The brotherhood was unmistakable after the historic win. Team USA gathered on the ice with the jersey of their late teammate, Johnny Gaudreau, holding it high as his family watched from the stands in Milan.
“He meant everything to our team and to USA Hockey,” Brady Tkachuk said after the game. “We miss him and Matty so much. He would have been part of this group. He touched everyone on that ice. We just wanted to show the Gaudreau family our support. He was so close to all of us. We miss him deeply, and we did this for him.”
Throughout the Olympic tournament, the U.S. team honored Gaudreau — who, along with his brother Matthew, was killed by an alleged drunk driver on August 29, 2024 — by hanging his jersey in the locker room before every game.