roster. U.S. doesn't. And so these kids now can take this experience to the playoffs, to their teams. Now they're a champion. They're a champion. They know what it takes. They know what it's like to play for the guy next to him to go further than they thought they could. And so I'm so excited for these guys. I'm getting so jacked up right now. But, uh... Dude, you just fired me up so much. Holy shit. I'm pissed because I'm like, this is why you have to join the fucking show because you just took the words out of my mouth. I was really right about to say, before the game, I was looking at both rosters sitting here with Chris and Red, and I ran down Team Canada, and more than half that team has won a Stanley

Cup. Three guys, Jack Eichel, Jake Gensel, and who is the one other one. And Chuckie, obviously. Oh, Chuckie, yeah. Those are the only guys who've won Stanley Cup. So, like, this is a Stanley Cup, dude, winning an Olympic gold fucking medal, against Canada, against Canada, yeah. So, like, all of these guys, this new age, these, like, all of these guys.

like mid-20s superstars in the league for the USA. Like they now have a massive, massive championship under their belt. And that is fucking huge. It's going to be huge for them playing for their club teams. This is so exciting. Yep. It's different when you get in that moment in playoffs, when you've been there before and you know what it takes.

These guys have it now. And I think playoffs this year for these guys are going to look different, especially some of these top players having to play certain roles. You have to play a full 200-foot game in playoffs. Some of these top players were required. You have to do that to beat Canada. And now they got a taste of it. Not only did they get a taste of it, they got a taste of it, and they succeeded.

So, man, I'm so happy for these. I'm just so happy for these guys and the Americans and USA hockey. My kids play hockey now. My kids are going to be able to say they watch the gold medal game. They saw when US won, when Jack Hughes threw it five hole to win a gold medal. so um oh my god dude i can't even like just hearing that out loud i'm just so i'm just so i'm so incredibly proud of these guys it's like the the it's you said it all it's just the resiliency the way to dig deep and battle through a game like that and win USA men's have a fucking gold

medal again that feels incredible fuck me so sick um oh you're the best we'll let you run i know I know you're on babysitting dad duty right now. We'll get you back on soon so we can have, you know, La La Island right now. But we'll get you back on soon for a full proper epi. But, dude, go go fucking have a few pops after you leave Lava Island and let's celebrate this one. This is unbelievable. Absolutely, boys.

Love you. Love America. It's a good day to be an American, boys. Sure is, buddy. Love you too, brother. We'll talk soon.