Connor Hellebuyck and Jack Eichel are Olympic gold medal winners.
In a thrilling game that had hockey fans across the country on the edge of their seats Sunday morning, the Hellebuyck-led Team USA captured a 2-1 overtime victory over favored Canada in Italy.
With the tension on the ice rising to a knee-buckling, oxygen-depriving level, Jack Hughes scored the winning goal to give the United States its first hockey gold medal in 46 years.
But much of the talk after the game – and on social media – was focused on Hellebuyck, the star goaltender who kicked aside 41 of 42 shots, including one shot early in the third period which will be shown on highlight reels for years to come. Hellebuyck played two seasons at UMass Lowell, from 2012-14
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck,” Hughes told NBC after the thrilling final. “He was our best player in this game by a mile.”
Hellebuyck was named the tournament’s Best Goaltender. He was a strong candidate for Most Valuable Player, but that honor went to Canadian forward Connor McDavid.
On Tuesday, sitting in his office at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, head coach Norm Bazin, who coached Hellebuyck, was asked about his former star.
Bazin, never prone to hyperbole, responded: “He’s the best goaltender in the world.”
And Hellebuyck played like it in Italy, winning all five of his starts and stopping 131 of 137 shots against many of the world’s greatest players. He finished with the best stats of any goaltender at the Olympics, his goals against average (1.18) and save percentage (.956) dwarfing the competition.
Hellebuyck stopped long-distance slap shots. He rejected close-range wrist shots. He stopped breakaways.
“Those critics — they can keep writing, but they don’t understand goaltending. They definitely don’t understand my game. … These are the moments that prove it,” he told the Associated Press. “I came into this game, probably one of the biggest of my career, and I really wasn’t that nervous. The second I woke up this morning, I felt I was doing everything right. … It kind of translated.”
With the game tied 1-1 early in the third period, Canada defenseman Devon Toews was on the doorstep and knocked the puck toward the Team USA goal. Miraculously, Hellebuyck leaned back and managed to get his stick on the puck, steering it wide of the goal, much to the amazement of the NBC broadcast team.
Canada dominated the second and third periods, but Hellebuyck kept his team in front until former UMass defenseman Cale Makar wristed a perfectly-placed shot by him late in the second period.
United States goaltender Connor Hellebuyck reacts during a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Behind him is Jack Eichel, a North Chelmsford native. (Mike Segar/Pool Photo via AP)
Those are similar to the type of eye-popping stats Hellebuyck compiled during his two seasons at UML. Arriving on campus as an unheralded recruit, the 6-foot-4 netminder from Commerce, Mich., quickly made a name for himself.
Leading the River Hawks to the Hockey East title as a freshman with a tense win over Boston University, the program’s first such championship, is a moment Hellebuyck has said is one of his favorite hockey memories.
His time at UMass Lowell was memorable. He led the River Hawks to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh and his team was an overtime goal away from playing for the national championship. Alas, Yale got the goal, ending a Herculean effort by Hellebuyck in UML’s net.
Nobody was surprised when he turned pro and signed with the Winnipeg Jets after his sophomore season. He left UML with totals most goalies can only dream of – 38-12-2 record, 1.60 goals against average and .946 save percentage.
The Jets learned what UMass Lowell fans already knew. Hellebuyck was a world-class goaltender, even at the pro level. Winning the gold medal will raise Hellebuyck’s profile even higher, but he already was on a path which will likely see him inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame some day.
The 32-year-old Hellebuyck has already won the Vezina Trophy – given to the NHL’s top goaltender – three times. That’s rarefied air. But he didn’t stop last season at adding another Vezina to his trophy case. The pride of UMass Lowell was also named the Hart Trophy award winner as the top player in the National Hockey League.
United States goaltender Connor Hellebuyck celebrates after the men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The award almost always goes to a high-scoring forward. Occasionally, a defenseman with huge offensive numbers wins it. Goaltenders rarely are given strong consideration, but Hellebuyck’s 47-12-3 record and .925 save percentage for Winnipeg swayed the voters.
At the other side of the ice, No. 9, Eichel, continued to show world-class poise and skill. Eichel finished the tournament with two goals and four assists in six games, and head coach Mike Sullivan showed faith in the North Chelmsford native, assigning him No. 1 center duties.
Team USA took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a great effort by Millis native Matt Boldy. All tournament, Eichel, a North Chelmsford native, was one of the best forwards.
Eichel made a terrific cross ice pass in the gold medal game, but Auston Matthews, uncovered in front, decided not to shoot.
Eichel grew up about five miles from the Tsongas Center and was taught to skate by father, Bob, on area ponds. To this day many of Eichel’s off-season skates take place at Skate 3 in Tyngsboro.
He was one of the youngest players to win the Hobey Baker award, given to college hockey’s top player, when he led the country in scoring and powered Boston University to the national title game as a freshman.
The 6-foot-2 forward led the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup in 2023 and he’s at the height of his powers now. Don’t be surprised by another long playoff run by Eichel and the Knights. He’s on pace to score 32 goals and 103 points.
United States center Jack Eichel carries the puck against Canada’s Nick Suzuki during a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Forty-six years after the United States stunned the world by defeating the Soviet Union and going on to win the gold medal in Lake Placid, N.Y., Team USA overcame a Canadian team with perhaps the three most talented skaters – Makar, McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon – on the planet.
Who knows? Maybe a generation of kids across the country, inspired by what they saw Sunday morning, will lace up the skates and strive toward their dream one day of representing Team USA.
Maybe they’ll try to emulate the silky-smooth moves of No. 9 Jack Eichel or the put-up-a-brick-wall goaltending style of No. 37 Connor Hellebuyck.
Two players who sharpened their skills along the banks of the Merrimack River. Now two American hockey heroes.