Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Team USA men's hockey beats Canada in a thriller to win gold medal (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote opened their show by reacting to the USA men's hockey team winning the gold medal with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against rival Canada on Sunday at the Winter Olympics. Later, they welcomed on NBC reporter Kathryn Tappen to share her experience of covering Team USA men’s hockey winning the historic gold medal.

The score. This hour is brought to you by Vesectomy Clinics of Chicago. The views and opinions of Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grotty should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Gay thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody.

10 to 2 on 1043, The Score. And we go out to our hotline. That is where we find WBBM News Radio Political. editor Jeff Buckhulls, who is right now joining us from Oak Park, where an event held by the governor just wrapped up. Hi, Jeff. A lot of the conversations today, according to the governor, over the last 24 hours, have been the bears saying, well, we didn't mean that we're moving to Indiana, and we only put that statement out to mollify was the word the governor used. Holy cow, that's a big word. When you say mollify, you mean appease. So the bears made that

statement to appease the work that they had done with Indiana, and they're walking it back when it came to the statement that they issued yesterday? I mean, I suppose if I had a dictionary in front of me, Layla, I would be able to sort of parse the difference between appease and Molify. I'm going to stick with Molify because that's the word the governor used, and I don't want to, like, put words in his mouth. We are Molified. Let me give you the definition of Molify.

Apease the anger or anxiety of someone. I'm just giving you the straight off. That's the dictionary.com edition. Why did you make me put that town? No. We need a medical dictionary. A patient gets difficult. You grown up.

Jeff, I just want to use the word mollify too, since both my partners did. I want to make sure that I was able to use that word as well. What would be worse for him? The tax payers having to pay more or losing the Chicago Bears to the state of Indiana? I believe you are referring, Grody, to the widely held belief that Governor Pritzker is going to seek an office. other than the governor ship of Illinois. That would be correct, to mollified my statement. Yes, that would be correct.

Yes. Good job. Yeah, exactly. My life is one long, mollifying. We appreciate your time, and thank you for doing so, Jeff. This has been very informative, as usual, and we all learned a new word today. Hey, if that's what I bring to the folks at 1043, the score, I'm happy to help. We should bring something.

I already am. I'm bringing the gift of knowledge. Now our show is brought to you by the word. mollify. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m.

to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104 3, the score. I guess we're going to mollify your hockey quotient for the day with Catherine Tappin, joining us at 1045, Olympic gold medalist,

himself, Jack O'Callaghan, joining us later in our show at 1225, and in the meantime, Bears and baseball and more. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score. And I'm trying to use it in a sentence, but a piece is not the word I would use for something I hadn't seen in my lifetime, which was an Olympic gold medal hockey team. And here we are. I think we talked about this in our pre-show meeting, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody.

Where were you when you watch something that you hadn't seen happen since 1980 or perhaps hadn't seen at all? I will confess. I devoured it, and I watched the game on tape delay. I got to see Mike Tarrico's wonderful closing comments for that broadcast live, but I did not get to see what happened real time, but I kept up with the data. But I had to watch it when I was fully awake on Sunday. I'm not going to lie, I was at the gym,

and I got the alert that the U.S. had won. The class itself was from 9 to 10. so like towards the end of the class is when I got the alert. Like I knew they were winning and then I knew they were tied and then I knew what happened in overtime. And then I went home and I watched it. And it was great because it made me feel like no longer is the U.S. this underdog story.

The U.S. is on par with other nations who have prioritized hockey. And I know that's a bummer for our neighbors up north, but hey, them's the brakes. The USA has arrived and the USA is not going anywhere. Watching specifically the third period, but even before that, I was like, I think Canada is playing a better game of hockey than the U.S. But hockey is one of those sports, where if you don't get the bounce, the post is real. Like, you have to find a way to not only have more opportunities than your opponent,

but to take advantage. And if you don't get the brakes, you end up losing an overtime. three-on-three game for a gold medal. I ended up on Saturday night, spent the night at my parents in the mighty Northwest suburbs where they might build a new Bears stadium. Spent the night, I set my alarm for, I knew my dad was going to get up and watch. I was like, hey, hey, why me to wake you up? I was like, you know what?

You know what, Dad? I'm going to set the alarm for 9 o'clock, and we'll see what happens. The alarm goes off. I look at my phone. It could not have been more perfect. It says on my phone that it is a. high game. It's one, one after two periods. I jump out of bed like it's Christmas morning. I go downstairs and I get my coffee and I go into another room in my parents' house. There's my mom. My mom is in

another room because my mom is one of these sports fans who can't handle it when the pressure gets too much. He's like, I am not going to watch this. I can't handle it right now. But I went and hung out with my dad in the other room where the game was blaring and we just had a blast. And my mom actually did eventually come into the room and when the goal is scored, I'm going crazy. For some reason, because it's so sudden and it's for all the marbles, it did remind me of the Blackhawks' first cup of their three-cup run in 2010 when you didn't know that Taves, or excuse me, that Kane had scored.

