The United States made hockey headlines on Sunday as they won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the 2025 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men’s Hockey Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. To put the American success into perspective, it was the first gold medal for the Americans at the World Championship since 1960. However, one should point out that in 1960, the Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley counted as the World Championships. The last time the United States won an international event that only counted as the World Championships was in 1933 in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Inside look at the gold medal in Sweden
The United States won eight of nine games during the two weeks. They had a Group B record of six wins (five regulation wins and one win in extra time) and one loss for 17 points. That was good enough for second place. The only American loss came to Switzerland by a score of 3-0. In the knockout round, the Americans beat Finland 5-2 in the quarterfinals, Sweden 6-2 in the semifinals, and got revenge against Switzerland with a 1-0 win in the gold medal game.
The Americans got a game-winning goal in overtime from Buffalo Sabres centre Tage Thompson of Phoenix, Arizona at 2:02 of the extra period. Utah Mammoth centre Logan Cooley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville Predators defenseman Brady Skjei of Lakeville, Minnesota had the assists. Meanwhile, Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman of Anchorage, Alaska picked up the shutout as he had 25 saves.
Biggest upset in the tournament
The biggest surprise in the tournament came in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Due to a completely inept power-play, Team Canada lost 2-1 to Denmark. The Canadians had two of the greatest players ever from Nova Scotia on their roster in Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Denmark tied the game late on a goal by Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, and won the game with a goal with 49 seconds left by Nick Olesen.
