The achievement is now the ultimate benchmark.
Team USA has emphatically declared that its first Olympic men’s hockey triumph since the legendary 1980 Miracle on Ice is not a fluke, but rather the culmination of decades of groundwork laid by past generations.
“USA Hockey has been progressing towards this ever since 1980,” Olympian Ken Morrow shared with The Post on Sunday, expressing his unwavering belief that the men would eventually reclaim the gold.
Morrow, who rose at the crack of dawn for an exuberant watch party on Sunday, wasn’t alone in his excitement over the thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Canada. This nail-biting, winner-takes-all clash became a pinnacle of “pure joy” shared with his fellow “Miracle on Ice” teammates throughout the 2026 games.
“We’ve maintained a text thread throughout the Olympics,” Morrow remarked. “It’s been a constant stream of ‘Go USA’ the entire time.”
The sense of camaraderie was palpable among former Team USA members, many of whom showered the current men’s and women’s teams with supportive letters, noted Pat LaFontaine, a former two-time Olympian from Lloyd Harbor.
“[My letter] was telling the guys, ‘Grab the wheel and drive the bus. This is your time,’ basically quoting the great Herb Brooks,” said LaFontaine, who is confident the next men’s gold won’t have a 46-year wait.
Morrow, who won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders mere months after capturing gold, said Brooks, head coach of the 1980 Team USA, had inspired the current Team USA’s “style that emphasized skating, speed, skill, puck possession.”
“I think he would be very proud to see where USA Hockey has come,” added the one-time Northport man, now a scouting director for the Islanders in Kansas City.
LaFontaine played for post-miracle America, when public sentiment was not optimistic about the red, white, and blue.
“Our generation, we were always told, ‘the reason they call it a miracle, was because it was a miracle — you’ll never beat best on best,” said the former Islander, Sabre and Ranger.
“We had heard that for years.”
He didn’t win Olympic gold in 1984 or 1998, but silenced critics in the 1996 World Cup.
LaFontaine and teammates, including current US general manager Bill Guerin and Keith Tkachuk — the dad of 2026 gold medalists Matthew and Brady — won first over the Canadians in a best-of-three final.
Until Sunday, it was the last time the American men beat Canada for a gold.
“It was many years of sacrifice to get to this next generation … Now the 2026 team, they’re carrying on the tradition,” said LaFontaine, who Morrow’s miracle group inspired as a teen and beat the Soviet Union on his birthday — the same day America won gold in 2026.
“We’re sitting back today with a massive smile of pride and a tear in our eyes, and are just grateful for what the game has meant to the United States.”
Both LaFontaine and Morrow also praised Long Island’s Charlie McAvoy, whose defensive heroics helped fend off Canada’s relentless attack on multiple occasions during Sunday’s gold medal match.
“[He’s] blazing a path for more Long Island kids to follow,” Morrow said of the Boston Bruin from Long Beach.
“Many of these players will go on and maybe win a Stanley Cup, maybe win other championships, but this is the pinnacle.”