He's running down, throwing the mitts up. That's what it felt like. It's like for the Hawks won a Stanley Cup, Team USA wins gold. That was the feeling to a different level, not quite the same. Like the Black Hawk's level was different. That was like Pride, Chicago, that was a 10. This was a little different, but in the same sort of family of feeling that I had, Blackhawks versus Olympics.

Well, I had a good laugh because Mark Lazarus, who covers the Blackhawks, for the athletic. And, you know, was the noted longtime Blackhawks reporter here in town had the barf cry die during Twitter when Twitter was like fun. You know, so that was always the stress of watching, watching the hockey playoffs.

Oh, that's a great, yeah. And I did think of him and the barf cry die while I was watching, while I was watching the game and just understanding the stress, you know, and knowing that even, even when you're watching an Olympics time delay,

where you know what you're, where you're going to see. just feeling it all together and then even watching the replays of the medal ceremony were just incredibly emotional, but the lead that Mark Lazarus has that I want to share is pretty amazing

too. To their graves, to their blanking graves. And he types another letter in there, but that's the point is, if this were on the other side, for the U.S. to get as close as it had gotten to

a gold medal since 2010, and then arguably even closer when you consider what happened that you're, you know, that was Cindy Crosby's team taking them down. You don't want to win silver. You know, you want to win either of the bronze or the gold because at least at that point you're winning the game. But in this case, to be so close and to have just an incredible performance from Connor Hellybeck as well.

I mean, that's one of those performances that'll stand out, you know, for the ages. Like I to have 41 saves in the game. Oh yeah. 41 out of 42. Like how do you even put that into into discussion? Because that's something where even when Laz was tweeting where he's like, he has 40 saves and we're going into overtime. And then what do you see? But one of those performances where you really have a goal he stand on his head.

And you know, that's the other point about this is in the Olympics. we talk about the well, Canada feels like they were the better team. You know, there's the Nathan McKinin quote of, of you tell me, you tell me who the judge was of who was the better team today. That's the nature of this.

Team USA lost in a shootout in 2022 to a Slovakia team who ended up winning the bronze medal. That's the perilous nature of knowing that that is your fate in this tournament. And it's not a best to seven like the NHL playoffs.

But for Team USA to come out and really be resilient the entire tournament, tells you a lot about who this team really was. The expectation, going back to the gold or bust mantra that they decided to really lock on to, because they weren't here for second place, they weren't here for the play-play. They were here to bring home the gold. And it didn't seem, not that it wasn't realistic of a goal, but they were definitely not favored. And as the game went on, and that's why it is probably good that it's a one game thing and not a best of three.

Because as the game went on, you saw the team that was better on paper looked better on the ice, and a goalie stood on his head. Like a goalie stood on his head. Let's let's be honest about what happened. 41 saves out of 42. A goalie stood on his head. I mean, especially in the third period, the saves on Taves. Pelted. And celebrating, oh my God, the breakaway.

Like it was talk about, you guys didn't watch it in real time. That stuff is heart attack stuff in real time. I don't know that I could have handled it. Oh, I was so you would have been in that room with my mom. She would have been, yeah. Here's my question. Did she go to the room when Kelmacar scored? What forced her out of the room?

Well, I think she finally, she's, like, one, nothing, you feel pretty good. Well, once it goes to three on three, she's like, screw it. And here's what I told my mom. I said, mom, and this leads them to what I was going to say. I was like, you have to understand all of the. pressure of the world, and this is on Canada. They are raised to be win gold medals in hockey. The whole, that is their pride, their civic pride, their worth. All the pressure, every bit of it was on the Canadian team. I have never seen athletes so sad to be, to have silver medals

put around their necks. I felt like, like just looking, literally looking at the faces of the Canadian players as they are being presented as the second best team in the world and that they were depressed. And it made me think of the Olympics as a whole. Is there anything more depressing that a silver medal? The silver is the worst in team sports. And bronze, well, while we're out at bronze, you kind of suck too. No, bronze at least wins their game though. That's the difference. It's like winning the NIT championship in basketball. In the bronze medal game, the winner is happy. That's true. Yeah, kind of. You know, a little bit more. Like really, the Olympics is about golds and golds only. I don't care.

