After a roster snub followed by a golden goal, the Sabres star is now wearing red, white, and blue for Team USA in the Winter Olympics.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Being left off the U.S. roster for last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off drove Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson.
But after scoring the golden goal that won the 2025 World Championships for Team USA — its first world title since 1933 — he’s on the ice in Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics, wearing red, white, and blue during the Milano Cortina Games in Italy.
Here’s how Thompson and, by extension, Team USA are doing during the Milano Cortina Games in Italy.
Feb. 12: United States 5, Latvia 1 — Thompson scored a power play goal as Team USA won its opening men’s game at the Winter Olympics. It came with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left in the second period, with assists from Jack Eichel and Quinn Hughes.
Feb. 14: United States 6, Denmark 3 — Thompson had one shot on goal during his nine-plus minutes on the ice. The United States actually trailed 2-1 after the first period but roared back in the final two periods, improving to 2-0-0 in preliminary play.
Team USA will play Germany in its final preliminary round game. Sunday’s game will start at 3:10 p.m. Eastern time.
Thompson has 30 goals and 29 assists in 57 games for the Sabres this season.
“It didn’t feel real,” Thompson told 2 On Your Side sports director Jon Scott before heading overseas to for the Olympics. “It’s obviously a goal of many guys to play in the Olympics and to reach that achievement, but I think it was the last couple years when it really sunk in that it’s within my grasp that it could be a possibility for me is when I really started to think about it.
“Before that it’s just kind of a dream. You’re just maybe hopeful that one day it will happen. I think when you get that close to it you think about it quite a bit. Then when you get the phone call, it’s a lot of emotions hitting you all at once.”