Quantity, forget it. It's quality. The only thing worthwhile at all of the Olympics are gold medals. I don't care if the Americans had the quantity of metal. Tell me how many golds they had. That's how I was feeling. So somehow, some way I was able to get Gene Grody back in the room because she understood that, hey, there's no, we're not supposed to win.

This is Canadians. This is Canada's sport. It's not ours. So she got to enjoy it too. What about the Canadians like Nathan McKinnon? I don't know if you saw what he said after the game. You be the judge of who's the better team day. The whole thing, just the sore loserness of it all.

And I get it. You hurt. Hurt people. Hurt people. And Canadian was hurting. But that's the point is that's how the tournament goes. Like Team USA didn't say that when they lost in overtime to Slovakia last time. You know, that's the, I don't know if they end up changing the rules.

Like Edzo talked about that on Mullian Hall a little bit this morning with Zach Zadman and David Haw, the concept of, do you keep that? that happening because it is so perilous, you know, because it really does come down to chance. And I remember being in Beijing and watching, watching the 2022 team just agonized after defeat because you are so close in a three-on-three. But there was good coaching and just a good level of US play that went on, too, that put them in those positions. You know, and Edzo talked about this. They had a lot of time in front of the net, even though they didn't have as many shots on goal to start. And he goes, you can't pass your way into the net here. Like, you guys need to get some

purposeable shots on goal. And you started to see that just wear down and wear down. The other thing, too, is not only did Hellibook make 41 saves, but Team USA had numbers every single time Canada was in their zone. So because of that, I feel like, yeah, Nathan McKinnon can say that. And I understand the anguish that they have, especially after their women's team lost to the women, too, which is a very big deal. But to have it go down like this, to have Team USA come through and also honor the late Johnny Goodro. Like, we haven't even gotten to all the emotional parts of this. Again, Catherine Tappen joins us at 1045. We can't wait to talk to her. So let's listen coming up next to some of the sights and sounds too that we had because poor team Canada, not only you get the

silver, but then you get the little stout stuffed animal that was handed to you. Did you notice that too? You guys see that. Yeah, they're just looking like, uh, what's this? And first you get your metal and then after that happens, then you get your celebratory stout. Those things are going to go for big money on the second market. I think they would have preferred those. They would have preferred those over the silver medals. Yeah, I don't think they wanted the silver medals. You know that's like a fancy name for a member of the weasel family in the stout.

Really? I've never heard of the stolt. Just when I thought of. They're cute. Educational. They seem destructive. Are they babies? Yes.

They are? They are just babies. Yes. Or at least they look like they are. More Olympic Hocutocke talk coming up next. This is Rahimi-Harrison Grotie on one 4-3 The Score. Marshall Harris, Mark Grady, and me, Leila Rahimi, thanking you for joining us on this Monday. Ray Diaz and Tyler Buterbaugh are our producers.

Brandon Fryer helps us out as well as we broadcast live from the Scores Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. We also have a Twitch chat that you can join us on. Twitch.tv.tv.com. The Score, Chicago. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis, helped man that as well. and you've been texting and calling. So hang out. 312, 64, 64, 67 is our number.

An incredible message that actually takes me back to the inspiration of some of the Blackhawks teams from Mike Tariko. And a wonderful interview with Catherine Tappen coming up next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. Bears tight end. Cole Kamet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me.

I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score on the 670 a.m. dial when you're inevitably cruising around downtown. And now that we have an FM signal call, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the bear's hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I blast that in the locker room. Beautiful Blatch! Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's Tyndel 2 on 1043 The Score.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And we get to observe something that hadn't happened in almost 50 years, not since 1980, had Team USA hockey for the men won a gold medal. And the men's and the women's teams both come away with the gold. This Olympiad in Milan, which is pretty incredible. We are happy to discuss it with you. And we're talking about to start viewing in the emotional experience. and I appreciate everybody who's also bringing up on our text line,

312, 64, 64, 67, 67, the emotional aspect of honoring Johnny Goddrow, the way that the team was able to do and bring out his jersey and take pictures with his sons on the ice. We lost Johnny and his brother to a drunk driver in 2024 when they were riding bikes and they were out for their sister's wedding. And I think as somebody who we thought might be one of the faces of American hockey to be able to be honored and that way was really an emotional moment

as well on the ice. It's so telling that the memory of Johnny Goodrow to a point fueled this team to the level that it did. You see the celebrations after the game and it reminds you like, oh, that's right.

He was supposed to be a part of this. and I'll tell you, you know, spending time in Philadelphia and, you know, understanding the impact that he had in his limited time playing in the NHL and what he meant for American hockey specifically. And this idea that Americans were being invested in from a hockey standpoint. And I got to tell you, it did hit a little bit. As someone who just was watching this great accomplishment, but in the same time, you can't acknowledge the celebration without understanding the hurdles that some of these players went through when their very good friend was lost in that accident.

Yeah, it was tough seeing the parents in the stands, but it was like jubilant seeing the players, you know, the kids smiling in the picture, just enjoying the moment, all of that. So that part was very cool. It made me think of the hockey parents in general and their. Like we all talk about like the kids that play hockey look up to the hockey players because they are the elite that is ultimate what everybody's going for. It makes me wonder too.

Like do other hockey parents look up to those hockey parents as like superstars in the stands because the people, we all know hockey. I know a bunch of them. A lot of them have been my family. If you have kids that play hockey, you probably know what it's like to live and die with every single moment watching your kids and it crushes your soul. If they're 13 years old and they let a goal go through, imagine what those parents go through. What the moms and dads were going through watching that game when it was 2-2 in the third period and they ultimately won the game. So I thought about the parents as in general from that moment.

Well, and you know, one of the biggest things I heard was part of the reason the Team USA women's hockey team was so successful and how good they had gotten in that big rivalry with Team Canada that we know goes back to to 1998 when they first had women's hockey in the Olympics was the inspiration of the local hockey teams who succeeded and the Black Hawk's effect on youth hockey. Oh, yeah. Starting when they started to win the Stanley Cups and frankly, you know, when they were televised more. how many people do you know their kids played youth hockey because they were inspired by the Blackhawks teams and it's that generation that we're seeing now come to the ice and play

and Marshall and I were at CSN Philly Comcast SportsNet Philly when our colleague John Clark did a story talking about Johnny Guadro and Jack Eichol because they were both from New Jersey and how they were a new breed in a young generation

of American-born hockey play who were inspired, you know, by other teams in American hockey and how they came into this point. And that's what made this, I think, such a big deal, too, is how many of these players were inspired by, say, the 2010 team or how many of the 2010 team were inspired by the teams before them. You go back to the 1980 team. But when you consider, like, the run that the hawks had here and what that meant to youth hockey in the Chicago land area and how that did translate directly to, for example, the success of the USA women's team. It really does have an impact that you don't necessarily understand. And let's turn to who

perhaps said it the best. It was Mike Tariko's message that he gave after the gold medal game that I thought was really worth listen. Because of a drought that almost lasts in the half century, those teams are revered. They are held on to forever. And what happened today doesn't take away from the greatness of those teams or the meaning that those teams have in U.S. hockey. But what you saw today was the build of a generation inspired perhaps by that team that lost in 2010 in Vancouver to the Sydney Crosby Golden Gold in overtime or the team where T.J. O'Shea had all those shootout goals in 2014. That's when these guys were doing what you're doing, watching on TV, and they were young and they were living the dream. So for all the young people out there, not just the hockey, but all

the Olympics you've watched, those dreams are formed now. Go chase them and go get them. Because our country loves sports and it brings us together unlike anything else. And if you didn't know that, if you haven't been watching the last two weeks, you saw it in Team USA hockey, winning the gold over there are tribal Canada here in Milan to wrap up these 25th Olympic winner games. Listen, this tweet came across. I don't know if you guys saw this tweet yesterday in kind of the same vein, but understanding what you were just talking about, Lela,

with the foundation being built for the next generation of, and you can really fill in the blank, whatever you want to make it. Because what kids see is what kids will remember for their entire lives in terms of how it hits them. It hits different when you haven't had the world put on your shoulders yet. And you don't feel like you're anchored down with all these things that you have to do as an adult. Adults, we're just so frustrated compared to a kid like joy. That's the reason that that's an expression. Here's the tweet.

Craig Custins, he is the head of creative development at the athletic. In 2011, he quote tweeted USA Hockey saying this. USA Hockey says, USA Hockey's AIDEN under membership has reached 100,000 for the first time ever. That's the tweet from USA Hockey. USA Hockey's AIDN under membership has reached 100,000 for the first time ever. Craig Custin's he quotes the tweet in 2011 when this happened and says

look out 2026 Olympics and here we are and here we are and I love that the foundation can be laid I love that sports still does somehow some way bring us all together in a time when things have never been more divisive in this country

at times that's a great point Like there are a few moments in sports where you feel like, that's why I love Bears games because we all know around here in this city and in the Midwest. We're all together on social media. We're all together watching the Bears and it's a bonding thing and people are expressing themselves. That was the same feeling for this game. Like we're not just in Chicago, but as a country, we're all together.

We don't talk hockey on this show. I think we've had our best hockey discussions on the text thread. And right here, we don't, let's admit, let's be real about this. Let's be real about this. We don't. But that moment, we're all the biggest hockey fans in the world yesterday morning watching that game. We're here doing an hour on hockey today because that game brought us all together.

And somehow, some way, even with everything going on in this country, there's still a bleep ton of pride. I mean, listening to the post-game interview yesterday, just talking about the country and bringing America together. And I know he wasn't necessarily talking about bigger picture stuff, but it's so rare right now. We could all put our American flag literally over our backs the way those hot. Like that's another cool thing too. Watching all the hockey players putting the American flag over their back and kind of just lightly

skating around for that moment. For those three hours, if you watched it, we felt good about ourselves. It was nice to see. And even the image, like, what's your lasting image going to be of this? his team. And one of my images is probably going to be the now iconic picture of Jack Hughes smiling with the American flag and no teeth. Because his two front teeth were lost in a high sticking penalty. Where he said he wanted to draw the penalty. Which again reminded gave me Blackhawks flashbacks. Anyone, Duncan Keith who lost all his teeth in the postseason. It's just like,

there were, there were so many moments where I was watching that like, it made. It made. me long for the Blackhawks being relevant on this show and on this station and in this town again, because when the Blackhawks were winning titles, it was a blast. Very stressful. As Layla, I don't know, how did you put it? Barf cry. No, that's how Las put it. Barf cry die.

Barf cry. Give me back to barfing and crying and dying. I need to be back. That's what I realized sitting there watching that third period. Get me back to that feeling with the team that plays in this town because it's great. right when they're good. And what I love about hockey is that level of anxiety, other sports move at a different pace

where you can't necessarily have the same buildup as you do in hockey, right? Because baseball is like one pitch at a time, basketball, one possession at a time. But as you know, a turnover in hockey, and it's like, oh! Oh, it's on! All hell breaks loose. Because, you know, giving up a basket and transition in basketball is one thing, but in hockey, goals are so rare, like a two-to-one overtime game.

I'm not trying to do this right now, but you know what I thought of when you said that. What's that? Rob Dillingham just skating the other one. Dilly? I got to bring up Dilly. And I'm going for the dunk, and unfortunately, sometimes you miss. But a lot of times, you know how it is. Shoot or shoot.

If you don't try. If you don't try. I feel like some people have tuned out to the Chicago Bulls. So if you don't know who Rob Dillingham is, he's a former lottery pick that the Bulls acquired at the trade deadline, very fast, very speedy. Got a steal last night. Went up for a dunk. it did not go well for him. Enough.

The Bulls have lost nine and a row. That's all you need to tell the people about the Bulls. Enough. Enough. Enough. Enough. I wanted to know who got a bullet in you. Enough.

Back to discussion of victory. We didn't have time because we've just been enjoying the moment, but there was a wonderful interview that Catherine Tappen did with the golden goal scorer himself, Jack Hughes. And Catherine has been nice enough to join us next. So Catherine Tappen, coming back from Milan. I don't know. there now. We'll figure it out. But she was part of the broadcast crew on NBC. So we get to talk to her next on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score.

Rahimi Harrison Grody. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043 the score. And it's Werenstki. Now Jack Hughes puts it around the park. United States with numbers. Lock across it comes. We love to hear it. That was Kenny Albert and Eddie Oldcheck on the call. Courtesy of NBC

in the Olympic Games. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. On 104-3, the score, we await to hear from Catherine Tappen, who also spoke to the man who scored the golden gold. Jack Hughes, after the game. Let's listen to her interview. Jack, the first gold medal for the United States in 46 years, and you delivered it. Can you just describe the emotions of this moment right now? This is all about our country right now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. It's unbelievable. The USA Hockey Brotherhood is so strong. And we had so much support from next players. I'm so proud to be American today.

This was such an incredible game to grind out. I mean, you're bleeding right through it, just looking at you right now. Can you just talk about how difficult this gold medal was to win? Unbelievable game by Halibuck. He was our best player tonight by a mile. Unbelievable game. Unreal game by our team. That's just a ballsy, gutsy win.

That's American hockey right there. That's a great Canadian team, but we're USA. so proud to be Americans. Tonight was all for the country. What does this gold medal mean to USA hockey? It's everything. Like I said, the USA Hockey Brotherhood means so much. Look at these guys.

We're in such a team. We've been to the guy over two weeks. We're such a team. The USA Hockey Brotherhood is so strong. And we're so proud to win for our country. Jack, the gold medal's coming home and you're about to watch the American flag go up to the rafters and hear the national anthem.

How many times did you dream that up? You know, I can't even believe this. I mean, it's such an unbelievable game. USA Canada. That's such a good game. They have so many great players. We're a great team. That's exactly how we wanted to go.

We wanted to go through Canada and beat them. It could have went either way tonight, but that's an unbelievable win for the Americans. Congratulations. Jack, go and join. Thank you. That was Catherine Tappen on NBC, courtesy of NBC in the Olympics, and her interview with Jack Hughes after he had scored the golden goal. And there he was.

just chatting away with a no-for-a-teeth after he got hit in the face with a high stick. It's going to be cool to be Jack Hughes right now, man. American hero. Like, oh, by the way, he plays for the New Jersey Devils. To every rink that he goes to now for the rest of the year, the adoration that he is going to receive. Things will be longer than the rest of the year. Well, come on, man. Do you understand the world we live in a short attention span?

This has about another 24 hours of life, and then we go back to not caring about hockey. Are you kidding? We're talking about the bear stadium later. Speaking of the next 24 hours. Then we get back to the real sports. You know the story about the snowstorm and where they were supposed to go from Milan and where they ended up after Milan, right? Miami. Oh, me.

They were supposed to fly into JFK. Yes, but they couldn't because of the snowstorm. So instead, they're going to be in Miami, fresh off a gold medal. What kind of partying is going on in Miami? Well, the other issue is these guys got to get back to work. Right. You know, like, you got to get back to NHL work. First games are what?

Wednesday? I got to look at this. Connor Hellebach's got to get back to, now go back to Winnipe. Wednesday. First games are Wednesday. Yeah, so that means you have, today's Monday, so you have to be wherever you have to be tomorrow, right? Yeah, that's a lot. Oh, there's definitely going to be practice.

That's a climax. Like, how do you do that? And Hallibuck, who does he play for? He plays for. Winnipeg. Yeah, Winnipeg. He's a Winnipeg Jet. Let me tell you about Conner Hillbock.

Going back to Canada might be a little awkward. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's an awkward return. Hey, sorry about that. Are we cool, Winnipeg? What's up, Winnipeg? But, you know, if you thought that, like, for example, Nathan McKinnon saying what he said was a crash out,

there's a bigger issue going on in Canada when it comes to the assessment of what is going on with these games. There was an article that Bruce Arthur wrote in the Toronto Star was his column. And this is a stat that. is pretty severe when you consider what's going on in Canada as far as where they think their Olympic program is. Three quarters of the medalists at the Milan Olympics for Team Canada were 30 or older.

They think that there's a real funding issue as far as a lack of funding at the base youth levels to make sure that they have an Olympic program that is up to their standard in Canada. I was reading something about how there's less boys playing hockey now than there were 10 years ago. That's shocking. And so I don't know what the reason is necessarily, but it's not good.

It might be a funding issue, as Lila alluded to, but also, you know, there's just not that, you people forget sometimes Canada is smaller in population by a lot than some of these other countries. Well, for Eric Miles, who is the COC of Canada's chief sports officer to say, and this is the quote, this is what got me, our system is in decline. line. Well, that's sobering. You know, as these guys are being handed,

their silver medals and their stoats. Let's go to our hotline now. Is she in Milan? Is she on a plane? We talked to Eddie Olcheck on a plane earlier today on the score. Catherine Tappen, thank you so much for joining us. Well, thank you guys. Yeah, Edzo ended up with dinner, you know, last night with him,

and he found a way to get out of Milan and somehow reroute through Atlanta to Chicago to L.A., but, I got, quote, unquote, stuck in Milan for the day, and I'm very happy about it. So that's where I'm on right now and happy to talk to you guys. How are you guys doing? We're great. Thank you for spending your quote stuck day and your time with us. We played your interview with Jack Hughes, and it was a wonderful conversation.

What was it like to be a part of that moment and observing this on the eyes? Yeah, well, I think just, you know, the biggest picture perspective I have is just, you know, the magnitude of that interview and the importance of what Jack said. I think, you know, the Olympics every four years for winter games, every, you know, every two years we get in Olympics, but every four years we get the winter of the summer. And it finds a way to kind of galvanize a country, right? It finds a way to bring pride back to our nation and, you know, all politics aside and everything else that the world is going through. It's just you cheer for your country. You cheer for these athletes. And Jack said that.

I mean, at the end of the day, like this was a massive win for America, for American hockey. and then go back a couple days to the women's team, bringing home gold as well. And I just think that when he was saying the things he was saying, the most important thing for me in that moment in processing his answers was, you know, lead him to the next most important thing he's going to say. So what is that, you know? And I think everything he said was so poignant and so strong. And it's exactly what all of them felt in that locker room.

And the importance of this event, the importance of winning a gold medal again, I mean, it had only been done twice in the history of American hockey. These are guys that grew up in the ranks of American hockey, playing at the youth level, playing at the collegiate level. And you're always the little brother to Canada. And it's like they just can't shake that. And now they did. And it was just, I mean, the fact that it was Jack and he had just gotten his teeth knocked out and they get the five on three penalty. And then he commits a penalty.

So he goes to the box and they've got to kill it off. It's like, I mean, the emotions of just that five on three alone. and to see him come off the ice and score the game winner. It was just, and you couldn't have scripted it better. You really couldn't it. And so listening to him and what he had to say and his reaction with his teeth, his whole mouth bleeding right in front of me, I just was like, oh my gosh, this is incredible.

This is just incredible. Catherine, just such a wonderful interview, as Lila said. And I was struck by what he talked about with the way he had to single out Connor Hallibuck as to let people know, like, this is the dude. Like, I know I scored a goal, but this is the dude. what did you make of his performance on that stage in that moment? Because that man survived to an extent. Yeah.

That's a great word for it. Survive. I mean, 41 saved. And by the way, like, insane saved, the one paddle save that I hope you asked Edzo about because he caught it better than anybody. But, I mean, the thing with Connor Hellebuck is that he has had so much criticism in big games, right? he's got all the Vezina as he needs.

He's got the NHL MVP. He's arguably the best goalie in the National Hockey League right now. And yet the Winnipeg Jets, when they get to the playoffs, for whatever reason, cumulatively, they cannot win big games. And so for Connor to win that way and to put on the performance, and not just yesterday, guys, I mean, the way he performed against Sweden, the way he won earlier rounds, I mean, Loppao was no easy cakewalk for the Americans in their first game. So I just think, like, what you saw from him, I was so happy for him.

and he was the difference maker for Team USA. I'm very bummed he didn't get the tournament MVP because I just think he deserved it. But he doesn't even need it. I actually talked to him afterwards. After I did the Jack interview, I was in the mix zone, and I grabbed a couple of American players, and Connor was obviously one of them.

And I just said, like, you've listened to the critics over the years, yet what does this win tell them? And he goes, yeah, they can write all they want. I don't care. And the reality is that he was, if he didn't perform the way he did in crucial situations against a Canadian team that had the best star power of offensive weapons on the ice, they wouldn't have won that game yesterday, Team USA.

They just wouldn't have. So it's awesome. I actually loved when the national anthem was being sung, and they panned to Connor Hallibuck, and he had the biggest smile in the world. I don't think we've seen him smile that big ever. It almost was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He was proud.

He was proud as an American. he was probably relieved that he won a massive game like that to get a gold medal. And, you know, this is a guy that was the 13th goalie taken in the draft the year he was taken 13. Like that's, that's like those are like Tom Brady numbers when he was drafted. Everyone else overlooked him. And he just quietly goes about his business and wins big. So I'm so happy for him. And to your point back about Jack's interview, I'm very glad that Jack acknowledged him.

I would have let him there, but I didn't have to. He went right to Connor. Catherine, could you describe what the crowd was like there in terms of Canada fans versus USA fans? And I felt like sometimes I thought I heard a chant, but it was almost like both sides were chanting, so it canceled each other. Can you describe what you heard or what you felt throughout that entire game? Yeah, it was pretty even, I'd say. I think, you know, I just think that it was very, there's a ton of American and Canadian fans here in Milan, even today. So there's obviously a big blizzard back east, which is why I'm.

still here, but, you know, a lot of people can't get back. So I've finally, for the first time in 24 days of being here, been able to kind of walk about the city and, you know, see some really cool sites. And so I still see a lot of Americans hanging around and a lot of Canadian people as well. And I just think that it was an easy trip to make. It was a massive game before you even knew who was in the gold medal. I think everyone just hoped it was going to be USA Canada with NHL players for the first time in 12 years. So people came and they participated and they cheered. And so the crowd was awesome. I mean, you know, the music they play in the venue's great. It's a smaller venue, so it's not quite the size of a United Center, say, but it's a little bit more intimate.

The crowd, I found it to be a pretty steep, you know, where the fans are, where the actual seats are. So they're kind of like above the ice, which is really awesome, and you felt like you were on top of the play. But it was very balanced yesterday. I mean, as loud as they cheered for Canada. They cheered equally as loud for the United States. And, I mean, I wouldn't say that the crowd swayed either team either way because it was pretty pretty well divided more so than really any other NHL game like you think about a Stanley Cup final it's always going to be one way or the other for the home team this was split down the middle which was unique and the whole experience the entire olympics was just unique in so many ways we're talking to katherine tap in the ringside reporter for nbccc's

broadcast of the olympic games and that included team usa's gold medal win and it was an emotional moment i know they showed the group joe family in the stands sitting and watching and then to when the late Johnny Grudeau's children were brought out onto the ice and they had his sweater there as well. What was that like just that moment? And then also, you know, in talking to the Goodro family and knowing what he meant to Team USA as well. Yeah. I mean, I just think that, you know, the entire hockey world came together when that horrific tragedy happened with Johnny and Matthew. And it has since, you know, never forgotten the memory of both players. And I think that alone is a great testament to what these men represent and what they care about, right?

I mean, the play on the ice is one thing, but they care more about Meredith Goddrow and her family and, you know, Guy and his mom and dad, and they want to make sure that Johnny's memory is always on the forefront of everyone's mind and Matthew. And so the day before the gold medal game, I was at Team USA's practice and, you know, Matthew Kuchuk is just one of the best players on and off the ice and he's great. and I did a quick on camera with him, a couple questions, but primetime wanted. And then after I put the microphone away, I said, hey, Matthew, one second. I said, hey, just real quick, you know, I haven't talked to you yet about honoring Johnny.

And I know you guys have his jersey in the locker room. And I had told the story two games prior because I had spoken to Zach Wrenski, who was really close with him, obviously, playing in Columbus for so many years. But I wanted Matthew's perspective. And I said, can you just give me some insight on what the guys are playing for tomorrow and having his jersey there? And he looked at me and goes, well, you know, it's Johnny Jr.'s birthday tomorrow. Johnny Jr.'s birthday is tomorrow, the gold medal game, and I literally felt the tears.

Like, I teared up. It was, I welded up. It was, I couldn't believe, you know, the significance of that, the fact that they were playing, you know, 46 years to the day of the miracle on ice. Like, it just all, and then he looked at me and he goes, things are starting to rely on, aren't they? And I went, oh, my God. Like, I mean, you couldn't, you couldn't have a dry eye when he told you that. And so we knew that going into the game. and I think I did a story tell about that during the game.

The family, and as wonderful it is as it is that they're honoring him and that they're there in attendance and that they were able to be here this final weekend to watch Team USA win their final two games, it's incredibly difficult for them as well. I mean, think about the family. Like, Johnny should be on the ice with them, and sorry, you're hearing, not sorry,

but you're hearing the beautiful church bells here in Milan that go off. It's just a wonderful culture here in Italy. But separately, you know, I just think that it's, hard on the family, right? As much as you honor Johnny and you want to make sure you keep his memory alive, they have to participate in this. They have to face it publicly. And that's very, very hard. And so I give them a lot of credit and having them in attendance was great. And then bringing them on the ice when Matthew and Zach Wrenzki went out and got the kids in the stands. I mean, there wasn't a dry eye in the building on the broadcast. And it was spectacular. And I do

believe, like, I do believe that there was something special that that team had yesterday and they we're going to win that game and Johnny had a lot to do with it. Well, Catherine, thank you so much for joining us and helping us relive those moments and also bringing the interviews to life. You guys did a wonderful job, all Olympic games. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's great to be with you guys. I love the city of Chicago. Love my time there when I get to cover events. So keep up the great work and thanks for calling in. I appreciate it. Thanks, Catherine. Enjoy a cappuccino if it's not too late in the day. Catherine, thanks so much. Thank you.

That is Catherine Tappen, who was the rinkside reporter for the Olympic Games, alongside Kenny Albert and Eddie Oldcheck. Great stuff. And Brian Boucher, that's a gold medal crew. Boucher was wearing the vest between the benches. That's not an easy place to be. There was team vests. Yeah, they were all vested up.

I was heavily invested in the outcome. Of course, yeah. Well, you in Haw. Yeah, I see what you did there. He did a haul. Eddie got Hall, right? He did a haul or just Haw do marshals. I don't know.

The both of you. with your puns, you know. Dustin is always vested. Yeah, he is the original. He was vested before it was cool to be vested. So Dustin is won. He's won the vest game. I didn't know if any more vest puns were going to happen.

No, I see when you were late to like. By the way, she kept Catherine down on the list of she loves Chicago. We're the hangout show. We got an extra mic here when she's in town. Catherine, right here. Well, she used to report Notre Dame, too, for NBC. So I don't know if she ended up staying here during, probably not. Probably not.

You probably stand there, but still. We love Catherine Tappen in the NBC broadcast career, and that was great to talk to her as well. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, on 104 through the score, we're a little bit late to hang with us. Moises by Astero's finally got to spring training in Mesa. Now we've got to figure out where everybody goes,

including Moises. So that's next.